We are delighted that the person that purchased this piece of pottery from us was acheived a substancial profit at Brunks Auction in Ashville, NC.

This is a small pitcher made in the form of a face. Face jugs are highly collected and this piece is in the same vein of face vessles from Edgefield South Carolina (SC). If you've downloaded our value guide you'll recognize the form. Below I'm attaching the condition report and  provenence that we provided to the buyer. It's a great example of why provenance is important.

Some of you that are reading this have sold us pottery. We are very fond of all southern pottery; we are especially eager South Carolina Pottery buyers. If you want to sell antique pottery we are always happy to talk. Being antique pottery buyers we like primitive pottey as well as well crafted modern pottery and art pottery. Edgefield pottery like this is in a special category because of the history of pottery making in Edgefield SC. 

I had the pleasure of buying this Voulkos piece a month ago from the estate of a Manhattan designer (Jack Cobb) who had moved into our area when he retired. His best pieces were in his home in Middlefield, Mass. The family didn't have to ask me more than once to go to Middlefield and buy his art. 

Before the internet, I traveled 50,000 miles a year searching for Southern, ash glaze, utilitarian stoneware from early pottery centers like Edgefield, South Carolina, Crawford County, Georgia and Rock Mill, Alabama. It was an exciting time.

I didn’t even know that Jack owned this charger. I never thought that I would find a piece of Peter Voulkos pottery. It was a wonderful surprise. I have watched a dozen videos since and learned so much more about the potter. It has only increased my awe. 

The value question for his chargers is the number of complimentary techniques he applied. What I call gouging, use of color, the stones, broken rims, and the lines – which one site said “He started his incisions after his 1967 Milan visit with Lucio Fontana, the modern master of holes (buchi) and cuts (tagli).

Jimmy was picking and he stumbled upon someone who purchased some pottery at the end an estate sale. 

It's definitely southern pottery which we are always looking to buy.  

Tips for finding antique southern pottery:

• Brown or green glassy drip glaze
• Look at the bottom, it should show age if it is antique
• Utilitarian: These were made to be used everyday, which is why they are called utilitarian. The form is typically useful for storage like canning meat or sourkrout. Note the two handles and the rim.
• Sometimes there will be a number which indicates gallons
•  Sometimes there will be a mark or signature marks can be scoring, fingerprints, thumbprints, or stampes (i.e. Chandler Maker)
• Occassionaly potters would make playful pieces at the end of they day like face jugs & busts. These can be grotesque or artistic. 

How to find antique pottery

The picker of this piece goes to estate sales. He was fortunate to find this at the end of the sale. These pieces can turn up anywhere. Since they are utlitarian you may find them being used as vases or planters. If your looking at estate sales, tag sales or garage sales be sure to look or in the garage or storage shed. 

We buy more than just pottery check out other things we buy here.

We are southern antique pottery buyers;  we are always looking for people selling pottery. 

Recent Example: We met a Daytona picker from our site who found a nice piece of pottery in a shed marked Chandler Maker. She researched this piece and then found us searching for "South Carolina Pottery Buyers". We were able to share more information about her find and negotiate a deal that she was delighted with.

Southern antique pottery is a general term. There are several other names:

• Earthenware or stoneware because it is made from clay from the areas in which it was made.
• Folk pottery indicates that it is was made for to be used in the kitchen or on a working farm. The shape, style, handles and spouts are all indicative of the purpose of the creation.
• The location of creation Edgefield Pottery (SC), Crawford County Pottery (GA),  Jugtown Pottery (NC), Sand Mountain Pottery (AL), Rockhill Pottery (NC), White County Pottery (GA), Washington County Pottery (GA) are all examples of areas that created pottery.
• Although Florida did not have a pottery making tradition good pieces do turn up in Flordia. 
• Face Jugs have always been a very popular form of Southern pottery.
• Family names are also attached to pottery, like the Meaders family from White County Georgia.

Two-handled jar 

 Face Jug by Lanier Meaders

Contact us if you have or know someone that has southern antique pottery they want to sell. We are serious antique buyers are always buying; we are *not* bargain hunters. Be on the lookout and tell your friends to be on the look out too. 

CONCLUSION:

It's always a nice surprise to find out something you have is sellable. It's also nice to have ideas of what to look for if you go into a shop looking for things you can make money by buying and selling.