Design: Pierre Legault
Production: Sial, Laval, QC
Date: 1970s
Allan Collier Collection
A cinched waist gives this Sial mug an almost figurative quality. Legault’s initials (PL) are marked on the bottom.
-Michael Erdmann
Add comment April 8th, 2010
Design:
Production: Crown Ceramics, Vancouver, BC
Date: 1950s
Allan Collier Collection
Another nice piece from Crown Ceramics of Vancouver; this vase is more geometric than the other examples we’ve seen here.
-Michael Erdmann
Add comment March 30th, 2010
Design: unknown
Production: Congoleum Canada Ltd., Montreal, QC
Date: 1955
Allan Collier Collection
I mentioned previously that the Jack Straw motif on Hycroft china was inspired by a lino sample – this pattern likely inspired the name. According to Malcolm MacArthur who managed Medicine Hat Pottery, the precursor to Hycroft, the designers “often sought ideas from floor covering catalogues”.
-Allan Collier
Sources:
- Advertisement. Canadian Homes and Gardens, August 1955.
- MacArthur, Malcom. Letter to the author. July, 1992.
Add comment March 23rd, 2010
Design: Lester Beall
Client: Labatts
Date: 1954
Allan Collier Collection
Source: Canadian Homes and Gardens, Oct, 1954
filed under “Not Canadian”
Add comment March 17th, 2010
Design:
Manufacturer: Crown Ceramics, Vancouver, BC
Date: 1950s
Allan Collier Collection
Add comment March 9th, 2010
Design: Ross Mendes
Client: Solitaire Records, Toronto, ON
Date: 1950′s
Photo: Allan Collier Collection
1 comment February 5th, 2010
Design: Burton Kramer
Client: Office of Design, Department of Trade and Commerce & the National Design Council, Ottawa, ON
Text: Frank Dudas
Date: 1972
Photo: Allan Collier Collection
This publication was designed to educate Canadian manufacturers about industrial design and encourage the development of more competitive products. Not sure that the black & acid yellow photos do much to show off the products, but the publication itself is beautiful and the text (and layouts) are great. My favorite is, “It’s the cake not the icing.”… OK, sometimes it’s both.
-Michael Erdmann
2 comments January 20th, 2010
Design: David Lambert
Manufacturer: Lambert Potteries, Vancouver, BC
Date: 1950s
Photo: Allan Collier Collection
“Working in British Columbia, a region with no indigenous ceramic tradition, David Lambert worked to establish a distinctive localized style by incorporating west coast mythology and graphic motifs. Despite Lambert’s good intentions and the exciting promise of such a fusion, in retrospect it is difficult not to criticize his approach. Lambert did consult with many First Nations elders to understand the mythologies associated with each motif, but arguably their execution (by Lambert and his staff) is clumsy by comparison. More significantly, Lambert Potteries profited from this culture at a time when First Nations themselves were prohibited under Canadian law from carrying out the cultural teachings and ceremonies associated with these designs.”
- Copy: The Fine Tradition of Imitation in Canadian Ceramics
2 comments January 19th, 2010
Design: Eric Aldwinkle
Client: Maclean’s Magazine
Date: 1939
Photo: Allan Collier Collection
Add comment January 15th, 2010
Design: Dimmy Andoniadis
Client: Canadian Armed Forces
Date: 1945
Photo: Allan Collier Collection
Published in the final year of WWII, the title of this Canadian training manual leaves no room for ambiguity. The cover illustration – reminiscent of earlier Russian film posters – is credited to Sgt. Dimmy Andoniadis.
-Michael Erdmann
Add comment November 25th, 2009
Design: Maurice Chalvignac
Manufacturer: Chalvignac Art Pottery
Date: 1960s or 1970s
Photo: Allan Collier Collection
Add comment November 23rd, 2009
Design: Maurice Savoie
Manufacturer: Sial, Laval, QC
Date: 1970s
Allan Collier Collection
2 comments October 21st, 2009
Design: unknown (Bern or Beru?)
Client: Solitaire Records, Toronto, ON
Date: 1950s
Photo: Allan Collier Collection
1 comment October 16th, 2009
Design: Herta Gerz
Manufacturer: BC Ceramics, Vancouver, BC
Date: 1960s
Photo: Allan Collier Collection
The hand-cut vertical grooves in these vases by Herta Gerz produce nice variations in the density and colour of the glaze.
-Michael Erdmann
1 comment August 21st, 2009
Design: unknown
Manufacturer: Hycroft, Medecine Hat, AB
Date: 1950s
Photo: Allan Collier Collection
The pattern on the left is called Cubes, but the pattern on the right is unidentified (Can anyone tell us what it’s called?). Other popular tableware motifs included Breeze, Mandarin, Denim, Tartan, Jill, Swiss Dot, Lynn, Dolly Dot, Eva, Daisy, Serenade, and Calico, a carryover from Medicine Hat Potteries.
-Allan Collier
Add comment July 30th, 2009