The Winterthur Library

The Joseph Downs Collection of Manuscripts and Printed Ephemera

OVERVIEW OF THE COLLECTION

Creator: Marion J. Nelson

Title: Art pottery papers

Dates: 1960-2000

Call No.: Col. 708

Acc. No.: 02x174

Quantity: 6 cu. ft.

Location: 15 G 1-4

BIOGRAPHICAL STATEMENT

Marion John Nelson was an art history professor and a collector of art pottery. He received his degrees from the University of Minnesota, where he also taught. Dr. Nelson’s chief interests were Scandinavian art, the arts and crafts of Scandinavian immigrants in the United States, and American art pottery. He wrote or contributed to more than a dozen books, and was curator of more than fifty art and pottery exhibits. Books which he edited or wrote include Norwegian Folk Art: The Migration of a Tradition; Art Pottery of the Midwest; and Norwegian-American Wood Carving of the Upper Midwest.

Although other writers and lecturers about art pottery tried to make a clear distinction between art pottery and industrial art ware, Dr. Nelson did not. He believed that the distinction between the two was based on artistic merit, and since he considered merit a matter of individual judgment, he thought it was difficult to make a clear separation between art pottery and industrial art ware. Dr. Nelson was noted for giving aesthetic evaluations of art pottery, that is, he was able to tell his audience (either readers of his books or audiences at his lectures) why art pottery had appeal and what made a piece good.

Dr. Nelson was made a knight in the Royal Order of St. Olaf, an honor conferred by King Olav V of Norway. He served as director of Vesterheim Norwegian American Museum in Decorah, Iowa. Dr. Nelson’s wife Lila joined him in collecting art pottery and worked with him in researching potteries in Ohio. Dr. Nelson died in September 2000.

SCOPE AND CONTENT

The collection includes Dr. Nelson’s notes and photographs from his years of research and exhibition curatorship. There is an emphasis on potteries located in the Midwest. Also included are Dr. Nelson’s correspondence with collectors and scholars, including Paul Evans, whose papers are at Winterthur (Col. 598), and newsletters from collectors’ groups, including the Ceramic Arts Studio Collectors, the Red Wing Collector’s Society, and the Haeger Pottery Collectors Association. Many of the photos and slides are identified, but unfortunately, there are a number which are not.

ORGANIZATION

The papers are divided into five series: I. Notes and photos about individual potteries; II. Dr. Nelson’s writings; III. Correspondence; IV. Other files; and V. Note cards, photographs and negatives.

PROVENANCE

Gift of Lila (Mrs. Marion J.) Nelson.

ACCESS POINTS

People:

Evans, Paul, 1937-

Topics:

Haeger Potteries.

Ceramic Arts Studio.

Red Wing Potteries.

Pottery – United States – Arts and Crafts Movement.

Art pottery, American.

Pottery – Ohio.

Commercial catalogs – Pottery, American.

Black-and-white photographs.

Color photographs.

Correspondence.

Commercial catalogs.

Collectors.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE COLLECTION

Location: 15 G 1-4

Series I: Notes and photos about individual potteries

Box 1:

Folder 1: Abingdon Pottery (Abingdon, Illinois)

Folder 2: Arc-en-Ciel

Folder 3: Arkansas pottery

[note: Niloak in separate folder]

Folder 4: Auburn Pottery (Cincinnati)

Folder 5: Avon (Cincinnati)

Folder 6: Barberton

Folder 7: Bennett, Edwin

Folder 8: Brown County (Indiana) – pottery

Folder 9: Brush-McCoy

Folder 10: Buffalo Pottery

Folder 11: Cambridge Art Pottery

Folder 12: Cincinnati Art Pottery

Folder 13: Cliftwood Pottery

Folder 14: Cowen

Folder 15: Craven Art Pottery

Folder 16: Dedham

Folder 17: Dickota

Folder 18: Durant

Folder 19: Ephraim Faience Art Pottery

Folder 20: Florentine Pottery

Folder 21: Frankoma Art Pottery

Folder 22: Fraunfelter China Co.

Folder 23: Fulper

Folder 24: Geijsbeek, Samuel

Folder 25: Goodwin, John

Folder 26: Grueby

Folder 27: Haeger Potteries: articles and miscellaneous

Folder 28: Haeger Potteries: correspondence

Folder 29: Haeger Potteries: pictures and photos

Folder 30: Haeger Potteries: The HPCA News

Folder 31: Haeger Potteries: draft of paper by Paradis or Nelson

Box 2:

Folder 1: Haeger Potteries: catalogs

Folder 2: Haeger Potteries: shape book [photocopy]

Folder 3: Hampshire Pottery

Folder 4: Harker Pottery

Folder 5: Indiana pottery: Muncie and others

Folder 6: Iowa State University Pottery

Folder 7: Jervis Pottery

Folder 8: Jugtown pottery

Folder 9: Knowles-Taylor-Knowles

Folder 10: Laselle Brothers

Folder 11: Long, W. A.

Folder 12: Lotus Ware

Folder 13: Lower Sioux Pottery

Folder 14: Marblehead Pottery

Folder 15: Markham Pottery

Folder 16: McLaughlin, M. Louisa

Folder 17: McNicol, D. E., Jr.

Folder 18: Minnesota Art Pottery Association

Box 3:

Folder 1: Minneapolis Arts and Crafts Society

Folder 2: Minnesota pottery

Folder 3: Minnesota pottery: Red Wing

Folder 4: Minnesota pottery: Red Wing Collector’s Society, Inc., Newsletter

Folder 5: Moorcroft, W. R.

Folder 6: Morgan, Matt

Folder 7: Newcomb Pottery

Folder 8: Newell Pottery

Folder 9: Niloak

Folder 10: Norse Pottery

Folder 11: North Dakota, University of

Folder 12: North Dakota potteries: photocopies of materials from UND Special Collections

Folder 13: North Dakota Pottery Collectors Society

Folder 14: Ohr, George

Box 4:

Folder 1: Overbeck Pottery

Folder 2: Owen China Co.

Folder 3: Owens Pottery (J. B. Owens Pottery Co.)

Folder 4: Paul Revere Pottery

Folder 5: Pauline Pottery

Folder 6: Peters & Reed Pottery Co.

Folders 7-8: Pewabic Pottery

Folder 9: Pewabic Pottery: life of Mary Chase Perry

Folder 10: Pewabic Pottery: photos

Folder 11: Pisgah Forest Pottery

Folder 12: Radford Pottery Co.

Folder 13: Robineau, Adelaide Alsop

Box 5:

Folder 1: Rookwood Pottery: pre-Rookwood and early Rookwood

Folder 2: Rookwood Pottery: 1893

Folder 3: Rookwood Pottery: pre-1900

Folder 4: Rookwood Pottery: pre-1900: Artus van Briggle (1888), John D. Wareham (1899), Japanese influence

Folder 5: Rookwood Pottery: 1900-1910

Folder 6: Rookwood Pottery: 1911-1920

Folder 7: Rookwood Pottery: 1921-1930

Folder 8: Rookwood Pottery: 1931-1950

Folder 9: Rookwood Pottery: 1951-1970

Folder 10: Rookwood Pottery: Norse Room (Fort Pitt Hotel, Pittsburgh)

Folder 11: Rookwood Pottery: pieces in foreign collections

Folder 12: Rosemeade Pottery

Folder 13: Roseville Pottery

Folder 14: Roseville Pottery: photos

Box 6:

Folder 1: Shawsheen Ware

Folder 2: Teco Pottery

Folder 3: Tiffany

Folder 4: Upjohn, C. B.

Folder 5: Van Briggle

Folder 6: Vance (later Avon)

Folder 7: Volkmar

Folder 8: Weller

Folder 9: Weller: photos

Folder 10: Wheatley, T. J.

Folder 11: Wheeling

Folder 12: Zanesville Potteries

Series II: Dr. Nelson’s writings

Box 6:

Folder 13: “The Commercial Art Pottery of Ohio”: bibliography

Folder 14: “The Commercial Art Pottery of Ohio”: draft

Folder 15: “The Commercial Art Pottery of Ohio”: illustrations

Folder 16: “The Commercial Art Pottery of Ohio”: text

Box 7:

Folder 1: “The Commercial Art Pottery of Ohio”: text: draft

Folder 2: “The Commercial Art Pottery of Ohio”: text: first carbon

Folder 3: “The Commercial Art Pottery of Ohio”: text: second carbon

Folder 4: “The Geography of American Art Pottery” [by Nelson?]

Folder 5: “Indigenous Characteristics in American Art Pottery,” by Nelson, with correspondence about article

Folder 6: Pottery lecture

Folder 7: Resume of presentation for the art session of SASS, 1984

Folder 8: Review of Decorative Art in Modern Interiors [reviewed by Nelson]

Folder 9: “Scandinavian Romanticism in American Decorative Art,” by Nelson

Series III: Correspondence

Box 7:

Folder 10: Correspondence, 1960-1962

Folder 11: Correspondence, 1963

Folder 12: Correspondence, 1964

Folder 13: Correspondence, 1965

Folder 14: Correspondence, 1966

Folder 15: Correspondence, 1967

Box 8:

Folder 1: Correspondence, 1968

Folder 2: Correspondence, 1969

Folder 3: Correspondence, 1972-1974

Folder 4: Correspondence, 1974-1979

Folder 5: Correspondence, 1980s-1990s

Folder 6: Blasberg, Robert: correspondence and articles

Folder 7: Evans, Paul: correspondence (with copies of Charles Binns’ correspondence)

Folder 8: Gifford, David: correspondence

Folder 9: Mohr, Richard: correspondence

Series IV: Other files

Box 8:

Folder 10: Aesthetic movement in America

Folder 11: American art pottery: articles about, and general information

Folder 12: American art pottery: articles by Charles Binns, 1916-1918

Folder 13: American art pottery: sales notices, auction catalogs

Folder 14: American art pottery: women involved

Folder 15: American Art Pottery Association

Folder 16: Art Deco pottery

Folder 17: Art nouveau in America

Folder 18: Art nouveau in American ceramics

Box 9:

Folder 1: Art pottery: damage and restoration (photos)

Folder 2: Art pottery: unidentified

Folder 3: Art pottery: values

Folder 4: Arts and crafts movement, American

Folder 5: Bindesboll, Thorvald (Danish)

Folder 6: Ceramic Arts Studio: preparation for lecture

Folders 7-8: CAS Collector (Ceramic Arts Studio Collectors newsletter)

Folder 9: Crystalline glazes

Folder 10: Decorative arts exhibit, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 1964-1965

Folder 11: Exhibit: Art Pottery of the Midwest

Folder 12: Exhibition themes

Folder 13: Foreign art pottery: France

Folder 14: Foreign pottery: England, Denmark

Folder 15: Foreign pottery: general

Folder 16: Furniture, American: Cincinnati

Box 10:

Folder 1: Gifts: index to photos

Folders 2-3: Midwest art pottery exhibit at University of Minnesota, fall 1988

Folder 4: Midwest art pottery exhibit at University of Minnesota, fall 1988: loan agreements

Folder 5: Museums of pottery

Folder 6: Negatives

Folder 7: Ohio clay industry before 1910

Folder 8: Photos: pieces form miscellaneous potteries outside Ohio

Folder 9: Photos: several potteries on one photo

Folder 10: Pottery: general

Folder 11: Studio pottery

Folder 12: Tile industry

Box 11:

Folder 1: “Two Decades of Newcomb Pottery,” exhibition catalog, 1963

Folder 2: plaque: certificate of appreciation given to Dr. Nelson by the Ceramic Arts Studio Collectors Association and the Wisconsin Pottery Association, 1998

Series V: Note cards, photos, and negatives

Box 12: Rookwood Pottery: note and photos

Box 13: Rookwood Pottery: notes

Box 14: notes on various potteries

Box 15: notes on potteries: arranged by state and country

Box 16: notes on potteries: arranged by state, plus additional notes

Box 17: notes on Weller and potteries located in Zanesville, Ohio

Box 18: notes on Roseville and other potteries

Box 19: miscellaneous note cards

Box 20: Slides: Ceramic Art Society and foreign pottery

Box 21: Slides: many illustrating different glazes

Box 22: Slides: Ceramic Art Studio lecture and unidentified

Box 23: Slides: unidentified

Box 24: Slides: unidentified

Box 25: Slides: various potteries

Boxes 26-30: Photographs and negatives (some identified, some not)