North Carolina Pottery Center:
Honoring a Folk Tradition

"North Carolina has the longest tradition of pottery in the United States, from the Indians on."

That's the reason for creating the North Carolina Pottery Center, according to its executive director, Brent Tharp. The center opened in the fall of 1998.

Located in Seagrove, in the heart of North Carolina's pottery colony, it's part museum, part gallery, part workshop, and part storehouse. The airy, sunshine-filled exhibit hall traces the development of North Carolina from its beginnings by the Cherokee and Catawba Indians. The techniques and glazes they used were similar to those used in China, Germany, and other places. While primarily functional, they were also surprisingly decorative.

The same can be said of the pottery produced by the Moravian settlers in the 1750s. "That's especially notable when you realize that in 1750, the Moravian settlement still had a stockade around the town."

Most of the North Carolina potters were farmer potters, people who made mugs and jugs and other needed items after their farming chores were done. They were durable, cheap, and simple in design.

Some of the most common items didn't lend themselves to fancy decoration, anyway. Chamber pots and wash basins were perennial best-sellers, even well into the 20th century, when much of rural North Carolina had no indoor plumbing.

Other pottery has a more poignant history. There's a display of grave markers - the urns, vases, headstones, and footstones that stood sentinel over graves in family plots and the graveyards of the small churches dotting the North Carolina hills. Once tended with devotion by families who visited graves almost weekly, they began disappearing as the custom of personal grave-tending disappeared. They became victims of lawn mowers grooming the graveyards and collectors seeking unusual souvenirs.

The farmer potters began disappearing themselves in the early 1900s. Improving technology meant that large factory pottery operations up north could produce and deliver goods faster and cheaper than the local potters could. By the early 1960s, only 4 potters were left in the area.

About that time, though, artists and crafters began looking at pottery as an art form. Young potters began copying the old pieces and glazes, then began experimenting with their own ideas. More new artists arrived, and Seagrove now boasts over 100 potters working in the immediate area, making it the largest pottery colony in the US.

Many of the pieces donated to the Pottery Center come from families and neighbors of old potters who want to see the pieces saved and put on display. The upper level of the Center is a visible storage area where the pieces are preserved until they can be displayed. "We have enough pieces to rotate the collection on a regular basis," says Tharp. "I don't think we'll ever run out of things." It's common for visitors to ask about a particular potter's work, explaining - in the Southern tradition - the potter's lineage and how it connects to the pedigree of the person asking about him. "It's always a grandparent or cousin or in-law or close neighbor," Tharp grins. "That's one of the best parts about the tradition, that it was - and still is - a personal thing."

The gallery part of the Center is as much a public service as it is a display area. With the workshops of over 100 potters scattered across the area, tourists don't want to waste time on potters whose work isn't appealing. The gallery showcases samples of work from most of the Seagrove potters, making planning an itinerary much easier. Piggy banks, dishes, ornately decorated bowls, whimsical 'critters,' serving dishes, goblets - it's amazing what different people can do with the same mound of clay!

The North Carolina Pottery Center is in Seagrove, NC. It's open on Tuesday through Saturday 10 AM - 4 PM. Admission is $3 for adults, $1 for students. For more information, call (336) 873-8430 or check their website at www.ncpotterycenter.com.
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