Antiques Lecture Series

Location: Executive Auditorium of the SWVA Higher Education Center

Description: In the 19th century, both earthenware and stoneware pottery were produced in Washington County, Virginia.  The county had all the right conditions for a flourishing pottery industry: abundance of clay, proximity to rivers, and access to markets along the Great Road. Most objects were plain and functional, but some potters added decorative embellishments. There was also a great variety of vessels: jugs, crocks, pitchers, field jugs, even inkwells, flowerpots, and cuspidors. 

Abingdon collector Rick Humphreys will discuss the pottery industry in Washington County and a number of families engaged in the pottery business--the Vestals, Morts, Gardners, Barlows, and Magees. He will show examples from his collection and slides from the Betsy K. White Cultural Heritage Project Archive from the William King Museum of Art.