Destruction of Elizabeth Collard's important ceramics collection.

      Elizabeth Collard's death in January was a great lost to the world of
ceramic research.  She spent a lifetime doing research on ceramics in
Canada and her book Nineteenth-Century Pottery and Porcelain in Canada is
the standard reference on the subject.  McGill University Press published
it in 1967, the centennial year for the Articles of Confederation.  A
revised edition of this work was published in 1984.  In addition, she
published The Potters' View of Canada.  These books will stand the test of
time.  They are a wonderful synthesis of documentary research from old
Canadian newspapers and business records with ceramics that could be
documented as having a Canadian context.  Elizabeth was given The Order of
Canada medal in recognition of her research on ceramics in Canada.  Edgar
Collard, her husband, was awarded the Order of Canada a few years before
for his long running newspaper column on Canadian history.  Edgar was a
newspaper editor in Montreal for most of his career.  The Collards retired
to Ottawa, Canada in the late 1970s.

      While Elizabeth Collard's books will always be available to
researchers, it now appears that her well-documented collection of ceramics
is about to be scattered to the winds by the Trustees of the University of
Toronto who are getting ready to have the collection auctioned off by
Sotheby's.  How did this happen?  Edgar Collard had accumulated an
important library on Canadian History that he intended to leave to the
University of Toronto.  It appears that after his death, the Collards' will
was not rewritten and thus the University of Toronto is to receive the
ceramics collection as well as the library.  No doubt, the library will
become a special collection at the University and continue to serve
scholars.  Unfortunately, the university does not seem to recognize the
importance of the ceramics collection as a research resource to be curated.
The sale of this important collection will represent a loss of a Canadian
National Treasure.

      I got to know Elizabeth and Edgar Collard when I worked at Parks
Canada in Ottawa.  Many times I visited and had tea and crumpets with
Elizabeth while we talked about ceramics and research.  In almost every
visit, she showed me pieces that she had "rescued" from going to the
States.  Her recognition of the importance of saving this aspect of
Canadian history is such an anathema to the idea of auction off the
collection.  Elizabeth often talked about her collection going to the
National Museum of Canadian.  I understand from friends in Ottawa that over
the last couple of years she had been turning pieces over to the National
Museum after cataloging them.  Her intention for this important,
well-documented collection to remain together as a resource for future
researchers and collectors was always clear.  It is a travesty that her
will was not rewritten to reflect this intent.

      I urge my Canadian colleagues to write to the University of Toronto
and to Canadian newspapers such as the Toronto Globe and Mail and the
Ottawa Citizen to express what a loss the sale of this collection would be
to Canada and future scholars.

George L. Miller