POTTERS GUILD of BRITISH COLUMBIA a The Olea Davis Collection By Sharon Cohen When I began working at the Gallery of B.C. Ceramics two years ago, I noticed some boxes in our attic storage area. The name “Olea” was scrawled on the outside. It was early days and I was still ignorant. “Who or what is “Olea?” I asked Jinny Whitehead. I was told that Olea Davis was one of the founding members of the Potters’ Guild of British Columbia, and was a historically relevant potter, one of the great influences in the B.C. pottery movement several decades ago. At the time that I joined the gallery, I knew very little about historical pottery; I tend to have more contemporary leanings myself. But I was curious. What was in those mystery boxes? Soon after, Dave Carlin (a gallery customer, ceramic historian and keen collector), got me curious about the historical B.C. potters. He and I were fortunate enough to be invited to the home of John Lawrence, a prolific collector of early B.C. ceramics, in order to view his personal collection. John sells pottery (amongst many other treasures) at his store Doda Antiques in downtown Vancouver (434 Richards Street). Having seen John’s store, I knew instinctively that his home and his personal collections would be awe-inspiring. I wasn't wrong! In what was probably the most magnificent home I’ve ever seen (all quaint and quirky and overflowing with personality—and pottery) was the most extensive and impressive personal collection I’ve ever seen. John has hundreds of historical ceramic pieces from B.C. in his collection, including dozens and dozens of Wayne Ngan pieces. Charmian Johnson, Thomas Kakinuma and many more of the greats are represented, too. John and Dave were both lamenting the absence of Olea Davis pieces in their personal collections. I mentioned the bequest that the PGBC had received from Olea and that there were these mystery boxes in our roof storage space. Apparently no one really knows when the boxes arrived, how long they've been here, who delivered them and under what circumstances. The collection came to us via Olea’s son, who is no longer alive. No one knew what was in them. There was just this vague knowledge that it was Olea’s collection and that it Was now ours. Collectors chomping at the bit Dave and John were chomping at the bit, so it seemed it was time to brush off the cobwebs and see what lay inside the boxes, as I had two keen collectors all fired up with curiosity! I must confess I was rather curious myself at this point... With Jinny Whitehead away at the time, the happy task of dusting, unwrapping and exploring the contents of the boxes fell to Debra Sloan and I. Debra is the keen archivist, and, as I said, I’m more of a contemporary girl myself! But as we were unwrapping, Debra’s enthusiasm was infectious and, buoyed also by Dave's and John’s keen interest, I found myself getting drawn in. Mystery and allure ‘The newspaper in which some of the pieces were wrapped was dated 1980, which means it’s likely that the work has been sitting here for 30 years—wow! This all just adds to the mystery and allure. It turns out that the pieces were not just Olea’s work. We also found several pieces by Santo Mignosa and Thomas Kakinuma. Debra explained to me that Santo used to work closely with Olea and, apart from ceramics, he was involved in the theatre as well. He had designed masks for certain theatrical productions, and they shared an aesthetic similar to that represented in some of his sculptural forms that we found in the Vases by Olea Davis. collection. Examples of glaze tests were found, too. Very interesting. Needless to say, John and Dave came to ; ; Glaze experiments. view the collection and were very excited by it. A week or two later, as we were hosting the opening of Keith Rice- Jones’ exhibition here at the gallery, Santo Mignosa attended. I was introduced to him, and the first thing I said was, “Come into my office, I have a surprise for you!” This must have taken him aback more than somewhat! The look on his face when he saw pieces he'd made decades ago—pieces he'd not seen or thought about for many years—was truly priceless! He was delighted, and the reminiscing that ensued was extremely gratifying. A real trip down memory lane for him; stories to tell, fond remembrances rekindled, glaze experiments revisited. “That Thomas Kakinuma cat used to sit on a table in Olea’s hallway!” he told me. It was wonderful having all these personal recollections associated with the pieces, it brought them all so much alive, added meaning and deeper relevance. So now what? Will the pieces go back in their boxes and back into storage? Hopefully not. John Lawrence mentioned our collection to David Bellman and Meirion Evans, who will be curating a ceramic retrospective exhibition for the Surrey Art Gallery sometime next year or the year after. They've selected some pieces from the collection they like to borrow for the show. It will be exciting to debut these pieces; give them the public exposure they deserve. What will happen to the collection after that exhibition? Nothing is decided yet. These are issues for the board of directors to consider. In the meantime, it’s been a wonderful learning experience for me, and a really exciting ride! Potters Guild of BC Newsletter - November 2010 10