Book Review by Rachelle Chinnery:

Studio Ceramics in Canada

by Gail Crawford

Gail Crawford’s initial vision for
this book was that it be “a substan-
tial documentation of makers, their
objects and the issues confronting
them”. As a cultural historian,
Crawford subsequently realized the
importance of roots and origins in
current studio practice. Given both the vast expanse of the coun-
try, and the extreme diversity of practices, Crawford’s resulting
survey of Studio Ceramics in Canada was an ambitious academic
undertaking.

Canada is a country of a mere 32 million inhabitants in a territo-
ry spanning six time zones and 9,976,140 sq km, the second
largest country by area in the world. Crawford’s research took
her from east to west and northward collecting the information
necessary to piece together a unified history, and accurate profile,
of Canadian ceramic practices. Her travels took her to guild
offices, private homes and art galleries, as well as educational
institutions with collections of work, archival material and per-
sonal correspondence written by and for ceramists. Six full years
of collecting photographs, conversing with potters, collectors,
gallery owners, and guild directors resulted in this history finally
being told. It is the first comprehensive survey of Canadian stu-
dio ceramics ever assembled.

Crawford’s animated writing style lends this history book the lit-
etary qualities of a novel. Filled with lively personal anecdotes,
each chapter tells the richly detailed stories of pioneer clay com-
munities all across the country. Tying into international move-
ments and trends over the course of eighty-five years, Crawford
weaves Canadian ceramists into a worldwide cultural context.

The book is divided into geographically defined chapters. For
example, there are four east coast provinces, but Crawford has
grouped them into The Atlantic Region. The center-most
provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan are grouped together.
And The Far North, which consists of the Northwest Territories,
the Yukon, and Canada’s most recently created territory of
Nunavut, which is predominantly First Nations Inuit. Sufficient
commonality of early teachers, shared technologies and resources,
as well as geographical proximity, are the basis for these cate-
gories.

The first chapter, Shaping the Legacy, gives an overview of the
entire survey. Similar starting points for all the clay communities
consist of individual ceramists struggling with early technology
and rudimentary materials. Crawford identifies important early
teachers such as the Swedish born Axel Ebring (dubbed ‘the mad
potter’ because of his eccentric and unique lifestyle), who set up
a rural studio in British Columbia in the 1920s. She also docu-
ments early Canadian involvement in international forums such
as the Paris International Exhibition of Arts and Crafts in 1937.
Tracing the emergence of clubs and guilds from the time of the
Great Depression, Crawford exposes the commitment to excel-
lence in craft early in the history of this country not yet 140

4 Potters Guild of British Columbia Newsletter

years old.

Photographs throughout the book speak volumes for the nature
of early ceramic practice as well as its progression over time. One
black and white photo from 1938 is of a cluster of bisque pot-
tery, ranging from covered urns to squat teapots, arranged on the
wooden steps of an Atlantic Canadian stone house. The steps are
flanked by broadly smiling matronly women in aprons, and three
grinning nuns in habits. Photos taken in the 70s reveal an evolu-
tion with young demonstrating teachers surrounded by even
younger throngs of attentive students, both male and female,
who would later fan out to become working artists and accom-
plished teachers.

Crawford cites Quebec ceramist Léopold Foulem where he
claims, “We can assert that there is no Canadian style per sé,
even if there are unquestionably authentic Canadian ceramics.”
Throughout the book the social and physical makeup of the
country underpin the development of its ceramic culture. “A
jumble of influences, from geography and regional differences to
the multi-cultural complexion of our society, has ensured that
Canadian clay artists at the beginning of the twenty-first century
represent a wide range of idioms, techniques, and sensibilities.
Our ceramic character was formed initially by earlier generations
of pioneers - teachers, potters, curators, educators, geologists,
technologists, and administrators, some far-sighted, others tena-
cious - all of them contributing to the evolution of the ceramic
arts in Canada.”

Adding to Crawford’s narrative is a list of established ceramists
working at the time of publication. Another thirteen pages of
endnotes further complement the book’s historical content, offer-
ing venues for more in-depth research in most areas. Black and
white photographs gleaned from personal collections and guild
archives contribute greatly to Crawford’s narrative, while images
of ceramic work profile almost five generations of Canadian
ceramists.

Crawford’s aim was to collect personal and social histories as they
pertain to the ceramic arts, and to present a cohesive factual
overview. It is a survey that connects the dots between geographi-
cally isolated experiences. But it is by no means exhaustive.
There are many more accomplished ceramists than are listed and
there is a wealth of superlative work not represented in photo-
graphs. There were, as Crawford acknowledges, limits to what
she could produce in a single book, due to the constraints and
“economics of publishing” a book of this type.

Her pursuit of information was a series of extensive field trips
“following a broken, erratic trail”. Information about the eastern-
most provinces reflects the highly social interaction commonly
attributed to easterners. Stories are personal, plentiful and
colourful. However, as Crawford moves west, in the narrative,
individual stories make way for historical documentation and
reportage. Nevertheless, each region is given equal weight and
the survey is complete.

Just as there is no one template for Canadian society, there is no
single or homogeneous ceramic history. Crawford successfully
unifies the divergent stories of Canadian ceramists in an entirely
readable history.

Rachelle Chinnery

February 2006