Mary Chase Perry was born in 1867 in Hancock in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. After her father’s death in 1877, her family moved to Ann Arbor to be close to her older brother Frederick as he attended the University of Michigan. Mary’s love of art developed at a young age, beginning with lessons in watercolors where she often found inspiration in nature. When her brother finished his schooling, the family settled in Detroit where Mary’s passion for the arts flourished. Eventually, she attended the Cincinnati Art Academy where she took up china painting and tried her hand at modeling clay. After finishing her studies, Mary began traveling across the country where she used her skills to teach china painting. Between her travels, she would return to Detroit where her family rented a furnished home in Brush Park. Mary had no idea that her new neighbors, the Caulkins family, would change the trajectory of her life. 

THEY MEET

Mary was introduced to a Revelation kiln at a local art studio and was impressed by the ease and power of the small kiln, prompting her to purchase her own. Finding out that her neighbor, Horace Caulkins, was the inventor of these modern devices, she partnered with him to act as a saleswoman for the Revelation kilns locally and in her travels.  Mary provided Horace with much needed insight into how these kilns might better serve their makers. Mary's advice and guidance eventually transformed their working relationship into a life-long business partnership.

THE STABLE STUDIO

In 1900, Mary and Horace found a stable house for rent on Alfred Street behind the Ransom Gillis house in the Brush Park neighborhood of Detroit. The owner, Alanson Fox, was supportive of the idea that his small stable could become their new pottery space and he leased it to them for 8 dollars a month. The new pottery hired its first employee soon afterward. Julius Albus was just 12 years old when he started work in the studio sweeping, cleaning the mills and keeping the new studio organized. After a three week intensive in Alfred, New York, Mary began her true ceramic work, creating lamps, vases and other vessels.

PEWABIC IS BORN

In 1903 Mary brought a few dark green glazed bowls and jars to Burley & Company, a ceramics sales house in Chicago. The samples were a success and they ordered one thousand dollars of whatever the pottery could make. This was the pottery’s first large commission. Up until this time, the maker’s marks on pieces made in the Stable Studio had been inconsistent. Some included Revelation Pottery or Stable Pottery, while others were hand-signed with “Perry” or “MCP”. This large order pushed Mary and Horace to choose “Pewabic” - the name of a copper mine in Mary’s hometown of Hancock, MI - as the new name for their budding pottery. Pewabic comes from the Ojibwe word biiwaabik, meaning iron or metal.

This same year, a second employee was added to the roster - Joseph Heerich. Originally from Alsace-Lorraine, Heerich was a talented wheel thrower with years of experience. Mary would sketch ideas for new forms and Heerich would throw them for her. She would trim the pieces or add decorations to their surfaces. With her extra time, she was able to start experimenting with tile-making and focus on glaze experimentation.

NEW BUILDING IS NEEDED AND DESIGNED

With their orders adding up and new tile demand, Pewabic was very quickly outgrowing its Stable Studio. In 1906, architects Frank Baldwin and William Buck Stratton were commissioned to design a new building specifically for the pottery. Mary and Buck were longtime friends, having met 16 years earlier. They worked together in the Detroit Society of Arts and Crafts and both stressed the values of simplicity, utility, and beauty in design. These standards are found in every aspect of the Tudor Revival building designed by Buck which was unveiled in 1907 on East Jefferson.

TILE INSTALLATIONS

During this time, tile commissions boomed. Pewabic made installations for public and private institutions locally and across the country. Some of the most notable installations include: National Theatre Detroit (1913), Belle Isle Bridge (1913), Detroit Public Library (1920), Sacred Heart Seminary (1924), Detroit Institute of Arts (1925), Detroit Zoo Bird House (1925), Cranbrook Rainbow Fountain (1916) & Christ Church Cranbrook (1928), and Ford Motor Car Co. locations in Highland Park, Oklahoma City, Omaha, Yonkers, and San Juan, Puerto Rico (1911-1920).

MARY GOES TO EUROPE

Ecclesiastical installations are a large part of Pewabic’s legacy. Churches around the country feature intricate Pewabic mosaics of geometric designs as well as embossed tiles featuring religious imagery. In March 1924, Mary and her husband sailed abroad to get inspiration for her newest commission- the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC. During her travels, Mary visited Portugal, Spain, and Italy; drawing inspiration from Christian and Islamic architecture which greatly influenced her work on large scale installations.

NAVIGATING THE GREAT DEPRESSION

In 1927, Mary and Buck combined their skills to design a home together on 3 Mile Drive in Grosse Pointe Park. Soon after the home’s completion, the country was shaken by the stock market crash of 1929 that ushered in the Great Depression. During this time, the once flourishing pottery was in peril. The Great Depression halted new construction which in-turn slowed Pewabic’s tile making. Vases, lamps, and other home decor became a luxury that many Americans could not afford. Even with the pottery’s pivot to smaller, more economical products like buttons and brooches, a tough decision had to be made. Mary had to choose between her beloved home and the pottery. In 1937, she and Buck sold their house and the pottery stayed open.

CARRYING ON MARY'S LEGACY

In 1961, Mary Chase Perry Stratton died. She left her Pewabic shares to Henry Caulkins, Horace Caulkins’ son, who had already inherited his father’s part of the business. This meant that he was the pottery’s first sole owner. With Mary gone, the pottery began to slow and Henry was tasked with determining Pewabic’s next steps, hoping to turn it into an educational facility. During this period, longtime staff member Ella Peters who had been Mary’s bookkeeper and secretary of 37 years oversaw everyday production and was instrumental in keeping the pottery running smoothly.

PEWABIC SOCIETY BEGINNINGS

By the late 1970s, Pewabic’s outlook was again grim as budget cuts and the pottery’s expensive running costs made running the satellite learning center harder for MSU to rationalize. In 1979, the “Friends of Pewabic” group - eventually becoming the Pewabic Society - was formed. This group of community members concerned for the well being of this historic monument raised money to subsidize the running costs of the pottery to keep MSU’s ownership of the facility possible. Eventually, in 1981, MSU gave the pottery over to the Pewabic Society, now a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.

LATEST ADDITION

As the years went by, the demand for Pewabic pottery grew and fabrication could not keep up in the historic spaces. A 2,500 square foot addition – the new Maxine and Stuart Frankel Foundation Pewabic Tile Studio – was opened in 2019 to make room for tile pressing and mold making, while the previous tile making space was used to expand the glazing process. These changes made it possible to ramp up fabrication and keep up with demand.