This is a nice grouping. This pottery line was a limited production due to labor intensity. Circa early 1980s.
Tag Archives: Nemadji Indian Pottery
Visit Moose Lake: Home of Nemadji Pottery
A visit to the museum in Moose Lake, Minnesota offers a pleasant surprise for Nemadji Pottery collectors. The display features numerous pots and a file folder filled with tidbits about the pottery that got its start in Moose Lake. The nemadji pottery book is also available for purchase with proceeds going to a variety of museum projects.
I hope you will stop by.
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Minnesota Pottery, Nemadji Indian Pottery, Nemadji Pottery
Support Local Art: Sell Your Nemadji Pottery
–Moose Lake, Minnesota
The Ohly Art Gallery is actively seeking to purchase private collections of Nemadji Pottery. If the time has come to find a new home for your collection consider contacting Judy Ohly at the Gallery. Judy’s email is Judyohly@gmail.com. The gallery’s phone number is 507-261-2223.
Opened in the summer of 2024, the Ohly Art Gallery offers a fine selection of Nemadji pottery to add to your collection as well as expanding the collections of a new generation of collectors. Here’s the exciting part. 20 percent of Nemadji sales go to support the gallery with the remainder going to support the community and the arts.
The gallery also features the creations of 13 diverse local artists offering a multitude of talents including Scandinavian painting on wood, fiber art, custom wood furniture, woodworking using recycled woods, ceramic art, gourd art, Zentangle. paintings in many mediums and artistic pieces from “Sparky” a glass kiln.
Hours are 10 am til 4 pm Thursday–Sunday and by appointment.
Nemadji Pottery sale?
Greetings, I am wondering if there is any interest to purchase Nemadji Pottery via this blog. At present I am selling my duplicates at Lakeside Traders in Moose Lake, MN. They are selling well…but wanted to see if anyone outside our area would be interest. Please offer comments. Thank you.
Posted in Nemadji, Nemadji Pottery, Uncategorized
Tagged Eric Hellman, Garden of the Gods pottery, Nemadji Indian Pottery
Wow, a very hot Nemadji Pottery Collectors Weekend in Moose Lake, Minnesota
I wasn’t sure how Nemadji collectibles would sell this summer in Moose Lake. If this weekend is any indicator, I would have to say I’d better go through my collection and look for duplicates. In the past two days I have had to restock twice. It seems all styles, eras and colors are hot, hot, hot. The old red clay pieces made with clay dug from Nemadji Township were flying out the door. These pieces are from the 1950’s made in Moose Lake, Minnesota. Many of them are on their way to southern Minnesota to a new home. I would be interested to hear how the collecting and selling is doing in other parts of the country.
Selling my duplicates, this is hard!
As we move closer to retirement we are downsizing our household. For me that means selling some of my duplicate pieces of Nemadji Pottery collected over 35 years. This is hard. I remember the excitement of hunting and collecting each piece. Now it is time to share that pleasure with others. Nemadji collecting is still very strong, unlike other collectible pottery. I believe that is because the prices are within the range of new collectors who are just discovering this pottery made in Moose Lake and Kettle River Minnesota. If you are collecting, remember collect what you love. You may have it for awhile. I have enjoyed my collection….and it always gives me pleasure to see the pieces on display in my home. If you have questions….feel free to ask, I will do my best to share my info with you.
Happy Hunting.
Michelle
Country Living appraises Nemadji pot
Years ago, when I first started collecting Nemadji there was little information available. When the Internet developed my first couple of searches pulled up nothing about the Pottery. Today, you could spend a week, clicking and reading about the pottery made in Minnesota’s Arrowhead Region.
Today I did a search and there were 64,400 mentions, including the one below.
Country Living Magazine’s collecting panel, Marsha Bemko of Antiques Roadshow, Marsha Dixey of Heritage Auctions, U.S. art and furniture expert Helaine Fendelman, and American Pickers host Mike Wolfe, appraise fine collectibles.
Follow the link below to their evaluation of a Nemadji Indian Pottery piece.
Country Living Magazine “what its worth?”
Posted in Nemadji
Tagged Minnesota Pottery, Nemadji Indian Pottery, Nemadji Pottery, Nemadji River
Scandinavian Children and The Myth of Nemadji
From time to time, we come across some very interesting descriptions of Nemadji pottery and its history.
From this point on, I will be sharing those we find. This one from Ebay conjures up tiny little Scandinavian children working their fingers to the bone, producing Nemadji Pottery. I also especially enjoy the Native American mention.
“Today, many people associate Nemadji Pottery with Native American crafts. This is not the case. Nemadji pottery was actually produced by children of Scandinavian immigrants. Nemadji Tile and Pottery started production in Moose Lake, Minnesota, in 1923. Originally producing Nemadji tile, Nemadji Pottery was produced during the Depression to fuel tourist markets, usually in the western and northeastern United States. The pottery was marketed as “resembling” ancient Indian works. This is when Nemadji pottery became known as “Indian” pottery. Nemadji Pottery was made using clays from the Nemadji River, thus the “Indian” name. Nemadji is a word from the Ojibwa, also known as Chippewa, language.
Nemadji Pottery is very distinctive in look. It is typified by its “swirled paint” look. This look was developed by Eric Hellman in 1929. Hellman went on to work for Van Briggle Pottery before World War II and opened the Garden of the Gods Pottery in Colorado Springs in 1950.”
Moose Lake, Minnesota Artwork Featuring Nemadji
This is a segment of a new archway that was assembled in Moose Lake, Minnesota this summer by Larson Clayworks . I especially love this piece of the archway as it honors the history of Nemadji pottery and tile in Moose Lake. If you visit the city, the artwork is located next to the library. I would love to see your selfie next to this!
Nemadji Township
All photos (C) 2014 by Michelle Lee
Nemadji Township
Raw Nemadji Clay, found near Moose Lake, MN
Banks of the Nemadji River
We went on a mission to dig Nemadji Clay. Didn’t have to go far to find it, as the Nemadji River snakes its way throughout Carlton County. Nemadji Township was the site of an early brick works factory in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. The clay was easily found. The old township sign can still be found, although it seems to move around a bit. Last time I was out there it was on the other side of the gravel road.
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Carlton County, Nemadji Clay, Nemadji Indian Pottery, Nemadji River, Nemadji tile.
Nemadji "Indian" Pottery 