Jim Kaufman, an authority on Dedham Pottery, will offer free thirty minute gallery talks designed to help both new and advanced collectors of the pottery.
The series will consist of ten presentations, all in the Heart of the Square gallery on High Street. Each will cover an introduction "What is Dedham Pottery" and move into a second section entitled "How to Begin or Grow a Fine Collection", discussing auctions, Ebay, and relevant art pottery associations.
In order to adjust to the varying schedules of patrons, five talks will be held in the afternoon and five in the evening. The afternoon sessions will all be at 1:30pm on December 1, 8, 15, 22, and January 5th. The evening sessions will be held at 8:00pm on November 30, and 7pm on December 7, 14, & 21 and January 4th.
Kaufman, a private dealer for many years, has worked with numerous collectors to build both new and advanced collections. He has authored many magazine and newspaper articles and lectured widely, bringing his illustrated presentation about Dedham Pottery to many Historical Societies, Museums and Ceramic Study Groups.
Many of America's prestigious institutions, such as Boston's Museum of Fine Arts, New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. own and display Dedham Pottery.
The Heart of the Square is proud to be the only gallery to carry fine examples of Antique Dedham Pottery individually selected by Kaufman. Each piece has been authenticated and examined for quality and condition; fully guaranteed descriptions accompany each piece. As a Dedham resident, Kaufman is often available on short notice to meet collectors and assist them with their understanding of the pottery and with their selections.
"This has been a dream of mine for awhile – to not only find the perfect gallery to make my selections available to the public," Kaufman shared, "but to make more people aware of Dedham's rich history. Bridging three centuries, it is quite fitting that the creations of Dedham's master potter, Hugh Robertson, are now paired in a gallery with the fabulous works of modern Dedham artist, Diana Gaikazova."
Dedham Pottery was the great achievement of master potter Hugh Cornwall Robertson. Robertson was a fourth generation ceramicist who emigrated from Scotland in 1853 with his parents and siblings. His early artistic successes were created at his family's pottery, the Chelsea Keramic Art Works Pottery (1868-1889). After his father died and his brothers departed for other potteries by the mid-1880s, Robertson began working alone. His genius with pottery glazes soon led to both his ox-blood red and volcanic glazed vases garnering international awards. His next great achievement was becoming the first non-Asian potter to perfect an intentional crackle glaze.
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