Stephen Ferrell demonstrates molding a piece of pottery on the wheel.
Video
The potter’s art is a thing of beauty and, seeming, magic. The process looks so easy, but in actuality, years of experience are required in order to work the wheel and apply the right combinations of...
Video
Catawba pottery is recognized as one of the oldest and purest traditional art forms in America. Potters such as Billie Anne McKellar, a fourth generation potter, are often ancestors of a long line of...
Video
The natural world pervades nearly every aspect of the Catawba pottery tradition. Nature-inspired motifs include the turtle, frog, black snake, snail, feather and palm leaf, and are often connected to...
Video
"Green" pots are those that have dried naturally by sun and air circulation, but have yet to be fired. A sunny, windless day is the ideal setting for the day of a firing. Before firing, green pots are...
Video
Many traditional Catawba pot designs are based on a basic "cooking pot" style, dating back to the Woodland period (1000 BCE - 1000 CE) of North American pre-Columbian culture. Widespread use and trade...
Video
Artifacts are manmade objects, sometimes referred to as material remains, that are recovered during the excavation process. Pot shards, intact pots, rubbing stones and arrowheads are examples of...
Video
The bean pot is a traditional form that resurfaced in the Catawba potter’s repertoire in the early 1990s. Master potters used an image from an anthropological record of the early 1900s to guide their...