While doing some renovations to our archive, I rediscovered three earthenware chargers set back on a shelf; a purchased made somewhere along the central coast of California back in 2005.
Allied Potters, Running Horses (detail)
The studio responsible for creating the set was called Allied Potters and was founded by Enid Sales and Barbara Thompson; alumnae to the prestigious Reed College located in Portland, Oregon. Allied potters commenced operations in San Francisco back in 1945 and lasted until 1949.
Allied Potters, Running Horses; Terracotta. 13.5" Diameter.
Little information is available about Allied Potters, but from what is available, I have compiled a short list of facts from the Internet, and with links to each source so to satisfy any additional curiosity.
But before I begin, I will say that I much enjoy being “wowed” by chance discoveries when doing research, especially when the discovery is somehow connected to the ceramic work that has found its way into Studio Potter Archive’s house collection. In this instance, I’ve been introduced to the inspirational life accomplishments of Enid Sales, a.k.a, Tommy Thompson.
Enid Sales Photo by John McE. Atkisson
Apparently, Sales was quite a force to reckon with when following her steadfast passion and dedication to preserving Victorian-era buildings; mainly homes which once stood in the path of imminent doom. It is this same passion and dedication in her work that’s earned Sales respectable recognition in the history books as an architectural preservationist in her home state of California, and on a National level. To many, her early success is measured by the countless number of houses (350+) that were restored and/or saved from the wrecking ball during the 1960s and ‘70s; many eventually finding their way onto the National Register of Historic Places.
Allied Potters, Angel w/ Guitar; Terracotta. 13.5" diameter.
In a tribute letter published by Reed Magazine, Barbara Thompson discusses Sales’ preservation work: ”I was able to follow her activities first-hand as she aimed to preserve the built environment of the world, starting in San Francisco, and culminating in Carmel and environs where she made her most significant contributions.”
In this entry though, we offer a glimpse into a time when two young women followed their dream to San Francisco and opened a ceramic studio, and decades before each would reach great personal, and professional heights.
These selections are rare and there’s not much work by Allied Potters to reference in the marketplace. As mentioned by Thompson, Allied Potters was only in business for “almost five years”.
About the work: The three examples in SPA’s Archive collection are terracotta chargers; each measuring 13.5” diameter by 1” high — two depicting guitar-playing angels (one shown) and one showing a pair of running horses. Two examples are signed on the reverse with artist initials of “GNQ”; one simply reads“G. Nevada”.
Artist signatures on verso.
Inscribed and centered on each plate is “Allied Potters San Francisco” and a studio cipher.
About Allied Potters:
- Professionally known as “Barbara Wuest” and “Tommy Thompson”
- Both women fell in love with clay while enrolled in a Bauhaus-oriented course at Reed College. (Wuest; class of 1943, Thompson; class of 1944)
- Both left Portland, Oregon for San Francisco to follow a “fun” desire to “make pottery”, and prior to committing to supposed careers in journalism and/or teaching.
- Commenced operations as “Allied Potters” in 1945.
- Exhibited at the Sixth Annual Pacific Coast Ceramics Exhibition, held in San Francisco in 1947. Their work held rank (in honorable mention) to that of other esteemed potters such as Carlton Ball, Antonio & Eunice Prieto, and Lillian Kendall. Among the jury sat Laura Andreson and Edith Heath. Other participants included Beatrice Wood, Myron Purkiss, Claude Horan, Nancy & Robert Clough, Mary Fuller, Ralph Tarzian, and Sally De Paolo.
- Allied Potters closed its doors in 1949.
- Wuest married Thompson’s brother; thus taking the Thompson name.
- Both artists resided in San Francisco’s Telegraph Hill section during Allied Potters run as a studio.
- Known work consists of terracotta forms with glaze-painted compositions.
Thompson (Sales) and Wuest (Thompson) resided in the Telegraph Hill section of San Francisco while operating Allied Potters.
p.k.
