Meet the Maker: Tony Sly, potter

“It’s a bit like the word 'heritage'. I think it’s really just about time,” Tony says. “Business takes time and consistency to grow. I'm self-taught through trial and error and I’m good at plugging away and being consistent. That means I’ve built trust with my customers, and they’ll come back for the same colourway they bought last year, or a new colour, or an entire set. The colour palettes we choose, the materials we use, the complementary products we sell are all really a background for other people’s creativity.”

With their distinctive shapes and generous coatings of glaze in earthy tones – chalky whites, creamy blues and forest greens evoking Raglan’s coastal landscape – you know a Tony Sly piece when you see one – even before spying the maker’s mark. So it’s fair to call it an iconic brand.

So, how did it all grow from those initial pottery night classes in Hamilton 30 years ago?

“Like a lot of cottage industry businesses in New Zealand that grow bigger, you start by making something that you want for yourself but can’t source anywhere,” Tony says.

He recalls poring over Conran cookbooks featuring rustic pottery bowls that weren’t available in New Zealand. 

“I was making pots for myself. That’s become a real touchstone all these years later, even when it comes to the other products that we now sell to complement the pottery – I only make or sell things that I would have in my own home. Whenever I'm working on something new, it’s always something that I would like to have myself,” he says.

Tony laughs that this method is sometimes a point of contention with his partner, Auckland art gallerist Tim Melville, as bringing home prototypes of mugs and plates means they never have a cohesive set of kitchen or dinnerware.

Entertaining guests in the home the couple share in rural Raglan is one of Tony’s pleasures, and hosting has extended into the way he operates his business. 

“There was a pivotal moment when I stopped thinking like a potter and more like a cook, because I really enjoy cooking. Now, when I’m in the studio, it’s almost as if I take on the role of head chef, everything is managed by me.”

The Tony Sly Pottery team has grown to six fulltime staff who help run the operation, including feeding slabs of clay into a roller for the range of press-moulded pieces which makes up a third of the collection. 

Even the retail stores, stocked with other homewares sourced from Tony’s travels to Europe and Asia, are treated as an extension of his home. “I tell my team that I don't really want them to be salespeople. I want them to be good hosts so that customers leave with a good feeling.”

Perhaps it’s that welcoming ethos that has created longevity, with second and now third generation customers visiting the destination store.  

“It’s so lovely when young people come in and say, ‘this is so cool’. As an aging potter I’m glad they think so because usually kids don't want what their parents have.

“It’s interesting that we're attracting this new audience. In an ever-digital time, things like knitting and gardening and pottery are really important because we need that contact. I think that really resonates,” Tony says.

He’s been making for so long, Tony says it’s become as natural to him as breathing. “It’s taken a lifetime to get to the fluidity with the bowls and cups and shapes, but now they just come out of my fingertips so effortlessly. I love that effortlessness; it’s like playing music.”

While he is considering a change of pace, Tony won’t be hanging up his apron. Future plans include converting an old woolshed on his property to a home-based studio.  

“I want to spend more time gardening and less time potting. The woolshed will be my rent-free, smaller-scale business with more of a focus online, a gentle shift. I want to make pots in the summer and travel in the winter. It’s not that I ever want to stop, I just want to have more time to enjoy other things.”