Olive Muriel May Dougherty was born in Sandgate on 20 November 1895, the second child and only daughter of Richard Dougherty and his wife Matilda née Dillworth. She trained as a nurse before she began to study pottery with L. J. Harvey at the Central Technical College, Brisbane from 1926. She lived at Sandgate and travelled to Brisbane on the train, accompanied by fellow potter Gloria Lovelock (qv), for lessons. In 1928 she married Arthur James Edward Moase, an architect who lectured at the Central Technical College. Olive accompanied him to the college and attended Harvey’s classes while he gave his own lectures and as a result she had a substantial output. When Harvey retired from the college and established a studio at Horsham House, she continued lessons there until 1946 when ill health forced her husband to retire from the college and there was no need to come to the city.

The diversity of her work is typical of Harvey School pottery. In an unidentified newspaper article in the late 1930s Harvey stated that she was one of his best potters. Harvey encouraged his students to participate in the annual exhibitions of the Royal National Agricultural and Industrial Association and she received numerous prizes when she exhibited there. A review in the Courier-Mail of the display in 1937 stated she and Frida Hein were the two outstanding exhibitors '[who] were represented in almost every class, sometimes by more than one fine piece of work’. She exhibited a group of pottery at the Annual Exhibitions of Work by Art Students of the Central Technical College in 1933, 1934 and 1937. (She probably exhibited in the 1935 and 1936 exhibitions too but the individual exhibitors are not cited in the catalogue.) In the 1941 exhibition of the Arts and Crafts Society of Queensland (the only catalogue of the group to be located) she showed a dragon vase, a scraffito fish vase, a coffee set and a small jug.

Carving and leatherwork were also among her craft skills which she taught at the Montrose Home for Crippled Children in 1941.

In all, Olive Moase produced pottery for some 25 years which is exceptionally long commitment for a Harvey School potter. She died in Brisbane on 4 October 1966.

Queensland Art Gallery: Research Curator, Queensland Heritage

Writers:

Cooke, Glenn R. Note: Research Curator, Queensland Heritage, Queensland Art Gallery

Date written:

2003

Last updated:

2011