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.

Wayne Wilson | Digital Traditions
Wayne Wilson | Digital Traditions
Episode 3

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Wayne Wilson is the son of Hallie A. Wilson, who was trained in the pottery shop of Maryland Hewell and in the nearby Holcomb Pottery. In the 1950s, Hallie set up his own pottery shop in Lula, Georgia...
William & D.X. Gordy | Digital Traditions
William & D.X. Gordy | Digital Traditions
Episode 3

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Son of Georgia potter W.T.B. Gordy (1877-1955), D.X. Gordy took over his father’s shop and gradually moved away from the traditional forms produced by earlier family potters. Gordy retained the...
Challenges of Wood Firing | Digital Traditions
Episode 4

Audio

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...
Hattie Mae Stewart Brown Photos | Digital Traditions
Hattie Mae Stewart Brown Photos | Digital Traditions
Episode 4

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The daughter of Mississippi potter Homer Wade Stewart, Hattie Mae married journeyman potter Horace “Jug” Brown. She met Brown when he worked in her family’s Louisville, Mississippi pottery in the...
Hewell Pottery Photos | Digital Traditions
Hewell Pottery Photos | Digital Traditions
Episode 4

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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...
Sara Ayers: Grandfather | Digital Traditions
Episode 4

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Ayers discusses the role of her grandfather in her pottery making. Sara Ayers was a highly accomplished Catawba potter who exemplified the major artistic tradition of South Carolina's earliest...
Elizabeth Ringus Photos | Digital Traditions
Elizabeth Ringus Photos | Digital Traditions
Episode 5

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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...