By Larry Clinton, Sausalito Historical Society
The recent screening of the new documentary, Heath Ceramics: The Making of a California Classic, at the Sausalito Library led me to the following article from a 1995 MarinScope:
PHOTO COURTESY UC Berkeley EDA
Edit Heath in her studio
January 7 through March 12, ceramicist Edith Heath is honored with an exhibit of “50 Years of Design,” on display at the San Francisco Craft and Folk Art Museum. Sausalito became the proud home of the Heaths’ timeless ceramic products when Edith and her husband Brian opened a studio here in 1946. Ever since, Sausalito and Heathware have been synonymous. Her first studio was located in the Village Fair.
In the 60’s, the Heaths moved to a new workshop on Gate Five Road to accommodate growing orders from Gumps, Neiman Marcus and Marshall Field. So great was the demand for Heath dinnerware that 1940’s production changed from hand thrown to mold. Throughout the decades, Heathware has been marked by Edith's simple design and clean glazes. Edith is originally a Midwesterner, born in Sioux City lowa in 1911. When she was attending the Chicago Teacher’s College, she saw a potter demonstrating her craft at the 1933 World’s Fair and decided she would like to be a potter. In 1941 she came to San Francisco and studied at what is now the San Francisco Art Institute. The first showing of her work was in 1944 at the Palace of the Legion of Honor where the personnel at Gumps saw her dinnerware and offered her the use of their clay workshop. She worked in their space until the end of World War II. The San Francisco Craft and Folk Art Museum is helping Edith celebrate 50 years of production by showing a sampling of her work through the decades.
Mrs. Heath passed away in 2006, at the age of 94. Today, Heath Ceramics his run by Robin Petravic and
Catherine Bailey, Sausalito residents who took over Heath Ceramics in 2003. During a question and answer session after the screening, Robin mentioned that tours are hosted at Heath’s Sausalito headquarters as well as at the firm’s Tile Factory in San Francisco’s Mission District. For tour times, and to make reservations, go to https://www.heathceramics.com/pages/factory-tours.