Carter
County Pottery
Although
Carter County, Tennessee was well populated long before Tennessee
became a state, little is known about the early potters who
were necessary to supply the settlers with utilitarian wares.
The
1820 Manufacturers Census lists a pottery owned by Isaac Hart
and John Mathorn. Isaac was the son of Leonard Hart and Sallie
Goodman. He was born in Sullivan County in 1795. John Mottern
(the correct spelling of the name) was born in Tennessee in
1785. He married Isaac's sister Sarah in 1804.
According
to Smith and Rogers the site that they found in Turkeytown
was operated by John and Sarah's son George. George was born
in 1812 and died in 1884. This site could have been the same
as the 1820 site. Tradition suggests that the pottery continued
until the early 1870s.
Common
sense strongly suggests that there were many potters working
through the years in this very early area of Tennessee. The
forms and glazes that are found there are skillfully executed
and distinctly Carter County. It is the only area in Tennessee
where slip decorated pieces of earthenware are found such
as the jar in this exhibit with an evergreen tree and 1880
decoration.
Note:
The background images are earthenware pieces found in and
attributed to Carter County.
Smith,
S. D. and Rogers, S. T. A Survey of Historic Pottery Making
in Tennessee, Nashville: Research Series, No. 3, Division
of Archaeology, Tennessee Department of Conservation, 1979,
p. 43.
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