North Carolina Pottery: The Collection of the Mint Museums [Hardcover]

Barbara Stone Perry (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 31, 2004

North Carolina is home to the only continuing pottery tradition in the United States outside the Native American tradition of the Southwest. Noted for this rich tradition from Seagrove to Pisgah, work produced here has earned the attention of collectors, artists, and visitors from around the globe. The collection of The Mint Museums in Charlotte, numbering more than 1,600 pieces, is considered the most comprehensive in any public institution. This volume catalogs more than four hundred individual pieces in the Museums' collection and includes five essays by authorities in the field of ceramics, providing a visual and textual guide to a vibrant living tradition.

Illustrated with hundreds of color photographs, the catalog includes descriptive entries on potters and potteries and details about individual pieces. These include traditional utilitarian wares from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, transitional or "fancy wares" made during the first half of the twentieth century, and contemporary objects. Displaying works from the four major pottery-producing areas of the state--Moravian settlements, Seagrove, the Catawba Valley, and the mountains--the collection tells the entire story of the North Carolina pottery tradition. Essays by collector and patron Daisy Wade Bridges, scholar Charles G. Zug III, gallery director Charlotte V. Brown, potter Mark Hewitt, and curator Barbara Stone Perry survey the history and significance of one of the state's best-known art forms.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Visual as well as textual. . . . This volume should go a long way toward preserving the pottery tradition of North Carolina. -- Our State, November 2004

[A] handsomely illustrated book. . . . The essays offer history and aesthetic appreciation. -- American Craft, Dec 2006/Jan 2005

From the Inside Flap

More than 400 examples--most in color--of pottery from North Carolina are showcased in this oversize book. Published to coincide with an exhibit at the Mint Museums of Charlotte, the book includes five original essays, biographical entries on the potters, information on the potteries and descriptions of the individiual pieces. Together, the book provides an unparalleled resource for understanding the value and heritage of North Carolina's vibrant pottery tradition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 232 pages
• Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press; 1st edition, edition (October 31, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807829080
• ISBN-13: 978-0807829080
• Product Dimensions: 12.3 x 9.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,694,559 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great treasure, November 30, 2004

By 

Martha B. Spencer "Bookish woman" (Raleigh, NC USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: North Carolina Pottery: The Collection of the Mint Museums (Hardcover)

If you have the slightest interest in North Carolina's unique pottery tradition, this book provides a lavishly illustrated catalog of the collection of the Mint Museums of Charlotte, NC. Each potter's biography, genealogy and work history is included with an example of the work of each. There are essays by pottery experts to explain the background on various types of pottery, techniques, locations, etc., as well as the history of pottery making in North Carolina. This would make a wonderful Christmas gift for any North Carolinian.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars EXCELLENT INFORMATION WITH COLORED PICTURES, August 30, 2005

By 

Melissa R. Halbrooks - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: North Carolina Pottery: The Collection of the Mint Museums (Paperback)

THIS BOOK IS A "MUST HAVE" FOR COLLECTORS OF NORTH CAROLINA POTTERY. THE TEXT IS FULL OF "MARKS OR SIGNATURES" OF THE POTTERS AND THEIR HISTORY. THE PICTURES SHOW THE GLAZES IN "TRUE COLOR" FOR EASY IDENTIFICATION.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wide-ranging North Carolina Pottery Reference Work, March 31, 2009

By 

James R. Henderson "glazemaven" (Southwest Virginia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: North Carolina Pottery: The Collection of the Mint Museums (Paperback)

The strength of this book is the photography, which is generally excellent of gives very accurate color renditions. This work demonstrates the extraordinary breadth of the North Carolina pottery tradition. The backbone of the Mint Museums collection is the Dorothy and Walter Auman collection which the Museums acquired in 1983, and these pieces are very well represented in the book. The Auman collection is particularly strong in stoneware; the Mint Museums book includes such examples as the Dan Cagle "Whynot" jug, circa 1900 [46]; the marked W. H. Chisco jug, also circa 1900 [55]; the outstanding J. A. Craven "Masonic Emblem" jar, circa 1855 [142]; the famous Chester Webster four-gallon jug [396] and runlet [397] decorated with incised fish; and a fortuitous side-by-side comparison of a salt-glazed jug by W. H. Hancock [184] and an alkaline-glazed jug by David Hartsoe [186]. The selection of Moravian earthenware includes a superb decorated plate attributed to Gottfried Aust, circa 1780 [255]. Complementing the "catalog" section of the book are excellent histories by Daisy Wade Bridges and Charlie Zug. The potters and pieces are constrained by the limits of the Mint Museum collection, which is less strong in the art pottery era - - the pieces shown for Joe Owen, for example, are not representative of his work, and there is not a single item attributed to either Virginia Mae Shelton or Philmore Graves. In addition, there are some questionable art pottery attributions; for example, two of the pieces attributed to J. B. Cole, [99] and [101], have the characteristic glaze results and edge browning of pottery made at the J. B. Cole shop beginning about 1953, ten years after Jace Cole died. Nonetheless, the illustrations of Auman-collection stoneware are worth the price of the book.