Pontiac, Michigan (July 8, 2003) -- The Oakland County Office of Arts, Culture & Film is hosting the exhibition, Rookwood Pottery Collection of Matilda Dodge Wilson from Meadow Brook Hall, at the Oakland County Galleria from July 3 through August 25, 2003. This is a wonderful and rare exhibit that is on loan courtesy of Meadow Brook Hall.

Matilda Dodge Wilson had grand plans for her charming country farm when she and her second husband, lumber broker Alfred G. Wilson, broke ground in 1926 for what is now Oakland County's legendary and historic Meadow Brook Hall. The estate features 110 rooms and 88,000 square feet inspired by English country manors of the Tudor and Elizabethan periods.

Purchased in 1908 as a weekend retreat, the 320-acre farm offered automobile baron John Dodge and his family much-needed solitude and serenity. Yet it wasn't until years later that Mrs. Wilson--widowed by Dodge in 1920 and married to Wilson in 1925--envisioned an architectural masterpiece that would house art and collectibles from around the world.

Particularly fond of American design and craftsmanship, Mrs. Wilson was a patron of such artisans as Louis Comfort Tiffany and Rookwood Pottery. She commissioned several drawings and stained glass windows from Tiffany, as well as purchasing a number of his vases and lighting fixtures. Additionally, Mrs. Wilson commissioned custom tile by Rookwood Pottery for three of the bathrooms at Meadow Brook Hall and collected several of their vases.

Matilda's collection of Rookwood was purchased from the Rookwood Pottery Company of Cincinnati, Ohio, founded by Maria Longworth Nichols in 1880. Rookwood became increasingly popular throughout the 1920's with each piece handcrafted and unique in decoration. Soon the Company became one of the foremost art potteries by the late nineteenth century. The Rookwood Pottery Company closed in the summer of 1967, after 75 years of being America's foremost pottery and synonymous with artistic excellence in ceramics.

The County Galleria is located in the Executive Office Building 34 East on the Oakland County Campus, at 1200 North Telegraph, in Pontiac. It is open to the public weekdays, from 9 a.m. - 5 p.m., excluding legal holidays.

For more information, call the Office of Arts, Culture & Film at 248-858-0415.