Home > Artist Database > Bio-bibliographic Database > DEICHMANN, Erica
Artist Database
DEICHMANN, Erica
- Born
- Wisconsin, U.S., 1913
- Died
- Hampton, New Brunswick, 2007
- Biography synopsis
- Born to Danish parents, Erica Deichmann spent some of her teenage years in Denmark before her family returned to North America, settling in Edmonton, Alberta. She and her husband Kjeld Deichmann traveled to Denmark in search of fine art training. Deichmann studied weaving while her husband assisted a potter friend. They returned to their land in New Brunswick in 1934 where they set up a pottery studio. Their Scandinavian sensibility had a significant influence on North American design. They were amongst the earliest craftspeople in Canada to earn a living through their craft. Deichmann was particularly skilled with glazes (creating over 5,000 formulas) and surface treatment. She participated in pottery production while also making her own sculptural objects. The Deichmann’s pottery was open from 1935 until Kjeld’s death in 1963. Their work has been exhibited throughout Canada and internationally in such places as New York, Paris and Glasgow. The husband and wife team produced the after-dinner coffee service for the 1951 visit of Princess Elizabeth to New Brunswick. In 1964, Deichmann narrated "Crafts of my Province," a National Film Board documentary that included a feature on her practice. That same year she remarried, becoming Erica Deichmann Gregg. Deichmann received the Order of Canada in 1987, an honorary degree from the University of New Brunswick, as well as an honorary membership with the Canadian Crafts Federation.
- Media used
- Pottery
- Memberships
- Order of Canada, June 29, 1987
- Canadian Crafts Council
- File & Archive locations
- University of Calgary Library, AB
- Canadian Women Artists History Initiative Documentation Centre, QC
- University of British Columbia - Fine Arts Library
- Winnipeg Art Gallery, MA - Clara Lander Library
- National Gallery of Canada, ON - Library and Archives
- Art Gallery of Ontario - Edward P. Taylor Research Library and Archives
- Montreal Museum of Fine Arts / Musée des Beaux-Arts de Montréal, QC
- Hamilton Public Library, ON - Local History and Archives Department
- Leonard and Bina Ellen Art Gallery, QC
- Provincial Archives of New Brunswick
- Canadian Museum of Civilization Archives, QC
- Library and Archives Canada / Bibliothèque et Archives Canada, ON
- University of New Brunswick - Archives and Special Collections Department
- National Film Board of Canada, QC
- BIBLIOGRAPHY
Writings about- The Blue Book of New Brunswick Craftsmen and Handicrafts Shops. Fredericton: New Brunswick Dept. of Industry and Development, 1956
- "Achieving the Modern: Abstract Painting and Design in the 1950's (Winnipeg Art Gallery)." Canadian Architect 38.2 (Feb. 1993): 26-27
- "New Brunswick's Master Potters." Imperial Oil Review 35.1 (Feb-Mar 1951):14-18
- "Spirit of Spring: Kjeld Deichmann, Master Potter, Prepared his Own Clay, 'from the earth up'." Telegraph-Journal (Saint John) 25 Mar. 2000
- "The Deichmann Collection: Danish Influence on Canadian Crafts." Canadian Museum of Civilization 1 Aug. 2008
http://www.historymuseum.ca/cmc/exhibitions/tresors/immigration/imf0400e.html - "The Remains of the Day: Bits and Pieces of Mary McKean's Estate were Gobbled up Last Weekend, Setting a New Sales Record for Auctioneer Tim Isaac." Telegraph Journal (Saint John) 25 Mar. 2000
- Abrahamson, Una. Crafts Canada: The Useful Arts. Toronto: Clark Irwin, 1974
- Avery, Shaw. "Looking Forward in Saint John." Canadian Art 4.4 (Summer 1947): 166-168
- Ayre, Robert. "Ceramics in Canada." Studio International 154 (Dec. 1957): 168-175
- Baele, Nancy. "Love of Live and Pottery." Ottawa Citizen 24 Jan. 1991: B.8
- Baird, G., Gotlieb, R., Kingwell, M. and Gardiner Museum. True Nordic: How Scandinavia Influenced Design in Canada London: Black Dog Publishing Ltd., 2016
- Boudreau, Jeffrey; Victore J. Owen. "Tech Talk: A New Look at Deichman (sic) Pottery." Fusion Magazine 32.1 (Jan. 2008): 8-9
- Cole, Carolyn. "Fred Ross on Painters, Painting and Saint John." Telegraph-Journal (Saint John) 1 Jan. 2000
- Colgate, William. Canadian Art, its Origin and Development Toronto: Ryerson, 1943
- Cragg, Allan. "Kjeld Diechmann (sic)." New Liberty (7 Feb. 1948): 15-17, 39
- Crawford, Gail. A Fine Line: Studio Crafts in Ontario from 1930 to the Present Toronto: Dundurn Press, 1998
- Crawford, Gail. "Turning Point: The Deichmann Pottery 1935-1963 (exhibition)." Ontario Craft Summer 1991: 36-37
- Deichmann, Erica and Kjeld. Vessels of the imagination : a collection by and about Kjeld Deichmann & Erica Deichmann Gregg. Fredericton: Beaverbrook Art Gallery, 1996
- Duncan, Dorothy. Here's to Canada! New York: Harper and Brothers, 1903
- Flood, Sandra. Canadian Craft and Museum Practice, 1900-1950 Hull: Canadian Museum of Civilization, 2001
- Foulem, Leopold; Sarah Link; Institute for Ceramic History. Edges: In Thought, In History, In Clay: 4th International Ceramics Symposium. Toronto: Ontario Clay and Glass Association, 1987
- Freedman, Adele. "In Praise of Pioneering Potters: A Travelling Retrospective Celebrates a Husband-and-wife Team." Globe and Mail (Toronto) 16 Jan. 1993: C.14
- Freedman, Adele. "Treasure, Both Earthly and Divine." Globe and Mail (Toronto) 26 Oct. 1985: D.13
- Gichuru, Anneke. "Erica Deichmann Gregg." Globe and Mail 31 Jul. 2007
- Gotlieb, Rachel. "Married to Pottery: A Life of Uncertainty." Crafting New Traditions: Canadian Innovators and Influences. Gatineau, Quebec: Canadian Museum of Civilization Corporation, 2008: 15-24
- Gotlieb, Rachel and Cora Golden. Design in Canada since 1945: Fifty years from Teakettles to Task Chairs Toronto, Ontario: Key Porter Books, 2004
- Hickey, Gloria. "Turning Point: The Deichmann Pottery 1935-1963 (exhibition)." Arts Atlantic 11.2 (Winter 1992): 44-45
- Home, Ruth M. "Pottery in Canada." Canadian Geographical Journal 28 (Feb. 1944): 65-77
- Hubbard, R.H. The Development of Canadian Art. Ottawa: Queen's Printer, 1963
- Inglis, Stephen. The Turning Point: The Deichmann Pottery, 1935-1963. Hull, Quebec: Canadian Museum of Civilization, 1991
- Inglis, Stephen. "A Company of Travellers: Some Early Studio Potters in Canada." Potter’s art : contributions to the study of the Koerner Collection of European Ceramics. Vancouver: University of British Columbia, Museum of Anthropology, 1997
- Inglis, Stephen. "Curatorial Statement: "The Turning Point: the Deichmann pottery (1935-1963)."" Material History Review 34 (1991): 90-92
- Jackson, Douglas. Crafts of My Province/Artisans du Nouveau-Brunswick Ntional Film Board of Canada, 1964
- Kerr, Grant. "Items from Woodstock Estate Featured in Easter Auction Today." Telegraph-Journal (New Brunswick) 12 Apr. 2004
- Kuehner, Carol. "Calling all Auction Treasure Hunters." Telegraph-Journal (Saint John) 25 Jun. 2005
- Kuehner, Carol. "Firing Up Passions: The Deichmanns Went Well Beyond Chemistry and Physics to Make their Pots." Telegraph-Journal (Saint John) 30 Jul. 2005
- Kuehner, Carol. "Windsor's chair: Bid on "little treasures" for Easter." Telegraph-Journal (Saint John) 25 Mar. 2006: A.6
- Larson, Hannah Astrup. "Kjeld and Erica Deichmann: Ceramic Art at the Dykelands." The American-Scandinavian Review 14.5 (May 1926): 56-
- MacDonald, Colin S. The Dictionary of Canadian Artists. (Volumes 1-8 by Colin S. MacDonald, and volume 9 by Anne Newlands and Judith Parker) Ottawa: National Gallery of Canada, 2009
- Marcus, Angela. "Turning Point: The Deichmann Pottery, 1935-1963." Fusion Magazine 15.2 (1991): 2-3,16
- Mazerolle, John. "Pottery Pair." Telegraph-Journal 18 Jan. 1999
- McAnn, Aida. "Busy Hands in New Brunswick: Home Crafts Now Enthusiastically Revived." Canadian Geographical Journal 20.3 (Mar. 1940) 126-141
- McCourt, Edward A.. The Road Across Canada. Toronto: Macmillan, c. 1965
- McInnes, G. Campbell. Canadian Art. Toronto: MacMillan, 1950
- McKay, Ian. Quest of the Folk: Antimodernism and Cultural Selection in Twentieth-century Nova Scotia. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1994
- McLeod, Ellen Mary Easton. In Good Hands: The Women of the Canadian Handicrafts Guild Ottawa: Carleton University Press, 1999
- McPherson, Anne. "Canada's First Studio Potters." American Ceramics 9.3 (Fall 1991): 34-39
- McTavish, Lianne. "Pratt, Mary, Deichmann, Bobak: The Women." Arts Atlantic 18.2 (Oct. 2001): 65
- Mullen, Mike. "Forerunner of Canadian Art Pottery Dies at 93." New Brunswick Telegraph Journal 24 May 2007: C.3
- Nelson, Glenn C.. Ceramics: a potter's handbook. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1971
- Peters, Donald. The Story of Peter and the Potter National Film Board of Canada, 1953
- Ruet, Karen. "Passionate Pursuits: The Recipients of this Year's Excellence Awards Share an All-consuming Love of their Chosen Professions." Telegraph-Journal (St. John) 14 Oct. 2000
- Sabat, Christina. "Reflections on Deichmann Pottery: Made in N.B., 1935-1963." Atlantic Advocate Aug. 1991: 18-20
- Sweet, Jean McCallum. Creative Hands. Ottawa: Canadian Geographical Society, 1953
- Thomas, Peter. One Voice: Erica and Kjeld Deichmann. Charlottetown, P.E.I.: Confederation Centre Art Gallery and Museum, 1988
- University of New Brunswick Art Centre. Kjeld and Erica Deichmann Exhibition of Stoneware and Porcelain. Fredericton: 1961
- Webster, John Clarence. An Historical Guide to New Brunswick. Fredericton: New Brunswick Government Bureau of Information and Tourist, 1940
- Wood, Eizabeth Wyn. “Canadian Handicrafts.” Canadian Art 2.5 (Summer 1945)