CSDA/CCAD (Canadian Society for Decorative Arts/Cercle canadien des arts décoratifs) is a national organization that promotes decorative art and design through one-of-a-kind events, special guest talks, and via their award-winning magazine, Ornamentum. https://www.ornamentum.ca
The society hosted a conference in Vancouver this weekend. Attendees were taken to museums, galleries and ECUAD and on Friday evening the general public was also invited to a free talk sponsored by NorthWest Ceramics Foundation. Below is the invitation.
John David Lawrence and Daina Augaitis in Conversation
A life-long collector of early and mid-20th century BC ceramics, John David Lawrence is the owner of Do Da Antiques in Vancouver. John has been a critical contributor to the BC Ceramics Mark Registry (BCCMR) supported by the NWCF and the Craft Council of BC. He has also provided expert advice and works from his own collection to a number of seminal craft exhibitions across Canada. Daina Augaitis is Chief Curator Emerita at the Vancouver Art Gallery, where she led the curatorial programs between 1997-2017. One of her last collaborative projects at the museum was Modern in the Making: Post-war Craft and Design in British Columbia, and it was during the research for this exhibition in 2018 that she was introduced to Mr. Lawrence’s outstanding collection of BC ceramics.
The evening promised to be most interesting so Alan and I registered to attend. We found ourselves joining a big crowd of familiar local potters and collectors. I was delighted to find NorthWest Ceramic Foundation board members, of course, lots of Potters Guild of BC members, a cohort from Shadbolt Centre and some of my ‘Raiders’. Clive Tucker and I represented TriCity Potters.
Pottery from the twentieth century was set out on a long table in front of the large audience. Before the talk we had enjoyed refreshments courtesy of Inform Interiors. Their Gastown store, one of two there, is huge, covering three floors with fine furniture.
Daina asked John how long he’d been a collector.. all his life, specifically pottery from the nineties when he opened his store, Doda Antiques. Then each piece was discussed, from the earliest work by Vernon potter Axel Ebring to work by potters we know, but made in the twentieth century. Daina pointed out that there was no indigenous pottery in BC.
Only when looking at our photos later did I notice a fine vessel by Julie York, on the floor to the left in the photo above.
Collector Dave Carlin, who I haven’t seen since the closing of the Gallery of BC Ceramics five years ago, had volunteered to help bring John’s selected pots to the venue. Then, as we learnt the history of each pot he carefully carried it down the rows of seats for us to have a better look. Sadly, photos taken on the move aren’t good so I don’t have a photo of each one.
I wanted to be sure not to miss out the names of any potters. Their work had been carefully chosen to represent the history of BC Ceramics. John Lawrence kindly and promptly responded to my email request for a list.
Axel Ebring
Grace Melvin
Mollie Carter
Olea Davis
Tommy Kakinuma
Santos Mignosa
John Reeve
Tam Irving
Wayne Ngan
Otto Wichmann
Walter Dexter
Ron Tribe
Bill Rennie
Laura Wee Way Laq
Clearly it was a fascinating talk. Daina and John’s enthusiasm for BC pottery was obvious. I don’t know if their exchange was recorded but certainly some of the anecdotes and history must be remembered. One interesting question Daina asked of John was about what should happen to his and other collections. Some will be sold but he feels that the important pieces should be housed where everyone can see and study them. I like that.
Thank you for a well-planned, interesting and friendly evening CSDA, NWCF and Inform. Now I’ll just post more photos from the talk.
