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Peter Mthombeni, Product Owner
 


Peter Mthombeni

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If you stand on the street corner outside Peter Mthombeni’s workshop you will see looming between the buildings of this drab light-industrial area the imposing shape of Johannesburg’s Ellis Park Stadium.In 2010 millions of people all over the world will watch some of the world’s best footballers playing at this famous stadium when South Africa hosts the Fifa soccer World Cup. In 2009 Ellis Park will host the final of the Fifa Confederations Cup.

While the floodlights light up the sky around Ellis Park and more than 60,000 fans shout themselves hoarse, the chances are that around the corner, with the radio playing softly in the background, Peter Mthombeni will be working away, alone, in his cluttered Troyeville workshop, creating delicate objects of lasting beauty.

Peter’s journey from the Mpumalanga mining/agricultural town of Middelburg, where he was born in 1961, to international fame has been a tortuous one. He put himself through college by taking a succession of menial jobs, including signwriting and general maintenance. And before he even got to college, because he is black, he had to apply for special exemption. Throughout the time that he was training himself, Peter suffered the various indignities that apartheid education inflicted on the specially exempted.

CRITICAL ACCLAIM

Peter is today one of the elder statesmen of South Africa’s ceramics world. He has judged several shows and been judged – and critically acclaimed – himself. (At last count his work had garnered no fewer than 13 awards.) He is a sought-after lecturer and his creations adorn art collections and the collections of art lovers on several continents. You can find it – if you’re lucky – on sale in some of the more upmarket shops in Sandton and Cape Town.

Despite his artistic success, the self-effacing, soft-spoken Peter is the exact opposite of the archetypical artist. He doesn’t particularly like listing all of his achievements.

Yes, he’s a potter. He makes vases in all sizes and shapes and is famous for the beauty of his African-inspired but contemporary teapots. He also makes figurines, glorious colourful, often quirky, kitchenware of all types, dolls, tea sets, corporate gifts and even murals. His airy workshop is littered with all manner of beautiful ceramics.

FAME WITHOUT THE FORTUNE

If he’s found the fame, as an entrepreneur Peter is still working day and night to achieve a measure of the fortune he surely deserves. While he now works alone, since starting the business more than a decade ago, Peter has employed up to six people at a time. “Markets fluctuate. Things change all the time,” he says.

Peter’s work defies the tag “ethnic”. He is, he says, really a designer rather than a potter. He draws inspiration from the famous colours and shapes of the Ndebele culture and says he believes that much of what he creates “tells the story of the vanishing culture of South Africa”. Yet his work bears the impressions of various cultures and fashions. He sells through shops and on commission. Those commissioning his work include South Africa’s former president Thabo Mbeki, who hosted a high-level diplomatic reception on a dinner set designed and created by Peter.

HELPING HAND

Peter believes that with more support his business could do “very well” – and he is grateful for the support it has received from a number of quarters, particularly TEP.

“TEP has been very useful to us as SMEs. They’ve been a great help with marketing materials and things like, when I flew to Cape Town a year or two ago, I paid for the flight and they paid me back 50% of the cost,” says Peter.

“I don’t think that we South Africans are doing enough yet to help each other. I’m not sure it’s part of our culture but maybe that is beginning to change. I’m optimistic about our future.”
If you are lucky enough to find a Peter Mthombeni creation, know that every piece is unique; in fact, every piece is signed by the artist himself. If you don’t trust your luck, you could just contact Peter himself and he will gladly craft exactly what you’re looking for. Each piece individually signed. And at a lot less than you would expect to pay.

 
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