We will be featuring some of the pieces that are part of the collection in the North Carolina Pottery Center. Nothing compares to seeing pottery in person so if you get the chance to come to Seagrove check out the Center's collection.The first piece is a Moravian squirrel bottle.
This is a quote from the North Carolina Pottery Center booklet that can be purchased in the gift shop, "The Moravians are a Protestant sect founded in the German regions of central Europe. During the 1730's they began emigrating to America, first to Georgia and Pennsylvania, and then to North Carolina."
Michael Kline, a potter from the mountains, asked how would this bottle functioned?
I asked Mary Farrell owner of Westmoore Pottery if she has come across an answer to this. She replied, "I don't think anyone really knows the answer to this question. Being a bottle, they could have been used as such. However, I know of no antique ones which have been recovered with any contents inside them. My guess is that they were made and sold mainly as decorative items (The wear patterns - no overabundance of chipping at the bottle openings -- would tend to support this.)"
The Squirrel Bottle is attributed to Rudolph Christ from Forsyth County. The dates are c 1800-1825. This is lead glazed earthenware and is on loan from Old Salem, Inc.
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