1

''Tile'' (no date)
1940

2

Alice Hagen ''Tests. Londonderry clay'' 1943 typescript on bond paper
1943

Credits:
Private collection

3

Testing Nova Scotia clays

Alice Hagen tested and used a wide variety of Nova Scotia clays in her pottery. She collected samples, worked the clays, and tested small samples in her kiln. The process of collecting clay samples often required the full cooperation -- and devotion--of family members, especially her husband Jack. Jack Hagen owned, and loved, his car, an Essex. He took meticulous care of it, keeping it under wraps in the garage when it was not in use. On the back of the car there was a large mounted storage box, and as the family set out on trips Alice Hagen packed several pails, a shovel and her rubber boots in the storage box. At likely spots Jack Hagen stopped the car so that his wife, wearing her rubber boots, could wade along river banks and down into the mud to collect samples of clay. The storage box was soon full of buckets of "mud" as her husband called it.(1)
(1) Interview with Dr. John Campbell, 14 August 2003.

4

''Alice Hagen at kiln with acorn vase'' (no date)
1940

5

Alice Hagen urges the establishment of a Pottery Industry

In June 1948, Alice Hagen urged the establishment of a pottery industry in Nova Scotia to a delegation from the Halifax Junior Board of Trade who visited her studio in Mahone Bay. She told her visitors that while the word pottery conjured up visions of coarse, heavy brick red urns and bowls, skilled potters could learn to produce beautiful works of art. She argued that because Nova Scotia had rich deposits of excellent clay 'Pottery could be made into one of the greatest industries in Nova Scotia.' She underscored this point by noting that in the early 20th century the ceramics industry in the United States produced revenues of $40,000 a year, while by the late 1940s the ceramic industries produce $86,000,000 a year. The visitors toured her studio, where she exhibited many of ''her many intricate works of art," including china decorated in lustre medium overglaze, various types of pottery and ceramics, overglaze in enamel and mineral paints, overglaze decorated on China in mineral colours and unfinished work ready for the kiln. (1)

By 1948 Hagen had made 100 tests of various clays, and claimed that excellent clay could be found almost anywhere in the province, but noted particularly clay from central Nova Scotia and from Cape Breton. (2)
(1) Progress Enterprise, Lunenburg, 23 June 1948.
(2) Ibid.

6

''Mahone Bay mug'' (no date)
1940

7

Alice Hagen ''Elephant figurine'' white earthenware with green matte glaze, 14 x 16 base diam. cm
1955

8

The impact of the Second World War

International events have a wide impact. John C. Hagen's retirement pension was paid in British currency. After the Second World War, as a result of the economic devastation caused by the war, the British Pound dropped in value in relation to the Canadian dollar. The result was a reduction in income for the couple, and Alice Hagen's work as an artist and potter had a much greater importance in the family economy. There were benefits for Nova Scotian consumers and tourists because she began to sell her work much more widely in gift shops across the province.1
1 Interview with Dr. John Campbell, 14 August 2003.

9

''Alice and John C. Hagen in the Mahone Bay studio'' (no date)
1960
Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia, Canada

10

At home with the Hagens

In 1959, when Alice Egan Hagen was 86 years old, journalist Kay Hill visited her in Mahone Bay to interview her for an article for the "Atlantic Advocate". She provided a vivid description of the house.

"Oil paintings covered most of the wall space. Casually disposed on ceramic tile tables stood vases and priceless lustre. Chinaware and decorated glass spilled out of cupboards and china cabinets, or stood carelessly on the floor...She mixes her cakes in a gorgeous punch bowl hand painted in enamel overglaze. Every room upstairs is hung with oils, too, including the bathroom!" (1)
(1) Hill, "Pioneer Potter."

11

''Alice Hagen at the Halifax Citadel'' (no date)
1965
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

12

An exhibition of Hagen's work

In July 1960, the Provincial Museum, now the Nova Scotia Museum, located within the fortress on Citadel Hill in Halifax, held an exhibition of paintings featuring a panoramic view of Halifax in the 1890s by Alice Hagen. (1)
(1) Mail Star, 22 July 1960.

13

''John C. Hagen with pipe'' (no date) black and white photograph
1950

Credits:
Private collection

14

John and Alice Hagen in later years

In 1964 John C. Hagen died. He had served twice as mayor of Mahone Bay. "Cookery is his creative outlet, a very practical one, too, which leaves his wife free for her studio and pupils." (1)

Alice had her studio consecrated for services for local Catholics who could not travel, as Mahone Bay had no Catholic church.
(1) Hill, "Nova Scotia's Pioneer Potter."