Illustrated history of the Beverly Pottery in Beverly Massachusetts

This book is the result of more than fifteen years of research. The study has been carried on, partly in libraries and town records, partly by conferences with descendants of potters and others familiar with their history, and partly by actual digging on the sites of potteries. The excavation method has proved most successful in showing what our New England potters were making at an early period now almost unrepresented by surviving specimens.

Beverly was first settled by five men known as the "Old Planters" and was incorporated as a town in 1668. Its first minister, Rev. John Hale, was the author of an important work on the Salem witch hysteria. In 1775, the schooner Hannah, the first commissioned military vessel, sailed from Beverly Harbor. Privateers also sailed from here for their raids on enemy ships. In the 19th century, Beverly's Lucy Larcom wrote about life working in the cotton mills. The early 20th century attracted a wave of immigrants for the construction of the United Shoe Machinery Corporation and the development of the estates, beaches, and gardens of Beverly's Gold Coast. President Taft vacationed at present-day Lynch Park, and many visitors have come to Beverly for the North Shore Music Theatre and Le Grand David.

The Arts and Crafts Movement exerted a profound influence on early-twentieth-century America, not only in the applied and decorative arts but also in the area of social reform. Standing at this intersection of art and reform were American art potteries that taught ceramics skills to working-class women as a means of securing income, restoring health, and/or uplifting the spirit. Like its better known and more successful predecessors -- the Marblehead Pottery in Massachusetts, the Newcomb Pottery in New Orleans, and the Paul Revere Pottery in Boston (home of the "Saturday Evening Girls") -- the Arequipa Pottery in Fairfax, California, had fascinating origins, and it produced distinctive wares that today are prized by collectors. Fired by Ideals: Arequipa Pottery and the Arts & Crafts Movement tells the story of the Arequipa Sanatorium and Pottery, whose roots lie in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire. The dust and smoke from the disaster prompted an outbreak of tuberculosis, which afflicted "working girls" in particular. In 1911, a progressive physician, Dr. Philip King Brown, founded a treatment center in rural Marin County, north of San Francisco, where these women could get the rest and medical care they needed, as well as engage in a therapeutic and marketable pursuit: the manufacture of art pottery. In addition to its engaging historical narrative supported by dozens of vintage photographs, the book employs technical illustrations and beautiful full-color reproductions to examine the production process at Arequipa and the types of pottery made there.

Take your work to the next level! In Creative Pottery, join ceramic artist Deb Schwartzkopf and grow as a functional potter, whether your background is in wheel-throwing or handbuilding. Start off with a quick review of where you are in your own journey as a potter. If you need to brush up on the basics, help setting goals, or pointers on how to translate your inspiration into your work, you’ve come to the right place. The rest of the book is a self-guided journey in which you can choose the techniques and projects that interest you: Go beyond the basics and learn how to throw or handbuild a bottomless cylinder. Then explore seams and alterations for projects like an oval serving tray, altered cylinder vase, and dessert boat. Learn about small changes that make a big impact, making an asymmetrical slab plate, throwing plates, and creating a cake stand. Master bisque molds and use them to open a new world of possibilities. Make spoons, a goblet, a butter dish, and more. Add complexity for stunning forms, including a pitcher, juicer, teapot, and oil pourer. With compelling galleries, artist features, and guided questions for growth throughout, this is a book for potters ready to learn new skills and unlock their creativity.