Should You Buy A Handmade Bonsai Pot?

When it comes to buying bonsai pots, it can be easy to just go for a cheap, mass produced pot. There is nothing wrong with these, but going for a handmade pot can really be worth the extra cost and I will go through some of the reasons for why should buy one.

A Handmade Pot Will Be Unique

When you buy a handmade pot, it will be unique. This can depend on how they are made, but even if the artist makes very similar pots, and even if they are using a template to create them, your one will still be unique due to the subtle differences and inconsistencies that occur when something is handmade.  

Other pots will be more obviously unique based on their designs, but either way I think this is pretty cool especially since it will be pared with a unique tree. We might all have the same species, but every individual tree will be slightly different and unique, so it just makes sense to pair it with a unique pot. 

Handmade Bonsai Pots Are Made With Love

Bonsai pots can be massed produced, where a piece of clay is squished into a mould and a pot is quickly made. Literally any one can do this and I wouldn’t be surprised if a machine does a lot of this process.

A handmade pot is the complete opposite of this. Someone has to take the clay in their hands and slowly manipulate it to form the shape of the pot. This requires both time and skill that many of us don’t have. Potters make it look so easy, but it is an extremely difficult craft that they put a lot of time and effort in to.

You can see the passion and love that goes into their work. These pots are made by someone who understands both clay and bonsai and everything they make is done with the tree in mind.

When you start to look at the mass produce pots you can see they are just quickly made to make money, rather than out of the love for the art.

The handmade pots reflect how we create the trees. We spend years growing the trees and painstakingly developing every little detail so they can become bonsai. A handmade pot really is the perfect pairing with a handmade bonsai.   

(You can read more about – How Are Bonsai Pots Made? (The Complete Journey Of Clay Through The Production Process))

Handmade Bonsai Pots Are Better Quality

You will also find that in general, handmade pots are a better quality. This can be due to both the materials used and how they are made.

Potters are usually going to try and use the best clay they can, and then the process of making the pots by hand means that every millimetre of the pot is inspected for quality and finished to perfection.

The mass produced pots generally use lower quality clay (if they are cheap pots) and the moulding process is not always perfect and imperfections can sneak through the quality control inspections, especially if there is a lot of pots being produced quickly.

A lot of the time the mould will do a good job, but they just cannot replicate the level of craftsmanship that comes from a potter who has been spending years trying to master his craft.

You Will Know Where It Has Come From

A nice bonus to handmade pots is that you will usually know where it has come from. This can still happen with mass produced factor made pots, but this kind of information is quite generic at best, a lot of the time we don’t really know where they come from and we have to assume it’s some mysterious factory in a far away land.

When you get a handmade pot, you will know exactly who made it and even when they did. Most potters work on their own, so if they have put their stamp on it, you know it is their hands who have crafted the pot.

Buying One Supports An Artist/ Small Business

This point is a little strange, because both types of pots can end up supporting small businesses in a way.

If we look at handmade pots, it’s very obvious how we are supporting a small business. We can see that the potters are a real person and as they usually work alone, buying a pot from them means you are literally supporting them and their art, which is great and definitely something we should be doing more of.

However, if you look at many bonsai shops …they are also small independent businesses; it just happens they have bought some mass produced pots to sell. Buying these pots is going to support the small shop, but then it does also support these mysterious factories that are producing these pots too, so it’s a bit of a strange situation.

Ideally I would like to see more independent bonsai shops supporting independent pottters, I think that combination would be awesome …although I get why the mass produced pots are sold too, they are cheap and do the job. They are also popular, I own plenty myself, so don’t think I am against them.    

It Helps Keeps The Craft Alive

In today’s society we are all about efficiency and mass production, which is sometimes fine, but it does mean we could lose certain skills, which could certainly happen to bonsai pottery if we are not careful.

I am sure it is hard for potters to compete against the mass produced pots, both in terms of price and production rates. I would love to see the stats, but I am sure the number of potters is a lot lower today than in the past.

I really think we should be buying more handmade pots just to help keep the craft alive and to encourage more people to get into the art.

The same goes for how the pots are fried, I am sure most potters use an electric kiln now. They are going to be cheaper and easier to run than a wood fired kiln, but the results are not quite the same. If you ever see anyone using a wood fire kiln, be sure to support them and keep that craft alive as I feel it is quite rare these days. 

You Can Commission A Pot

Another great reason to buy a handmade pot is because you can ask for the pot to be the exact size and design that you want, which is something you are never going to get from a factory.

While we don’t all need to do this, it is still an option. Most of us are going to be happy enough with the pots that are already available, but if you need a specific pot then most potters will take commissions.

This is going to be a little bit more expensive, but it is going to be a pot made to your exact specifications.

Handmade Pots Usually Hold Their Value

Another cool thing about handmade pots is that they usually hold their value, or will at least hold a lot more than a mass produced pot.

Potters only make so many pots, and as they are all unique they can actually be quite rare. If an artist becomes more popular, the price of your pot could actually go up in value.

While I think this is something we shouldn’t really think about, it is a reality. Normally if I buy a pot I’m just thinking about how it might work with my tree, rather than any future resale value. That’s not why I’m buying the pot …but you never know what might happen in the future, but I know for certain that mass produced pots are not going to go up in value, no matter what.    

Conclusion

Hopefully now you can see that should you be buying handmade pots whenever you can. They are just the better option.

Of course there is still a place for the mass produced pots, but if you have the money and you see a pot that you like which is handmade, maybe even by a local artist, then support them and get it.

It will probably be better quality pot and it will make your tree look better than some cheap generic pot.