Grand Island, Nebraska native Otto Pieper came to Helena as a young man in about 1905. Although he was a professional meat-cutter, his true love seems to have been creating art. Oil painting and ceramics (possibly only concrete casting) were his preferred media.

The 1928 oil on canvas pictured below was done for the Montana Meat Co. in Helena, for which Otto worked. It was reproduced on cans of Larson's Pure Lard. Click on the painting to enlarge in a new window.

In about 1941, Otto teamed up with concrete worker Roy Fenn (1895-1944) to create ornamental works for gardens and cemeteries. These were sold out of Otto's home at 1229 Leslie Avenue.

Roy Fenn was an employee of Elk River Concrete (now Cretex Concrete Products), located near the Northern Pacific tracks, just east of Benton Avenue Cemetery.

I could find nothing about Otto and Roy's manufacturing process. Commercially-made molds may have been used, or perhaps Otto created them himself.

In 1942, Pieper fabricated and installed a large concrete urn in Women's Park. Weighing an estimated 500 lbs., it may have been cast on-site. It is pictured above on Mother's Day, May 10, 1942, soon after its completion. The woman posing is Ida Rhea Spear Jarvi (1897-1973).