EarlyAmericanCeramics.com: Swag and Tassel: The Innovative Stoneware of Thomas Chandler Exhibit at the McKissick Museum at the University of South Carolina

Monday, July 8, 2019

Swag and Tassel: The Innovative Stoneware of Thomas Chandler Exhibit at the McKissick Museum at the University of South Carolina

Almost two-weeks ago, I visited the McKissick Museum at the University of South Carolina in Columbia in order to view an exhibit that I have been meaning to see for almost one-year now. According to the museum, "The exhibit, "Swag and Tassel: The Innovative Stoneware of Thomas Chandler," is the first retrospective exhibition of a nineteenth century Edgefield, South Carolina potter since "I Made This Jar: The Life and Works of the Enslaved African-American Potter Dave." Building upon the research in Philip Wingard's 2013 Ceramics in America article, "From Baltimore to the South Carolina Backcountry: Thomas Chandler's Influence on 19th Century Stoneware," the exhibition brings archaeological and archival research to bear on our understanding of the nature and scope of Chandler's technical and aesthetic innovations within the context of mid-nineteenth century Edgefield District pottery manufacturing."

I was absolutely elated to see this exhibit, which far exceeded my expectations. The wares made by Chandler in both Baltimore and in the Edgefield District in South Carolina have to be considered among the best stoneware manufactured anywhere in America in the 1800s, especially the wares that are decorated with iron and kaolin.

There are over 100 pieces of pottery on display, mostly from South Carolina, but there are also wonderful wares to see from Baltimore, North Carolina and Texas. I highly recommend seeing this exhibit if you have not already done so and wish to see this collection of pottery. It is very unlikely that this collection of wares will ever be reassembled like this again since it includes objects and archaeology from both private and museum collections. The exhibit only runs for another 12 days, closing after July 20, 2019.

I also love the fact that an exhibit catalog was published, which includes every piece of pottery shown in the exhibit. The catalog is sold on the first floor of the museum, and is completely affordable, priced at only $20.

Nonetheless, I have also written a feature story about this exhibit, and tied in my own experiences with Edgefield Pottery in New England, as well as a significant Baltimore churn that was made by Thomas Chandler, and displayed today in the William C. and Susan S. Mariner Collection of Southern Ceramics at the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. This story will be published later this summer in Antiques & Auction News, and I will be sure to make it available for anyone who does not have access to the publication.

Thomas Chandler Exhibit at the McKissick Museum in South Carolina