In 1904, Dr. Herbert Hall opened a "handicraft shop" at his sanatorium in Marblehead, Massachusetts. His goal was to provide occupational therapy—woodcarving, weaving, metalwork, ceramics making— for female patients committed with "nervous disorders." He believed that creative work would have a curative and "normalizing" effect upon his patients. Arthur Eugene Baggs, an 18 year old ceramics student from Alfred University (in Western New York State), worked with the Marblehead patients during his summer break in 1905. At the end of the summer, when he should have been returning to school, Baggs was induced to stay permanently—to "professionalize" and manage the hospital's ceramics studio. Alas, most of the patients did not possess sufficient talent to produce high-quality wares and, in 1908, the ceramics studio broke-away from the sanatorium to run as an independent business. In 1915, Arthur Baggs purchased the business from Dr. Hall.
While the patients at Marblehead never became expert ceramicists, Arthur Baggs did. For a few short years, Marblehead Pottery produced wonderful Arts & Crafts ceramics of quality and sophistication. In 1923, it became a seasonal business, only opening during the Summer beach season. Baggs designed items for the studio and hired a staff to execute the work. Baggs later went-on to work as a glaze chemist at Cowan Pottery in Lakewood, Ohio (1925-1928), after which he taught ceramics at Ohio State University.
Marblehead Pottery closed in 1936, a casualty of the Great Depression.
Shown above, "Shape #71," a three-handled hanging bowl. Such a piece would hang from chain or be strung with leather or jute. It displays the classic Marblehead reddish body—a special blend of clays which has a brick component. This piece is glazed with Marblehead's classic Arts & Crafts matte green. Click on the photo above to learn more about this handsome piece.
Though our Greenwich Village store is now permanently closed, LEO Design is still alive and well! Please visit our on-line store where we continue to sell Handsome Gifts (www.LEOdesignNYC.com).
To arrange a visit our Pittsburgh showroom (by private appointment only), please call 917-446-4248.