Moravian Pottery and Tile Works Museum preserving Philadelphia suburb’s art history

By Nikki DeMentri

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    DOYLESTOWN, Pennsylvania (KYW) — The Moravian Pottery and Tile Works Museum is preserving Bucks County’s past while inspiring future generations in the art world.

“Basically, a big puzzle,” James Mowery said.

Mowery meticulously assembles the pieces of a large mosaic, spelling out a story that shaped the country. He’s working on the Washington’s Crossing mosaic. It will take him weeks to complete.

“We can recreate these original designs,” Mowery said, “because we have all the maps, all the molds that Henry Mercer had made.”

Henry Mercer created the design decades ago and built the workshop entirely out of concrete in Doylestown. It sits not far away from his former home, Fonthill Castle, a place used as a showroom for his work.

Today, the Moravian Pottery and Tile Works Museum is continuing its mission.

“How many things can you think of today that are done the exact same way they were done 100 years ago?” Katia McGuirk, executive director of the museum, said. “Not too many.”

The tiles, which are still handmade on site, come from more than 6,000 of Mercer’s original designs.

“We can make reissues of a lot of the tiles that you see installed in his home or installed at the state capitol in Harrisburg or at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum,” McGuirk said.

From tours of the workshop to a long list of classes — including throwing pottery — visitors can get a glimpse into what’s old is new again as the space preserves Bucks County history.

“It’s really about storytelling and preserving stories, which have been told through ceramic artifacts across every culture and every timeline,” McGuirk said. “When you come here, you can take home a piece of Bucks County with you. You’re literally getting clay that’s dug out of the ground in a lake in northern Bucks County, brought here, processed through the same 1903 mascot brick maker that Henry Mercer used, and then hand pressed by humans, by artisans in clay.”

The team continues Mercer’s vision at this working history museum and national historic landmark, inviting everyone to see the magic firsthand.

“It’s pretty unique that we can follow a project all the way through, from start to finish, using a locally sourced clay,” John Mellor, tile team leader, said.

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