In 1960 and 1961, National Museum of Canada archaeologist James V. Wright spent several weeks at the mouth of the Michipicoten River excavating at a number of ancient archaeological sites in order to recover long-forgotten pieces of the region’s ancient history. For decades, two museum drawers held pieces from what was believed to be the same ancient ceramic pot recovered from one of those sites. Finally, in 2010 the task of reconstructing the pot from the broken sherds was entrusted to Bryan Arthur, a world-renown conservator whose specialty and passion lay in ancient earthenware pots. Over the course of several weeks, each phase of work was meticulously documented in a series of 30 videos ranging in length from slightly less than one minute to nearly 11 minutes. Every step is described, the reasoning explained and the process shown. In the end, thanks to Mr. Arthur’s incredible skills, we are able to gaze upon the Michipicoten pot which had not been seen for more than five centuries. The pot is as much a testament to the craftsperson who created it as it is to the abilities and knowledge of Bryan Arthur.
The videos were produced by Jean-Luc Pilon and Lori Schroeder in 2010. They are being made available at the request of the Town of Wawa Heritage Committee.
