Missegre Studio

Missegre, Aude, South France 2004 – 2010

In 2004 Alan bought a property in Missegre, a small village in the South of France. Here he went back into production after building a kiln and the infrastructure he needed to continue potting. Alan sold little locally, as his focus was to produce pots to send back to England for exhibitions at the Harlequin Gallery in London, and for Reg Moon’s Torqil gallery in Henley, Warwickshire.

Reg Moon, an old friend of Wallwork’s, visited Missegre in 2005, and purchased the bulk of Alan’s first firing. John Rastall of the Harlequin Gallery in London, held annual exhibitions of Alan’s work, selling around sixty pieces each time, often the pots would sell out on the first day of the show. These London exhibitions undoubtedly boosted collector interest, and added to Alan’s notoriety. John Rastall held pots in stock to sell between shows too.

Alan’s work was becoming ever more expensive, and was in demand on the secondary market, but Alan was reluctant to put up his asking prices, eventually John Rastall at the Harlequin Gallery persuaded him to raise them a little. John had previously impressed Wallwork by selling his work for more than Alan had thought possible, and sharing the spoils. John told me that Alan was fearful that raising the prices would put off potential customers as had happened to his old friend Bernard Rooke.

In 2008 Alan organised an exhibition at the Walford Mill, Wimborne, to showcase his family’s talent. ‘Three Generations of Makers’ was a show that included his own work, that of his artist daughter Amanda and wood carvings by her son, his grandson Rowan.

Later in 2008, dealer Ken Fordham visited Alan for the first time to procure pots to sell at his son James’s gallery in Oxford, ‘Oxford Ceramics’. Ken paid upfront which was very advantageous for Alan at the time, and he gladly agreed to provide Ken with more. Once again, the work sold for more than originally expected, and Ken cut Alan in on the profits as John had done before. And so began both an enduring business model and friendship. When Alan’s health failed, Ken came to the rescue and facilitated Alan’s return to the U.K. Both Alan and his partner Barbara Huxley had suffered ill health, Barbara was the first to return to England, and in 2010, Alan wound up the business at Missegre, sold the property, and came back to the UK. He then rented a cottage at Milbourne Port in Dorset.

Production at Missegre included Crescents, Ovals, ‘U’ forms. ‘Shield or Cross’ ovals, spheres, ‘delta’ forms, aureole ovals, ‘fused’ porcelain and stoneware crescents, porcelain spheres and crescents, indented slice bowls, pierced seedcases and grooved crescents. Alan took earlier experiments fusing stoneware and porcelain to a new level, this breaking of ‘the rules’ produced some of his most spectacular work. He also made a limited number of chocolate coloured pots while experimenting with a locally sourced darker brown clay.

Click Me
Click the link for Alan’s own account of his time at Missegre

Here follows a selection of work produced at the Missegre Studios