Elegant shapes with a touch of whimsy…enhanced with rich, jewel-like glazes…please the eye and the hands that hold them.
These are the trademarks of Purple Sage Pottery, located in the town of Merrimac in northeastern Massachusetts.
The slab built and wheel thrown reduction-fired pottery of potter Iris Minc is available year-round for purchase from the Purple Sage gallery.
Twice annually the studio puts on a Pottery Sale Extravaganza, where the public may purchase the functional and decorative wares, and clay sculptures of another 15 New England potters.
At Purple Sage, you can also take pottery classes from one of several dedicated teachers, enjoy open studio time on Saturdays or rent studio space.
Purple Sage News
This fall will mark the one year anniversary of the Grand Re-Opening of our newly renovated studios. We offer classes for all ages taught by teachers as committed to teaching as they are to pottery. While grounded in the fundamentals of hand-building, throwing and glazing, we strive to nurture your creative spirit. Classes are small, having at most 10 students. You can take full advantage of our well-equipped studios, including electric wheels, slab rollers, extruders and various tools. We have an extensive selection of beautiful reduction-fired glazes. Your work is handled with great care, and we pride ourselves on the exceptional results we get from our 70 cubic foot gas fired kiln.
New Gallery section on web site
We now have an expanded gallery with glaze samples, and pictures of all the standard production items that we make here at Purple Sage Pottery and a corresponding price list, plus some of our one-of-a-kind pieces.
Class information - Sign up now for Fall & Winter classes!
Visit our classes page for more information.
Iris with her sculpture "Lotus Leaves" in the Sculpture Garden at the League of NH Craftsmen's Fair this summer. The leaves were hand-buildt from a dark, high iron bearing clay. They are glazed in shades of blue, green and yellow with occasional bits of dark clay showing through. The flowers are made of unglazed porcelain. They as well as the two smalllest leaves, sit on top of gently curving stems made of aged copper pipe. She won "Best in Show" as well as "The People's Choice Award".
Photo Gallery of studio repairs & renovation
We are excited to announce that repairs of the fire and water damage left by the fire on July 11, 2006, as well as new upgrades to the structure required by the building inspector and other improvements, commenced in May 2007 and are now completed. We've posted a photo gallery that shows the evolution of the studio. We love our new studio!