Talking with the turners : conversations with southern folk potters / Charles R. Mack ; foreword by William R. Ferris ; introduction by Lynn Robertson.
"Traveling the back roads of North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi, Charles R. Mack spent the summer of 1981 talking with the potters who produced the face jugs, mugs, and plates that had skyrocketed in popularity in the late 1970s and collecting examples of their wares. He was, in effect, taking the pulse of a southern folkway on the brink of transition. Mack had entered the world of Meaders and Smith, of Brown and Gordy, of pots and pug mills, of alkaline glazes and Albany slip, and he found himself welcomed into the shops of prominent "turners" who gladly talked to him with pride and candor about their profession." "With the benefit of a quarter century of hindsight, Mack has now gathered these interviews into Talking with the Turners, a single volume that documents the world of southern pottery as it shifted from the production of utilitarian wares to the aesthetic realm of folk art. In their own words the turners, most of whom are now deceased, explain what it means to be a potter, to be part of a profession that passes from generation to generation, to experiment with new designs while continuing to produce traditional forms of ceramics. Arranged thematically, the interviews emerge as an open dialogue among the participants - the type of backroom shoptalk that collectors and scholars are rarely privileged to share." "In addition to the centerpiece interviews - many of which are also featured on an audio CD accompanying the book - Mack includes numerous photos of the potters, their shops, and their wares. In forty-six color and thirty-four black-and-white images he captures the earnest humanity of the artists and the vivid beauty of their work. The color plates depict ceramics that Mack collected in his travels and later donated to the McKissick Museum."--BOOK JACKET.
Notes
"Thematic excerpts transcribed from interviews taped in the field in 1981 and preserved in the folklife resource center of the McKissick Museum of the University of South Carolina with introductory and concluding essays, complementary photography, and a CD recording of the potters' voices."
Bibliographic references
Includes bibliographical references (p. [217]-222) and index.
Contents
Commentary on the turning tradition
On being a potter
Family origins and family ties
Growing up and being trained
Recollections of changes and transitions
Into the business
The distaff side
From clay pit to pot shop
When they turned
How they turned
What they turned
Innovations in technique and style
Glazing
The potter's kiln
Kiln burning
Marketing matters
Turner tales
What the future holds
Epilogue : a generation later
Talking with the Turners : audio CD track list.
ISBN
1570036004 (cloth : alk. paper)
LCCN
2005020427
RCP
C - S
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