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Troika - A Collector’s Journey - Nigel Keith
Troika - A Collector’s
For as long as I can remember, I have always had an interest in antiques and collectables. No doubt that flame was ignited when watching regular Sunday evening episodes of the BBC Antiques Roadshow in my earlier years here within the UK.
As time has moved on though, my tastes have changed regarding what are generally considered to be ‘traditional antiques’ and I’ve become more interested in items from the 1930s – 1970s, especially ceramics.
I first discovered Troika Pottery back in 2004/05 after a visit to an auction house in Penzance Cornwall whilst on holiday.
When viewing the items for sale within that auction, I came across a table displaying a substantial amount of Troika pieces such as Coffin Vases, Wheel Vases, Spice jars, Slab Vases and Lamp Bases. Initially, it was the striking shapes and varying designs that grabbed my attention and I decided to have a bid on some of the pieces in the following day’s auction. Unfortunately, this never materialized as I had to rush back home due to a domestic emergency but in that short period of time I had taken my first tentative steps into the world of Troika. I was completely smitten!
It was at this time that I began researching Troika but it soon
Troika Rare Whiteware including Heal’s Lampbases became clear to me that what I had seen at the auction house was really just the tip of the iceberg from a collecting point of view. There was so much more to this Cornish-based art pottery in terms of what they had produced over the years and the fascinating life stories that lay behind the people involved in the movement.
The majority of pottery up to and including the 1960s was quite often designed to be utilitarian, for example tableware and therefore was never to be viewed as standalone pieces of art. However two of the three founding members of Troika, Benny Sirota (potter) and Leslie Illsley (sculptor & artist) had a vision of producing sculptural items to be just that. It was this innovative approach that eventually made Troika such a success, especially in those early years.
Troika was founded in 1962 in St Ives, Cornwall and later moved to Newlyn in 1970. Sadly, by 1983, the company closed its doors for the final time due to declining sales brought on by changing tastes, mass production and cheaper imports flooding the ceramics market. Relatively speaking,
Journey
Troika ‘Floating’ Vases - there are only six yellow glazed pieces known
compared to many other British potteries in history, Troika ran for a short period of time. Within that time however, Troika had made a huge impact on the general public with its rough textured wares, sporting striking geometric & Aztec designs, along with its smooth glazed sculptural wares furnishing the likes of Heal’s and Liberty department stores in London.
As to my collection, prior to having the first piece sitting in the cabinet, I decided to concentrate on rarity rather than quantity. The reason behind this was that I knew one day I may have to sell and if that was the case, then my investment would hopefully be fairly safe in monetary terms. As all collectors are aware though, there are no guarantees where this is concerned and that elusive crystal ball certainly doesn’t reside in my house!
My advice to any person thinking about starting a collection, no matter what that may consist of, is to only buy what you like and what your pocket can afford. This may seem obvious but when you are bidding on a rare piece it’s all too easy to get carried away and though you may eventually secure it, your bank balance will have headed further south than you ever intended it to; I know this from experience! Also, trying to predict what the next’ hot’ thing will be within the antiques/ collectables world is to a degree only calculated guesswork, so tread carefully!
I certainly had no idea of what lay ahead of me back in 2004/05 regarding collecting and who I would eventually meet on that particular journey. There have been several occasions when chasing the next potential piece that I was fortunate enough to meet the seller, in person. On one occasion I drove to Chichester on the south coast to purchase an extremely rare yellow glazed ‘floating vase’ and came back with the added bonus of an equally rare Troika Scarab Tile! This particular seller had an amazing collection with several unique pieces collected over many years but as he said to me, “It’s time to let go as I need to grow the pension pot’’. On a second visit I took along my Bowl of Fruit, (see next page) which he had no idea existed and was very surprised to see.
I do believe however it is the research and tracking down of that next ‘special’ item that most collectors enjoy, along with all the
Selection of Troika ‘Rough Textured Wares’
Benny Sirota’s Troika Love Plaque
knowledge that is imparted along the way, whether that’s from the internet, books, collectors or other sources.
Many years ago, whilst browsing an online auction site, I made contact with a Troika collector, Andy, who has since become an ‘online friend’ and who owns a large, important collection. It was through our many email exchanges that I learnt that Andy wanted to one day have an up and running Troika pottery website. Putting our heads together and with excellent professional help from a web design company, that dream has now been realized and this website is now a ‘must see’ for any collector. that the plaque was a gift from himself to his mother. My daughter Maria and I met Benny and his wife at their residence in Wells, Somerset and whilst there we saw several stunning and rare Troika pieces, including a large black & white ‘Venetian Blind’ Wall Plaque. I’ll always remember a comment Benny made on that day, ‘‘If I had known Troika was going to become this popular again so many years on, I would have kept much more!’’ I often wonder what had been thrown away when the pottery closed in 1983 and on reflection, perhaps I should have enquired more about that stunning wall plaque and whether it was for sale!
Another piece that I acquired was to eventually become a highlight on an episode of the BBC Antiques Roadshow back in 2007. This was a large white glazed Bowl with applied apples & bananas and is the first of only five ever produced. Again, this was an online purchase and entailed the usual road trip with cash in hand to secure what was to be the first of two of these Bowls of Fruit
One of my first and most memorable online purchases was a Troika Love Plaque that founder Benny Sirota had decided to sell. After spotting it online, I made the decision to bid on it as I felt that although there are other Love Plaques ‘out there’, this would be a unique piece having belonged to and been decorated by Benny. Provenance can be everything when collecting and I was fortunate enough to be given a signed letter by Benny stating
that I’m now fortunate enough to own. The second contrasts in glaze colour to the inner bowl and quantity of apples, thus leading me to presume that the other three, wherever they may be in the world, are also likely to differ in design.
Incidentally, drawings of the Bowl of Fruit can be seen in the original sketchbook of Julian GreenwoodPenny who worked at the pottery. The sketchbook, containing many interesting designs and personal notes, can be viewed as an e-book on the Troika website, please see address below.
The various collecting markets over the years have all had their peaks and troughs regarding popularity and price, with Troika being no exception. Currently, it is still very popular with prices starting from around the £120 mark for the more common pieces such as small wheel, coffin and pencil vases to high four-figure sums for unique and rare items. The purchase price of any Troika piece is usually determined by rarity, condition and popularity, with decoration and colour often playing a role.
There have been several exhibitions of Troika pottery over the years. The first was put on at Heal’s department store in London in 1968 and the last being held at the Penlee House Gallery & Museum in Penzance, Cornwall in 2013. Another Troika exhibition of note was the May 1994 ‘New Century’ exhibition held in London.
I ventured down to Penzance to view the’ Penlee’ exhibition which ran from January to March and was officially opened by Benny Sirota with many former Troika employees attending. The exhibition was a great success, no doubt due to the fact that so many rare and unique pieces had been brought together under one roof which included wall plaques, masks, vases, sculptural lamp bases and much more.
Incidentally, the above exhibitions all generated posters and these are highly collectable today.
Three books have been written on the subject of Troika, with my personal favourite being the last one that came off the press in 2012 titled Troika 63 – 83 by Ben Harris & Lawrence Illsley. The book has been put together using original written documents, photos and even the words of the workers themselves. To sum up, it is a complete history of the pottery
Heal’s Window
and the people behind it, written very much from a human perspective, but with all those Troika facts that will appeal to the collector!
Two other very informative books to look out for are Troika Pottery St Ives by Carol Cashmore and Troika Ceramics of Cornwall by George Perrott.
Alongside those books, I have no hesitation in drawing the reader’s attention again to the website I had mentioned earlier in this article. The site contains a wealth of information including hundreds of images, guidance on prices, fakes, decorator’s marks, publications and even a video link to that 2007 BBC Antiques Roadshow episode.
On a final note, if hypothetically speaking I had to give up the collection tomorrow but were allowed to keep three pieces , they would be the following for various reasons....first produced Bowl of Fruit, Benny Sirota’s Love Plaque and finally a very rare blue St Ives Wall Plaque.
Enjoy your journey! Nigel Keith troika-pottery.com September 2021
