The 401
RHODE TRIPS
BY DANA LAVERTY
PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF MYRTH ; GABRIELLA RIGGIERI .
R
Myrth Finds Its Future
Eric and Abby Smallwood craft heirloom-quality dinnerware inside a 130-year-old Rumford mill .
OUNDING 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 .
After careers in product design , Myrth owners Abby and Eric Smallwood turned their pottery hobby into a full-time business .
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 .”
RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY I FEBRUARY 2025 47