Myrth Finds Its Future in a 130-Year-Old Space
Owners Eric and Abby Smallwood craft heirloom-quality dinnerware at their new headquarters on the banks of the Seekonk River in Rumford.
Myrth, a modern ceramic studio that crafts high-quality dinnerware, recently moved into its new Rumford space. Photo by Kristin Teig.
Rounding a corner inside the spacious Phillipsdale Landing complex in Rumford, you’ll encounter a narrow brick building with the number fourteen stenciled in black on a loading dock door.
Just inside this space — past their Australian shepherd, Raine, who acts as a friendly doorbell and loves enticing visitors into a playful game of tug — Eric and Abby Smallwood craft modern dinnerware in the newest iteration of Myrth, the ceramic studio they founded in 2015.
The former product designers create their line of earth-toned plates, bowls, mugs, platters and vessels with versatility, durability and beauty in mind, with the hopes that their pieces will bring joy, laughter and yes — mirth — into peoples’ homes.
“The whole definition of Myrth, to us, is laughter and happiness, and that all stems from the dinner parties we had at home,” says Abby. “That warmth in the wintertime, the laughter and friends and sharing food — that’s where the word came from.”
The pair moved their Boston-based business into the Rumford complex after a friend — Lindy McDonough, co-founder of Lindquist Object — told them about the space available right next door to her leather goods studio.
They had spent eight months looking for space in the Boston area after outgrowing their 1,100-square-foot studio in Somerville. The space was so cramped they couldn’t bring in additional equipment and had to put a piece of wood over the kiln to make extra table space.
In November 2023, they walked through the Phillipsdale Landing location with McDonough and fell in love. In February, they made the move.
“It was the first spot we looked at in Rhode Island and it was perfect,” Abby says. “It ticked every single box.”
Abby and Eric Smallwood, owners of Myrth. Photo by Gabriella Riggieri.
At 6,500 square feet, it had the extra space they needed, as well as countless power outlets, access to propane and a doorway large enough for a forklift to enter. It was a little dark, and “very grunge,” Abby jokes, but after much mopping and twenty-plus gallons of bright white paint, the space was transformed into an airy, sunny expanse.
Nestled on the shore of the Seekonk River, Phillipsdale Landing started life in 1893 as American Electrical Works, becoming, at one time, the city of East Providence’s biggest employer. The many mill buildings are now home to countless organizations, makers and small businesses.
The couple has deep ties to the Ocean State; they were married in Jamestown eleven years ago and have many close friends in the area that they’d visit on weekends and daytrips. They just traded in their Boston condo for new digs in Providence’s Mount Hope neighborhood, only a block away from Frank & Laurie’s, one of their favorite new eateries.
(In typical Rhode Island fashion, Abby and Eric recently held a pop-up shopping event with Lindquist Object and other local vendors, with Frank & Laurie’s providing refreshments and chef Eric Brown buying some Myrth dinnerware for the restaurant.)
The pair met at Syracuse University, where they were both students in the industrial design program. They moved to Eric’s hometown of Boston for the design opportunities: Abby spent fifteen years in product design and sports apparel, including a stint as a sneaker designer, while Eric worked as a consultant in the industrial design and innovation spaces. Their interest in ceramics blossomed after Abby visited a community pottery studio in 2008 and convinced Eric to join her. The two continued the hobby for years, with Abby leaving her job at New Balance in 2019 to work full time in Myrth’s Somerville studio.
They quickly focused on making high-quality dinnerware.
“At the time, there wasn’t any really good, small-batch locally crafted dinnerware,” Abby says. “You could get Heath [Ceramics], and some bigger brands at box stores, but there wasn’t anything at our current level.”
Myrth’s new headquarters in Rumford has 6,500 square feet of space. Photo courtesy of Myrth.
Each plate, vase, bowl and cup begins as a digital file, with Eric designing everything in CAD software and 3D printing prototypes. From there, they hone details like tapered mug handles that fit comfortably in-hand and small plates that nestle perfectly on top of bowls, acting as makeshift lids.
They develop their own clay and glazes that give each piece a hand-crafted, unique look. All of the earthy hues — Cream, Glacier, Tempest, Sungold, Sienna and Ivy — complement each other. Look closely at a plate done in moss-colored Ivy, and you’ll see tiny flecks of black, adding dimension and texture to the piece.
Customers have the hardest time picking just one color because they all work so well together, Abby says.
“They were designed seamlessly to mix and match, and everyone mixes and matches,” she says. “It’s very rare that we have someone that picks a single color.”
In the coming months, they hope to expand their showroom, create more neutral-based textured glazes, add new machines and build a kitchen and event space, where they’ll host local chefs and pop-up events.
Visitors to Myrth are often greeted by Raine, Abby and Eric’s eighteen-month-old Australian shepherd. Photo courtesy of Myrth.
You can find their complete line online at myrth.us, and in local restaurants like Frank & Laurie’s and several eateries in Boston and Cambridge. Thanks to their newly expanded space, they recently completed two of their largest orders to date: around 1,500 pieces for chef James Galbraith’s new restaurant, PostBoy, in New Buffalo, Michigan, and another 1,500 for Time and Tide in New York City, helmed by Danny Garcia, who won the most recent season of “Top Chef.”
“We are so happy that we have this space to be able to produce those pieces,” Abby says. “We could not have done that in Somerville.” myrth.us
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