Mary Allison Doull (1866–1953) - PEI's First Professional Woman Artist

While Mary Allison Doull (1866–1953), is well known as PEI's first professional woman artist, she was also the first professional studio potter to operate on Prince Edward Island. While production pottery had been established locally with the short-lived PEI Pottery Company, it was Mary's work that would produce the first studio pottery from local clay and elevate work from simply utilitarian objects to be embraced for their beauty as well as their usefulness.

The Public Archives and Records Office of PEI has a brief biography:

Mary Allison Doull, born on April 13,1866 was the thirteenth child George Doull and Hannah Butcher. George was a cabinet maker and had a furniture factory in Summerside, Prince Edward Island. She studied art at Mt. Allison in Sackville, New Brunswick and, following graduation, taught art classes in Charlottetown and Summerside for several years before moving to a studio in New York. She also studied at Academie Julien in Paris and exhibited at the Salon des Artistes Francais and at the International Union. For three years she had a studio and gift shop in Bar Harbor, Maine. A portrait and landscape painter she became interested in pottery while studying at the National Academy of Design and did a lot of work with Island clay when she returned to PEI in the late 1920s and converted an unused Methodist church in Cape Traverse into a studio where she worked and sold her products. She died on 6 June 1953.

Pottery Book Ends by Mary Allison Doull.

From family collection of Ian & Daphne (Large) Scott

From family collection of Ian & Daphne (Large) Scott

 She struggled with her glazes and firing with many of her surviving pieces having glaze runs at the bottom.

Pottery Vase by Mary Allison Doull.
From Provincial Collection of PEI Museum & Heritage Foundation.

Her initials were MAD and that is one form that she used as her studio mark. She also used "M A Doull - P E Island" on some pieces. She also used MD combining the two letters so that the finishing stroke of the M and the opening stroke of the D were the same line. Known for her use of strong colours in her glazes, typically all her work was in red earthenware, from local clay bodies.

From family collection of Ian & Daphne (Large) Scott

Bowl by Mary Allison Doull
From family collection of Ian & Daphne (Large) Scott

Vase by Mary Allison Doull
From collection of Tom Banks

Vase by Mary Allison Doull
From collection of Tom Banks

Pottery mark used by Mary Allison Doull

Pottery mark used by Mary Allison Doull

Pottery made by Mary Allison Doull - collection of Catherine G. Hennessey

Pottery made by Mary Allison Doull - collection of Catherine G. Hennessey

Glazed bottoms were typical of much of her work using a trivet to keep things from sticking to the kiln. This often caused problems with glazes that were quite thick and ran during the firing thus sticking to kiln shelves during firing.

(HF.12.08.07) View of a Doull vase base, signed "M.D. PEI" with "Aunt Mary Doull" written in pencil. - From PEI Museum & Heritage Foundation website.

A signature mark of M.D. and P.E.I. is documented as one of the potter's marks she used; it is contained in the collection of the PEI Museum & Heritage Foundation.

Mary Allison Doull operated a Charlottetown studio which was advertised in the Daily Examiner 29 Nov, 1893 on page 2 - the ad appeared at least until 17 Feb, 1894; she was located in the Stamper block on the Victoria Row section of Richmond St. Years later a nearby shop on Richmond St. would also sell her work when two young women with prominent fathers, Ruth Heartz and Avila Mathieson  sold Mary Allison's work in their shop/library called Blue Doors Rental Library starting in the summer of 1928. Ruth and Avila were daughters of the Lt. Governor  and a former Premier who became Chief Justice of PEI. The lending library rented books to members on a daily basis. Ruth describes in her biography, The Stranger Within, "We soon expanded into gifts-rather unusual ones at that time-Mary Allison Doull pottery". Their location was on Richmond  "just around the corner from the Queen St and opposite the Royal Bank" - she describes being close to Rum Row an area of Richmond St. between Pownal and Queen Streets.

Mary Allison Doull
Photograph from the family collection of James Herbert & Margaret Jewell (Doull) Lord.

Inside Mary Allison Doull's studio, Cape Traverse 
Photograph from the family collection of James Herbert & Margaret Jewell (Doull) Lord

Mary Allison Doull's Studio, Cape Traverse
Photograph from the family collection of James Herbert & Margaret Jewell (Doull) Lord

An excellent article on Mary Allison Doull places her within context as an artist and potter, during a time when very few women pursued these occupations. The article has been removed from the original location and the link connects now to an archived version of the same article. To ensure the content remains available, the text has been copied below. It was originally published under the following title.

Home Is Where the Art Is:
20th-Century Women Visual Artists of Prince Edward Island
Researcher/Writer: Sandy Kowalik
for
First Hand: Arts Crafts, and Culture Created by PEI Women of the 20th Century 

Mary Allison Doull

Mary Allison Doull broke trail for the 20th century's Island women artists. Her ambition led her beyond the well-tread matrimonial path of her time to the art circles of New York and Paris. Mary was born in Wilmot Valley, the thirteenth of cabinet-maker George Doull and Hannah Butcher's 14 children. Mary's uncle, Mark Butcher, was PEI's most famous cabinet maker. Her later art was grounded in this family tradition of good design and excellence in craft. 

Mary attended Mount Allison Wesleyan Ladies College and Conservatory of Music in 1888, and, after teaching back on the Island for three years, returned to study under John Hammond, RCA. In 1894, she headed to the National Academy of Design in New York, with sister Maria Patience, to study painting and pottery. It was here she was exposed to the miniature revival, and, in time, became well known in New York as an accomplished miniaturist. Doull's most subtle and sensitive works were her portraits and still lifes painted on small pieces of ivory. 

In 1894, Doull set up a Fifth Avenue painting/teaching studio and immersed herself in the New York art world. As a member of the Catharine Loriland Wolfe Art Students League and The New York Pen and Brush Club, she had contact with most rising artists of her day. But Mary always retained her ties to the Island, coming back "home" most summers to work and teach. She influenced many girls and women, some of whom, most notably Georgie Read Barton, went on to become professional artists and teachers in their own right. 

Mary Allison Doull was one of the 200 or more Canadian artists, including Emily Carr and James Wilson Morrice, who made the trip to Paris before the First World War. At the age of 44 she studied at the Academie Julien and travelled to Italy. Her paintings were shown at the Expositions Annuelles des Beaux Art in 1910, 1911, and 1912. 

Doull was also active in the United States, showing with New York Watercolour Club in 1911 and Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art in 1912. She was perhaps the only Islander ever to become a member of the Women's Art Association of Canada (WAAC), the oldest organization of its kind in the world. 

The WAAC was established in 1897 to "develop the art and crafts, primarily for the building of the nation; and then for the benefit of the corporation and the community, which endeavours, in turn, to benefit the individual members of the association, through its efforts to help others" (see Harper). This idea of service to others is a theme common to most women artists throughout the century. Not only did they create their own art, but through teaching and building organizations, they nurtured the growth of art in their communities. 

In 1920, Doull set up a home and studio in Cape Traverse, PEI, permanently retiring here in 1928. She began experimenting with hand-building pottery, tiles, and sculpture made from Island clay. Arthritis in later years forced her to give up painting altogether, and clay became her primary medium. It is interesting to note that at the same time, on the other side of Canada, Emily Carr was also creating small clay items for the tourist market. 

Mary Allison Doull, PEI's first professional woman artist, died in 1953 at the age of 87. 

copied on Feb 21, 2017 from the Internet Archives, which archived a copy of the article originally published by Government of Prince Edward Island website.

Examples of her work is included within the Permanent Collection of the Confederation Centre of the Arts, in Charlottetown.

A recent article about Mary Allison Doull was added to the PEI Museum & Heritage Foundation's website which includes a link to a full album of images on their Flickr site.

A history of the Doull family and of relatives who moved to New Brunswick is well told by Colin M. MacKinnon, in the 2018 document called, John Wesley Doull and Charles Alexander Doull, “Cabinet Makers” of Sackville, New Brunswick.  Privately Published, Sackville, New Brunswick. 

Excellent articles by Leanne Gaudet published in both Ornamentum in 2017,  and The Island Magazine in 2018, have brought the work and life of Mary Allison Doull to a new audience.

Vase by Mary Allison Doull.
Collection of Friends of Eptek Centre - Eptek Art & Culture Centre
Summerside PEI.

I recently found an image of her home and studio in the book For The Sake of The Record by Jean MacFadyen - the book is undated but includes the article Jean wrote in January 1948 called Versatile Island Artist has Fascinating Studio on pg 165-167.

"This beautiful home was built in 1822 by John Clark. From 1920 to 1953 it was owned by the famous artist, Miss Mary Allison Doull. To the left was her studio, where she created many beautiful paintings, also made pottery from Island clay. Standing by the car of her father (Captain John L. Read) was Georgie Read Barton, who had arrived to begin her future career in art, in which she has become internationally famous."

Pottery by Mary Allison Doull
From the collection of Joe Martell & Rick Smith

Pottery by Mary Allison Doull
From the collection of Joe Martell & Rick Smith

The Secret Life of Pottery - Hedwig Koleszar

As published by The BUZZ - November 1998

The Secret Life of Pottery

Profile: Hedwig Koleszar

by Jane Ledwell

From her workshop on the Gairloch Road, near Belfast, potter Hedwig Koleszar tells the story of a Torontonian friend who visited an aunt in New Zealand and was surprised to stumble across a lamp Hedwig had sold to her aunt without ever knowing the connection with her friend. Often, Hedwig hears stories about her pottery. "People are very appreciative," she says. "They tell you where they are going to put your pottery. Then they come back the next year to tell you where it is."

Hedwig Koleszar's pottery graces houses around the world. Her customers are attracted to her distinctive pottery's clean, simple shapes and spare, beautiful decoration: pale reds and greens and dark blues evoke birds and reeds, sprays of flowers, and the occasional dragon in smooth-gestured, near-transparent brush strokes inspired by Japanese art.

Hedwig herself lived in houses in several parts of the world before finding her home on PEI. Born in Hungary, she moved to Toronto as a child, and then to Quebec as a young adult. A Quebec neighbour was a potter, and watching him work, she knew immediately that she wanted to learn the craft. Twenty years ago, she visited friends on PEI, fell in love with the province, and moved here soon after and began to make pottery. Her career has developed here, as she learned her techniques from books, from hard experience, and from friends and fellow Island potters.

While learning pottery independently helped Hedwig avoid "falling into a rigid mould," she admits, "There wasn't as much experimentation as if you went to school and had more time and freedom." When she experiments now, Hedwig works on sculptures: one a flower-bordered clock with the clock face imposed on the face in the sun, with a woman holding the sun in her bare palm. She says, "Action interests me," and is being inspired by primitive art. She has made personalized pottery; in these pieces, instead of people telling her stories about her pottery, her pottery tells the story. In one bowl, she painted the story of a friend's house and family. For a wedding gift, she painted a bowl with an image from a dream: "Two tiny people in a boat with a tiny sail. On a windy day. In a small cove, with waves furling around them."

In the future, we can expect more of the simple, beautiful pieces she is known for, traditional pots, bowls, and vases and less traditional ikebana (small wide-lipped bowls for spare flower arrangements with "about two flowers and a leaf"). We may see experiments with brighter colours than are typically found in PEI pottery's subdued palette. As Hedwig notes, the only season the island's natural palette really explodes is in the autumn, when potters are busy preparing for Christmas craft shows and when Hedwig herself, who is a "huge gardener," is "torn between shop and garden."

These days, Hedwig prepares for the PEI Crafts Council Christmas Craft Fair and looks forward to winter, when she will, "Sit in the house with feet up, by the stove, reading books." What books? "Anything from the library, from philosophy to murder mysteries." She admits she "chooses books by their covers," and especially likes "adventure." After twenty years, she is still learning, still collecting stories. In her pottery, it shows.

Pottery Marks of Prince Edward Island - RLP - Burlington Pottery

Ruth and Leigh Paynter, of Burlington Pottery in Burlington PEI, played a pivotal role in establishing the handcraft industry in the North Shore tourist region during the 1960's. Located on the family farm which was next to Woodleigh Replicas, a British theme park with scaled down castles and gardens which was once the largest tourist attraction west of the Cavendish-National Park region, they had sufficient traffic during the summer to establish a viable business on the family farm with visitor traffic coming and going to Woodleigh.

Young people, seeing the viability of pottery as a career choice discovered that there were new opportunities within the tourist industry. Daphne Large, of Charlottetown began work with the Paynters one summer and decided to switch her major to pottery at Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in Halifax. She graduated in 1973 and opened New London Village Pottery in the same general North Shore region.

The work of the Paynters included both wheel thrown, hand-built construction, and some that was slip cast as well using moulds that they designed. All the work was in a red earthenware clay body, typical of native clay bodies on the Island. Ruth signed her work with both the studio name and PEI as well as her three initials RLP.

Their glaze experimentation was most notable and many of their glazes continue to impress potters today.

Ruth in retirement, was a respected local historian and author of From the Top of the Hill. A chapter of the book was later published in the Island Magazine as Here Comes the Travellin' Man. A talented woman with a rich memory and generous spirit she passed away peacefully in 2009.

PAYNTER - Ruth L. (Moase) of Clinton and formerly of Burlington on Nov 26th, 2009 at age 92. Born in New Annan, the daughter of the late Harry and Mary (Burrows) Moase. Wife of the late Leigh M. Paynter


The property that had housed Burlington Pottery was purchased in recent years by Harry Carr, his son had a strong interest in pottery.

Pottery Marks of Prince Edward Island - Carr - Burlington Pottery

I recently came across the work of a potter who is still unknown to me although we know that this individual likely worked with Leigh and Ruth Paynter, the owners of Burlington Pottery, in the community of Burlington PEI.
The work is signed CARR - PEI - Burlinton. Carr is a common surname in the area, and the missing G from the pottery name is likely a simple mistake.

Burlington Pottery, was operational throughout the 1960s and 1970s as a family business for Ruth and Leigh working with red earthenware. Being located next to one of the largest tourist attractions on PEI at the time Woodleigh Replicas, their was a steady stream of visitor traffic passing through the tiny rural community.



There are also two samples of pottery marked "Carr PEI" on The Canadian Pottery Identifier which appear to be work of the same person.

Photo credit - The Canadian Pottery Identifier

Photo credit - The Canadian Pottery Identifier

Photo credit - The Canadian Pottery Identifier

Photo credit - The Canadian Pottery Identifier

Pottery Marks of Prince Edward Island - Flat River Craftsmen

Flat River Craftsmen is a multicraft business located in Flat River, PEI has been operational since the early 1970's. Initially John Shaw from New Brunswick was involved with two friends in the establishment of the business but when he relocated, the business continued to develop under the leadership of a brother and sister team - Rob and Roslyn Wilby have worked together, with Rob as the potter. The work of Rob Wilby at Flat River Pottery, is marked with his initials RGW.  Some work was also signed by Rob in a signature format "Wilby PEI" including this butter dish from 1983.  

IN 2023 the address was

Flat River Craftsmen

2796 Trans Canada Hwy

C0A 1B0 Belle River

Prince Edward Island - Canada

(902) 659 2530

Earth, Air and Fire - PEI Potter Frieder Hermann

As published by The BUZZ, November 1999

by Peter Richards

A large brick kiln stands in the shed behind Frieder Hermann's restored 19th century farmhouse in Malpeque, Prince Edward Island. In the next room is a clay-encrusted potter's wheel and other tools of the trade. This is the workshop of North Shore Pottery.

For the last ten years on PEI, Frieder Hermann has been creating a pottery here; pottery which is immediately identifiable as uniquely his own. It is recognizable not because of its decoration or its shapes, but because of the unique colour and texture. "Earth tones" comes immediately to mind, but seems an inadequate description of the astonishing variety and depth of tones and textures in Frieder's pots, bowls and sculptures. Colours which seem to come from deep within the earth, and are rarely seen in much of contemporary ceramics.

One reason for this unique earthiness is Frieder's use of Island clay in his handmade clay mixtures. After being told that the Island clay was no good for pottery, Frieder (who suspected otherwise) found clay deposits in the Mont Carmel area which perfectly suited his purposes. The iron oxide in the clay, which makes the red colour, gives Frieder's pottery some of its distinct colouring.

But there are other factors which give Frieder's pots their unique look and feel. Frieder has been using a method called wood ash glazing whereby hardwood or softwood ash is used to give colour and finish to the glazes. "This is an experiment which is exciting me at the moment," says Frieder. He began last year by using beech and maple ash from the wood stove in the house. Encouraged by the results, he began using other species of wood native to the Island such as white birch, yellow birch, pin cherry, poplar and spruce. "Each species of tree gives a different colour," he explains. When the ash burns in the extreme high heat of the kiln, the minerals in the wood react chemically with the clay and the different colours result. A rough but very pleasant-to-the-touch texture also results. Recently Frieder has been collecting wood from old apple trees, and now he has an apple ash glaze in his palette.

Finally, Frieder chooses to carefully manipulate the firing process in the kiln. His kiln burns propane, and, during the firing, he carefully reduces the amount of oxygen in the kiln (called reduction firing). This process brings out the minerals and impurities in the clay. So the iron oxide loses its oxygen and leaves the iron behind to interact with the clay. The same thing happens with other minerals (magnesium or copper, for example) which may be found by chance in the clay or wood ash.

Using these techniques also satisfies Frieder's aesthetic sense. "I'm crazy about ancient civilizations and their pots, and primitive things." The result is a style of pottery which could indeed come from thousands of years ago.

Frieder Hermann's pottery has also come to the attention of Gil McElroy of the Confederation Centre of the Arts. He selected a number of Frieder's pieces to be included in "A Hundred Pounds of Clay," an exhibit now on display in the Concourse Gallery of the Confed' Centre.

Frieder came to Canada from Germany in 1959 and took a job at a Royal Bank in Montreal. His pottery career got its start a couple of years later when he began visiting a couple of potters he had read about in the newspaper. He continued at the bank till 1967 when he finally left to devote himself full time to making pottery and teaching others. He was very also very involved in the Montreal Potter's Club. By 1970, he had moved to rural Quebec, built a studio and begun producing pottery for the big Montreal shows. Prior to coming to PEI, he and his wife had lived on a farm in Lakefield, Ontario since 1981.

Since settling in Malpeque, he has established a successful tourist business. Frieder says that at this time of year his stock is pretty low, but he has some work for sale at the Island Crafts Shop in Charlottetown. And don't forget the exhibition at the Confed' Centre.

Pottery Marks of Prince Edward Island - Helen Moase

I get occasional enquiries about pottery made in Prince Edward Island decades ago, that has ended up in different parts of the world. Blame it on eBay, or simply the fact that pottery is a durable material that has traditionally been acquired by travelers and taken home as a souvenir of their travel.

Increasingly home could be both near or far, and that is a good thing for those of us in the pottery business.

In an effort to place some reference material in one spot - thought this might be a good way to get things started.

Helen Moase used a signature pottery mark of her initials HTM

She worked in a red clay body and was active on the North Shore in the 1960's.

Helen was a friend of, Leigh and Ruth Paynter, the owners of Burlington Pottery, Burlington PEI.