Conditions Governing Use

Permission to publish or reproduce is required from the copyright holder. For more information, please see the Permissions and Copyright page on the West Virginia and Regional History Center website.

Conditions Governing Access

No special access restriction applies.

Preferred Citation

[Description and date of item], [Box/folder number], Malcolm Davis, Artist, Papers, A&M 4263, West Virginia and Regional History Center, West Virginia University Libraries, Morgantown, West Virginia.

Biographical / Historical

Malcolm Herbert Davis, Jr. (1937-2011) was an internationally acclaimed ceramic artist who first began working with clay at the age of forty. Previously, Davis served as a campus minister at the Ecumenical Campus Ministry George Washington University in Washington, D.C. He was also a well-known social activist. A graduate of Union Theological Seminary in New York City and ordained United Church of Christ clergy, he considered his life in clay as a continued ministry. According to Davis, the making of pots was "a way to celebrate the mundane rituals of daily life and to make them holy."

Davis was most well-known for the shino glaze recipe (known as "Malcolm's Shino") that he developed, which is still in use by potters in the United States and Europe.

Davis first exhibited his ceramics in 1991 at the Greenwich House Nancy Hartsock Gallery in New York City. His work was also featured at the Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show, the Smithsonian Craft Show, the American Craft Council Shows, and was a regular participant in the Annual Pottery Invitational for over 30 years. His work can be found in numerous museum collections, including the American Craft Museum (New York City), the American Museum of Ceramic Art (Pomona, CA), The Chein-Joseph International Museum of Ceramic Art (Alfred, NY), Mobach Collection (Utrecht, Holland) and a permanent collection in Yixing, China. He was the recipient of numerous awards, including four grants from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities.

Known internationally for his functional porcelain shinoware, Davis taught and lectured widely throughout the U.S., Canada, and Italy. He was also featured in over 15 books and publications in the U.S. and Europe.

Though born in Newport News, Virginia, Davis spent much of his life in Washington, D.C. and kept his studio and kiln in Tallmansville, West Virginia.

[This note based upon contents of funeral program in this collection.]

Scope and Contents

Papers of Malcolm Davis, noted potter and ceramic artist. The collection includes slides of his work, some correspondence, shino glaze recipe cards, sketchbooks, photographs, and research books regarding ceramics. Davis was known for his shino pottery with a distinctive glaze, and much of the collection relates to that work. This collection is minimally processed.

box 1a: slides of ceramics (shino and celadon teapots, vases, jars, platters, "white pots," Penland celadon miniatures, sake sets, casseroles, vessels, honey jars and planters)
box 1b: slides of ceramics
box 2: travel books and notebooks from China
box 3: kiln firing logs 2003-2011
box 4: resumes
box 4: grants awarded
box 4: materials for website development
box 4: printed PR MHD in written media (news, magazines, CM, etc.)
box 5a: slides – early stoneware
box 5a: photos from early workshops (1980s)
box 5a: photos from Retrospective (June 2012), The School at Old Church, Demarest, NJ
box 5b: CD workshop and ceramic images
box 5b: first shino "Endless variations" exhibition CDs
box 6: correspondence – Jack Troy, Jim Robinson, Karen Karnes, Val Cushing, David Woodin, Tom Coleman, Pete Pennel, David Leach
box 7: workshops – PR and CD images
box 7: exhibitions (1980s, 1990s, 2000s)
box 7: curated exhibitions
box 7: 2010 NCECA closing address (Philadelphia)
box 7: 2012 Memorial Service (program and CD)
box 7: obituaries – Washington Post, Boston Globe, Ceramics Monthly, online, etc.
box 8a: research books regarding ceramics
box 8b: research books regarding ceramics
box 9: research books and pamphlets on ceramists and their work
box 10: card box 1 (3x5 cards with recipes)
box 10: card box 2 (3x5 cards with recipes)
box 10: card box 3 (3x5 cards with recipes)
box 11, folders 01-07: recipes
box 11, folders 08-09: recipes and other information
box 11, folder 10: recipes
box 11, folder 11: notebook 1 (glaze tests)
box 11, folder 12: notebook 2 (kiln log)
box 12, folder 01: notebook 3 (glaze calculation)
box 12, folder 02: notebook 4 (general)
box 12, folder 03: sketchbook 1 (vessel forms and some recipes)
box 12, folder 04: sketchbook 2 (vessel forms)
box 12, folder 05: sketchbook 3 (vessel forms)
box 12, folder 06: sketchbook 4 (vessel forms)
box 12, folder 07: miscellaneous

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• Art and artists
• Davis, Malcolm H., 1937-2011