It is his animal figurines, however, that people seem to associate him most with. Other Canadian artists from across the country were also making stylized animals during the 1960s and 1970s. The Deichmanns and Lorenzens in the Maritimes, and the Harlanders and Jarko Zarvi in Ontario. The Schwenks made some in British Columbia but no one could match the variety and numbers of Thomas Kakinuma. His minimalist style reflects his Japanese heritage and the modernist influences of the time. The figures are simple thrown or pinched forms he usually shaped into birds but he also made fish, cats, dogs, monkeys, and people, among others. Glazes were simply done - usually dipped, with some details applied with slip. His work is easily identified and marked with a stylized “TK” and occasionally he would sign his name "T. Kakinuma" on larger and significant pieces. Thomas Kakinuma passed away in 1982, and the first major retrospective of his work was shown in Spring 2018.
If you have a piece of Thomas Kakinuma pottery you would like confirmed or to sell, please contact me.
Zeljko’s pottery has a flair and style all his own. From small, humble bowls to large and spectacular sculptural works, Zeljko had a mastery over clay and glaze that is unmistakably his. Functional ware ranges from the basic to the sublime. To date I’ve found basic chawan style bowls (far left), to elaborately decorated teapots (centre). He used a number of glazes, colour combinations, and was quite comfortable sourcing materials from the earth. Shown here is an example of a glaze he created using the ash from the Mt. St. Helens eruption in 1980 (far right). He even created a fully working solar kiln which was capable of generating heat up to 2800 Fahrenheit.
The scale of his larger works could be nearly 48” tall at times. Take “Undersea Hunter” (shown above) for instance. It was created for exhibit at Expo 84 in Vancouver. On the smaller side in scale, but no less powerful, this sculptural piece titled “Ancestor” (shown below) is only 8” tall. He would also complete works showcasing his classically trained skill and mastery over clay. “Zeljko’s Piggy Bank” (shown below) is a large scale sculpture of the female form. It incorporates tribal marking and glazing of the body all over. The delicate features of the head and face are exquisite. An exceptionally fine piece of sculptural pottery. Clearly art, not craft. If you have any works by Zeljko or have any information to share regarding his art and career, please contact me.
One cannot tell the story of pottery in British Columbia without starting with Axel Ebring. Much of what is known about Ebring can be found online with a quick search, so here is a brief synopsis…
Using clay from a local bank, a home-made kick wheel in a 10 square foot studio, and a brick wood fired kiln (that was 20 square feet with walls two feet thick) he quickly established a profitable livelihood, selling his craft to locals. When his clay supply was exhausted he moved to Vernon in 1939 where he reestablished a studio and potted for the remainder of his life. Ebring’s work exemplifies the character of his European roots. The variety and sizes of his forms and glazes all typify his work. Spotting an Ebring is easy once you’ve seen a collection of them. Forms range from the primarily functional to the occasional sculptural. Glazes range is colour from the usual blue/greens to the rare yellow. Occasionally he decorated his dinnerware with designs applied with a sponge as shown in the photos. His pottery is nearly always signed with some combination of the following; Notch Hill BC, Vernon BC, Vern. BC, V~n BC. According to a reporter who interviewed Ebring in 1943, he did this because it's "where he got the material to do his work." Occasionally he included his name and a production year. To date, nothing has been found bearing a Terrace BC mark, prompting the question of whether he potted during his time there or not. The importance of Axel Ebring to the story of pottery in British Columbia cannot be overstated. Along with Peter Rupchan in Saskatchewan, he was one of Canada's first independent pioneer potters. It was late in his life when David Lambert began to frequent Ebring’s pottery, bringing his influence to the other early potters of British Columbia, and it would be a few years after his death in 1954 that the Schwenks would establish the next pottery in the Okanagan valley.
If you have any pieces of pottery by Axel Ebring you would like to sell, please contact me here. Why would anyone collect pottery? Let alone invest hours of time researching potters, their marks, clay and glaze varieties, techniques, etc. For me, it started years ago in in an antique store in Snohomish WA. Tagging along with a friend on a day trip to an antique mall, it sparked within me a previously unknown interest in art and design. I had always enjoyed studying history, a trait I acquired from my father, so being in a building full of historical artifacts that you could actually buy was very appealing to me. I didn’t find a piece of pottery that day (although I’m sure there were likely some excellent examples laying about) but I did walk away with a $22 bakelite tube radio - which is all I could afford on a university student’s budget.
I answered an ad in a local classified that had a few pieces of WGP for sale at what I remember was a good price. When I went to this fellow’s home, we hit it off immediately over our shared interests and he invited me in to see his collection. What I saw though, was what remains the best collection of western Canadian pottery I’ve seen.
Hundreds of pots, tastefully curated and displayed throughout his home. The variety of shapes, colours and forms struck me immediately and every one of them had a story. He knew most of them by their chop mark, an interesting code on each one that I remember fascinated me. He knew where each one worked, when they potted and what styles they were known for. Who was important and why they were significant. And he said something to me I found rather poignant, “West German pottery is great but its factory made and there are thousands of copies out there. Each one of these pieces are hand made in a studio. Truly one of a kind.” That was it, I was hooked. My new friend didn’t sell me a piece of pottery that day, his collection wasn’t for sale but it did start a renewed interest in the search for me. Over time I would build a collection of works by some of the great names in Canadian pottery; Hansen-Ross, Walter Dexter, Luke Lindoe, Jack Sures, and Wayne Ngan among them. My interest in Canadian studio pottery continues to this day and has grown into a passion project - this site being part of it. Thank-you for visiting. I hope you are able to learn from it and find something useful in it. Please check back from time to time. |
Studio Pottery CanadaPottery enthusiast learning about the history of this Canadian art form and curating samples from the best in the field pre-1980. Archives
March 2023
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