The Potter's Eye - by Mark Hewitt & Nancy Sweezy (Hardcover)

About the Book

Tracing the history of art and tradition of North Carolina pottery from the 19th century to present day, the authors demonstrate intriguing historic and aesthetic relationships that link pots produced in North Carolina to traditions in Europe and Asia, in New England, and in South Carolina. Full color.

Book Synopsis

Classic North Carolina stoneware pots -- with their rich textures, monochromatic glazes, and minimal decoration -- belong to one of America's most revered stoneware pottery traditions. In a lavishly illustrated celebration of that tradition, Mark Hewitt and Nancy Sweezy trace the history of North Carolina pottery from the nineteenth century to the present day. They demonstrate the intriguing historic and aesthetic relationships that link pots produced in North Carolina to pottery traditions in Europe and Asia, in New England, and in the neighboring state of South Carolina.

With hundreds of color photographs highlighting the shapes and surfaces of carefully selected pots, The Potter's Eye honors the keen focus vernacular potters bring to their materials, tools, techniques, and history. It is an evocative guide for anyone interested in the art of North Carolina pottery and the aesthetic majesty of this resilient and long-standing tradition.

Review Quotes

"[Hewitt and Sweezy] are just nutty about North Carolina stoneware: salt- and alkaline-glazed surfaces, poetic shapes, regional clays, Asian influences. [In The Potter's Eye] the language of pottery is a language of love: pots are 'taut-bellied' and 'pregnant, ' 'blistered' and 'scarred.' . . . The sensual prose makes it enjoyable and informative. . . . The Potter's Eye does what any good tour guide should do: gently compels you to look and look again, focusing on the nifty details."--Oxford American

"[Hewitt's] critical evaluation eloquently makes a link between the very old and the new and in doing so rejuvenates our 'eye' and inspires us to view the work of the North Carolina stoneware tradition in a new light. . . . Hewitt introduces the reader to a new vocabulary of expression and technical insight, a grounding which well prepares and informs our senses for the Nancy Sweezy interviews with six contemporary North Carolina potters who continue to turn and burn. . . .The many powerful, full page, color photographs of the exhibits taken by Jason Dowdle . . . immediately grasp our attention."--The Log Book

"A handsome heavy book, thanks largely to Jason Dowdle's gorgeous photographs. . . . The writing is poetic, persuasive, and at times, almost polemical."--North Carolina Historical Review

"A lavishly illustrated celebration of [the stoneware pottery] tradition. . . . The Potter's Eye honors the keen focus vernacular potters bring to their materials, tools, techniques, and history. It is an evocative guide for anyone interested in the art of North Carolina pottery and the aesthetic majesty of this resilient and long-standing tradition."--New England Antiques Journal

"Exquisitely illustrated. . . . [with] incredibly detailed surface shots."--Ceramics Monthly

"Mark Hewitt and Nancy Sweezy's The Potter's Eye is a lavish tour of 19th-century North Carolina stoneware, with both historical comparisons and contemporary work based in the tradition. . . . It is the quality and breadth of Mark Hewitt's eye -- how he has assembled and illuminated these great old pots -- that makes The Potter's Eye an essential book for anyone who cares about the history of clay. The vitality of the work of the contemporary potters, and Nancy Sweezy's expert capturing of their voices, make it equally valuable for readers interested in the synthesis of tradition by craftspeople today." --American Craft

"More than an exhibition catalog; it is a collaborative work of art."--Western Folklore

"Perry and her coterie of authors provide expert introductions to the state's pottery as a whole and to the significant benchmarks of its cultural history. . . . Jason Dowdle created special photography for The Potter's Eyethat examines the form and surfaces of each pot in ways not previously expressed in books on ceramics history. This volume is worth owning for its visual beauty alone."--Winterthur Portfolio

"This exciting work succeeds in its mission to 'signal and celebrate the artistry of North Carolina's greatest production potters, ' but this work has accomplished much more -- it has challenged and tutored scholars and collectors to view the stoneware of North Carolina with a potter's eye."--Journal of Folklore Research

About the Author

Mark Hewitt, a British potter who lives and works in Pittsboro, North Carolina, is the author of numerous articles about potters and pottery. His own work has been featured in Smithsonian Magazine, Ceramics Monthly, American Craft, and other publications. Nancy Sweezy, potter and former director of Jugtown Pottery in Seagrove, North Carolina, is the author of Raised in Clay: The Southern Pottery Tradition.