The Smallest Moo-seum
Watertown woman brings 40 collectable cows to NU’s Smallest Museum
Dani Daniels stands alongside her "Smallest Moo-seum" exhibit. Daniels said she has over 200 total, with around 40 in the exhibit. (Photo by Olivia Haggerty)
Forty porcelain cow creamers from Dani Daniels' 200-piece collection are on display through Oct. 29 in The Smallest Museum in Minnesota outside The Grand. (Photo by Olivia Haggerty)
CLEMENTINE: Daniels' favorite piece in the exhibit, a 1920s cow creamer with orange polka dots she calls "Clementine" for its bright colors. (Photo by Dani Daniels)
Daniels said she chose favorites and had family members pick theirs. (Photo by Olivia Haggerty)
Dani Daniels stands alongside her "Smallest Moo-seum" exhibit. Daniels said she has over 200 total, with around 40 in the exhibit. (Photo by Olivia Haggerty)
Forty porcelain cow creamers from Dani Daniels' 200-piece collection are on display through Oct. 29 in The Smallest Museum in Minnesota outside The Grand. (Photo by Olivia Haggerty)
CLEMENTINE: Daniels' favorite piece in the exhibit, a 1920s cow creamer with orange polka dots she calls "Clementine" for its bright colors. (Photo by Dani Daniels)
Daniels said she chose favorites and had family members pick theirs. (Photo by Olivia Haggerty)
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NEW ULM -- Forty porcelain cow creamers from a 200-piece collection are on display through Oct. 29 in The Smallest Museum in Minnesota outside The Grand Center for Arts & Culture at 210 N. Minnesota St.
Watertown artist Dani Daniels said her collection started 25 years ago with a Christmas gift from her husband’s grandparents that included a creamer and salt and pepper shakers. Her full collection has since grown to more than 200 pieces, with about 40 brought to New Ulm to fit the cabinet.
Daniels said her love of cow creamers comes from appreciating the artistry, personality, history, and charm of the pieces.
The form has a long history in ceramic production. The first cow creamers were made in Dutch silver during the 17th century. English potteries in Staffordshire began making ceramic versions around 1740. The design had a revival in the 1950s through the 1970s when factories in Germany, England, and other countries exported them to the United States as farmhouse kitchenware.
The creamer remains functional as tabletop servingware. Cream is poured into an opening in the back of the figure and pours out from the mouth. The curved tail often forms the handle.
Daniels said her collection includes pieces manufactured in multiple countries over the past century, including France, Germany, Holland, and the former Czechoslovakia, with each piece marked by its country of origin on the bottom.
She finds new additions online, at thrift shops and antique stores, and as gifts from friends and family who know she collects them.
Her favorite piece in the New Ulm exhibit is an antique figure dating back to the 1920s that she calls Clementine. The white cow with bright orange spots, black horns, and a black tail that forms the handle sits on the bottom shelf of the display cabinet.
The most unusual piece in the exhibit is not a traditional full-standing figure, but a green cylindrical container featuring a three-dimensional cow head as the lid.
Other pieces in the exhibit include blue and white Delft-style cows made in Holland, a floral chintz cow decorated with pink, yellow, and blue flowers, a black and white Holstein, a white calf, and a cow featuring gold horns and green clover detail.
The exhibit is arranged across four shelves. Daniels said she chose some of her favorites and had family members pick theirs to create a mix of colors, eras, and styles. She also posted groups of four cows at a time to her Instagram page and asked followers to vote on favorites to help narrow which pieces made the trip to New Ulm.
A photograph placed in the background of the cabinet shows Eden Prairie in the 1960s, which includes her grandparents’ farm. Dani said her grandparents had a dairy farm. She did not grow up on a dairy farm and has never raised cattle or worked in farming, but has tremendous respect for the work farmers do.
The exhibit also features a small inclusion representing her family pet. Her family includes her husband, their five kids, and their corgi Mr. Ted, represented by a small dog figure placed next to a tractor on the middle shelf of the cabinet.
Daniels said she hopes passersby enjoy the variety and that the faces, colors, and details give people a smile.
The family spent time visiting downtown shops and restaurants after setting up the installation and plans to return before the exhibit concludes.
She said she hopes to travel more in coming years to find pieces abroad and is considering new ways to display the growing collection at home.
Daniels secured the exhibition space by submitting an online application to the arts organization. The Grand accepts proposals for Spring, Summer, and Fall exhibition slots for its four-shelf cabinet. The 2027 application window is currently open atthegrandnewulm.org/smallest-museum.
Daniels is the owner of The Cookie Store MN and Hey Sugar! located at 141 Lewis Ave S, Watertown. She has been decorating cookies for friends and family for almost 30 years and turned it into a business in 2014 after winning a ribbon from Gold Medal Flour at the Minnesota State Fair.
Daniels can be found at @cookiestoremn on Instagram. The exhibit remains viewable 24 hours a day outside The Grand Center for Arts & Culture.