10125 E. Jefferson Avenue
Detroit, Wayne County

Designation and Designation Date

• National Historic Landmark, listed December 4, 1991
• National Register, listed September 3, 1971
• State Register, listed December 11, 1970

Architect, Builder, or Designer(s)

• William B. Stratton, architect

Associated Person(s)

• Mary Chase Perry Stratton

Significant Date(s), Notes

• 1907-08, building erected

Significance Statement

The Pewabic Pottery was designed and built for Mary Chase Perry by her future husband, William Stratton. Mary Chase Perry Stratton became nationally recognized for her unique iridescent ceramic glazes used on tiles for architectural commissions.

While still a young woman in Detroit, Mary Chase Perry developed an interest in china painting. In spite of her lack of formal training, she soon became proficient enough to establish a teaching studio and to deliver lectures on the art of painting china. As Miss Perry entered her late thirties, a new interest in ceramic pottery and a stroke of good luck brought her to the threshold of what was to become her national reputation as a ceramist and artist. Just as Mary Perry entered her lengthy experimentation with ceramic glazes, she discovered that a neighbor, Horace James Caulkins, had recently developed a new high-heat furnace for firing dental products. The two soon formed a close association in the development of ceramic glazes. Architectural tiles produced by the Pewabic Pottery can be found in distinguished buildings throughout Michigan and the United States.

For information about any of the programs described on this site, write the Michigan State Historic Preservation Office, Michigan Historical Center, P.O. Box 30740, 702 W. Kalamazoo St., Lansing, MI 48909-8240, or call us at (517) 373-1630.

Visit the Pewabic Pottery Web site.

(Photo by John Lacy.)