- Introduction
- The North Carolina Pottery Center
- The Mint Museum, Charlotte
- Southern Highland Craft Guild
- Catawba Valley Pottery Festival
- Sanford Pottery Festival
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Introduction
Clay pots used to be essential items for our ancestors to survive hard winters. Crude crocks and jugs stored up molasses, butter, meats, beans, pickles and “medicinal” beverages such as brandy and wine. Sturdy earthenware baking dishes, colanders and tableware helped cooks prepare hot meals and transport food. Indeed, the production of pots was so critical that the Confederacy reportedly exempted potters from military duty during the Civil War.
The full history of North Carolina pottery boasts a rich heritage grounded in the pre-historic pottery of Native Americans. Catawba and Cherokee Indians molded thick pots here 2,000 or 3,000 years ago. Later, in the 18th century, German, English and Scotch-Irish immigrants showed off their own diverse techniques to North Carolinian potters, who blended them into their own work. Throughout the centuries, styles across the state have included the Moravians’ red earthenware, Piedmont saltglazes, Catawba Valley ash glaze and individually conceived Mountain ware. Family names connected to the craft in the Randolph and Moore county areas include Craven, Chriscoe, Cole, Luck, McNeill, Owen and Teague. Jacques and Juliana Busbee of Raleigh were instrumental in supporting what became known as the Jugtown pottery style of this region in the first half of the 20th century.
At one point there were more than 200 potteries just in central North Carolina’s Seagrove area alone. Making utilitarian pottery declined as refrigeration and mass production methods become commonplace, but the craft lasted longer here than in other states. Northerners, who industrialized more quickly, began using glass and metal containers sooner. Pottery’s strong roots and North Carolinians’ respect for folk art traditions emboldened potters to pass down their skills mano to mano, one generation to the next.
Today, the state’s excellent clay continues to fire potters’ imaginations. No longer a survival tool, pottery is now a modern art form. Admirers finger smooth plates with swirling, decorative glazes, while serious collectors squint at elegant teapots and debate market value.
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