Marvin Hurnall - The Passion for Collecting.

Collecting is a passion that has framed and enriched my life. It has given me great pleasure, aroused my curiosity about beauty and form, fired my enthusiasm to locate and understand unusual objects and opened me to a network of like minded men and women in Australia and overseas.

I share with many collectors a delight in developing an understanding of beauty, line and form, colour and texture and the excitement that comes from possessing and holding a truly beautiful or long sought after object.

Collecting has given me a strong connection with my past, the history of my family and of Australia. It has let me see into the vivid lives of living and historical potters who struggled for recognition and to create unique artistic images, which expressed our experience in this new southern land.

I began collecting at thirteen or so - starting with cigarette packets and cards. My mother was enlisted in this developing passion and rescued many a discarded item. When sold in my early twenties I had a substantial basis for progressing to Australian furniture and ceramics. I still have a Staffordshire figurine (the gift of my mother and father) whose colour, texture, glaze and shape repaid study by teaching my eye to recognise classic elements in all ceramics.

All collectors and collections change shape and direction over time. Interest wanes in particular items - new enthusiasms develop. Prices rise, taste develops and availability decreases. Many objects have remained with me for over forty years - a cedar table purchased in my 20's I owe to my good judgement and the advice of a trusted dealer with a good eye.

My collection and my Exhibition/Sales Catalogues now have less furniture and fewer large objects - it is also focussed on those artists whose talent I believe will last the test of time.

Furniture, paintings and Australiana ephemera are still part of my collecting and catalogue. I find that presenting ceramics for viewing in an environment, which relates to them gives context to the ceramics. It also produces customer requests for related furniture.

My Approach to Business

Success in the antiques trade came after some twenty years as a senior executive in head office insurance management. The insurance industry gave me a foundation in the precise description of items, their provenance and condition and a focus on customer satisfaction as the basis for growing a business reputation.

My detailed and lavishly illustrated catalogues and my new website give a level of information not normally found in the antiques trade and allow my interstate and overseas clients to purchase with confidence. The detailed descriptions and provenance of more expensive items build on my practice of researching and being certain of what I am selling. All items are 'Condition Guaranteed' and I am immensely proud that in three decades of dealing in ceramics a customer has never requested to return a purchase.

Many of my customers have been with me for over twenty years, some started with me when they were young and they are now middle aged. They trust my advice on items I sell and entrust me with the sale of objects they no longer require. My relationship with them, as with new customers, enables me to understand their precise requirements or to develop their appreciation of new visual options.

Whilst my gallery is open by appointment twelve months of the year my preference in recent years is to sell in two or so yearly Exhibitions/Sales with a supporting catalogue. This approach gives me the time to travel to search for fresh material and to research and develop my networks of contacts and suppliers.

All items are priced individually for my Exhibitions/Sales. This pricing is finalized prior to the 'Mailout' of the Catalogue of the updating for display/enquiries under 'Current Exhibition' on my web site. There is also a printed version by request. Prices of items are also available by request and all prices are inclusive of GST. PLEASE NOTE: We do not hold auctions.

The declining availability of first rate Australian ceramics has led me in recent years to reduce the number of sales per year and to substantially reduce the number of items available in each sale. Paradoxically recent positive scholarly and market attention given to Australian ceramics has made possible vendors think twice about sale and to await further strengthening of the market. These conditions are likely to exacerbate.

Some Practical Business Matters

I employ no sales staff - all customer contacts are with me. Payment options by cheque, bank draft or credit card - all processed by me personally.

Packing and Dispatch :-
Ceramics and other small objects are personally packed by me in the gallery, double boxed and fully insured. Larger objects such as furniture are dispatched within Australia by a known and trusted carrier

Australian ceramics and general Australiana bought as single items or as whole collections, or sold on consignment by negotiation.

My Interests and Professional Activities

Burmese cats - Grace and Gladys - both named after prominent Australian potters. Farming and maintaining contact with the Western Victoria community where my family have lived and farmed for 148 years just outside the town of Great Western.

Collecting Australiana for my personal collection - particularly Remued, Seccombe, Merric Boyd, Ricketts, Klytie Pate and Marguerite Mahood.

Research on Australian potters and maintaining an archive for authentication and to provide my customers with detailed information on Australian potters.

Talks, lectures and presentations to gallery based and other groups and to the general public via 3AW - a top rating Melbourne radio station. Featured twice on Australian television in the nationally televised Australian Broadcasting Corporation program 'Collectors'.

Regular contributions to Australian specialist magazines - 'Antiques and Collectables', 'Collectables', 'Australiana' and other antique and collectables magazines. Numerous articles for newspapers and magazines and contributions to several recent books on Australian pottery. Production of two videos ('Remued' and 'Grace Seccombe') for Alan Carter a major publisher of specialist media and reference books for the antique trade and collectors.

Advice to national, state and private collections on attribution, provenance, acquisition and deacquisition.

Member in good standing of the Australian Antique Dealers Association (AADA) and the Confederation International des Negociants en Oeuvres D'art (CINOA)

Frequent expert commentator in the Australian press and sought after by national media organizations for comment and views.

My Customers

Come from all states of Australia, South-East Asia, the Americas and Europe. Many have been with me for decades and they come from all walks of life and social and economic backgrounds.

A few of my customers are very large collectors others might buy one or two items a year. Some of my customers start by attending my twice-yearly exhibitions, which accompany my sales and build up confidence to make a first purchase.

Other customers are experienced collectors with very precise requirements. A number of my customers have inherited ceramics and need advice on value, sale or restoration; others want advice before buying from another source.

What Others Have Said About Me

' ...legendary Australiana collector Marvin Hurnall ... the huge revival of interest in Australiana pottery (with) ...prices having risen 10 times in some cases ... and now anyone with a Mahood figure in their cabinet should thank Marvin Hurnall for trebling its value virtually overnight'

'Crowds flock to Hurnall auction'

'Few collectors and applied arts dealers in this country would fail to recognise Marvin Hurnall ... A recognised expert in 19th and 20th century Australian decorative arts, furniture and ephemera for over 20 years ... has infectious enthusiasm for every aspect of Australiana collecting'

'Hurnalls Antiques and Decorative Arts, offering the largest selection of Australian ceramics in the country ... who has been collecting for twenty five years, lives above his shop and treats clients as houseguests'

'Hurnall a well established collector and dealer in Australian ceramic circles ...(with) vast private holdings ... (and) a good selection of colonial furniture with an enviable network of contacts who supply him with the best items from Australia and overseas'

'...well known collector and dealer and Australiana expert, Marvin Hurnall, whose Prahran based business has for years delighted followers throughout Australia ...(is) recognised as one of Australia's foremost specialists in Australian potters and ceramics'