The Boehm Porcelain birds exhibited in the Nicholson Library were a gift from Rosemary Wilson Austin, daughter of Charles E Wilson. Charles E Wilson lived in Anderson from 1921 to 1928, during his service as an executive of Delco-Remy; he was President of General Motors (1941-1953) and served as Secretary of Defense in the Eisenhower administration (1953-1957). When built, the library was named for Charles E Wilson and the older portion of the building still bears his name. Rosemary Wilson Austin bequeathed her entire collection of Boehm porcelain bird statuary to Anderson University to be used "...for educational purposes and for encouragement of the arts."
Boehm Porcelain is an artisan studio founded by sculptor Edward Marshall Boehm in 1949. Boehm fine porcelain sculptures, open collection and limited edition collectibles, as well as historically-commissioned pieces, are created by highly skilled artisans in the same Trenton, New Jersey, studio in which the company was founded. Boehm Porcelain is known worldwide as one of the finest handmade American art sculpture studios. Included in our collection are 28 pieces of incredibly realistic birds with similar pieces found in places such as - The White House, Buckingham Palace, the Elysée Palace in Paris, and the Vatican.
