East Tennessee State University’s Reece Museum is hosting an exhibition that explores the intrigue of Blue Ridge Pottery in “Vintage Charm: The Collecting Legacy of Blue Ridge Pottery,” now on view and open through Dec. 12.

Southern Potteries’ process of hand-painting the bisque of produced dinnerware with distinct designs before it was glazed started around 1938 and came to be known as “Blue Ridge Pottery.” The pottery began operations in 1917 in Erwin, Tennessee, and became the largest producer of hand-painted pottery and china in the United States. By the middle of the 1940s, the company’s annual production was estimated at 17 million pieces. Southern Potteries produced some 5,000 different painted designs featuring flora, fauna, mountains, and people.

Due to foreign competition and the rise in popularity of plastic dinnerware, the Southern Potteries work force had dwindled to approximately 600 employees by 1956. A February 1957 article in the Johnson City Press stated: “Liquidation of the potteries was announced yesterday…Southern Potteries is reported to have one of the largest payrolls in Erwin, with an estimated 600 to 700 employees.” The liquidation of Southern Potteries greatly impacted Erwin’s economic development and population, as some former employees moved away to work in other potteries.

The Reece Museum received its first donation of one Blue Ridge Pottery piece in 1986. The museum has since continued to foster relationships with collectors, building trust within the collecting community as an institution that prioritizes the preservation of this beloved piece of East Tennessee history. Don and Susan Burkett generously loaned 21 pieces from their private collection to diversify the offerings in Vintage Charm, which features approximately 80 Blue Ridge Pottery pieces throughout the gallery.
The Reece Museum would like to acknowledge and thank volunteer Jo Harris for producing biographical research for this exhibition. Additionally, researchers interested in the history of Southern Potteries can view the company’s historic documents by making an appointment with the Archives of Appalachia, located on the fourth floor of the Sherrod Library on campus at ETSU.

The Reece Museum is a unit of the Center of Excellence for Appalachian Studies and Services, which is housed in the ETSU Department of Appalachian Studies. The Reece Museum is located on the campus of East Tennessee State University and is open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Follow the Reece Museum on social media for more content and digital programming. For more information, please visit http://www.etsu.edu/reece or phone (423) 439-4392. ETSU is an EEO employer. For disability accommodations, call the ETSU Office of Disability Services at 423-439-8346.