Museum Pottery Exhibit Features Special Reproduction

2007-08-30
Catalina Island Museum

Last year pottery collectors Eric and Rose Franco created a limited edition reproduction plate as a fundraiser for the museum during their September Pottery and Tile Extravaganza.  The plates were an enormous success and flew off the shelves and sold out well before the end of the month.  This year the generous couple is at it again and has created another limited edition reproduction piece for the museum.

This year's featured piece reproduces the famous Spanish Galleon plate made by Catalina Clay Products in the 1930s.  The exhibit, organized by the museum's curator Jeannine Pedersen, will have a special featured display of the original plates, along with hundreds of other pottery pieces showing the incredible range the factory produced from 1927 -1937.  The museum has a collection numbering several hundred pieces of pottery and tile and generous collectors both locally and from the mainland loan unique pieces every year to the show.  The museum's annual show is the most definitive show on the topic in the world and attracts collectors and visitors from all over.

Only 150 of the reproduction plates have been made and all are handmade, glazed, numbered and fired by the couple.  Great pains have been taken to ensure the quality and unique coloring of each piece. The plates will go on sale this weekend and throughout September until they are sold out.  The annual exhibition will open on Friday, August 31 and be open through September 30th.  A special members reception will be held on the evening of September 15 featuring a demonstration with the Franco's who will show how they made the plates and share more of the history of them.  Also, author Carole Coates will be available to sign her books on Catalina pottery and the California Revival.

The Museum is a private nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving and sharing the Island's unique cultural heritage.  The Museum is located on the ground floor of the Casino Building and is open 7 days a week from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.