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Jaques and Juliana Busbee
Jugtown Pottery, near Seagrove and in the center
of North Carolina, began in 1917 by Jacques and Juliana Busbee who were
artists and art enthusiasts from Raleigh, NC. After discovering an
orange pie dish made of clay at the Lexington County Fair, they soon
traced the pie dishes' origin to Moore County and found other orange
and earthenware style pottery and methods of salt glazed wares being
made by the local potters. Salt glaze wares were produced by adding
salt to the kiln near the end of the firing at or near the maturing
temperature of the clay. At times pots were embellished with blue or
simple incising and almost entirely utilitarian. During the ninteenth
century, many potters from the Craven, Cole, Chriscoe, Luck, McNeill,
Owen, Teague, Fox, Webster, Moody, Auman and many other families
produced these types of wares for the market of food storage and daily
neccessities. Some uses of pottery dated back to the needs during the
confederacy for the hospitals. These families had brought the skills of
pottery making with them from Europe and the Northeast of the US. With
prohibition in 1907 and the beginning of industrial methods of vessels
for containment, the potters began to find other means to support their
families than pottery making alone. Here the Busbee's saw an
opportunity to be directors in the survival of a then dwindling craft.
As they began to find a way to market these pots, Juliana set up the
Village store in 1918 at Greenwich Village NY. located at 37 E. 60th
Street. The first orders for pots for the Village store were given to
potters with their own wheels and kilns, Henry Chrisco, Rufus Owen,
James Owen and J.W. Teague. These potters made the utilitarian pieces
that had served their needs for generations. The Busbee's soon found
that they wanted to go beyond the areas utilitarian shapes and glazes.
Earthenware Pie Plate
Among these first potters to work with the
Busbees was J.H. Owen (James H. Owen). He was born in 1866, the son of
Benjamin Franklin Owen, father to ML Owens, grandfather to Vernon
Owens, great grandfather to Travis Owens, brother to Rufus Owen and
uncle to Ben Owen Sr.. M.L. Owens (who added the s to his sur name)
recalled in an interview that J.H. Owen learned to turn under Pascal
Marble, whose shop was south of Seagrove. In 1910, J.H. set up his
pottery on the site which is now the Owens Pottery, owned by grandson,
Boyd Owens. By 1917 he was making pots for Jacques Busbee. He turned,
decorated and fired these pots at his workshop, as the Jugtown shop was
not yet built. Purchased by the Busbees, the pots were then sent up to
the Village Store Tea Room. J.H. Owen also made pots for his own shop.
Many examples of these early orange and salt glaze with cobalt pieces
have been found in the northeastern states. Some pieces bear the J.H.
Owen stamp, a few bear the Jugtown stamp and are clearly from the hand
of J.H. Owen.
The majority are not stamped, but are attributed
by example of his distinct folk style. At the time (1922 or early 1923)
that the Jugtown stamp was made, J.H. Owen began stamping his personal
wares with his own stamp. Quite possibly the Jugtown stamp and the J.H.
Owen stamp were made at the same company together. The two stamps are
similar in style. This would also explain why fewer stamped pieces by
J.H. Owen have been found. J. H. Owen died in 1923.
 Charlie Teague was the first potter to be hired
by the Busbees to work at the newly built Jugtown Pottery in 1921.
Charlie was born in 1901, the son of potter John Wesley Teague. He
learned to turn in father's shop. . Charlie was a skilled hand at
turning and because he, like J.H. Owen, predated the Jugtown stamp,
many of his first unmarked pots were sold through the New York Tea
Room. Charlie and his wife Annie lived with Jacques Busbee for several
years, while Juliana ran the New York shop. Annie did the cooking and
housework while Charlie made pots. Their son, Garrett, was born during
this time and remembers Jacques Busbee fondly. Charlie worked at
Jugtown Pottery until 1931 or 1932 according to the recollection of
Annie Teague. He died of pneumonia in 1938 at the young age of 37.
Knowledge of Charlie's and J.H’s pots remained unknown until the
1980’s. Teague’s style is becoming more recognized, being different
than either that of Ben or J.H.’s.
Ben Owen at the wheel circa 1930s while at Jugtown
Ben Owen, son of Rufus Owen and
brother to Charlie and Joe Owen, was hired as the second known potter
at the new establishment of Jugtown Pottery in 1923. He was born in
1904, grandson of Benjamin Franklin Owen who worked for JD Craven as a
potter. Ben learned to turn in his father's shop. His father, Rufus
Owen, was hard baked and did not want to continue making work for the
Busbees. Jacques decided to search for the younger potters who had come
from the pottery families that would be receptive to growth and change.
Ben Owen and Charlie Teague worked together at the pottery for ten
years. During that time Ben Owen lived in the home of Mr. Busbee along
with Charlie and Annie Teague. In 1937 Ben married Lucille Harris Owen
while working for the Busbees and moved to live with his wife in their
new home in Westmoore, about two miles away on Hwy 705 ( where Ben Owen
Pottery is today). Around 1932, Ben became the sole potter at Jugtown.
A willing and skilled turner, Ben produced for over thirty six years,
making many extraordinary forms for the Busbees. Jacque would direct
Ben at the wheel with a critical eye for form. There was a harmony in
their relationship that created an enviornment for research and
creativity. He traveled to museums and socials with the Busbees on
occasions.
These
early pots were influenced from diverse cultures creating new hybrids
of shapes and colors deriving from China, Japan, Korea, Persia, as well
as early American pots that were still used for functional purposes.
Glazes like Mirror Black, Frogskin, Tobacco Spit, Orange, Buff, Chinese
Blue, Salt Glaze and Dogwood White were produced on a regular basis.
Today, Jugtown ware produced in the Busbee era can be found in numerous
museums in the United States and abroad.
Jugtown Teapot in bright orange
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Han style vase by Ben Owen circa 1930s (the left vase is an actual Han Dynasty pot)
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Dogwood Vase in Dogwood White by Ben Owen
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Salt Glazed Jug
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Jugtown Ware stamp used from 1922 to 1959
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Candlesticks in Miror Black
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 To study more about the history
of Jugtown Pottery, visit your local library or the NC Pottery Center
and Museum in Seagrove, NC to read the following books:
The
Remarkable Potters of Seagrove by Dr. Charlotte Vestal Brown (Lark
Books) available at the NC Pottery Center, Jugtown Pottery and Ben Owen
Pottery.
Jugtown Pottery, History and Design by Jean Crawford (out of print but found for sale used on http://www.amazon.com/)
For
more information on Jugtown Pottery after 1959, go to Jugtown's website
address below. The tradition of Jugtown Pottery under the leadership of
Master Potter Vernon Owens, wife Pamela, their son Travis, brother
Bobby Owens is continuing.
Jugtown Ware
http://www.jugtownware.com/history.htm
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