Page 11 of Heath Tiles by Heath Ceramics

history in the early sixties edith heath started producing her versatile ceramic tile as a natural extension of her already celebrated functional modern tableware she was a bauhaus-inspired ceramicist with a great respect for craft and materials heath ceramics is the last of the many famous mid-century california potteries still producing its own original ceramics materials edith heath developed her own stoneware clay bodies a brown and a white the results are very durable and vitreous tiles heath s glazes are based on proprietary glaze bases developed by edith heath some of the glazes still in our line are original heath classics opaque white dates back to the 40s redwood to the 60s edith heath wanted to achieve the effect of the glaze becoming one with the clay body when fired so that the aesthetic would reflect that of all the materials this is the reason why she developed her own unique materials and methods none of the clays or glazes that we use are off-the-shelf all are original heath formulations manufacturing we are proud of the fact that we still make every part of our product in our sausalito factory in the same tradition in which it has been made since the early 60s when heath won the commission to tile the exterior of pasadena s norton-simon museum we make our own clay mix our own glazes and have a small team of craftspeople who press the tile trim and clean by hand and glaze with a hand-sprayed method giving each piece its own character because of the nature of gas-fired ceramics one should also expect variation in the shape and color of pieces fired at different times.

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