| Hadley Pottery | |
| Industry: | Pottery and stoneware |
| Founded: | 1939 |
| Founder: | Mary Alice Hadley |
| Location: | Louisville, Kentucky |
Hadley Pottery is an American-based pottery and stoneware company started by Mary Alice Hadley and her husband George E. Hadley in 1945.[1] It is located on Story Avenue in the Butchertown neighborhood of Louisville, Kentucky.[2]
Hadley Pottery had its inception in 1939, when Mary Alice Hadley made a custom set of dishware for a cruiser she and her husband George Hadley had on the Ohio River.[3] She created her own design with a nautical flag motif[4] and painted it on unfired blanks that she fired at the Louisville Pottery Co.[5] When friends saw the design of her dishes, they were interested in purchasing dishes of their own, so Hadley created a few more at the Louisville Pottery Co.[6]
With more interest and demand, the Hadleys finally purchased what became the Hadley Pottery building at 1570 Story Ave. in Louisville in October 1944 as a birthday present for Mrs. Hadley.[7] Mrs. Hadley painted all of the murals on the walls of the building[8] and the Hadley Pottery opened for business in 1945.[9] Hadley created a wide range of designs for the company, often inspired by Louisville motifs such as the fleur-de-lis.[10]
After Mary Alice Hadley died in 1965, nine painters continued to hand-paint pieces which are still signed "M.A. Hadley".[11] In 1979 Kenneth Moore bought Hadley Pottery, and then in 2018 Jerry Day purchased the business and opened up a stash of over 6000 pieces which date to the period when Mary Alice Hadley was still alive.[12] In 2022, the business announced it would close, but later announced that the business would indeed stay open. [13]
Hadley Pottery was exhibited by the American Craftsmen's Educational Council in 1947, and at the Ceramic National Exhibit at the Syracuse Museum of Fine Arts.[14] In 1952, Mary Alice Hadley received an award from the Museum of Modern Art's Good Design program[15] and her winning design, "Brown Dot" (or "Hot Brown Fleck"), was exhibited in New York and Chicago.[16]