J.S. Lawson was a Guelph pharmacist. He became interested in making wax models probably through Mrs. Potter. He donated his collection to the old OAC museum in 1926 and retired in Guelph during the 1950's.
In 1893, Prof. H.L. Hutt of the OAC visited the Columbian Exposition where he met Mrs. Stanley Potter, the widow of an Illinois farmer. She was making wax models of fruit. A few years later, she was persuaded to come and work in Guelph for the O.A.C. She was over 60 years of age at the time and during the next five years she produced nearly 900 wax models of fruits and vegetables used as teaching aids. Moulds were made from natural specimens; Mrs. Potter and a few local women she trained painted the results to remarkable effect. She lived and worked in a room in the Horticultural Building. She remained at the College for six or seven years. After leaving Guelph, she retired to California, where she later died.
From the description of Wax and plaster of Paris reproductions of mushrooms created by Mrs. Stanley Potter and J. S. Lawson for the Department of Botany to be used as teaching aids for classroom study. 1893- 1930. (University of Guelph). WorldCat record id: 627427798
