Marblehead Pottery Marks

Marblehead Pottery (1904-1936). Arthur Eugene Baggs (1886-1947). In 1904, the Marblehead Pottery was founded by Dr. Herbert Hall as part of a handicraft therapy program for convalescing patients at his hospital. Soon after it began, the pottery was separated from the Sanitarium and Arthur Baggs was made its director. He purchased the pottery from Hall in 1915. Baggs had previously worked under Charles Binns at the NY School of Clayworking and Ceramics at Alfred. He taught pottery at various institutions throughout his career including the Ethical Cultural School and the School of Design and Liberal Arts in New York and the Cleveland School of Art. From 1925-28, he worked at the Cowan Pottery in Cleveland. To honor and recognize his work he was awarded the Charles F. Binns Medal in 1928 in New York. He exhibited in 1933 at the Robineau Memorial Ceramic Exhibition in Syracuse and the 1937 Paris Exhibition. When the Marblehead Pottery was closed in 1936, he continued his teaching at Ohio State. The pottery produced primarily hand thrown vases in simple shapes, however tiles, pitchers, bookends, hanging pots and wall pockets were also made. Marblehead cider sets were sold through Gustav Stickley’s catalog and showrooms. The finish as most often matte and in muted colors, but some glossy, textured, and mottled color glazes were also used. A small percentage of the vases were hand decorated with conventionalized designs of plants, marine forms, animals, landscapes and geometric shapes. These designs were incised, or surface painted in two or more colors.