From Early Stories to Today · Drawing 15
The potter's hands
The 19th century
In Québec workshops, potters made bowls, pots and jugs. The clay took shape under their hands.
Look together
What would you make out of clay?
An idea to try
Your child makes a small container from modelling dough, then decides whether to add a handle. Ask what their object could be used for.
For the adult reading along
A little more to discover
Québec pottery workshops made everyday objects such as bowls and jugs. In her exhibition research, Colette Dufresne documents several 19th-century families and businesses, including the Thibodeau family of Saint-Denis-sur-Richelieu and the Dion family of L'Ancienne-Lorette. Locations, materials and production methods differed between workshops.
The potter in the drawing is fictional and does not represent anyone from those families. For a child, the bowl taking shape connects an action with a familiar object. Compare a container with a handle and one without. Their shapes suggest possible uses, but do not tell their whole history.
Sources and context
These links lead to other websites. Explore them with an adult. Source titles appear in their original language; some linked pages are in French.
Source review: 2026-09-12. Illustrations simplify places and scenes; they are not historical documents.