Craft has undergone a renaissance in recent years. Village fayres may still peddle brown pots and woven wall hangings, but in the galleries there is a whole other scene in which craft means aesthetically exciting, skilfully executed objects made of ceramic, glass, metal and wood that are every bit as desirable - and collectable - as contemporary painting and sculpture.  Clare Beck of contemporary craft gallery Adrian Sassoon puts craft's change in fortunes down to the proliferation of high-end exhibitions which have lifted it out of its rather lowly, home-spun environment and into the serious art world. 'Events such as Collect [an annual selling exhibition at the V&A organised by the Crafts Council] and exhibitions such as the Jerwood Prize for Applied Arts have helped to raise the profile of craft,' she explains, 'and this has encouraged serious collectors to buy.'  Part of the appeal is craft's accessibility - a ceramic bowl is easier to understand and to house than a conceptual painting - but price is also a major factor. Craft pieces by leading makers are far from cheap (you won't get much for under £1,000), but as this is an expanding market, prices have still not peaked and so there's a lot of potential for investment.  'Nothing is ever guaranteed,' says Marijke Jones, head of Contemporary Ceramics at Bonhams, 'but prices seem to be generally increasing - a rare vase by Magdalene Odundo fetched a record £28,405 in 2006 and last year a Hans Coper piece sold for more than £14,000. It all depends on buying the right pieces.'  But if you're new to the field, how do you know what the right piece is? We asked four experts to run us through the basics.  'Everything is unique and mostly handmade, so you are getting something of the maker embodied in the work,' says Emmanuel Cooper, potter and editor of the magazine Ceramic Review. 'Much of the appeal of ceramics lies in the fact that they are domestic in scale and they allude to function.'  What you need to know  The three main types of clay are:  Porcelain Very thin and either pure white or pale blue in colour.  Stoneware Textural and usually earth-toned.  Earthenware Traditional in feel; often coloured and embellished with surface decoration.  Three main ways to make a ceramic object:  Throwing The clay is formed into a (usually) round shape on a wheel. Thrown pieces will have ring marks on the base.  Hand building Most commonly used to form asymmetrical shapes with straight edges.  Slip casting A technique similar to casting from a mould. Results in ultra-smooth pieces that come as close to perfection as is possible in a handmade object.  If you are buying as an investment, don't forget that value lies in authorship. Look for the potter's mark on a piece - this may be a signature or just a stamp or seal. It can be difficult to spot, so ask the dealer for help.  Chris Keenan Functional Limoges porcelain for everyday life, £25-£700 (020 7701 2940; chriskeenan.com)  Edmund de Waal Beautifully formed pots that celebrate visible imperfections, £POA (020 8674 1122; edmunddewaal.com)  Elizabeth Fritsch Hand-built vessel forms with strong architectural qualities, £5,000-£15,000 (from Clare Beck at Adrian Sassoon, 020 7581 9888; adriansassoon.com)  Richard Slee Colourful, surreal ceramics that are a wry comment on social issues, £POA (from Barrett Marsden Gallery, 020 7336 6396; bmgallery.co.uk)  Felicity Aylieff Large-scale work that references architecture and the natural world, £16,000-£18,000 (from Clare Beck at Adrian Sassoon, 020 7581 9888; adriansassoon.com)  Matthew Chambers Beautifully made sculptural vessels, £50-£1,250 (0771 518 1269; matthewchambers.co.uk)  Aneta Regel Deleu Assertive sculptural forms with allusions to earth and the body, £80-£2,200 (020 7503 6961; anetaregel.com)  Sun Kim Functional porcelain with a distinct Japanese aesthetic, £25-£280 (07976 039 552)  'Glass is an extremely beautiful, exciting and varied art form that's already recognised by leading museums,' says Dan Klein, a contemporary-glass expert.  What you need to know  Glass-making falls into three categories - hot-glass, warm-glass and cold-glass techniques, and there are several ways of making within each:  Blown glass is a hot technique invented by the Romans. The maker blows air through a pipe into a blob (or 'gather') of hot glass. Vessels are usually blown.  Hot-formed glass is another hot technique in which the 'gather' is manipulated rather than blown into the desired shape.  Cast glass is made in a kiln and is a warm technique used for making sculptural glass. There are many casting techniques, including 'pate de verre', where crushed glass is poured into a mould lined with a bonding agent.  Cold-working techniques are used for surface decoration and include engraving, cutting, polishing and sand-blasting.  Tessa Clegg Cast-glass vessels, £2,000-£3,000 (from Clare Beck at Adrian Sassoon, 020 7581 9888; adriansassoon.com)  Bruno Romanelli Cast-glass sculptures, £4,000-£6,000 (020 8674 8186; bruno romanelli.com)  Alison Kinnaird Engraved glass, £2,000-£20,000 (01875 830 328; alisonkinnaird.com)  David Reekie Figurative sculpture, £4,000-£15,000 (from The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh, 0131 558 1200; scottish-gallery.co.uk)  Rachael Woodman Blown glass, £2,000-£6,000 (from Clare Beck at Adrian Sassoon, 020 7581 9888; adriansassoon.com)  Bertil Vallien Sand-cast sculpture, £5,000-£50,000 (00 46 480 276 56; bertilvallien.com)  Dale Chihuly Blown-glass pieces including a chandelier that hangs in the lobby at the V&A, £3,000 upwards (from Marlborough Fine Art, 020 7629 5161; marlboroughfineart.com)  'Wood has a natural, tactile beauty, and at its best, turned wood has an innate elegance and sophistication. But as an art form it still has crafty, utilitarian connotations in the UK, so prices, especially for work by European makers, are relatively low,' says Sarah Myerscough of Sarah Myerscough Fine Art, specialists in turned wood. 'Interest at Collect last year was phenomenal - so new collectors should take the opportunity to buy now.'  What you need to know  Turned wood is made on a laithe, and well-turned wood should be light, thin and delicate: a far cry from the lumpen salad bowls commonly associated with the medium. There are two main approaches to wood turning - one in which the artist brings out the inherent characteristics of the wood to maximum effect, and the other where the maker takes control of the medium to create a perfect, symmetrical shape.  The first method involves turning wood while it's still 'green' (ie wet), and then allowing it to dry out naturally. It's an unpredictable, organic process but these are the key things to look for...  Spalting A process of natural decay which creates intricate black lines on the wood. Good makers will use it to create exquisite patterns.  Cracking This is part of the natural process of deterioration and is often used to great effect in the design of the vessel, but can also be a sign of an inexpert maker. It's easy to tell the difference: a man-made crack looks like a split but a natural one looks like a hole.  Grain Natural lines in wood which can be accentuated by the maker.  The second method involves treating the wood in various ways:  Oxidising Wood is coated with ferrous-oxide (rust) powder to give it a copper-toned colour and texture.  Ebonising Blackens the wood so that the grain disappears.  Oil soaking Gives the wood a translucent finish.  Bleaching Strips the colour out of the wood so it resembles ceramic.  All the makers listed below are sold through Sarah Myerscough Fine Art (020 7495 0069; sarahmyerscough.com) and will be exhibiting at Collect.  Philip Moulthrop Stylised pieces made by combining wood with resin (£800-£5,000)  John Jordan Pod and seed-like pieces in spalted maple (£2,500-£3,000)  Liam Flynn simple and elegant carved vessels, often bearing his signature double rim (£900-£1,500)  Mike Shuler complex, intricate pieces made from thousands of small pieces (£500-£1,650)  Marc Ricourt A French artist who makes contemporary sculptural pieces resembling natural objects such as seed pods and anemones (£850-£2,000)  Malcolm Martin & Gaynor Dowling This duo makes sculptural pieces which explore the boundary between two- and three-dimensional forms (£500-£5,000)  'Silversmithing is a traditional craft that's very lively at the moment. It sits at the fine-art end of the craft spectrum, with artist/makers producing one-off pieces,' says Oliver Makower of Bishopsland, a postgraduate training workshop for silversmiths and jewellers.  What you need to know  There are three main types of silver: sterling, Britannia and fine. Each has a slightly different silver content - the higher it is, the softer the metal. In general, sterling is most commonly used for cutlery and dinnerware with Britannia and fine silver being used for art pieces.  Only the most practised eye could spot the difference between the silvers, but a quick look at the hallmarks (and all except extremely small items must be hallmarked) will tell you. Sterling is marked 925, Britannia 958 and fine 999.  The two basic methods of silver production are raising, in which the maker repeatedly hits the centre of a flat - and usually round - piece of silver until the sides are pushed up into a vessel-like shape, and soldering, where two pieces of silver are joined together with molten-silver alloy.  There are also several surface-decoration techniques. The most common methods are:  Chasing A method by which the maker hollows out a line or shape by hammering the upper side of the silver.  Repousse Similar to chasing (and often used in conjunction with it), but the maker hammers the underneath rather than the top of the silver, pushing it into relief on the outside.  Engraving The maker carves out some of the silver to form patterns, images and letters.  Enamelling An old, established technique whereby a coloured glaze or glass is fired on to silver to produce coloured effects.  Polishing Refines the finish of an object by rubbing away the top layer of the surface. Traditionally, silver is polished to a mirror-like finish but contemporary pieces are often given matt, scratched, dulled or even oxidised finishes.  Malcolm Appleby Flamboyant engraved pieces, £5,000-£10,000 (from Bishopsland, 0118 972 4550; bishopsland.org.uk)  Rod Kelly Flat chased pieces and hand-raised gold beakers, £8,000-£12,000 (from Bishopsland, 0118 972 4550; bishopsland.org.uk)  Hiroshi Suzuki Raised bowls and dishes, £4,000-£8,000 (from Clare Beck at Adrian Sassoon, 020 7581 9888; adriansassoon.com)  Wayne Meeten Sculptural vessels, from £3,000 upwards (020 8525 0145; wvmstudio.com)  Junko Mori Sculptural pieces in silver and iron, £3,000-£8,000 (from Clare Beck at Adrian Sassoon, 020 7581 9888; adriansassoon.com)  Sidsel Dorph-Jensen Uses traditional techniques to explore surface textures, creating bowls, vases and vessels, £1,000-£6,000 (00 45 211 21273, dorphjensen.com)  Angela Cork Architectural hanging vases from £1,500 (020 7691 9098; angelacork.co.uk)  Clare Ransom Textural, pleated bowls and vessels, £500-£3,000 (07718 536 622; clareransom.com)  Many of the makers listed will be exhibiting at Collect, the international art fair for contemporary objects presented by the Crafts Council. The show runs from 25-29 January at the V&A, London SW7. For tickets, call 0870 842 2208 or go to craftscouncil.org.uk/collect  Ceramic Art London runs at the Royal College of Art, London SW7, from 29 February-2 March. For advance tickets, contact Ceramic Review (020 7439 3377) Bonhams' next International Contemporary Ceramics sale takes place on 16 April. For more information, call 020 7393 39 or go to bonhams.com
Contemporary craft is fast becoming a hot investment among canny collectors. But what's the best way to find a future classic? Charlotte Abrahams asks the experts