It’s a bit of a funny thing for us to say as a hotel, that we have a potter, but we’re always looking for local partners to feature in our hotel to connect our guests with the amazing communities and people that surround us. It felt like a perfect match when we stumbled upon Tiffany Hilton Pottery in Florence MA – a six mile drive through the bucolic countryside of the Pioneer Valley from our coffee roasters, Share Coffee in Hadley MA.

Today, the custom mug that Tiffany created for us can be found both in our Mercantile as well as part of our Fireside Experience package where you can enjoy mugs of COOP’s hot cocoa and Seaside Sweets’ S’mores patties besides a roaring wood fire in one of our Executive Fireplace rooms. Forgot to pick up a mug when you were here? Order one today from our online Mercantile!

Tiffany’s light-filled studio inside the historic Florence Brush Factory, makers of the Pro-Brush toothbrush in the 1870s, is where she throws each and every piece of pottery she makes before mixing and applying her own custom glazes and firing in one of her kilns. She even hand-carved the porcelain lion head stamp from our logo that she uses to emboss the base of our custom mugs.

She originally studied fine arts at SUNY New Paltz where she was first exposed to pottery making and eventually started apprenticing for a potter in New Hampshire. Today, she continues that legacy of teaching through both her apprentice, Lucas, as well as 8 week classes she teaches out of her studio.

While her pieces could simply stand unused on a shelf as individual works of art, Tiffany’s intention behind her pottery is for them to be used, shared, and a part of your life, infusing them with deeper meaning each time they are taken out of the cupboard or filled with your morning coffee. So, next time you’re with us, consider picking up one of her beautifully hand-thrown mugs to take a piece of The Lenox & Massachusetts home with you!

You can also view and purchase Tiffany’s work right on her website.