Albert L. Solon and his partner Frank Schemmel formed "Solon and Schemmel," the manufacturers of the wall and floor tiles highlighted in our Tile section. These tiles are known for their beautiful colors. FLASH POINT Magazine Vol 3. No. 4 October - December 1990 By Lynn Downey The story of tile making in California is filled with fascinating characters, spectacular successes, equally spectacular failures, and artistic rivalries. It is also filled with unexpected humor. This article is the first in a series about Albert L. Solon, who is remembered not only for the tiles he created but also for the wit and charm he brought to his life and to those around him. "I can only shine by reflected light," wrote Albert Solon in reminiscing about his illustrious family. He as born in Stoke-on-Trent, in England's North Staffordshire district in 1887, a descendant of the Arnoux family, long known as master ceramists in France dating back to Toulouse in the late 17th century. Toward the end of the Franco-Prussian War (1870-71), his father, Louis Marc Solon, had left France and settled in Stoke-on-Trent, where Joseph Arnoux (his future father-in-law) had been Artistic Director at the famed Minton china manufacturer since 1849. The senior Solon married Laure Arnoux in 1871. At Minton, Louis Marc brought to perfection the "pate-sur-pate" technique: the building up and modelling of a design in white clay on a darker color ceramic body, a technique which brought him awards at the 1878 Paris Exposition. Many of his works feature a soft green or gray as the background color. L. M. Solon was also the author of The Art of the Old English Potter and numerous other books on pottery and porcelain. Albert was one of nine children, eight boys and a girl. Following in the familial path, Albert studied at the Victoria Institute in Stoke and served as an apprentice at Minton. In 1912, he emigrated to the United States. In a letter to a Mr. Randolph dated April 10, 1934, Albert recalls, "As the clay working industry was at that time in a formative stage there was plenty of opportunity for a trained man and I worked as chemist at several brick and terra cotta factories. Made a survey of clays and potters material in the southern part of the state and located several deposits of feldspar and china clay of good quality." In 1913, Albert came to northern California to participate in an unusual ceramic venture. In Fairfax, north of San Francisco, Dr. Philip King Brown had established the Arequipa Tuberculosis Sanatorium for women and, at the same time, had built a pottery facility to provide occupational therapy for his patients. The first potter director was the celebrated (and mercurial) Frederick Hurten Rhead, who had apprenticed with Albert's father at Minton's and whose family was friends of the Solon's in Stoke. Dr. Brown had recruited Rhead to head his promising experimental pottery in 1911, but according to a diary left by Dr. Brown's wife, his management style was less than satisfactory. Rhead resigned in May of 1913, and the Browns were left with the onerous task of finding a replacement. "We gathered our scattered ideas and forces together during June 1913 and by a good luck chance got in touch with Mr. A. L. Solon, a young Englishman, son of a famous potter. He took charge as manager in July 1913 and it took him three or four months to get things at all straightened out, the kilns in decent running order and the molds picked over". Mrs. Brown's diary is full of praise for Solon and his management of the pottery. Under this leadership the pottery began to expand its sales (which helped the women pay for their treatment at the sanatorium); stores in Chicago, Boston, and New York began to carry the best of the pottery's line. In addition, Rhead's remaining debts were paid off (one of the reasons Solon was so popular with Mrs. Brown). Solon's contribution to the pottery's output - and to California's ceramic heritage - included a magnificent turquoise blue glaze, one of the many Persian faience glazes used during his tenure thee. New clay bodies and shapes were also introduced, though he retained some of Rhead's style in the pottery's many designs. The patients/workers made both pottery and tiles, which feature the striking pot and oak tree design which is Arequipa's most famous mark. In 1915 the Panama-Pacific International Exposition was held in San Francisco. Solon and Dr. Brown arranged for Arequipa to have a working factory in the Palace of Education, where the most talented of the cured patients demonstrated pottery making. They won Gold Medals for the booth and for individual pieces. After three years at the rewarding, but probably confining, position at the sanatorium, Solon moved south again in 1916, to teach ceramic at the San Jose Normal School (which eventually became San Jose State University). This teacher training college offered a variety of classes. In addition to teaching clayworking methods, Solon taught - of all things - physics. His reputation for lively humor must have been the reason the editors of the school's Alumni Bulletin asked Solon to write an article for the publication in 1933. Entitled "Saving the Serbs," the piece is an amusing account of San Jose Normal's attempts to send food to the Serbs during World War I. The Relief Committee immediately began collecting fresh vegetables, which caused quite a problem." "After a couple of sniffs the committee decided the vegetables would not stand shipment to Alviso, let alone Serbia. However, Miss Hinze, who is an authority on the manners and customs of all the people on earth, insisted that the vegetables were just what was wanted as the Serbians attributed their longevity to a diet of sour milk and slightly decayed vegetables. The Home Economic department advised us to slice everything very fine and dry it, which was accomplished by using the roof of the main building as a drying ground. In six weeks we had enough vegetable shavings to convert the Danube into a river of nourishing soup." In 1920 Solon embarked on a business venture that would bring him much deserved praise and create some of the most beautiful tile work in northern California.. To Be Continued... Sources Blasberg, Robert, "Arequipa Pottery." The Western Collector, October 1968. Bray, Hazel V. The Potter's Art in California: 1885-1955. Oakland: Oakland Museum Art Department, 1980. Brown, Helen Hillyer. History of The Arequipa Pottery, 1914. Commanday, Mrs. Robert. Oral history interview, correspondence, 1990. Douglas, Jack. "Albert Solon: Master Tile Artist." San Jose Historical Museum Association News, May 1990. Solon, Albert. "Saving the Serbs." (San Jose State College) Alumni Bulletin, circa 1933. Solon, Gregory. Oral history interview, 1984. Photo Albert Louis Solon, from El Torre, yearbook of San Jose State Teachers' College, 1918. Courtesy of Jack Douglas