What makes a good pot?

[Potawatomi13]

Would be easier to ask Who makes good pots. Quality and uniqueness and desirability to customers should answer question. Of course ability to deal with winter cold/summer heat and appeal to buyer matter. Less so name recognition as several new/good potters arise fairly regularly. If "showing" then how well pot fits tree and tree style matters much. If money and snob appeal is no matter then OLD established potters or antique oriental pots are considered good or even best pots for these folks. Ultimately choice is up to who is buying.

 

[Dav4]

Would be easier to ask Who makes good pots. Quality and uniqueness and desirability to customers should answer question. Of course ability to deal with winter cold/summer heat and appeal to buyer matter. Less so name recognition as several new/good potters arise fairly regularly. If "showing" then how well pot fits tree and tree style matters much. If money and snob appeal is no matter then OLD established potters or antique oriental pots are considered good or even best pots for these folks. Ultimately choice is up to who is buying.

Really? You don't see how an old, weathered tree and an old, weathered pot might make a good pairing?? Whether you buy into the Wabi Sabi thing or not, it kinda makes sense to me and really has nothing to do with snobbery.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

What is the distinction though? I was going to ask the same thing of bunt. Who is making a non-functional art only pots? As far as I am aware, all of the "art" pots are fully capable of holding a tree. So really doesn't it again come down to the taste definition of the bonsai artist as to whether they would like to use said pot with their work? It seems that there isn't a clear distinction in the marketing, only in the use or display of.

It is the intent. I can ride a gold-plated mountain bike as well - but it was never intended to be purchased to be ridden on mountain trails. Would a gold-plated mountain bike do its job as well, or better, than a mountain bike made with other materials? I would argue not - and that the entire purpose of making a gold mountain bike is an aesthetic one - with functional considerations be damned.

If a bonsai pot comes in a handmade decorative wooden box, with a protective pouch, and a signed certificate of authenticity, I don't consider it a pot created to be filled with pumice and scraped with bonsai tools. I've got nothing against collectible pots - but the potter is clearly designing for the display shelf and NOT for what would be the best compliment for a bonsai tree. A collectible pot is designed to be displayed on its own, empty. A bonsai pot is designed to be displayed with a tree in it. That is why you will see many collectible pots with crazy finishes and elaborate hand-paintings that would probably not compliment a tree well - they weren't DESIGNED to compliment a tree.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Really? You don't see how an old, weathered tree and an old, weathered pot might make a good pairing?? Whether you buy into the Wabi Sabi thing or not, it kinda makes sense to me and really has nothing to do with snobbery.

Also, it is important to understand that traditional Japanese art values REAL age - not things that were created to look old. That is why things like wear through use, and patina, and color fading, all contribute to give the real impression of age and impermanence and imperfection that contributes to the emotional pull of Wabi Sabi.

 

[rockm]

Ditto what smoke and 'nut said.

 

[rockm]

This article on Renaissance picture frames is weirdly relevant here. It's worth a read

http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/fram/hd_fram.htm

So is this one:
"Some frames were carved entirely into decorative forms so that one could see through their shapes to the wall behind, such as with the scrolls, leaves, and masks of the Italian auricular style."
http://www.collectorsweekly.com/visual-art/frames

This one is right up the "pot collector's" alley
http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/frame-collectors-museum