Saturday Evening Girls Pottery

Saturday Evening Girls, or SEG, pottery provides one of the most compelling examples of American industriousness at the turn of the 20th century. It was essentially a club created as part of Boston's Paul Revere Pottery, a facility established to help train young women of less affluent means in the art of ceramics. Their production yielded some of the most acclaimed pottery pieces of the era.

Emerging in Boston's North End in 1899, the Saturday Evening Girls first met as a reading club for young immigrant women. Its rapid success, however, meant the offerings soon expanded to encompass everything from folk dancing to etiquette lessons. By the early years of the 20th century, the number of women involved in the program led one of the directors, librarian Edith Guerrier, to propose the creation of a pottery studio for members to train as ceramists and to sell their wares for profit. Her plan approved, Guerrier established a studio at 18 Hull Street and allowed her club members to get to work.

The results were amazing: channeling the contemporary Arts and Crafts trends into their simple yet stunning patterns and pieces, the Saturday Evening Girls created pieces that equaled, if not rivaled, their turn-of-the-century counterparts at New Orleans' Newcomb College. Today, these brilliant pieces increasingly achieve record prices for both their history and their beauty.

Quick Facts

• Each work station within the Saturday Evening Girls' studio was equipped with a vase of flowers to encourage the potters with natural inspiration
• The only man that was ever a part of the Saturday Evening Girls organization was the English ceramist that Guerrier hired to monitor the kiln
• SEG pottery is included in some of the world's finest museums, including the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston