An Evening Devoted to the Local Pottery Industry by the Peabody, Massachusetts Historical Society in the Winter of 1909

Founded on August 15, 1896, the Peabody (formerly South Danvers), Massachusetts Historical Society immediately formed a working relationship with the Moses Bailey Paige (1847/48-1941) Pottery in Peabody. The Paige Pottery was also a subject of a feature interview that I was involved with for the November 23, 2018 issue of Antiques and the Arts Weekly. Furthermore, I posted an in-depth feature story about the Paige Pottery on this website, which coincided with the published interview, titled, From Maine to Peabody, Massachusetts: The Pottery of Moses Bailey Paige.

But while researching the history of the Paige Pottery, I read about a wonderful evening spent at the Peabody Historical Society in the late winter of 1909. This information was published in the Fourteenth Annual Report of the Peabody Historical Society, 1909-1910:

March 9, 1910

"The President presented Mrs. Lyman P. Osborn, who read a paper on "The Potters Industry in Our Town." The paper was introduced by reference to the many poems which have been inspired by this work, including one of local interest written by Dr. Nichols in 1852. "The Song of the Wheel," from Longfellow's Keramos, was most artistically rendered by Mrs. J.J. Thorndike. A quotation from a letter written to friends in England in 1629, by Reverend Francis Higginson, mentioned that good clay had been found in Salem "for Brickes and Tyles and Earthen Pots." The Glasshouse field, today, on the border line between Salem and Peabody, received special mention; also Jonathan Kettle's Pottery of 1731, at what is now No. 31 Andover Street, and Joseph Osborne's, No. 91 Central Street, in 1736.

A list of Potters presented by Mr. Nathan Bushby was made the background of the paper. Other interesting facts were contributed by Mr. Daniel H. Felton and Mr. Andrew Nichols. The large collection of old local Pottery was on exhibition, while other pieces were loaned for the evening. Part of two wheels found at the Amos Osborn Pottery, now carried on by Mr. Moses B. Paige, and at the Kendall Osborne Farm, were put together, and used by Mr. Edwin A. Rich, an expert from Mr. Paige's Pottery, the last and only Pottery in town today, to illustrate the use of the "Potter's Wheel," making such forms as were suggested by members of the audience and becoming the centre of attraction for the rest of the evening."

Edwin A Rich at Work at the M.B. Paige Pottery in Peabody, Mass.

Edwin A. Rich Throwing a Vase on the Potter's Wheel at the Paige Pottery in Peabody, Mass.

A Similar Formed Vase is Owned by the MFA in Boston Decorated with a Vibrant Yellow Glaze

But Also Notice the Large Formed Bean Pots Behind Rich

Photo Circa 1905/06

Photo Courtesy: Peabody, Mass. Historical Society

Please Stay Tuned...Much More to Come...