To say that Joey Brackner is excited about Alabama’s colorful folk pottery history would be an understatement.
He is fired up about the earthenware vessels that chronicle some of the cultural influences of the region.
Some of those vessels are on display as part of the “Alabama Folk Pottery” exhibition at the Jule Collins Smith Museum.
“The northern Chambers County and southern Randolph County are some of the most important centers of pottery-making,” said Brackner, director of of the Alabama Center for Traditional Culture, a division of the Alabama State Council on the Arts.
Brackner described pottery making as “folk art,” in the sense that it was self-taught - that it was more of a “community tradition.”
“Unlike fiddle playing, sacred harp singing or quilting, pottery making was an occupation,” said Brackner, a Fairfield native. “People earned their living this way.”
Many factors shaped the style of pottery in Alabama and the South, but one of the main variables was the migration of people into the region, according to Brackner.
Whether a potter (usually a male-dominated occupation) would use a salt glaze or a method Albany slip would in many cases would be determined by the region in which the potter lived. While their forms are exquisite, it was their function that gave early pottery of the region their staying power.
“People needed a way to keep their food supplies diversified throughout the seasons and specialized pottery allowed them to do that,” said Brackner, whose 20-year research on Alabama potters is documented in a book titled “Alabama Folk Pottery.”
But even more important than the function of the pottery of early Alabamians was the “family connection” that their work sometimes helped preserve, according to Brackner.
“Because fathers passed on their trade of pottery making to their sons, in many cases pottery-making took on a very family aspect,” said Brackner.
Brackner is currently lobbying for a a more systematic survey to be conducted at a number of sites in Randolph County where a number of pottery tombstones are located.
While some of their works are on display at the JCSM, none of the men who crafted the pottery probably thought of themselves as talented or gifted.
“They didn’t consider themselves artists,” Brackner said. “This was their occupation.”
An occupation that has over the years gone from practical trade to rich tradition.
“Many of the traditional pottery families are in danger,” Brackner said. “I hope that people will continue to patron those pottery makers so that they can keep this tradition going.”
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