Commission at EXPO

Rodney Maxwell-Muir

Potters who have been to EXPO may have had their attention caught by
some interesting stoneware in La Toundra Restaurant in the Canadian
Pavilion. It is pleasant to report that all these pieces are the work of
our Vancouver member, Rodney Maxwell-Muir.

This large commission was a development of his being approached,

about eighteen months ago, to do a small job for a design consulting
firm. The requirement then was for a small group of sample pieces of
stoneware made especially to fit the proposed decor for the restaurant;
the idea was that a manufacturer would then copy the samples. However,
when the consultant took the prototypes to the East and various possi-
bilities were checked out there, the answer came back that Mr. Maxwell-
Muir should carry out the entire order, which ran as follows:

300 12-inch platters 144 salt and pepper shakers
288 large plates 40 candle-holders

Rodney says that to produce such a large number of pieces,
particularly the flat dishes, was a real challenge. He threw the
plates and candle-holders, drape-moulded the rectangular platters,
slab-built the salts and peppers, and designed the sgraffitto
decorations with northland subjects. The whole job took him about
five months to complete, and there were, as one can imagine, many
problems to be solved on the way.

He says he was very happy not only educationally and financially to
receive this commission, but also because he thinks that not enough
artist potters are called upon by industry to help create and design
commercial ware.

Avery Huyghe

20.