Issues → December 2006 → Feature Stories →
Simon Pearce: The Man Behind the Glass
Founder of world-renowned glassblowing business
by John Walters
It's solid yet graceful, functional yet beautiful. It's not flashy; it's built for the long haul. If an inanimate object can be said to project an air of quiet confidence, then Simon Pearce's glassware does it.
Simon Pearce is a person. Simon Pearce is also a Quechee, Vermont, company with a workforce of nearly 400 that has a reputation for quality handmade glass and pottery sold in hundreds of stores nationwide at a relatively affordable price. This is a big year for Simon Pearce: The business observed its 35th anniversary (its 25th on American soil), and the founder celebrated his 60th birthday in November.
It would be easy to overlook Simon Pearce in a crowded room. He is a casual dresser, compact, and utterly unpretentious, equally at ease in his office, on the factory floor, or greeting customers in one of his company stores. But there's a remarkable story behind this seemingly unremarkable man.
Simon Pearce was born in 1946 in London. Four years later, his parents moved to the Irish countryside. Simon says it was a radical decision: "In those days it was really rural. People had nothing; it was incredibly poor." His father, Philip, tried farming before discovering a talent for ceramics; his studio eventually gained a wide reputation for its quality (it's now operated by Simon's brother, Stephen). But finances were tight in the early years, and Simon had a terrible time in school. He had dyslexia, which was never diagnosed until many years later. He dropped out at the age of 16 and worked for his father for a year.
And then he moved halfway around the world. Just 17 years old, Simon traveled to New Zealand and spent two years studying pottery with a British emigre named Harry Davis. Simon then returned home and worked in his father's studio, but his attention was captured by another medium. "I realized I was collecting old glasses," he says. "They were these old rummers -- simple glasses that were used in the pubs and every day. I loved the quality and feel of them, and nobody was making anything like it anymore."
Simon wanted to revive that tradition, so he set out to learn glassmaking. He traveled around Europe, working at any glass factory that would hire him. In 1971, he set up his own shop in Ireland. He steadily built a business and a reputation, but there were problems. Energy costs were very high -- a real issue when glass furnaces run at 2,500 degrees. Also, says Simon, "Ireland was a tough place to run a business. It's different now -- it's doing great. But in those days, the bureaucracy didn't understand how to help and promote business. So I said, 'It's time to move.'"
How did this world traveler find Quechee, Vermont? Few people know that Simon Pearce is among Laurance Rockefeller's gifts to the Woodstock area. In 1980, the billionaire grandson of oil magnate John D. Rockefeller learned of Simon's plans to move to America from mutual friends. While Simon and his wife were visiting the States, Laurance invited them to lunch and put them in touch with a local real estate agent.
Simon wanted a source of waterpower to serve as a hedge against rising energy prices, so when he was shown the old mill building on the bank of the Ottauquechee River, he knew he had found a new home. He bought the building, and it is still the heart of the company today. It houses a company store (one of 10 on the East Coast), a water-powered glass factory and pottery studio, and a fine restaurant overlooking the river.
Simon arrived in the United States with a staff of three, including Charles Shackleton, who was then a glassblower and is now a furniture craftsman in nearby Bridgewater. "It was more like a family than a business," Charles recalls. "Simon and his wife lived on the top floor of the mill building, and the rest of us lived across the street. We knew it was a struggle at first, but Simon was always positive."
Simon often worked late into the night, fixing up the old mill and building his own glass factory. He was pursuing a vision that combined his studio skills with a keen business sense: He wanted to make high-quality, handmade glassware and pottery for everyday use. Inspired by those old rummers he used to collect, he wanted to make things that people would use and enjoy.
As the company grew, Simon faced the challenge of maintaining quality while producing larger and larger quantities. This amplified an internal struggle, says Simon: "I realized that I was growing the business with the idea that more would make me happier, but I was no happier than when I had nothing. I took five years of pulling back from the business. I started reading, mostly Buddhist writings -- Thich Nhat Hanh and others. The books of Anthony de Mello had a profound effect on me."
Today, Simon is fully engaged in the company but his outlook has shifted. His business values are now identical to the implied message of his products: A sufficiency of fine quality is better than an excess of anything. It's an unlikely formula for success in an age of mass production and deep discounts, but he says many people are eager for something different.
"I actually think the future for quality and handmade products is very bright," he says. Last year, his company produced 575,000 pieces of glassware. That's a lot of customers willing to pay the price for good workmanship.
Simon would like to see more craftspeople develop their marketing skills as well as their artistic talents. "Many people get into crafts as a reaction to the mainstream world. They get it in their heads that business is a bad thing. But the reality is, once you make something and sell it, you're in business. I love the combination of the two."
Make It a Weekend
Continue discovering the Quechee area's artisanal tradition at the galleries of furniture maker Charles Shackleton and potter Miranda Thomas, located in The Mill in Bridgewater, Vermont.
Charles's timeless designs combine simple grace and solid presence, as in an 18th-century-inspired cherry triple kitchen dresser with glass doors ($14,700) and a 90-by-44-inch cherry dining table with hand-carved dentil molding ($5,700). Meticulous planing, sanding, and waxing by hand all give Charles's pieces a gorgeous silky finish.
Miranda's pottery similarly matches elegance and heft. It is characterized by carved or freely drawn birds and animals, subtly outlined against backgrounds of deep greens and warm beige. A chunky 8-ounce barrel mug ($45) would nicely launch a Miranda Thomas collection, which might grow to include a 9-inch jug ($190) or a 9-by-4-inch serving bowl ($165). Both artists welcome visitors to their on-site workshops.
The region's grandest example of sublime workmanship belongs to the Ottauquechee River, which carved the dramatic 165-foot-deep Quechee Gorge just outside Quechee Village. A 1-1⁄2-mile round-trip hike into the gorge begins at the recreation area adjacent to the Route 4 bridge.
Lodging and dining options include the 25-room Quechee Inn, whose main building dates from 1793. The inn is headquarters for Wilderness Trails, which focuses on fly-fishing, canoeing, kayaking, and mountain biking (rentals available). The dining room, open to the public, offers a range of entrées from crab-stuffed haddock to roast rack of lamb.
For lunch or dinner in a cozy pub setting, try Fire Stones, where a big woodburning oven turns out crisp flatbread pizzas (other choices include Grand Marnier chicken, veal Marsala, and heroic half-pound burgers).
Simon Pearce
Quechee's historic J.C. Parker mill, once a flannel factory, now houses Simon Pearce's studios, restaurant, and retail shop. Workshops and store open daily. Restaurant open for lunch and dinner daily. Entrées: $20-$28. [DETAILS]
ShackletonThomas Furniture and Pottery
Discover the area's artisanal traditions at the galleries of furniture maker Charles Shackleton and potter Miranda Thomas. Open daily. [DETAILS]
Quechee Inn at Marshland Farm
The 25-room Quechee Inn's main building dates from 1793. Rates: $90-$245, including full buffet breakfast. [DETAILS]
Vermont Fly Fishing School and Wilderness Trails
Focus on fly-fishing, canoeing, kayaking, and mountain biking (rentals available). Open daily. Call or visit Web site for rates. [DETAILS]
Fire Stones Restaurant
For lunch or dinner in a cozy pub setting, try Fire Stones, where a big woodburning oven turns out crisp flatbread pizzas (other choices include Grand Marnier chicken, veal Marsala, and heroic half-pound burgers). Open for lunch and dinner daily, brunch Sun. Entrées: $13.95–$19.95. [DETAILS]
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