By WARREN RESEN Member Florida Outdoor Writers Association  

Sautee-Nacoochee, GA — Many pioneer Florida families can trace their roots back to Georgia.

In Patrick Smith’s beloved book, “A Land Remembered,” the author took the stories of many pioneer families and combined them to create the MacIvey family. The story begins with Tobias MacIvey abandoning his Georgia farm in the year 1858 to start his trek south to the Florida wilderness. 

When families migrated, they left behind kin whom they would probably never again see.  But they took with them their traditions and the tools that would help them survive in the wilderness.  What they couldn’t take though was the good Georgia stoneware clay from which came the pottery that was one of life’s necessities before electricity and refrigeration.  The pottery made from this clay was formed into food-storage crocks, butter churns, pitchers, plates and cups and so many other things, Oh, and don’t forgot the ’shine jugs. When a piece of pottery broke, it was a minor disaster.

In northeast Georgia, near the cities of Cleveland (Cabbage Patch Dolls) and Helen (Alpine Village), is an area called the Folk Pottery Trail.  It is one of the few areas in the United States with a living, thriving tradition of folk pottery, where a handful of individuals carry on the age old tradition of pottery making from scratch.  A brief explanation of the difference between “folk” and “studio” potters is in order at this point. 

“Folk” potters go out into the countryside to find and dig their own clay. They process this clay to remove any impurities and do whatever else is necessary to prepare it for use. Other materials are gathered, processed and combined to make the finishing glazes.  After working the clay into the desired shape or design, it is glazed and fired.

Most folk potters have gone to electric kilns, side stepping the old process of building a brick kiln and splitting wood for fuel.  A quote on a wall plaque in the Folk Pottery Museum in Sautee-Nacoochee Center, GA states that, “Pottery like this, the old way it’s done…it’s not a thing in the world but man-killing work from start to finish.” 

“Studio” potters order their materials from a catalog.  However, the creation and finishing of the work is the same in both cases and neither can be said to be better, except perhaps to purists and collectors.

Early settlers brought the craft with them from England, Wales and Scotland into the Carolinas eventually moving south with the settlers into Georgia. Their traditional wares were unadorned and utilitarian, reduced to a simple elegant form that served a purpose.  When electricity and refrigeration became widely available, pottery as a means of storing food was no longer necessary and the industry, or craft, went into a decline.  The craft enjoyed a rebirth when folk potters began to embellish the work for collectors and their pieces became art objects. Collectable folk art is not for daily use. It is too valuable to risk breaking. 

I was fortunate to visit one of the area’s premier folk potters.  His name is Michael Potter, really.  And no, I never did meet Harry. Michael Potter’s place is a working shop, not a studio, in Lula, GA and was founded in 1984. Samples of his work are displayed in the public areas and he is hard put to keep them on view. Well known folk potters rarely advertise or promote their wares.  When a batch of pottery comes out of the kiln, word gets out and buyers line up to purchase these one-of-a-kind pieces. Michael has to withhold items he wants for display or they would be snapped up immediately, whatever the price. Pieces from folk potters quickly appreciate in price.  

Michael Potter, besides being a master folk potter, is also known as a local historian and is founder/co-curator of the previously mentioned Folk Pottery Museum which houses several of his outstanding works.  He also has an extensive private collection of contemporary pieces and pieces going back to the 1800’s but the area housing them is not open to the general public.   

To properly train a master folk potter takes from 5 to 10 years.  Some short cut it and go out on their on in 4 to 5 years.  Michael told me that folk potters learn their craft, “Eye to hand, mouth to ear. It is not something available in schools.  It is a continuation of history going back as far as the first pottery makers.”

One of the individuals most responsible for the revival of this craft was Lanier Meadows, a White County, Georgia potter, who in the early 1960’s helped rekindle this tradition. One item in particular that brought him to fame was the face jugs first made in Georgia around 1900. 

Meanders had mixed feelings about these novelties.  He was quoted as saying, “They are about the ugliest thing a person could make and it seems like the more useless I make something, the more customers will trample each other to get it.” 

He untimely produced thousands of these “useless, ugly” items in his 25 year potting career.  They became his signature.  The jugs now sell at auction for many thousands of dollars each.

A visit to the Folk Pottery Museum tells the story of 200 years of pottery making, of mountain heritage, of the folk traditions of southern Appalachia and connects Georgia and North Carolina traditions.  If you haven’t heard of the museum, it is because it has only been open for one year. It’s goal is education and preservation and it does a wonderful job on both accounts. 

The museum is located at 283 Georgia Hwy. 255 in Sautee-Nacoochee, four miles southeast of Alpine Helen.  For more information, go to their website at www.folkpotterymuseum.com