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NOW ON SALE!!!
The Pottery of Charles F. Decker: a life well made
Price: $24.95 + tax & shipping (total $32.32)
Visa & MasterCard Accepted
Phone: 423-753-1010 or
Email: lisamvc@earthlink.net
Last year, the Heritage Alliance partnered with the Historic Jonesborough Visitors Center to assemble the largest-ever exhibition of Keystone (known locally as “Decker”) pottery. Typically, an exhibition of this magnitude includes an exhibition catalogue. However, in our case, with a limited budget, it was impossible to photograph that many pieces from throughout Southern Appalachia before the exhibition. We did the next best thing, and hired Peter Montanti of Mountain Photographics to photograph the exhibition after it came down. We then hired Evergrow (advertising agency) to design the book based primarily on the exhibition. Meanwhile, a committee led by Martha Snyder and Tim Hammer continued the work of putting together the text. The result of this collaborative effort is the book, now on sale, entitled Charles F. Decker: a life well made.
Charles F. Decker arrived in the United States from his native Germany in the mid-to-late 1840s. After living in Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Virginia, he eventually made his way to the luxuriant Nolichucky River Valley in Washington County, Tennessee in 1872. There, he established Keystone Pottery, and along with his four sons, eventually built the business into a regional industrial pottery. At its zenith in the late 1880s and early 1890s, Keystone Pottery employed upwards of 25 employees. The pottery was sold in eastern Tennessee, western North Carolina, southwestern Virginia, and southern Kentucky. The wares produced at Keystone come in an amazing variety, from common unglazed drain pipes and paving blocks, through more unusual items such as vases, bottles, banks and funnels, to highly decorated pieces like yard ornaments, flower stands, tombstones, and face jugs. The legacy left to us by Charles Decker was recognized even in his lifetime. An article in the Knoxville Tribune, October 9, 1880 stated:
Mr. Decker is a skilled workman having learned the business in Germany, his native country, and worked a number of years in Philadelphia. His work in this country is known as the Keystone Pottery, and he feels able to supply the demand for this entire section of the country. Mr. Decker has taken the premium at all the East Tennessee fairs, including the last two held in Knoxville, as well as the Philadelphia Fair in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
The book is divided into three sections: a history; The Process for Making Keystone Pottery; and the Categories of Keystone Pottery. With historical photographs, over eighty color photographs, and a glossary of terms, the book pays long overdue homage to a Tennessee Master.
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Town of Jonesborough
Phone: 423.753.1030
123 Boone St.
Jonesborough, TN 37659
email
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