For Promotion and Presentation (September 1 – December 17, 2022)

In addition to fulfilling basic utilitarian needs, some older pottery in North Carolina was used for either promotional or presentation purposes. Both types are popular with promotional wares being sought by advertising and bottle collectors as well as pottery collectors.

Promotional wares include merchant jugs and jars made for North Carolina businesses. Interestingly, most of these promotional pieces were made by pottery industries outside of North Carolina. Likely reasons for that are the larger out-of-state potteries could furnish more wares and many of those potteries used Bristol glaze, which was not favored in NC, on which blue or black stenciling was easy to read. This exhibit features only jugs and jars promoting NC businesses and towns.

Presentation wares typically only have the name of the person for whom the piece was made and possibly the name of a town or a date, although some may also have the potter’s mark as well. Although made relatively infrequently, presentation wares were produced by potters across the state from the Piedmont to the Catawba Valley and Western NC. This exhibit features only those presentation wares made in North Carolina.

We hope you’ll come check out the exhibit and see what some early promotion and presentation pottery looked like in NC.

Guest curated by L.A. Rhyne.