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This series contains the business correspondence of J. Palin Thorley from 1930 to 1987. Includes letters to business partners and suppliers, drafts of letters, and orders and invoices from specific companies. Arranged alphabetically.

This series contains the personal papers of J. Palin Thorley including correspondence with friends and relatives, as well as personal papers from Edith Thorley, his wife. Divided into 3 sub-series. The correspondence is organized alphabetically and other personal papers are organized by document type.

Various legal records including records relating to court cases in which Thorley was involved, deeds, official business incorporation and sale documents, trademark registration, and zoning of property. Organized by topic and within chronologically.

This series, organized chronologically, is composed of Thorley's financial ledgers and handwritten notes. documenting the evolution of his pottery business and personal finances. The 1952-1964 and 1966-1968 ledgers are supplemetned by business expense spreadsheets. See also composition books in Series 2 (Box 18) , for also annotations regarding finances, among other topics. See also Series 1, Business Correspondence, for invoices from companies.

This series is composed of Thorley's bisque, glaze, and decoration kiln notes; price calculations, draft sketches; font samples; glaze tests; and technical information. It is organized thematically.

This series comprises photographs documenting Thorley's personal and artistic life. Also included are photographs of archeological excavation sites, of the Queen's visit to Williamsburg, commercially produced photosof Colonial Williamsburg. Organized thematically, from Thorley's art to his personal life. Photographs from albums have been kept together and identified as such. A nitrate negative, showing a man in uniform, possibly military, has been separated and filed in nitrate negative storage. Consult a staff member for more information.

This series brings together reference materials and scholarship written by Thorley, about Thorley, or about art and pottery more generally. Some of these publications document Thorley's career and work, and some of them were kept by Thorley as possible inspiration and information sources for his creations. The series comprises eight sub-series classified by format (books, magazine and journal articles, catalogs and advertisements, unpublished reports, lectures, newspaper clippings, printed ephemera, and tableware shape designs). Some documents have annotations. When possible, the documents are organized alphabetically by publication/company name.

This series comprises drawings, sketches, and tracings on paper and cardboard on a variety of themes and mediums (mostly pencil, watercolor, ink, and paint). Most were likely produced in preparation for crafting pottery pieces and decorating them. A few drawings correspond to pieces in the Artifacts Series and are indicated as such. The studio art is arranged by the size of the boxes containing them. The medium and theme is then indicated. The majority of works are undated.

This artifact series comprises three subseries: ceramic work; tools and equipment; and personal artifacts. All artifacts are housed and described in the Manuscripts Artifact Collection (Mss 1.03).