Hudson River Potters Visit Bailey Pottery

Jim and Anne Bailey welcomed the Hudson River Potters to Bailey Pottery for a tour on Saturday during their monthly meeting. This group of pottery enthusiasts from the lower Hudson Valley have been meeting monthly for 40 years to share their ideas, glaze recipes, successes, and failures.

The tour started with Jim's oral history of the company. It all began with a very popular toothbrush holder and his search for a better slab roller. A chance meeting as vendors at the Rhinebeck Crafts Fair led to Anne and Jim's long partnership in life and all things clay.

The group then had the special delight of a tour of the Bailey Collection of Contemporary Ceramics by the curator herself! It is Anne's eye that we see reflected in the collection. She has been collecting for over 40 years and tries to find work from the innovators and trailblazers in the field. This collection is worth a trip to Kingston, New York. Hundreds of ceramic pieces fill several showcases in our showroom and sales office.

A tour of Bailey Pottery Equipment's manufacturing factory was next up. As the designer of all the Bailey equipment, Jim is especially passionate about this part of the business. The group saw two nearly completed huge Bailey Pro Gas Kilns that will be heading to Vermont soon. The tour ended in our workshop room with a more detailed description and look at the Bailey "Advanced Logic" Programmable Gas Kiln. A good time was had by all!