Biography:
Co-founded by Mary Chase Stratton (American, 1867-1961) and Horace Caulkins (American, 1950-1923), the renown Detroit based Pewabic Pottery was established in 1903. The word Pewabic is derived from the Ojibwa (or Chippewa) word "wabic", which means metal, or "bewabic", which means iron or steel. Stratton's father had worked as a doctor for the Pewabic copper mine in Michigan's Upper Peninsula when she was a girl.
One of the oldest continually operating ceramics facilities in the country, Pewabic was an early 20th century leader of the International Arts and Crafts movement in Detroit during a time that was both a golden age for handcrafted pottery and tile and a boom in industrialization with the birth of the automotive industry.
Pewabic became famous for its production both of objects such as vases, jars, lamps, and plates, and of tiles used in architectural settings. Stratton was known for "rediscovering" glazes used by ancient civilizations; her most successful effort in this direction was the creation of a particularly brilliant iridescent glazes. An influential teacher, Stratton's Pewabic Pottery was the training ground for numerous Michigan potters, including Gwen Lux, John Glick, James Powell, and Susan and Russell Bolt.
In 1991, Pewabic Pottery was designated as a National Historic Landmark. As Michigan's only historic pottery, the center continues to operate in a 1907 Tudor Revival building as a non-profit educational institution. They offer classes in ceramics, hold exhibitions, sell pottery made in house, showcase and sell artists from across the United States, and offer design and fabrication services for public and private buildings.
Public Pewabic Pottery Installations around Detroit include: