Bennington Potters Inc

I am a potter and have been for over 35 years. I always thought it would be a fun road trip. Boy was I wrong!! As a previous reviewer said I saw no potters there and by the way I saw no friendly smiles from anybody that worked there. Everything was made in molds or presses, the closest thing to handmade was somebody carving the mold marks away before they fired it. Huge disappointment. If you love pottery as I do find a local potter and buy from them you will get better pieces and you will be helping an artist that will appreciate you. more

Website proclaims handmade all over the place. I didn't see a single potter, just a guy running a big hydraulic press. Not to mention the shop was filled with slip cast wares sporting made in Japan and Taiwan. It was a factory where they made press molded ceramic wares.... not a traditional pottery that i was led to believe by all the handmade nonsense on the website. If you really appreciate the true craft of handmade pottery, you will be very disappointed. It should NOT be called HANDMADE!!!!! its embarrassing to the craft. The "potters yard" was a factory... the "potters" looked like a bunch of union factory workers. And the "self guided tour" was not engaging in the least. I want the hour and a half back i spent driving to see it back and the 5 minutes it took to see the entire facility. more

We began our stay in Bennington, Vermont, at the Potters Yard. Familiar with Bennington pottery, we thought this would be one of the original historic potteries from this area. We were wrong. Although pottery is one of the oldest crafts known and Bennington pottery is one of the best known potteries, this once-booming industry took a steady nosedive and had all but died by 1948. We quickly learned that Bennington Pottery was not a company, rather it was the type of pottery created by several companies in this region. It was so named because the local clays give the pottery its unique color. Potters Yard houses Bennington Potters, which was established by potter David Gil in 1948, and its retail outlet in two restored 1900s buildings. Mr. Gil moved his business to its present location in 1961. Located on 4 1/2 acres, the store for Bennington Potters sells more than just pottery. It also sells antique furniture, decorative items for your home, stoves, maple syrup, maple sugar candy and foods (jellies, canned apple pie fillings) made from locally grown apples. A factory tour will show you how the pottery is made from start to finish. You'll learn how craftsman mix the clay, form and shape the pottery pieces, fire and glaze them. Although it wasn't what we expected, our time spent at Potters Yard was a delightful experience. more