It was about a month ago that I wrote an article for the July 8 issue of Antiques & the Arts Weekly, titled, Rare Red Earthenware Urn Discovered At Newburyport Estate Auction, where I also wrote about the history of the Chinese blue glazes manufactured at the Jugtown Pottery in Seagrove, North Carolina in the 1920s and 1930s. As a result of that article, I gained a greater appreciation for the wares made in North Carolina circa 1900-1975, some of which were exported from North Carolina to a shop in New York City in the first half of the nineteenth century. And because of that shop and tourism, a number of wares made in North Carolina during this period have been discovered in the northern states through the years. It is also important to note that some of these North Carolina objects are now approaching 100 or more years in age.
Over the last few weeks, my niece Alexis and myself have explored parts of New England in our free time in search of any good North Carolina pottery hidden in vintage/antique type group shops, flea markets and wherever else we may find it. For instance, last Friday I posted an article about a good stoneware teapot made at the Jugtown Pottery about 1930 that we discovered in a collectible type shop in the Boston area. Nevertheless, we explored a number of shops all over coastal Maine last weekend, where we found seven pieces of southern pottery, which I have posted separate stories about today. This article discusses two good stoneware pieces that Alexis actually discovered on her own, while we were walking around a shop; she said she turned both of them over and recognized the stamp.
Both of these pieces were made at Ben Owen Sr.'s Pottery (1904-1983) in Seagrove, North Carolina; the salt-glazed cobalt decorated bowl is an early style similar to types made in Europe and China, while the smaller tea bowl is inspired from Asian design.
According to the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, "Owen learned to turn clay from his father, potter and farmer Rufus Owen (1872-1948), and by age 16, he was a proficient potter who produced lead-glazed utilitarian earthenware for his father and for neighboring shops.
In 1923, Owen was hired as the second known potter to work at the newly built Jugtown Pottery. Under the guidance of Jugtown founders Jacques (1870-1947) and Juliana Busbee (1876-1962), Owen developed a classic pottery style that blended old and new forms, incorporating the principles of restraint and simplicity inherent in both native folk and Oriental traditions.Owen was the sole potter at Jugtown from the early 1930s until 1959, when he left to found the Old Plank Road Pottery. He produced the same forms and glazes until his retirement in 1972. His son and grandson revived his work, opening Ben Owen Pottery to produce pottery based closely on his unique style.
Owen’s work has been widely exhibited across the state, nation and world. His pieces can be found in the permanent collections of the Mint Museum of Art, the North Carolina Museum of Art, the National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institution, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Louvre, among many other museums.”
Two Good Stoneware Objects Made at Ben Owen Sr.'s Pottery in Seagrove, N.C.
Please Stay Tuned...Much More to Come...
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