Yahoo Answers is shutting down on May 4th, 2021 (Eastern Time) and the Yahoo Answers website is now in read-only mode. There will be no changes to other Yahoo properties or services, or your Yahoo account. You can find more information about the Yahoo Answers shutdown and how to download your data on this help page.

what is the market value of Ramilla Batra pottery?

I came across one of her art pieces (small perfectly round ceramic ball, top is cut out unevenly and fits like a jigsaw puzzle, glazed inside about the size of a fist).

I bought it at a thrift store... the only thing I can find is that she specializes in Narikomi pottery.

The piece is one of a kind... I can see the artists finger prints in the hand crafted ceramic petals that are part of the piece. Verified her signature - it matches with the only other piece I found on E-bay. But that one was sold already in auction... still have no idea what her pieces are worth.

Anybody knows about the current value of her art?

Update:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Aritst-Batra-Signed-Porcelain-...

Found one... to give you an idea of what I got.

This piece is similar but mine is a perfect round sphere with a lid and stands on 4 little cone legs

Thanks KK.... I am just ecstatic to find such a thing. P.S. paid $12.50 for it....

1 Answer

Relevance
  • 1 decade ago
    Favorite Answer

    The artist you're thinking of is called Romilla Batra,(with on O) and is of Indian origin. She has her studios in Berkeley, California.

    Her work is ceramics, not pottery (a fine distinction to you and me, but a matter of different clay). Her style is sculptural and follows natural forms (opening flower-buds, eye-balls, eggs etc) and range from the tiny utility items like your little bowl, up to large sculptural installations.

    Here's an exhibition review mentioning her work. (No illustrations, but I include it because the author is called Reena, LOL).

    http://www.soumyasart.com/reviews/reena.html

    I can't find direct price guides for her. At one exhibition of domestic items, that included her work, other artists' prices were around $250 for teaphots, to $500 for large vases, down to $25 for saki cups (tiny bowls for drinking Japanese saki).

    I don't think you've discovered a $1 million masterpiece for 50c, but it most certainly would have cost 20 times more than you paid for it. The piece would be unique, in the sense of being totally hand-made,but maybe not "rare', as there would have been up to 20 similar ones on sale at the gallery where they were exhibited...the artists and gallery, after all, have to make a living, and they can't count on the one huge high-price item to be first to sell.

    People can buy the smaller pieces as a souvenir of the show, and to have a tiny example of the artist's work at home to appreciate. It is now YOUR turn with this zig-zag sphere, which sounds lovely. Keep it where people can pick it up and admire it with their hands as well as their eyes.

    (Narikomi is an old Japanese technique in which a piece is made up of layers of coloured clays. They are then carved away to reveal the different colours, to form the pattern (often a traditional scene). This is similar to how shell cameos are carved, and is also used in Japanese lacquer work. I once saw fantastic candles made by this method, too, the cut-away parts being left partially attached and curled into leaf and petal shapes).

Still have questions? Get your answers by asking now.