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Osborne Theomun Olsen (1883-1971) in the Toledo Blade on May 16, 2001

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Osborne Art Studios, which was founded in Chicago, Illinois, in 1910 by Osborne T. Olsen. At that time there were a number of companies decorating white china 'blanks' (e.g. pieces that are undecorated and therefore 'blank') in Chicago. The most famous of these was and is the Pickard China Company, whose work is highly prized by current collectors and can be very expensive. There is no question that Osborne did beautiful work, but he is often accused of being a Pickard copyist, and this tends to hurt the value of many Osborne pieces. It should also be noted that Osborne did not always use a backstamp on his pieces, and since they look so much like Pickard's work, this has caused much confusion among those who are interested in this type of ware.