Dorchester Pottery foot warmer
Dorchester Illustration 2626
Dorchester Pottery Works produced commercial and industrial stoneware and later decorative tableware until the 1970s. Founded in 1895 by George Henderson, the business was located on Victory Road near Mill Street. The Dorchester Pottery Works kiln and its building have been designated a Boston Landmark.
Today’s illustration shows a circa-1910 image of the very popular foot warmer, a stoneware hot water bottle.
Dorchester Pottery’s wares evolved over the years from primarily agricultural products, such as mash feeders and chicken fountains were cast from molds. Acid pots and dipping baskets were in demand by jewelry manufacturers, and Henderson’s popular foot warmer was known as a “porcelain pig.”
In 1940, Dorchester Pottery’s line of distinctive gray and blue tableware was introduced. It was shaped on a potter’s wheel and plates were shaped both using a mold and on the wheel.
In 1914, Mr. Henderson built an enormous beehive kiln 28-feet in diameter of his own design made of unmortared bricks. When it was carefully stacked with two or three freight car loads of unfired pottery, the opening was sealed and the kiln was slowly heated with 15 tons of coal and four cords of wood to a temperature of 2500-3000 degrees Fahrenheit. After days of cooling, the door would be opened, brick by brick, and the fired pieces removed. The entire process took about one week to complete.
There is an extensive collection of Dorchester Pottery on display at the Dorchester Historical Society’s William Clapp House.