Old Salem Museums and Gardens

Visit

Art In Clay

"Art in Clay: Masterworks of North Carolina Earthenware" is a ground-breaking exhibit that features approximately 120 pieces of masterfully decorated slipware, sculptural bottles, refined creamware and faience that are but part of the rich artistic legacy of North Carolina's first earthenware potters. The exhibit also includes pottery shards and molds that were used to create the bottles.

Exhibit Dates:

Milwaukee Art Museum: September 2, 2010--January 17, 2011

Old Salem Museums & Gardens: March 22, 2011—August 14, 2011

Colonial Williamsburg Foundation: September 26, 2011--June 24, 2012

Huntsville Museum of Art: October 7, 2012--January 6, 2013

During the last half of the eighteenth century, artisans of European descent introduced a variety of old world ceramic traditions to the Carolina backcountry. From both an artisan and technical standpoint, the work of these craftsmen often surpassed that of their Middle Atlantic and New England contemporaries. North Carolina potters transformed the simplest of materials into vessels of practical utility, astonishing beauty, and deep cultural significance. This exhibit is the first major survey of this work and the context in which it was created. The 2009 and 2010 volumes of "Ceramics in America" are devoted entirely to North Carolina earthenware and serve as catalogs of this important show.

The exhibit is the culmination of a collaborative effort that spans several organizations, and was initiated by Old Salem Museums & Gardens in Winston-Salem, NC, the Chipstone Foundation in Milwaukee, WI, and the Caxambas Foundation in Milwaukee, WI. It is representative of many years of effort by scholars from multiple disciplines, including art, history, archaeology and religion.