Menu
Search
Browse by Grade & Subjects

Grade

Subjects

South Carolina, with its rich clay deposits, is the home to two different, but very important ceramic traditions - Catawba earthenware and alkaline-glazed stoneware. Before European contact in the 16th century, the Catawba Nation controlled much of what is now South Carolina and most of the North Carolina Piedmont. This tradition has continued through elder potters sharing their knowledge and skills with younger generations. While their techniques remain ancient, they have adapted their forms to changing markets. Kinship and community were also important in the development and diffusion of the alkaline-glazed stoneware tradition during the nineteenth century. Using European and African forms and labor the Edgefield, South Carolina, potteries produced containers used primarily for food preservation and preparation. As some potters migrated west and to other areas in the southeast, they spread the alkaline-glazed tradition into Georgia, North Carolina, Alabama and Mississippi.

Content is provided by McKissick Museum, University of South Carolina.

For further information about any of the artists featured on Digital Traditions, send your questions and comments to hallagan@mailbox.sc.edu.

Resource Type
Roots in Brown's Pottery | Digital Traditions - Episode 1 Challenges of Wood Firing | Digital Traditions

Audio

Grades

  • Higher Education
Challenges of Wood Firing | Digital Traditions
Episode 4
Otis Norris, Sandhills Pottery, McBee, Chesterfield County. Interview recorded May 2007. A Kershaw County native, Otis Norris has been turning pots at his current location in Chesterfield County since...
Norman Smith on the Early Days | Digital Traditions

Audio

Grades

  • Higher Education
Norman Smith on the Early Days | Digital Traditions
Episode 1
Norman Smith (d. 1990), Lawley, Chilton County. Interview recorded June 1981. Norman Smith began working in the family pottery in 1920 and opened his own shop in 1932 a few miles away. Arguably one of...
Oscar Smith Speculates on a Successor | Digital Traditions

Audio

Grades

  • Higher Education
Oscar Smith Speculates on a Successor | Digital Traditions
Episode 2
Oscar Smith, Lawley, Perry County. Interview recorded June 1981. Norman Smith began working in the family pottery in 1920 and opened his own shop in 1932 a few miles away. Arguably one of the most...
Norman & Oscar Smith Photos | Digital Traditions

Photo

Grades

  • Higher Education
Norman & Oscar Smith Photos | Digital Traditions
Episode 3
Norman Smith began working in the family pottery in 1920 and opened his own shop in 1932 a few miles away. Arguably one of the most traditional of southern potters still practicing in 1981, he used a...
Marie Gooden Rogers Photos | Digital Traditions

Photo

Grades

  • Higher Education
Marie Gooden Rogers Photos | Digital Traditions
Episode 2
Marie Gooden married into a potting family and was given informal instruction in shop operations and the nuances of turning by her husband, Horace Rogers. After his death in 1962, Marie decided to...
Landrum Family Photos | Digital Traditions

Photo

Grades

  • Higher Education
Landrum Family Photos | Digital Traditions
Dr. Abner Landrum (1783-1856) was a major figure in the development and dissemination of the alkaline-glazed pottery tradition. In addition to being a newspaper editor and land speculator, he is...
Kenneth Outen: Matthews Pottery Photos | Digital Traditions

Photo

Grades

  • Higher Education
Kenneth Outen: Matthews Pottery Photos | Digital Traditions
Episode 2
The Outens had been in the pottery business since the 1870s, working in both North and South Carolina. Kenneth Outen inherited the family's pottery in the town of Matthews, east of Charlotte, from his...
Harold Hewell on Family Tradition | Digital Traditions

Audio

Grades

  • Higher Education
Harold Hewell on Family Tradition | Digital Traditions
Episode 1
Hewell Pottery, Gillsville, Banks County. Interview recorded with family members in June 1981. The Hewell family potting dynasty began with Nathaniel H. Hewell (1832-1887). For years, the Hewell...
Hewell Pottery Photos | Digital Traditions

Photo

Grades

  • Higher Education
Hewell Pottery Photos | Digital Traditions
Episode 4
Hewell Pottery, Gillsville, Banks County. Interview recorded with family members in June 1981. The Hewell family potting dynasty began with Nathaniel H. Hewell (1832-1887). For years, the Hewell...
Florence Wade Photos | Digital Traditions

Photo

Grades

  • Higher Education
Florence Wade Photos | Digital Traditions
Florence Wade learned to make pottery from her sisters and other family members, including accomplished Catawba potters Sara Harris Ayers and Edith Brown. The Harris family of Catawba potters belongs...
Evelyn George | Digital traditions

Photo

Grades

  • Higher Education
Evelyn George | Digital traditions
Evelyn George was designated a master potter of Catawba pottery by the Catawba Indian Nation. Born in 1914, Ms. George learned as a child from her great-grandmother. She was influenced by individuals...
Eric Miller Photos | Digital Traditions

Photo

Grades

  • Higher Education
Eric Miller Photos | Digital Traditions
Episode 2
Since the retirement of his father, the family pottery has been managed by this fourth generation potter. This Alabama potting dynasty was founded by Abraham Miller, who arrived in the region shortly...
Elizabeth Ringus Photos | Digital Traditions

Photo

Grades

  • Higher Education
Elizabeth Ringus Photos | Digital Traditions
Episode 5
Elizabeth Ringus, Paw Print Pottery Barnwell, Barnwell County. Interview recorded June 2007. Liz Ringus has been turning pots for over 36 years. A native of Massachusetts, Ringus and her husband Paul...
Elizabeth Ringus: Spongeware | Digital Traditions

Audio

Grades

  • Higher Education
Elizabeth Ringus: Spongeware | Digital Traditions
Episode 1
Elizabeth Ringus, Paw Print Pottery Barnwell, Barnwell County. Interview recorded June 2007. Liz Ringus has been turning pots for over 36 years. A native of Massachusetts, Ringus and her husband Paul...
Elizabeth Ringus: Glazes | Digital Traditions

Audio

Grades

  • Higher Education
Elizabeth Ringus: Glazes | Digital Traditions
Episode 2
Elizabeth Ringus, Paw Print Pottery Barnwell, Barnwell County. Interview recorded June 2007. Liz Ringus has been turning pots for over 36 years. A native of Massachusetts, Ringus and her husband Paul...
David Drake Photos | Digital Traditions

Photo

Grades

  • Higher Education
David Drake Photos | Digital Traditions
David Drake, a slave known as "Dave" by pottery scholars and collectors, is the most fascinating character coming from the alkaline-glazed stoneware tradition in Edgefield. Unlike most slaves in the...