Mushrooms Modelled in Clay
Ernest and Alma Lorenzen were highly skilled potters with an unusual passion – mushrooms. Working from their studio in Lantz, Nova Scotia, the Lorenzens used local clay and minerals to fashion 235 different mushroom species during their lifetimes (Ernest died in 1990, Alma in 1998). Prized by private collectors, their work can also be found at the Smithsonian in Washington, the Museum of Nature in Ottawa, Dalhousie University in Halifax as well as the Nova Scotia Museum.
The Smooth Chanterelle, from the group that gives us some of our choicest edibles, is captured perfectly in this Lorenzen model. You can easily make out the gentle ridges, rather than gills, on the underside of this “smooth” mushroom. It can be found in wet areas throughout Nova Scotia.