Image caption: Kenneth Talmadge Stacks is shown here photographing two Van Briggle vases featuring design #653. The bronze-clad vase is part of the CSPM’s Van Briggle Collection, and the copper clad vase belongs to Kathy Honea.
This past December, 137 pieces of Van Briggle Pottery from the CSPM Collection were photographed for an upcoming book by Kathy Honea and Kenneth Talmadge Stacks. The extensive photography project took place in the museum’s newly renovated Collections Workspace on Saturday, December 14th.
This important documentation project required significant coordination in order to photograph over one hundred very fragile artifacts in a single day. The CSPM has the world’s largest public collection of Van Briggle, with over 700 pieces altogether. To begin the process, Registrar Caitlin Sharpe provided a list of all CSPM Van Briggle artifacts to Kathy and Ken for their consideration. The two carefully made selections based on VB designs needed for the book.
Once selections were made, Caitlin pulled objects from the CSPM ceramics storage vault, and later from our exhibits. Each individual piece had to be carefully wrapped and padded to ensure a safe transfer to the third floor Collections Workspace for photography. In total, 56 pieces were pulled from storage and 81 from exhibits. The bulk of the pieces were temporarily removed from the Van Briggle Gallery exhibit, From Paris to the Plains, with one artifact on display in COS@150. To reduce the amount of time the Van Briggle exhibit was closed for the photography project; Caitlin pulled all exhibited materials on Thursday, December 13th and reinstalled them on Tuesday, December 17th.
The CSPM is excited to be a part of this important documentation project as it is a wonderful opportunity to highlight the breadth of the museum’s Van Briggle Pottery Collection. The photography process revealed new information about a few of our pieces, including previously undocumented VB designs. The CSPM collections staff look forward to using the Kathy and Ken’s forthcoming book as a reference and research tool.
Explore "From Paris to the Plains: Van Briggle Pottery in Colorado Springs"
To learn more about the upcoming book, below is a writeup from Kathy Honea and Kenneth Talmadge Stacks.
This new book is the second collaboration between Kenneth Talmadge Stacks and Kathy Honea. Kenneth has been a life-long collector of fine art and pottery while Kathy collects American art pottery, primarily early Van Briggle. Kenneth is responsible for the design of the books, and photographing some of the collectors’ pieces, while both are historians of the pottery.
The two collaborated on the 2024 Artus Van Briggle at Chico Basin Ranch book. They acquired many photos of Artus Van Briggle’s time at Chico Basin Ranch from the family of William C. Holmes who were the original owners of the ranch. The book contains those photos in print for the first time. The current Van Briggle book will showcase in color, the first 953 designs from 1900-1912. Both are very excited to be working with the CSPM, which houses the largest Van Briggle collection in the world, and much historical Van Briggle information within their archives.
The interest in this new venture was multi-dimensional. Many of the designs were available in etchings only; without information on design number, dimensions, age of the design, or creative artist for each. Collectors are now also interested in glaze names, interpretation of inscriptions on the base of each piece, and comparison of values from previously documented sales. As these newly documented designs have surfaced, there has been great interest from collectors and resellers.
In 2006, the pre-1912 handwritten records of many of the 1900-1912 pieces were located in the Van Briggle Pottery Company Archives, and copies distributed to the Van Briggle Symposium attendees in 2008. These have been the foundation of the first catalogued list.
Collectors and friends have collaborated in this recent effort. One collector realized they had six of these undocumented designs on their shelves. Another design, Siren of the Sea, was noted as design #899 in a 1929 magazine advertisement that surfaced.
Approximately 750 designs of the original 953 were documented prior to 1975. This research book will contain color photographs of all that are now available from many sources, and will include scores of those never before documented.
We hope to hear from collectors, who after perusing this book, will offer additional photos and information for the next supplement!
Caitlin Sharpe, Registrar
719.385.5654 | caitlin.sharpe@coloradosprings.gov