Pewabic Pottery

Detroit Pewabic Pottery available at The Michigan Art Gallery.

Mary Chase Stratton (American, 1867-1961) was born in Hancock, Michigan. She was a co-founder, along with Horace Caulkins of the renown Detroit based Pewabic Pottery which was established in 1903. One of the oldest continually operating ceramics facilities in the country, Pewabic became a leader of the 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.