CLAY

According to a contemporaneous article, clay conveniently discovered on or near the original pottery site was used for the first few years of operation.   By the time Gertrude Emerson wrote her 1916 article “a better clay than on site had been discovered  by the mixture of a Jersey stone ware and a native Massachusetts brick clay.   This was not treated by the modern filter press method of evaporation but by the older open pan process.”   It has been stated that the ratio was 2 parts Jersey stone to one part Massachusetts clay.  Because of its brick component, Marblehead pieces are often described as having been made from a red clay.   The color of these three unglazed pieces reflect their brick component.