This is a small unsigned decorative tile made by Peter Travis for a feature wall in the shop of François Jermani in Australia Square in Sydney, now demolished. It is the only Peter Travis piece I own and I paid quite a lot for it. His work is hard to come by and realises high prices. A wonderful piece dated 1971 sold for $4,800 at a recent Shapiro auction.
Even in the early 1970s Travis was not a potter everyone could afford:
“My work is highly-priced. For two reasons – there is a demand for it and even at these high prices I still can’t make enough from the project to suport myself. Maybe that will come. The low final output makes my work even more valuable” (Nine Artist Potters, p. 25).
Together with potters like Marea Gazzard and Alexander Leckie, Travis is often classed as an artist-potter or sculptor. There is no question of his pieces being functional or non-functional. They are art objects – large slab and coil built forms in organic shapes that use clay as a form of artistic expression.
One of Gazzard’s works from the early 1970s also illustrated in Shapiro’s Past Highlights page sold for over $15,000. A small terracotta boulder from the 1960s was listed on eBay last week for just 99 cents. It will be interesting to see what final price it fetches.
eBay is firming up as a marketplace for high-priced items. The much lower premiums are born by the seller so the closing price is what the buyer pays, not counting delivery costs. There are greater risks: to the buyer in terms of not knowing the seller and not being able to view the item; and to the seller in terms of attracting the right buyers at the right time. Provenance is generally not an issue. Auction houses often don’t publish the provenance of a piece. eBay sellers often do, in order to secure the trust of potential buyers.
Australian Pottery 
The Gazzard boulder went for $730 in the final seconds of the auction, with six people bidding overall.
Good site!!!
Hi Peter,
I am trying to contact you to share with you my exciting new and original work into colour design (and water).
Cheers,
Lucinda (COFA: copper reds!)
hi i owned the francois jermani store where travis tiles where am attempting to recover them fromdennis lendlease contact me if u like
I remember when Peter Travis received the Order of Australia Medal, it was the least that could be given for such a legend.
I think his works are still culturally undervalued because we still don’t know much about Peter Travis. His works were mystical as if these were done by an ancient culture discovered in an excavation. This is timeless. It was because of his daring designs that laws about swimming changed in several countries, such as the US, Canada and Australia.
He is definitely deserving of a Documentary, but although he was a high-profile artist, little is still known about his ideas and personal life. It may be because he was gay at a time when more prejudice was distilled by society. Being part of the LGTB community at difficult times, even before the LGTB existed, must have been complicated because those rights won by the community were an arduous battle since the first LGTB organised group in the 60s.
Peter Travis is a culturally relevant person for his legacy. Some research needs to be done about this, but he was most likely the first gay person to receive the Order of Australia, the highest award in the country.