Paul Revere Pottery facts for kids
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The Paul Revere Pottery was a unique art studio in Boston, Massachusetts, run by women. It started during the Progressive Era, a time when people worked to improve society. This pottery studio grew out of a group called the Saturday Evening Girls Club (S.E.G.).
The Saturday Evening Girls Club was created in 1899. It was led by Edith Guerrier, a librarian, her partner Edith Brown, an artist, and Helen Osborne Storrow, who helped pay for things. The club was in Boston's North End. It was a place for young immigrant girls to learn and socialize. These girls often had few chances for education or jobs because of cultural differences. The Paul Revere Pottery began in the early 1900s. It became famous across the country and even around the world.
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The Saturday Evening Girls Club
The Saturday Evening Girls Club was a reading group for young Jewish and Italian working women. Edith Guerrier helped guide them. They met at the North Bennet Street Industrial School (NBSIS). This school offered classes and job training for both boys and girls.
Like many groups back then, the NBSIS clubs helped young immigrants learn about American culture. The Saturday Evening Girls were mostly older girls. Many had family duties or jobs. These young women were either immigrants themselves or had immigrant parents.
The S.E.G. meetings helped the girls learn and think. They talked about music, books, jobs, and art. Important people from Boston often visited. They gave talks and led discussions on different topics. Being part of the S.E.G. helped these young women get an education outside of traditional schools. It gave them a safe place to socialize. Many S.E.G. members went on to higher education. This was much more common for them than for other women at that time.
Starting the Pottery
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In 1906, Edith Guerrier and Edith Brown traveled in Europe. They saw beautiful pottery made by local artists. They thought the young women of the S.E.G. could do something similar. Guerrier and Brown believed the pottery could help the girls earn extra money. This money would help them go to college, which was hard for their families to afford.
Edith Brown was an artist. She started teaching pottery classes at NBSIS in 1908. But the school did not support these classes for girls. They thought pottery would not help the young women become good mothers or housekeepers. They also felt that selling the pottery made it too much like a business.
Helen Storrow, a kind person who supported good causes, decided to help. In 1908, she bought a four-story building in Boston's North End. This building was near the Old North Church. This famous church is where Paul Revere hung his lanterns during the American Revolution. This inspired the name: Paul Revere Pottery.
The S.E.G. girls had to raise money themselves to keep the pottery going. They put on musical shows, plays, and poetry readings. Wealthy people in the community and at special events would pay to see them.
The pottery items were quite expensive. Only middle or upper class families could afford them. Helen Storrow helped by paying some of the costs. By 1914, Storrow decided to support other groups. She gave the S.E.G. a year to become self-supporting. She also gave them a new building for their growing business. Then, in 1915, she stopped her financial help.
But the Paul Revere Pottery kept going strong for many years. It became famous in magazines and newspapers. In the 1910s, when it was most popular, you could buy their pottery in most major cities across the United States. The original pottery building at 18 Hull Street is now a stop on the Boston Women's Heritage Trail.
Pottery Designs
The pottery made many different types of earthenware items. They were useful and had beautiful, colorful glazes. Guerrier and Brown hired a local potter to help them start. He gave the S.E.G. some recipes for glazes. At first, they mainly used yellow, blue, green, gray, white, and brown glazes. Over time, they learned more and got more money. This allowed them to use many more colors and create fancy designs.
Edith Brown created most of the designs for the pottery. The designs often looked like folk art. They also showed influences from Art Nouveau, a popular art style of that time. The designs included simple country scenes and famous houses. Some showed scenes from American history, like Paul Revere's famous ride. Many pieces had flowers like lotus, tulips, and roses. Others featured farm animals or wild animals. These animals often appeared with winding words or grassy lines.
Bowls and plates with sayings about good qualities were very popular. Pieces with individual names were also a hit, especially in their children's line. Many pottery items were shaped on a potter's wheel. But the most popular ones were made using molds.
Every piece of pottery was signed with "S.E.G." on the bottom. This showed it came from the reading group. Below that were the initials of the young woman who made or finished the piece. Sometimes, there were initials from more than one artist. Besides pots and dishes, Paul Revere Pottery also made ceramic tile pictures. These often showed people and animals in peaceful, happy scenes.
Important Artists
Edith Brown
Edith Brown (1872-1932) was the pottery's artistic director. She was born in Nova Scotia. In the early 1890s, she moved to Boston. There, she taught art classes at the North Bennet Street School. She met Edith Guerrier while taking a class at the Museum School. In 1908, she became the director of the pottery studio. Brown and Guerrier lived together in an apartment above the pottery until Brown passed away in 1932. Edith Brown is also remembered on the Boston Women's Heritage Trail. In 2014, her work was shown in an art exhibit in Boston.
Sara Galner
Sara Galner (1894-1982) was one of the pottery's most famous artists. She was a Jewish immigrant from Austria-Hungary. She worked at the pottery for over ten years. Sara came to the United States with her family in 1901. She grew up in Boston's North End. At age 14, she left school to work. But she kept learning at night school and was active in the Saturday Evening Girls Club.
In 1911, she started working full-time at the pottery. She earned $7 a week at first. She quickly became known for her amazing floral designs. Sara also worked as a salesperson. She even became the manager of the pottery's store in Washington, D.C.. Sara Galner stayed at the pottery until 1921, when she married Morris Bloom. Today, over 130 of her decorated pottery pieces are in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
