THE ART OF NORTH CAROLINA
POTTERY

BY CHRIS CARROTHERS
ART 202 HISTORY OF ART II
ASBOTH GUSZTAU
15 JULY 2013
Pottery has been a part of human existence for thousands of years. It is one of the
earliest forms of art. Pottery was first created not for artistic purpose but practical
purpose. A pottery bowl was used to hold food or a jug to hold water. These vessels were
first used by ancient civilizations in day-to-day life. Early potters found this to be a way
of expressing artistic value by form, decoration and color. Potters would strive to perfect
techniques by scientific method of mixing clay and glaze as well. These methods are still
being used to perfect the art today.
The pottery of North Carolina has been dated prior to the arrival of the first
European settlers. Indians were using the art of pottery to for personal expression over
2000 years prior to the first settlers in North America (Coe). The abundance of iron rich
red clay in the piedmont area of North Carolina provided a ready source for material, as
well as the abundance of pine and oak for firing the clay into strong useable vessels.
Earliest pottery was formed by the coil method. Clay was formed into long tubes and
coiled around to form the shape of a vessel. As the artist would coil the piece they would
add water and smooth the form as the coil continued upward adding new coils as needed
to make the form as large as it would be needed. This practice is still being carried out by
Cherokee Indians of western North Carolina. Victoria Mitchell is just one Cherokee who
carries on the works of her ancestors by creating coil pottery in much the same way as
her forefathers. She has however added some new techniques to this traditional art such
as modern forms and artwork, through small sculptures and jewelry (Mitchell).
In the 16th century brought on the arrival of Europeans to North Carolina, they
brought with them European methods of manufacturing pottery. Wood ash glaze, large
kilns, and pottery wheels replaced the coil method as the new method of wheel thrown
pottery provided a more durable ceramic for the early settlers of North Carolina. As
settlers moved into the interior of North Carolina they found some of the same clay pits
the early American Indians used. One of these areas was in early Cumberland County
(now upper Moore County) area along the Deep River and its feeder tributaries. This
became communities of farmers and craftsmen. Potters from the English Staffordshire
area settled the area. Family names such as of Phillips, Shuffeld, and Davis dotted the
region. The early potters produced earthenware plates, jugs and churns. The
potter/farmers used the summer months for producing crops and the winter for creating
pottery. Some of the jugs were used to store an abundant crop of corn in the form of
alcohol. The earthenware jugs provided a practical means of transporting this commodity
throughout the area. Through years of production and improvements in techniques there
were many of these early potters who would be considered by today’s standard to be
Master Potters though their refined methods of production.
After the Revolutionary war the new technique of salt glaze was introduced to the
area, and was commonly used in the new community known as Prosperity in Northern
Moore County. The saltware is what we commonly associate with pottery churns and
whiskey jugs a familiar grey/green color. This was made extremely durable by the kiln
firing at higher than 2500 degrees Fahrenheit. This technique was achieved by the use of
groundhog kilns used extensively in early China. A groundhog kiln is generally dug into
the side of a hill. After the kiln is built the natural earth is packed around the kiln and acts
as a natural insulator to hold in heat and produce these higher firing temperatures.
Artisans of this era managed to hold on to production and pass it to future generations.
In the 1920s there was a craft revival movement in North America and a renewed
interest in the pottery of the communities of Longleaf and Seagrove. This was in large
part the effort of Jacques and Julana Busbee who settled in the Seagrove area and
promoted the pottery of the area to a larger audience throughout the United States
(Troxler). Jacques Busbee introduced ancient methods of the Chinese and other Eastern
pottery to local artisans. These techniques in caused new interest into the potters of the
area and many were incorporated into their earthenware. The Busbees’ were instrumental
to the survival of the area. Probation of the 1930s had cut off one of the main source of
income to the area potters. The production of whiskey jugs was used to subsidize area
farmers, although it was commonly known that some potters were known to earn money
under the table through the production of jugs for unknown in spite of probation.
Through the efforts of the Busbees’ in establishing the area as a world-class producer of
traditional pottery, this community survives today.
The Seagrove Pottery area as it is known today is filled with potters, some
descendants from the early English settlers who were first to the area. New names have
emerged such as Albright, King and O’ Quinn to the more than thirty potters that call this
area of North Carolina home. Types of potters vary from the bright and dynamic
Chystalline glaze of Phil Morgan to the traditional dark and earthy Chinese raku of David
Stuempfle. One I am personally acquainted with is the traditional salt-fired pottery of
Rockhouse Pottery. Rockhouse Pottery established in the 1970s was the result of a retired
army man named Ken Poole who wished to produce traditional pottery and explore new
territory of glazes and firing techniques. I was inducted into the traditions by my father-in
-law Ken Poole in the early 1980s and through genealogical research we have traced our
ancestry to the first potters of the area.
Pottery can be marvelous and complicated. There is a great feeling of
accomplishment when you are able to center a ball of earth for the first time and mold the
form into a cup or bowl. To take that raw clay through the process of decorating the green
clay with embellishments then to bisque the clay, glaze and fire. Pottery also speaks to
you on a cold winter day. When opening the kiln to inspect the finished forms the pots
make a tingling noise as they cool as if they have a life of their own. This to me is the
sound of the birth of art as it cries out “Come look at what has been created.”
Works Cited
Cover Page: Original photo by Chris Carrothers of Rockhouse Pottery
Coe, Joffre Lanning.. “Town Creek Indian Mound: A Native American Legacy.” 1995.
Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. Org. North Carolina Historical
Sites. Web. 13 July 2013
http://www.nchistoricsites.org/town/artifacts.htm
Mitchell, Victoria. “Victoria Mitchell, Cherokee Native clay Pottery” 2012. Victoria
Mitchell. Web. 13 July, 2013
http://www.victoriacherokeepottery.com/artwork.html
Troxler, George W. “Jacques Busbee.” 1979. Encyclopedia of North Carolina.
University of North Carolina Press. Web. 13 July 2013
http://ncpedia.org/biography/busbee-jacques-born-james