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Southern folk pottery

Slotin Auction celebrates Southern folk pottery Feb. 13

Tom Hoepf
Tom Hoepf
Southern folk pottery
Lanier Meaders signed and dated face jug, 1988, 10in high. Estimate $800-$1,200. Slotin Auction image

BUFORD, Ga. – Slotin Auction is gearing up for its annual Southern Folk Pottery Extravaganza that will be held Saturday, Feb. 13. For 28 years, Slotin Auction has been the premier auction house bringing self-taught Art, outsider art and folk art to the market, but Southern folk pottery was where it all began. View the fully illustrated catalog and bid on LiveAuctioneers.

Steve Slotin traveled the South in the 1990s selling CliffsNotes, the ubiquitous study guides with the yellow and black paperback covers.  His territory took him onto Southern university campuses, as well as to small-town pharmacies and mom-and-pop gift shops. It was during one of his visits to Smith Soda Shop in Cleveland, Ga., where Macbeth and The Scarlet Letter took a back seat to something so unsettling, that Steve fell in love – a row of ugly face jugs staring back at him.  Steve learned that the maker of these face jugs was Lanier Meaders and he was just a “down the road a piece.”

Southern folk pottery
Dave ‘the Slave’ Drake, 2-gallon crock, initialed, ‘L.M.,’ two-tone Edgefield ash glaze, 11½in high. Estimate: $1,000-2,000. Slotin Auction image

Despite going through cancer treatment, Meaders was happy to meet with Steve and show him around the old kiln area where these famous faces were made using the same techniques from 100 years ago; hand-dug Georgia red mud clay, a mule driven pug mill, handmade tobacco-spit glazes and a wood-fired kiln.

Southern folk pottery
Edwin Meaders, heavy crawl glazed blue rooster, signed and dated 1989, 16in high. Estimate $500-$800. Slotin Auction image

Steve grew up in Atlanta and spent every summer at a summer camp in Cleveland, Ga. – minutes from Lanier’s place. He had explored every waterfall, hiking trail and BBQ joint in the North Georgia Mountains, but hadn’t known about this treasure in his own backyard until his serendipitous visit to the soda shop.

Southern folk pottery
George Ohr, small art pottery vase, stamped ‘Geo Ohr Biloxi, 3in x 4¼in. Estimate: $600-$900. Slotin Auction image

This Feb 13 Slotin Southern Folk Pottery Extravaganza is a celebration of this rich Southern tradition, featuring 327 lots by artists such as the Meaders family, “the Mad Potter” George Ohr, Dave “the Slave” Drake, Michael Crocker, Marie Rogers, the Hewell family, Roger Corn, B.B. Craig, Billy Ray Hussey, Charles Lisk and so many others.

Southern folk pottery
B.B. Craig, one-half gallon salt-glazed face jug, stamped, mint condition, 9in tall. Estimate: $300-$500. Slotin Auction image

For details contact Slotin Auction at 770-532-1115 or 404-403-4244 or auction@slotinfolkart.com.

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