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Heath Ceramics is a manufacturer of pottery including tableware, bowls, tile, mugs and vases in California, known for its distinctive glazes and handmade stoneware. Heath Ceramics was founded in 1948 in Sausalito, California by Edith Heath (1911–2005) and her husband Brian Heath (1911–2001). Robin Petravic and Catherine Bailey purchased the company in 2003. The company has a production factory and store in Sausalito, a tile production factory and store in San Francisco, and a ceramics studio and store in Los Angeles, California.
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Founding and early years
After Heath exhibited her work at her first solo show at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco in 1944, a buyer from San Francisco retailer Gump's approached her to supply their store with her hand-thrown pottery using the company's pottery studio, and she accepted the opportunity. "She became convinced of the opportunities that studio potters had if they would undertake production work to fill the wartime import void." In 1947, Heath began to design and execute a limited hand-thrown production of her pottery and tableware with four apprentices in her own studio.
Major retailers began to order her tableware, and in 1948 she opened Heath Ceramics in Sausalito. Edith Heath designed the pieces and formulated the clays and glazes, and her husband Brian Heath contributed to running the business. By 1949, Heath Ceramics was producing 100,000 pieces of ware a year.
As the volume of orders increased, Edith designed a factory space with the architecture firm Marquis & Stoller, and it was completed in 1959. Heath Ceramics began working on architectural tile in the late 1950s; in 1971, Edith won the American Institute of Architects Gold Medal for her tiles on the Norton Simon Museum.
Operations after 2003 purchase
In 2003, Robin Petravic and Catherine Bailey purchased the company from the Heath Trust. They described Heath's wares as maintaining a tradition of utility and beauty that is "true to the materials." Alice Waters, founder and chef of Chez Panisse in Berkeley, California, uses dinnerware produced by Heath Ceramics in the restaurant.
Heath has partnered with potter Adam Silverman to direct its on-site studio in Los Angeles. The designer Christina Kim collaborated with Heath Ceramics in a project "to translate the ethereal spirit of her 'Phases of the Moon' fashion collection into ceramics" in 2005. The Los Angeles Heath store carries the company's dinnerware, serving pieces, and vases, as well as original pieces in ceramic and other media including hand-blown glass and textiles. The store also hosts shows by other ceramic artists. The store hosted a community event, in 2009, with Charles Phoenix, a historian, vintage slide collector, and local history entertainer.
Heath Ceramics has taken measures to minimize its environmental impact during production including firing its clay at lower temperatures, reusing clay scraps, and recycling water, and in transportation by using paper instead of styrofoam as the packing material.