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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
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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
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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)

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