SHARDS - Winter/Spring 2020-2021

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WINTER/SPRING 2021

LETTER FROM OUR PRESIDENT Dear Members, This is my final letter to the Ceramics Study Club of Boston membership via SHARDS. It has been a great honor and wonderful time serving as the President of the CSC. Together, we have accomplished a lot in the last few years, notably changing the name of the group from China Students’ Club of Boston, Inc. to Ceramics Study Club of Boston and placing our archives at Historic New England where they will be safely preserved as well as accessible to scholars and researchers. On top of that, we confronted a global pandemic.

During my tenure, the officers and board have been just terrific in their enthusiasm for and support of our group. Ideas have been brought forward which have resulted in interesting programs, increased financial support, and new members. I am grateful to each and every one for taking on the less glamorous duties which benefit us all and to those who are assuming new roles, notably Martha Pinello, President and Daniel Sousa, Vice-President. Congratulations to both of them; the CSC is in very good hands.

Finally, I want to thank everyone in the club for the generous gift to the Historic New England Fund in my name. When asked where I might like such a gift to be made, HNE immediately came to mind as I have a fondness for the organization dating back to my early years in the museum field at the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities (SPNEA) and continuing to the present day. The fact that our club archives have been welcomed there makes it all the more important to me.

It is my hope that you and yours are healthy, happy, and enjoying all that summer has to offer. I write this letter with the expectation that we will be able to resume our meetings at the King’s Chapel Parish House in the fall. Recent news concerning Covid-19 has not been positive but we will strive to keep you informed of any changes to the program schedule.

Thank you again. I look forward to seeing you soon.

Carolyn Parsons Roy President, Ceramics Study Club of Boston Page 1

JANUARY TALK IN THE AGE OF COVID: MEISSEN ON ZOOM After an entire Fall lecture season cancelled due to Covid restrictions, Program Director Anne Lanning had had enough and tirelessly arranged, with the help of her husband, to set up a Zoom lecture with our January speaker Dr. Vanessa Sigalas. Dr Sigalas is the Research fellow for European Decorative Arts at the Wadsworth Athenaeum in Hartford, CT as well as managing editor of the American Ceramics Journal. Her talk was entitled Precious Beggars: Ivory and Porcelain Sculpture at the Dresden Court.

In the early 18th century, ivory carvers were highly regarded at princely courts and often worked as appointed court artists. Rulers such as Augustus the Strong of Saxony patronized these creative artists who did not just work in ivory, but in a variety of media such as stone, marble, wood, and ceramics.

As many of us may know, by 1710 the Meissen factory was established, and this coincided with the on-going work and eventual completion of the Zwinger Palace in Dresden which was a hive of activity and a destination for skilled artists of all sorts seeking employment, including sculptors.

Sculptors did not just work on statues for a specific collection, but rather were versatile artists who collaborated with other artists such as jewelers, silver, and goldsmiths to create multi-media decorative works. This was a climate of lively exchange between artists and the introduction of the new medium of porcelain garnered immediate attention as to its creative potential.

Augustus presented the factory with examples of Chinese porcelain from his collection for study and inspiration and figures were copied in both stoneware and porcelain. Court jewelers, silversmiths, lacquerers, and sculptors all put their hand to working in the early Bottger stoneware.

An early group of Comedia del’ Arte figures (c.1710-1720) in stoneware were attempted by at least three different sculptors and one in particular, Paul Heerman, seemed to understand the nature of the ware best, creating figures with areas of flat, straight surfaces which could be easily polished – one of the qualities of this ware. Heerman also created these figures in ivory where they are more detailed and fluid, showing his ability to work and understand the qualities and limitations of both media. In these early days a lot of Bottger stoneware was cast from existing works of art, as few original pieces had yet to be made directly as ceramic models.

Vessel production seemed to have been emphasized over figures in these early years of the manufactory. Rare exceptions are a series of figures of dwarves, circa 1725, in porcelain, as well as a figure of Augustus the Strong rendered in both stoneware and porcelain by Johann Joachim Kretzschmar which proved so popular that it remained in production until the 1920s. Why weren’t more stoneware figures also made in porcelain? One theory suggested that the porcelain glaze somewhat blurred the detail of the crisp stoneware; and another argument is that multiples of a figure were not at the time as appealing as having an original work by a sculptor.

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In 1727, the modeling department received its first Director with the appointment of itinerant ivory sculptor Johann Christoph Ludwig Lucke. One has to keep in mind that this position wasn’t a court appointment; this was a commercial enterprise and so Lucke had to collaborate with throwers and molders, oversee workers and apprentices and, in the meantime, figure out the vagaries and properties of kiln-fired porcelain. Needless to say, he lasted ten months and then moved on, continuing his itinerant career, later showing up at the Vienna, Berlin and Hochst factories.

Left: Examples of Johann Lucke’s masterful ivory carving – one can see how Meissen considered his talents applicable to the nascent porcelain manufactory. Right: Johann Kretzschmar’s stoneware figure of Augustus the Strong. Circa 1730.

Next in succession, in 1728 Johann Gottlieb Kirchner arrived. He then left and returned again.

(2 commas omitted)Although internal reports complained that he was a stone sculptor who never mastered the porcelain medium, he ended up modelling some of the famous animal figures in Augustus’s Japanese Palace as well as a pair of beggar figures. The beggars were actually new to porcelain though they had been a traditional subject in ivory for quite some time. Subjects were certainly expanded upon with the arrival of the final great name in this story – that of Johann Joachim Kaendler.

Kaendler joined the manufactory in 1731 and although he was a newcomer to Meissen, he was certainly familiar with the collections of Augustus, as he had worked on the sculptural interior design of the Green Vault at the Dresden Palace. There he had the opportunity to observe the extensive royal ivory collection firsthand.

And so, when Kaendler arrived at Meissen he united the ivory-carving tradition with the modeling of stoneware figures. He mastered the porcelain-making techniques and his designs made porcelain an independent art form in Europe. In the 1740s he developed his “Crinoline” groups – pairs of courtly figures known for the ladies’ expansive gowns – which was his response to the

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rococo paintings of Watteau and Lancret. These courtly couples display a liveliness and attention to detail that had not been previously achieved in porcelain. Between 1740-1745 he also designed a series of Harlequin characters considered by many to be the best porcelain figures of the 18th century. And Dr. Sigalas contends that there are very direct connections between Kaendler’s animated, expressive, and detailed porcelain figures and ivory sculptures in the royal collection.

Though much inspiration was provided by ivory sculptures of the period, one difference between ivory and porcelain persisted: ivory figures were one-off original sculptures and admired as cabinet pieces, whereas the porcelain figures were made as multiples and their appearance went beyond the display cabinet as they appeared on banquet tables, chimney pieces, tables and chests throughout an interior.

A very small sampling of Kaendler’s versatile talents.

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Meissen promoted the collectability of their porcelain by making figures in themed series such as Paris street criers; the monkey orchestra; and gardening children as well as a well-known series of various professions (c.1750-1760). Some of these drew their inspiration from period engravings, some from ivory carvings, but it is safe to say that by this point porcelain figures had attained the same level of status and appreciation as ivory sculptures.

FEBRUARY BITS ‘N’ PIECES Our very popular February Bits ‘n’ Pieces continued on Zoom this year and although the number of participants were fewer than past meetings, the variety of fine and interesting objects and the enthusiasm of fellow members were as strong as ever. The only complaint was that we were not all together to see these great pieces – and each other – in person. Some of this year’s offerings were as follows:

Nancy Carlisle’s passion for the Arts and Crafts period was indeed on display with these three pieces: a Pilkington Royal Lancastrian Lustre Vase after a Gladys Rogers deign, circa 1913-1925; a small Christopher Dresser dual color vase made by the Linthorpe Pottery circa 1879-1882 - though the design continued to be made until the factory’s closing in 1889; and a William DeMorgan handled lustre jug in red and cream in the Hispano-Moresque taste, and having an original paper label, circa 1880’s/early 1890s.

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Greg Lovell brought three nice pieces of 18th century Worcester including: a Cabbage Leaf Mask Jug which had a couple of rare attributes. First, Worcester started making these around 1755-1760 and the early ones tend to have straight sides. This one has a mask spout which would make it a rare example. Also supporting an earlier date is the handpainted decoration which was a precursor to the transfer-printed wares, and the fact that it doesn’t bear the usual crescent-shaped mark which started in use in the 1770s.

Greg also brought a Worcester leaf-molded sauceboat with floral sprig and insect decoration dated to 17551758 which would have been one of a left-handed and right-handed pair. Also, an unusually large leaf-molded dish with exotic bird decoration and honey gilding, deaccessioned from the St. Louis Museum of Art. Circa 1770s.

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Our club Dedham enthusiast, Jim Kaufman, was delighted to share with us a very rare Dedham Pottery Wall Pocket painted in the Azalea border and dating to circa 1930.

Three fine pearlware mugs were presented by JoAnn Brown from her collection – two 6” mugs with Chinese landscape decoration and a 5 ¼” one with a neoclassical swag design. Pearlware was often called “China Glaze” at the time because of its high glossy glaze (which tended to pool along the foot rims). The “Chinese House” patterned pieces date earlier than the swag-patterned piece. Circa late 18th century – 1800.

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SHARDS editor Jeff Brown shared some recent acquisitions with these early export ware vessels. Left: a pair of Japanese Imari jugs which date to the early 18th century – from the collection of the last Dutch Governor of Indonesia before World War II. Right: a large Chinese Imari teapot with a molded body with lotus-petal panels decorated with pots of blooming flowers. Most likely late Kangxi period, circa 1720. This piece started a debate over whether they were called ‘punch pots’ in their day, or, whether they were just large teapots. The consensus seemed to land on ‘large teapot’, someone suggesting ‘punch pot’ perhaps being an early 20 th century antique dealer’s term. And finally, below: a Japanese Arita jug with original pewter top with underglaze blue figural and landscape decoration amongst Karakusu borders which means Chinese Pattern. The Japanese were eager to emulate Chinese blue and white wares to fill a void in the market – the kilns in China were in disarray due to civil unrest and the Dutch were avidly seeking to fill their ships with a profitable substitute.

Late 17th century. Both the Imari jugs and the Arita one were almost certainly after European forms; the Imari ones were fired with holes at the rim to attach pewter or silver lids which apparently never happened.

Sometimes porcelain lids were provided but were frequently lost or were broken.

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Past CSC Club President and member whom we seldom get to see at meetings, Diana Edwards, shared this fine 10 ½” neoclassical encaustic vase from her home in Baltimore thanks to Zoom. The vase is by Humphrey Palmer, circa 1771 and possibly painted by Henry Baker. She believes the scene to depict The Crowning of Amasis, a 5th century, B.C. Egyptian king, but more research needs to be done.

Club President Carolyn Parson Roy shared a Dutch delft cruet set comprising a pair of handled and covered cruets with their original stand – a rare find- decorated in Chinoiserie imagery, circa 1725-1750. The A and O initials on the covers stand for Oil and Vinegar. Also, a British delft tin-glazed plate with a feathered edge decoration – a last gasp of English tin-glazed wares trying to compete with the “new” Pearlware pieces coming on the market. The landscape design is similar to some of the “Balloon” design plates of the 1780s.

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CERAMICS OF REVOLUTION AND REBELLION Covid restrictions continued to prevail in March, but that didn’t hinder our Program Director, and now Zoom Master, Anne Lanning, from coordinating another wonderful lecture for the group as her colleagues at Historic Deerfield, Amanda Lange, Curator of Historic Interiors and Director of the Curatorial Department and Daniel Sousa, Assistant Curator – and both CSC members – presented a talk entitled If Pots Could Talk: Stories of Revolution and Rebellion.

Dan started the talk illustrating a piece of black-glazed and gilt decorated Staffordshire pottery, a punch bowl, with Scottish Jacobite connections. The story behind its decoration all basically began in England with the Glorious Revolution of 1688 when King James II, a member of the Scottish Royal House of Stuart, fled to the continent and was replaced on the throne by his (Protestant) daughter Mary and her Dutch husband William. James’ identity as a Catholic and his proposed toleration of Catholics was not popular and led to his rather hasty departure to France. Over the next half century, James’ heirs - namely his son James Francis Edward Stuart, and grandson Charles Edward Stuart, would fight to regain the British throne. These efforts dragged on for years and culminated in Charles Edward’s (Bonnie Prince Charlie’s) defeat at the Battle at Culloden in 1746. After this crushing defeat, the English enacted a number of laws to prevent similar rebellions from occurring again. Supporters of the Jacobite movement effectively went into hiding and were forced to express their loyalties in secret. The black-glazed punch bowl was an example to commemorate the battle and one’s allegiance to the Jacobite cause. Created about 1766, the outside of the bowl is virtually covered with Jacobite imagery and slogans and features a number of highland warriors wearing traditional tartan dress and wielding swords, one of whom appears to be Bonnie Prince Charlie himself, as well as Scottish thistles. A silver rose is also predominantly displayed on one side of the bowl – representing a white rose, another Jacobite symbol. The bowl’s decoration is completed with a lengthy description around its rim: “May all true/Gentleman have/ a true Steward/ and may the tenant/ be ready when/ the Steward comes”.

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With its clear Jacobite decoration, the punch bowl might have served a specific function beyond a simple commemorative. It was common for Jacobite supporters to offer toasts to the exiled Stuart living on the continent by referring to him as the “King over the water”. The practice typically involved raising a glass and exchanging toasts over a bowl filled with water, which is what this piece was possibly used for.

If the Jacobites used objects to express their loyalties, so did the anti-Jacobites, or those loyal to the reigning monarch. The only real difference between the two is that there was no need to use antiJacobite ceramics in secret as their owners had the backing and support of the Hanoverian monarchs. The second piece of Dan’s talk specifically illustrated this point with this anti-Jacobite blackware jug pictured below.

The jug, most likely made in Staffordshire around 1765 celebrates the victory of the Duke of Cumberland over Bonnie Prince Charlie at Culloden in 1746 and was likely made to commemorate the Duke’s death. The Duke’s victory earned him the title of “Sweet William” amongst his supporters and the “Butcher of Culloden” amongst Jacobite sympathizers. The decoration features an image of the victorious Duke wielding a sword flanked by his initials D/W. The reverse shows an awkwardly rendered eagle, the symbol of victory.

Both these pieces serve to show how, with profits to be made, Staffordshire potters had no qualms creating commemorative ceramics for both sides of a political movement.

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Amanda took up the baton at this point and focused first on a transfer-printed English creamware plate that tells a tale of the American Revolution. The war lasted eight long years, but the initial fervor began to wane, as did funds for the fighting, as Congress had no power to tax the people.

Despite Britain’s military strength and supremacy their commanders failed to quell the rebellion.

By 1778 the future was unknown as the British found themselves in unenviable circumstances on multiple fronts. To make matters worse, the French, and their ally Spain, had joined in support of the American cause, and the Dutch, though remaining “neutral” were delivering goods to the Americans, routing them through the West Indian island of St. Eustatius. And so, as usually happens, critics and satirists took to communicating their concerns in the form of prints, which in turn inspired decoration on ceramics.

Entitled A Picturesque View of the State of the Nation for February 1778, this plate’s transfer-printed design expressed the concerns of the British people regarding the military and economic state of the British nation then in the midst of war with her American colonies.

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The slightly emaciated cow, symbolizing British commerce, is depicted being harassed and taken advantage of by personifications of several other countries. A man in a feathered headdress, emblematic of America, saws off the cow’s horn. Several men standing near the rear of the cow are either milking it, or receiving bowls of milk. A man wringing his hands to the right represents the Englishmen who are lamenting the decline of their economy. Adding insult to injury, a lion, the symbol of Britain, is asleep and is unaware a small dog is urinating on his back. In the background, General William Howe and his brother Admiral Richard Howe sit drinking together near Philadelphia with the latter’s flag ship The Eagle, beached and unready for action. Clearly critics were panning the efforts of the British army and were concerned that war with America was harming their economic livelihood.

From the second half of the 18th century, English transfer-printed creamwares were produced in large numbers both for the domestic and export markets by potters in North Staffordshire and Liverpool. This particular plate likely found its best market in America, but few survive with this decoration. It is difficult to say how many were produced and sold in the first place given the timesensitive subject matter. Amanda does not know of any examples that have been excavated outside of the United States.

Amanda’s second piece for our consideration was not a piece of English origin, but an extraordinary piece of sgraffito or incised American stoneware. It was a three-gallon jug made by Thomas Crafts (1781-1861), one of the most successful potters I the town of Whately (just south of Deerfield). Whately.(delete?) He started making glazed redware pottery in 1802, developing a successful teapot business. He switched to producing salt-glazed stoneware in 1833 and was active until 1848 when he turned his business over to his sons.

Since it entered the collection in 1989 it was the source of great speculation as no one knew the significance of the decoration. It was conjectured that it had some relation to the Civil War, but as Crafts retired by 1848 the timing did not support that connection.

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A young Deerfield Fellow named Peter Heslip took up the challenge to research the jug in 1999 when he at the museum with Deerfield’s Summer Fellowship Program for College Juniors and

Seniors. He drew out the complete scene which runs around the shoulder of the jug. It depicts a fort flying the British flag from which four rowboats full of men with muskets have been launched - heading towards an anchored steamship inscribed Carolina which was flying a 28-star American flag. To the left of the ship are fish in the water, a waterfall and small domed island below the falls. The core issue surrounded the name of the vessel – everyone had been sidetracked by the name Carolina, when in fact the real name of the ship was The Caroline.

Once the proper name was determined, the story fell into place. The jug illustrates the story of the failed Upper Canada Rebellion, also known as McKenzie’s Rebellion, from 1837-1838. This failed rebellion was an insurrection against the oligarchic government of Upper Canada (also known as Ontario) as well as a struggle for democracy and responsible government.

After the Canadian election of 1836 when there was widespread voter fraud, one William McKenzie – who lost his parliamentary seat – grew frustrated after years of failed efforts at peaceful change. He and his most radical followers attempted to seize control of the government and declare the colony a republic. After losing skirmishes in Toronto and London, about 200 rebels and their supporters fled to Navy Island on the Niagara River where they declared the Republic of Canada.

They enjoyed widespread support from Americans who provided supplies via a steamship named (space added)you guessed it – The Caroline. British and Canadian forces crossed the river, boarded the ship where she was moored in U.S. Territory, and towed the ship to the center of the river, set her on fire and sent her over Niagara Falls!

Sensationalized and false accounts of the incident were published in American newspapers and public opinion was outraged. President Van Buren protested the incident in London and was ignored. The crisis was finally resolved in 1842 by the Webster-Ashburton Treaty where both sides admitted to wrong-doing.

Thomas Crafts may have learned about the incident published in the Greenfield Gazette and Mercury in 1838. But why was Crafts compelled to produce this commemoration of the Caroline attack? What did it mean to him? Did he keep the piece or sell it? Did Crafts himself create the piece, or a member of his pottery? Many questions remain unanswered.

ASIAN EXPORT PORCELAIN AT THE NEW PEM Our April Zoom meeting was in fact a postponed talk from November 2019 when our speaker and fellow club member, Lan Morgan, Assistant Curator at the Peabody Essex Museum (or PEM), fell ill and had to cancel that talk. A second attempt to give the presentation was of course delayed by Covid, but all good things are worth waiting for and so club members were finally treated to Lan’s talk, Jingdezhen to Salem: Asian Export Porcelain at the New PEM on Thursday, April 22nd.

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The ‘New PEM’ in the title refers to the new wing of the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem which opened in 2019. As many know, The Peabody Essex Museum is the oldest continuously operating museum in the United States and Asian Export Art is the core of its identity as an institution.

The new wing has given the museum new opportunities to present Asian Export Art using new types of media, presenting new themes and putting never-exhibited objects on view. The talk focused on Asian Export Art, specifically ceramics, as they relate to the gallery’s larger themes and also their connection to other objects in the gallery.

Asian Export Art, as defined at PEM is art made in Asia specifically for an export market. This category, though, also includes objects made outside of Asia – in Europe, the United States, and Middle East – that were produced in direct response to the influence of Asian objects. These works are hybrids, a blend of materials, technologies, and design motifs.

Beginning in the late 1500s, European merchants risked life and limb to sail to the thriving port cities of Guangzhou, Kolkata, and Nagasaki seeking teas, porcelains, and fabrics. These cities were already established commercial trade centers and Europe and America were late comers, existing on the peripheries of this complex global trade network. After the American Revolution Salem merchants were some of the first Americans to join the trade, returning to Salem with luxuries to sell as well as rare objects and natural specimens. In 1799 a group of twenty-two mariners established PEM’s precursor, the East India Marine Society. In addition to providing relief for the families of deceased mariners, members were tasked with forming a “museum of natural and artificial curiosities” from their travels which over the following seventy years, formed the core of the museum’s collections.

The new gallery builds on this rich history; the 40,000 square foot building expansion incorporates the original East India Marine Hall as well as galleries for Maritime, Fashion and Design collections. The Asian Export Art gallery includes two hundred works from China, Japan, and Southeast Asia from the 15th – 20th centuries. The installation frames Asian Export Art through three lenses. First, it explores the key catalysts for change that drove the trade - namely porcelain, tea, silver, textiles, and opium. Next, it looks at the connections that formed across cultural and geographic boundaries. And finally, the gallery explores how transmission of materials, design motifs, and artistic techniques resulted in transcultural objects.

Lan introduced us to the ceramics in the gallery with a single object, one that became somewhat of their figurehead while planning the gallery. It was a blue and white covered monumental vase that was produced in Jingdezhen around 1710. It is intended to anchor the visitor in the story of export porcelain, and the great lengths the Western world went to comma omitted to obtain it. The piece bears the inventory number from the collection of Augustus the Strong, King of Poland and Elector of Saxony.

Augustus was one of the most obsessive collectors of Chinese and Japanese export porcelain in history, amassing an enormous collection at a time when the recipe for porcelain still eluded European manufacturers. His addiction [then known as Porzelankrankheit (or porcelain sickness)] drove him to trade ? with Page 15

Friedrich Wilhelm I of Prussia 600 of his own mercenary soldiers in exchange for 151 porcelain objects. 18 vases were included in this count – and we believe our example to be one of them. Augustus is also

infamous for imprisoning Johannes Bottger (could be spelled Böttger throughout?), an alchemist who eventually won his freedom by discovering the recipe for hard paste porcelain. This new knowledge was used to establish the first European porcelain manufactory, Meissen, in 1709, forever transforming ceramic production in Europe. Visitors are invited to learn about Augustus through a short, humorous

animation which was created with the help of Fablevision Studios in Boston. The animation can be viewed on touch screens which flank the vase, hopefully making a direct connection for visitors between the object before them and the long history of Asian export ceramics in the west.

Augustus’ story conveys the greed and obsession that sometimes drove the Asian export trade.

Visitors will find that throughout the gallery attempts to unravel some of the dark undercurrents that are attached to the objects in our collection. But it is also about the story of the birth of the porcelain industry in Europe, which sparked centuries of innovation and continues to shape many of the ceramics we use in our own households today. We wanted to make this history of objects that are now nearly quotidien and easily overlooked, accessible to audiences of all ages.

Augustus the Strong’s “Soldier Vase” All images in this article are courtesy of the Peabody Essex Museum, in Salem.

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Adjacent to the vase, is a large wall case which was our opportunity to display as much of our important export porcelain collection as possible. The intention of massing in the porcelain case

allows visitors to quickly comprehend the evolution of porcelain production, the sheer variety of decorative techniques and forms available through export, and the many works of art that they inspired. The wall contains objects arranged loosely chronologically, beginning with the 15th century, and thematically, with a large diversity of forms, production techniques and decoration.

Because this wall is meant to invite close looking and emphasize the beauty and diversity of Asian porcelain, there are no labels in the case. Instead, we created a separate gallery book that includes a tombstone guide and short histories of export porcelain and ceramics around Asia. The museum is also working to have an interactive version of this and information for each object available on our website for your own leisured exploration at home.

The majority of objects in the wall, and throughout the gallery, were produced in Jingdezhen, the primary production center for Chinese export porcelain. But we also worked to represent all of the major production centers of Asia. We also include ceramics that were produced outside of Asia, but that exhibit the clear influence of Asian design and technology. For example, we have several works from Zhangzhou, or Swatow, a production center which catered primarily to a Southeast Asian Markets. From Dehua we have a range of objects that exemplify this region’s sinuous white porcelain products. An early 18th century Dutch family group was made in response to a growing European demand for figural groupings that included multiple, complex elements.

Also from Dehua is an incredible pair of candelabra, representing objects that, after export, had Page 17

been made and remade to suit local taste. The columns of these candelabra are fashioned from small Dehua wine cups, and the figural bases were once Dehua toy whistles. Once exported to

France, an artist assembled the pieces into this grand pair using gilded-bronze mounts, and added French porcelain base elements, bobeches, and candle sockets.

Other ceramics from areas outside of Jingdezhen include a rare 1710 kendi, an unusual form from Yixing whose wares influenced Johannes Bottger in the pieces he designed for the Meissen Manufactory. As well as a vase - a wonderful new acquisition from Japan - which came to the collection in 2018. It is a large and exquisitely executed Meiji-period Satsuma vase, decorated by Sozan for the Kinkozan workshop of Kyoto, likely in the 1880s. Here, the decorator evoked medieval-style Japanese ink painting, in combination with polychrome enameling, gilding and piercing. This piece is of particular interest to us because of a label at the bottom with an inventory number and a price in rupees. Satsuma ceramics were widely exhibited at the international fairs in Europe and the United States, but the label indicates to us that it was probably exhibited at the 1883 International Exhibition in Calcutta, which adds another layer to our understanding of the global influence of export ceramics in the 19th century.

A personal favorite new acquisition of Lan’s is a tin-glazed earthenware Talavera Poblana basin made around 1710. It was likely produced in Puebla, the principal city for ceramic production in Mexico after the 16th century. The potters of Puebla produced Talavera Poblana by adapting majolica production techniques brought to Mexico by Spanish settlers. They drew ornamental inspiration from Spanish tilework, European decorative motifs, and Islamic architectural forms.

The use of blue and white glazes and Asian motifs, as seen in this basin, is the direct influence of the Asian porcelains entering Latin America via the Manila Galleon trade. The basin’s thickly potted walls are delightfully wonky– it is a piece that beautifully illustrates the technical and design innovations that resulted from attempts to replicate Asian porcelain outside of Asia.

Proceeding throughout the space ceramics continue to play a key role in underscoring the themes in the rest of the gallery and providing visual and material context.

In one section of the gallery, the role of Christianity in Asia is examined. As merchants flooded the ports of Asian countries, Christian missionaries followed closely in their wake. Objects in this section tell of how Asian artists were commissioned to create works of art that helped to spread Christianity within Asia, like a porcelain Madonna and child, made in Dehua at the turn of the 18th century. A Chinese artist used the familiar form of the Guanyin, a Buddhist Bodhisattva of mercy and compassion, and transformed this familiar Buddhist figure into a Christian Madonna by adding a beaded cross at her neck. Instead of the children usually accompanying the Guanyin, she holds a baby Jesus in her arms, who raises his hand in benediction. Anther object which Page 18

illustrates the way the Christian church adopted Asian export objects for use in ecclesiastic settings outside of Asia is a rather simple porcelain crow cup made in Jingdezhen in the late 1500s. It took

on new life after the German silversmith Peter Wiber transformed it with elaborate gilded-silver mounts for use as a chalice in Christian Communion rites in a European church.

Tea is well-represented in the gallery, of course, as it was one of the luxuries most heavily exported out of China. It not only created new rituals and foodways that introduced new forms of ceramics in Europe and America, but it also sparked a fascination among foreigners with its production.

This set of unfired clay figures depicts a tea packer and a porter. Captain Richard Wheatland of Salem brought these figures home from Guangzhou and donated them to the East India Marine Society in 1803, making them among the first Chinese export objects to have entered our collection.

A punch bowl also illustrates the process of tea production in fine detail. The trajectory of the process is depicted continuously around the sides and zigzagging from top to bottom, as it follows Chinese workers growing, harvesting, preparing, and packing the tea for shipment. Objects like these represent what was both real and imagined for foreign consumers. Chinese artists rendered each scene with great skill and with fine detail, giving a Western consumer the sense that they were gaining insight into the processes that resulted in their luxury exports.

Tea Production Punch Bowl Just around the corner from the punch bowl, you can walk directly into one of the largest such examples in our collection. The wallpaper was commissioned by the Scottish merchant James Drummond, 8th Lord Viscount Strathallan, around 1800, and hung in his castle in Scotland for over 250 years. sPage 19 ?

It depicts a panoramic view of Guangzhou, and the largest known depiction of the hongs. As a President in the British East India Company in Guangzhou for over 20 years, Drummond would have been very familiar with bustle and cosmopolitan life depicted around the hongs, but he never

would have personally seen the city of Guangzhou visualized in the distance behind them. Like the punchbowl, the wallpaper’s scenery represented a mix of both memory and imagination. Its symbolic of his access and familiarity with a foreign location, but one that was at the border of lands and cultures forbidden to foreign travelers. We wanted to play with this idea that objects and souvenirs can summon memory, as well as create ideas about foreign places that we may never have been. We decided to do this by creating an immersive environment, that we hope is a new take on the traditional period room.

Chinese export wallpaper from Strathallen Castle, Scotland, circa 1800.

Portraiture was one common exchange that kept a foreign colleague’s likeness at top of mind as business relationships continued through long overseas correspondence. Throughout the gallery, visitors are introduced to some of the key individuals who created partnerships with Salem and Boston merchants, like Houqua, head of the co-hong (or government appointment merchants) in Guangzhou, and Eshing, a revered Chinese silk merchant.

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Raj Kissen Mitter of Kolkata did the same. Mitter was a member of an influential family of textile merchants and was an essential contact for any American merchant hoping to trade in India in the early 19th century. To strengthen business relationships, Mitter presented multiple portraits of

himself to his American counterparts, a practice that allowed him to shape his own image to his foreign contacts. He gave this watercolor to Boston merchant John T. Coolidge in 1846, which conveys his fluency in both Indian and Western culture. He is painted on ivory, an Indian substrate, and is robed in traditional Indian dress. He also sits in three-quarter profile before classical architectural elements and a seascape view, all conventions of European-style portraiture.

Mitter was particularly shrewd about how he could use this portraiture exchange to garner attention and market his services. Early in his career, he commissioned a life-sized unfired clay portrait figure of himself, which he sent to his client John Parker. Parker almost immediately donated the figure to the East Marine Society, where it was displayed for nearly a century.

Unfired clay figures infused with a high sense of naturalism were growing in popularity in India in the early 19th century. They were made by an enterprising caste of potter-sculptors near Krishnangar, who were known for making clay images of Hindu deities, as well as utilitarian clay vessels. These figures may have been modeled off real people, but generally followed certain tropes of “types” of Indian people, such as craftsmen, beggars, servants, and religious mendicants. The figures marked a clear shift towards realism in Indian sculpture and the influence of British and American patronage, though they were also purchased by upper class Bengalis. Captain Briggs of Salem purchased 7 miniature figures for the East India Marine Society in 1823, and Samuel Barton commissioned a set of 21 for the Society during his time in Calcutta in 1833.

And so with these being just some of the treasures that await you in the ‘New PEM’, Lan extended everyone a warm invitation to visit in person in the post-Covid world. We cannot wait!

FOUNDING DAYS OF THE WEDGWOOD CLUB IS THE TOPIC FOR THE VIVIAN HAWES MEMORIAL LECTURE On May 28, 2021, a team of three CSC members, who are also Directors of the Wedgwood Society of Boston (WSB), Jeremy Hagger, Bob Chellis and Elizabeth Collins, used Zoom to give this year's "Vivian Hawes Memorial Lecture," entitled Making a Difference: The Wedgwood Club (1933-1969) & Its Three Stars - Jean Gorely, Elizabeth Chellis and Nina Fletcher Little. From the 1930s, both Elizabeth and Nina were simultaneously active CSC members, while Jean, though not a member, spoke to the CSC on at least 4 occasions. Cross membership between the two organizations was common during the life of the Wedgwood Club (WC).

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Jeremy Hagger began and related how on October 28, 1933, Jean Gorely and her husband Charles established the WC; Jean described the moment: "We met in the beautiful dining room of the Otis House with its green and white decoration in the Adam manner. Eleven persons signed the

registry that day. There was a letter from Colonel (later Lord) Josiah Clement Wedgwood, then Member of Parliament, accepting Honorary Membership in the Club. There was ceremony. There was enthusiasm. There was an 18th century setting. I think that we all felt that the WC was auspiciously launched in the wide, wide world." Elizabeth and Nina joined the WC during its first year in May 1934. Jeremy said that in another sense, the foundations of the WC could be set more than a century earlier in London and that the scene was depicted in a well -known 1809 engraving showing the interior of Wedgwood's London showroom. He drew attention to the figure at the doorway who perhaps was Thomas Howorth (175?-1832), later the showroom Manager, and the Great Grandfather of Charles Gorely. Liz Collins now took over, showing the participants the original watercolor of the scene and giving some background on the remarkable fifteen-year-old artist, Thomas Hosmer Shepherd. The young man, who would make his career as an architectural draftsman, painter, and engraver, created the original watercolor which Liz was holding (Fig. 1) and then went on to engrave the plate for later publication. Shepherd's original watercolor largely disappeared from sight until 1950 when Captain Holdstock, Liz Collins' grandfather, purchased it. Liz pointed out different details the artist had shown, including Wedgwood's original model of Britannia Triumphant prominently displayed in the painting's center.

Figure 1. Original watercolor by Thomas Hosmer Shepard depicting Wedgwood’s London showroom, c. 1809.

Jeremy then explained that the showroom closed in 1829, and the inventory was disposed of with some pieces being given to the now redundant Wedgwood employees, including a significant amount to the Manager Thomas Howorth. Mr. Hagger traced how a portion of Howorth's Wedgwood collection found its way to Boston with Mr. Gorely's Grandparents.

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He said that later in the 19th century these ceramics were packed in barrels, stored in a warehouse and forgotten for more than 35 years until one day in 1922, Jean and Charles unpacked them in their Wellesley living room. Orphaned at a young age, Charles knew nothing about his family or

the ceramics, and it seems probable that neither Jean nor Charles had ever heard of Wedgwood until this moment. Jean, a Wellesley College Class of 1916 graduate, had long been interested in 18th and 19th century literature and saw this wonderful collection as a way to further her study of the art, culture and artifacts of this period. She, like her two other WC colleagues, was also a bit of an entrepreneur and not being able to enter business, turned this good fortune into a life-long career. She was a writer and spoke of being able to concentrate closely on her "desk-work" for 8 hours at a stretch; although usually surrounded by people, she was really a guarded introvert who did not travel but stayed close to home with the family she loved. She made her living through lecturing on ceramics and was said to have a "platform manner."

Jean described her mainly inherited collection of "pedigreed Wedgwood": "The Gorely collection of old Wedgwood ware is not large as collections go [perhaps 200 pieces], but it is varied and valuable for the student as it contains specimens of almost every kind of ware produced by Josiah Wedgwood I and II. Moreover, it is authenticated by old letters and papers in Mr. Gorely's possession. There are examples of basalts, both polished and unpolished, and with encaustic painting, Queensware, cane-colored, silver lustre, jasper dip, solid jasper, polished jasper, the rare soft-paste porcelain made in 1811 marked with Wedgwood in red, as well as applied Wedgwood, i.e. Wedgwood used in combination with wood or metal or glass. Among the pieces of applied Wedgwood there are basalts and ormolu candlesticks, cuff links, an interesting chatelaine, scent bottles, seals, etc. Other unusual pieces include jelly moulds, a miniature tea set of cane-colored ware, a paint-box (Fig. 2) with palette and color rack, and a bas-relief of a sleeping boy."

Figure 2. Wedgwood ‘Paint Box’

Figure 3. Wedgewood & Bentley, The Triumph of Bacchus

Jean resembled Vivian Hawes in that she was a very focused and determined researcher who studied her pieces in minute detail, searched for the design sources, studied Wedgwood's artists, modelers and contemporaries and wrote up and published her results. With a few exceptions, such as the impressive Wedgwood & Bentley medallion of the "Triumph of Bacchus" (Fig. 3), Jean and Charles did not greatly expand their collection beyond his inheritance. She was the only Secretary of the WC while Charles was continuously re-elected as President. Increasingly she turned her sharp focus on those pieces owned and exhibited by club members. At Wellesley, she had studied Page 23

and absorbed the ideas of Emerson, and her intense study of ceramic art became almost a religious experience enabling her to transcend the details of daily life and participate in the realm of universal values and truth. She shared these views very sparingly, and certainly not with her practical friends Elizabeth and Nina.

During her career, Jean made a number of important Wedgwood discoveries and identifications: in the 1930s she recognized two pieces from her own inherited collection as representing part of a lost Wedgwood 50th Anniversary commemorative service made for George III in 1809. Armed with her photos and descriptions, John Cook, Curator of the Wedgwood Museum, found another piece in London (Fig. 4) and in 1944 Queen Mary identified additional pieces which were given to her and placed in the Royal Collection.

Her two other significant "finds" came from the collection of Sam Oster, from Philadelphia, since 1937 a "distant member" of the Club. Guided by noted Newark, New Jersey dealer, Ms. Jessie Kessler, Sam put together a collection of very high-quality pieces. In 1943, he wrote to Jean describing an unusual Wedgwood plaque which he had just acquired and asking for her help in identifying it. Jean knew at once that Sam had found a jasper version of George Stubbs' very rare Wedgwood plaque (only two jasper examples known) showing the scene of "The Frightened Horse" (Fig. 5). After Sam's death, the noted collector, Paul Mellon, sent an emissary to sit down with Mrs. Oster at her kitchen table and negotiate the purchase of the plaque which today hangs in a place of honor at the Yale Museum of British Art.

Fig 4. Piece of Wedgwood’s 50th Anniversary service for George III. Fig.5. Jasper version of George Stubbs’ The Frightened Horse”

Her two other significant "finds" came from the collection of Sam Oster, from Philadelphia, since 1937 a "distant member" of the Club. Guided by noted Newark, New Jersey dealer, Ms. Jessie Kessler, Sam put together a collection of very high-quality pieces. In 1943, he wrote to Jean describing an unusual Wedgwood plaque which he had just acquired and asking for her help in identifying it. Jean knew at once that Sam had found a jasper version of George Stubbs' very rare Wedgwood plaque (only two jasper examples known) showing the scene of "The Frightened Horse" (Fig. 5). After Sam's death, the noted collector, Paul Mellon, sent an emissary to sit down with Mrs. Oster at her kitchen table and negotiate the purchase of the plaque which today hangs in a place of honor at the Yale Museum of British Art. (duplicate para?)

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In 1946, Sam Oster purchased at auction a piece from the collection of the late Honorary WC Member, R.T.H. Halsey, which Sotheby's described as a "jardiniere" (Fig. 6). Since Sam already owned a Wedgwood montieth usually monteith which he had exhibited a year earlier at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, he knew that the description was incorrect, but he was interested in

the decoration: a chain of the 13 colonies with an unknown escutcheon. Again, he wrote to Jean, and again she made a major Wedgwood discovery, her third, that the montieth's escutcheon was that of the Revolutionary Continental Navy. She speculated that it - and the rest of a set - might have been ordered by Robert Morris, c. 1780, who was both the financier of the Revolution and the "Agent of Marine." Today the original montieth is owned by the National Park Service and is on exhibit in Philadelphia's Independence Park. In 1953, Jean organized the Wedgwood Company to make a replica of this montieth as a souvenir for the WC's 20 Anniversary celebrations.

Figure 6. Wedgwood Monteith

Fig. 7 Wedgwood Soup Bowl – part of a set?

The unanswered question is whether the "Oster" montieth was part of a set, and if so, what happened to all the other pieces, since none have ever turned up? In 1780 would Wedgwood have made a solitary montieth with a "bespoke" design? Bob Chellis had noted how Josiah Wedgwood disliked making armorial ware since if the client did not like it, or could not pay, it could not be resold. In the last 70 years, no other pieces were seen until Debbie Bassett helped Jeremy go through the CSC Archives and look at the photographs taken of the 1954 and 1964 CSC Exhibitions. In the 1954 Exhibition, CSC member and President for the term of 1957-1959, Lilian A. Smith, 37 West Cedar Street, Boston 14, Mass. [if any readers have any information at all about Ms. Smith, please contact one of us] exhibited a soup bowl which certainly looks as if it could be part of the "Morris" Wedgwood set (Fig. 7)! How could this piece be hidden in plain sight and yet no one ever mention it? Nina and Elizabeth would have had their replica montieths on their mantlepieces displaying a very similar, or the same, pattern. There are so many unanswered questions about Ms. Smith's CSC entry that this subject will have to wait for a separate article, but it was certainly an exciting discovery for the presenters!

Bob Chellis now took over and described the second major figure of the WC, his mother, Elizabeth Colp Chellis, a scholar and collector, always ready to share her knowledge, resources, and advice. She was a warm and outgoing person who "collected people as well as Wedgwood," and she built great collections of both.

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Bob pointed out that for at least the first decade of the WC's existence Elizabeth was Jean Gorely's closest friend and confidant. In a very real sense, they learned and studied Wedgwood together, but as Membership Chair, it was Elizabeth who traveled alone and made close contact with members throughout the country as well as going to England and meeting all of the Wedgwood

family. As she absorbed different points of view, Elizabeth began to chafe under Jean's rather rigid leadership style, and she turned increasingly to the CSC as a venue for her presentations, for fellowship and for exhibitions.

Elizabeth Chellis assembled one of the great comprehensive mid-century Wedgwood collections, focusing on the 18th century production of Josiah Wedgwood I. Her collecting was based on a thorough knowledge of her field. In 1956, she said that “Books to the discriminating collector are what the compass is to the navigator. Supplement your collecting with the bibliographic approach.” She assembled what has been called "the world's most extensive private Wedgwood library" of approximately 1,000 pieces, including books, manuscripts, original letters, and period engravings, now housed in its entirety at the Birmingham (AL) Museum of Art. Elizabeth was also a builder of institutions, as Membership Chair for the WC, active in all phases of the CSC, close to all the principals of Josiah Wedgwood & Sons and to those other major collectors not located in New England. Although a team maker and builder, she said that if she were to be in an organization, she would lead it. In 1956, distancing herself from the WC, she was one of the principals behind the formation of the Wedgwood International Seminar (WIS) and later its President. In 1969 with the winding up of the WC due to the failing health of both Jean and Charles Gorely, Elizabeth formed the Wedgwood Society of Boston (WSB). In her establishment of both the WIS and the WSB, she brought along and included many of her CSC friends and colleagues.

Although Elizabeth referred to her pieces as "a teaching collection," in fact it surpassed the holdings of most museums. Bob selected a number of favorite pieces to illustrate his remarks, including her 11 1/2" oval platter with black enamel painted landscape, "View at Enville, Staffordshire" from the 1774 "Frog Service" made for Empress Catherine of Russia (Fig.8). Other classic yet whimsical items were her 2 1/2" Pearlware 18th century Pratt-type lion decorated with underglaze enamel (Fig. 9) which bears a conspicuous resemblance to Prime Minister Pitt and the mysterious 6 1/2" Pearlware flask (Fig. 10) decorated with blue underglaze florets, foliage and beadwork with the name "R. Wedgwood" painted on it. Elizabeth exhibited this piece in the both the 1954 and 1964 CSC shows and spoke about it at the October 25, 1953 CSC meeting, saying that she believed that it was "probably made for Richard Wedgwood, Josiah's father-in-law." In his 1980 book, "18th Century Wedgwood," David Buten devotes a full page (76) to an explanation and illustration of this flask noting its classical motifs of laurel wreaths, ribbons with pendant flowers and beaded molding and finding parallels with Greek and Roman terra cotta bottle shapes. It was a delight for all of the presenters to learn after the talk that today the flask resides in the preeminent Wedgwood collection of Chicago-area WSB members Bob and Lucille Reichner. Bob Chellis showed slides of many of Elizabeth's (and his) favorite pieces, but we close with one of the most meaningful to her, a 4 3/4" creamware teapot and cover, c. 1763, attributed Page 26

to Wedgwood, bearing the black transfer image of Queen Charlotte on one side and on the reverse a crown and symbols of state and "Long Live King George and Queen Charlotte" (Fig. 11).

Fig. 8. Example of the Frog Service.

Fig. 9. 18th century Pearlware Pratt-type Lion.

Fig. 10. Pearlware Flask

Fig. 11. 1763 Creamware Teapot with image of Queen Charlotte

Jeremy then discussed the last of the three WC stars, Nina Fletcher Little, a remarkable collector, whose interests were constantly evolving. Jeremy acknowledged at the outset that CSC colleague, Nancy Carlisle, Senior Curator of Collections at Historic New England, has written the most informative articles on Nina and her husband Bert, and many of her insights were incorporated in this presentation. Jeremy briefly related how Nina owned no Wedgwood when she joined the WC and had to borrow a redware chocolate pot from her Aunt Edna Greenwood to bring to her first meeting in May 1934 (Fig. 12). Nina later purchased the piece, studied it carefully, wrote about it and convinced Ms. Alice Winchester, Editor of the Magazine Antiques to publish it. At the time, redware, even a Wedgwood example, was considered too common for serious study - it was the plastic of its time. Yet Nina's determination to bring her analytical skills to the study of redware from its Chinese beginnings to its Dutch imitation and finally to its English production - was the beginning of her lifelong interest in the study of the "useful" as opposed to the "ornamental" in decorative arts. Aided by her friendship with Lura Woodside Watkins, an amateur ceramic excavator and author, Nina also became increasingly interested in the "local" as compared with the "foreign" in ceramics and decorative arts as a whole (an uncommon sentiment at the time in the WC). By the end of her life, Nina would be considered one of the founders of the field of American "folk art."

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In an early CSC history, Ms. Jessie Hayden Rablin wrote that "Nina Little was our principal speaker, and we could always call upon her if we had a space to fill in our program." Ms. Rablin paid tribute to Bert, saying, "he planned meetings for us, and we always looked forward to them as he presented them with a great sense of humor." Likewise, Nina was very active in the WC, and over the years, she and Bert were featured

speakers in 12 different presentations. In the late 1930s, Lura Watkins discovered that the Essex farm, "Cogswell's Grant," was for sale, and she convinced Nina and Bert, to buy it and furnish it mainly with local New England pieces, including redware (this time made in New England) (Fig. 13). At their deaths, Nina and Bert left Cogswell's Grant, and its contents, to Historic New England for all of us to enjoy today. Yet, Nina and Bert lived for much of the year in their imposing city home in Brookline surrounded by "highstyle" Wedgwood, 19th century Staffordshire historic blue pieces, and other 17th and 18th century English, European and Chinese ceramics (Fig. 14). Most of the contents of their Brookline home were sold following their deaths. Due to the breadth of her ceramic interests, it is not surprising that Nina was very active in the CSC (probably more so than she was with the WC). Nina was the Co-Chair of the 1954 CSC Exhibition, the Chair of the 1964 Exhibition, and she lent more pieces for exhibition - approximately 100 than anyone else.

Fig.12 Wedgwood Redware Coffee Pot

Fig 13 Cogswell Grant Redware Collection Fig.14 The Little’s Brookline Collection

Liz Collins closed the program presenting an image of the 1957 CSC meeting’s calendar showing presentations that year not only by Elizabeth Chellis and Nina Fletcher Little but another by her grandmother, Anne Holdstock, on the topic "Robert Hancock's Drawings on Worcester and other Porcelains." Although Anne was a very active member of the WC, later an officer in the WIS and finally a member of the WSB, she also had a broader ceramic interest which fit perfectly with the goals of the CSC. Liz used her grandmother's notes to illustrate a few highlights of the original presentation showing Hancock's 1757 engraving of the Worcester factory (Fig. 15). She noted that in 1751 a consortium of Worcester businessmen, led by Dr. John Wall, purchased a Bristol-based company, moved it to their town, renaming it "The Worcester Tonquin Manufacture." They produced an English soft-paste porcelain using soapstone as a substitute for china clay (Kaolin) in the porcelain recipe. Underglaze printing was introduced c. 1754 and overglaze printing c. 1756, and the process was matured with the arrival of master engraver Robert Hancock in 1756. Liz concluded the lecture by showing a magnificent Wedgwood encaustic-painted black basalt plaque from her grandparents’ collection (now part of her own) which she Page 28

entitled, "The Cupid and Lion Plaque," (Fig. 16), but which Elizabeth Chellis had named, "The Power of Love," and which, in cameo form, became the logo of the WSB. (See half page color illustration of

Liz's plaque and full description in David Buten's 1980 book, "18th Century Wedgwood."). The

presenters thanked the CSC's Secretary, Ms. Debbie Bassett for her active help in searching the CSC Archives with them which greatly strengthened the presentation.

Fig. 15 1757 Engraving of the Worcester Factory.

Fig. 16 Encaustic-painted basalt ‘Cupid and Lion’ Plaque

ZOOM LECTURES FROM PROVIDENCE ENHANCE CSC PROGRAM SCHEDULE And as a final note, the Board of the Ceramics Study Club of Boston wishes to acknowledge and thank our friends in Rhode Island at the Providence Pottery and Porcelain Club for including our membership in two of their Zoom meetings. CSC members were invited to hear Ron Fuchs, Senior Curator of Ceramics at the Reeves Museum of Ceramics at Washington and Lee University, speak on September 23rd on the subject of Breaking the Chains – Ceramics and the Abolition Movement. Then, on October 21st, a talk was made available to us by Kevin Wallace, Director of the Beatrice Wood Center for the Arts in Ojai, California who spoke on the subject of Beatrice Wood: The Art of Life.

These programs indeed helped lighten the Covid load of a long period when we could not enjoy each other’s company and we are very grateful to the Providence Pottery and Porcelain Club.

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