Peter Ind - Ceramic Restorer

The Peter Ind Ceramic Collection – An Artist’s eye

Production/ Design/ Conservation/ Repair

Peter Ind – more well known as the international Jazz Bass player and artist - has also built up an impressive research collection of ceramics with his wife Sue Jones.

His concern was the art , design and practical skills involved

It is a wide ranging variety of ceramics

It includes a mixture of Chinese wares

Japanese Ceramics

Blue and White China

A collection of eighty 19th Century Teapots

100 Meat platters

The focus is on ceramic production, illustrating techniques and designs

Jugs

Tea Ware

As an artist he, like other painters, has a very particular interest in ceramics

While many artists have been interested in the exotic aspects of blue and white china,  they were also interested in the different Asian styles of painting represented in them.

He has built up an extensive research collection of ceramics for artisans

But Peter’s interest was also in the incredible range of ceramic styles, patterns and designs available

Since so much had been created for the UK market and then copied in mass amounts by English ceramic manufacturers it was always possible to purchase examples cheaply at secondhand markets

In contrast to most ceramic collectors, he was not purchasing ceramics for their investment value in auction houses

In fact in contrast he would buy examples of cracked or damaged ceramics that he felt still had incredible value as examples of manufacturing and art

He has built up a research collection focused on the making of ceramics and their decoration

Also a research reference library about ceramics that he and Sue are still adding to

He had always had ceramics in his life. As a child his parents used a special pattern the phoenix which he loved and still has as tableware.

His own collection began when he returned from America to live again in the UK

By the 1990s the collection was recognised

It was the subject of the Observer feature – “A room of my own”

It was also sufficient for a young Lars Tharp – renowned now as a leading expert in the field of Chinese ceramics – to come and make an assessment of the collection for one of the leading Auction Houses in London

When Peter bought and opened the Bass Clef club in Hoxton, central London he was going around many second-hand boot sales.

By 1984 when Peter and Sue met, while she was not such an avid collector, they both had an interest in ceramics; they both had some of the same Ceramics reference books.

Sue added to this collection

She introduced Chinese pots, furniture and bound feet shoes to the collection from when she worked in China in 1987 and when she lived in Hong Kong in the early 90s.

They would often go down to Brick Lane and Portobello Road, in their antique market heyday, at dawn on Sunday mornings after the Bass Clef club closed.

The collection includes interesting and unusual pieces – especially considering many of these came from flea markets

When the club closed, trying to recover from the financial destruction, Peter trained in ceramic restoration – he received City and Guild certification

Peter joined Sue on some History of Oriental art ceramic courses at SOAS as part of their research work

Only recently was the collection (100 boxes) unpacked for the first time since the 80s

Impossible to sort out without the help of good friends. There are an estimated 1000 plates in this annex room.

A collection that has only been seen by helpers and friends

After so many moves some ceramics have broken – but that does not reduce their importance – in fact it helps since the inner construction can be seen

Also, even for those ceramics too broken to be usefully repaired have a place in their home. Currently they are repairing some plates for a wall of ceramics in the garden

For Peter all ceramics are a treasured moment of creating and production that should not be lost

A selection of ceramics in the collection

To see the collection make an appointment:

waveindjones1@gmail.com
01273701526
07377635882
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