>>> THIS MONTH IN OUR "COLLECTING CAROLINA" SEGMENT,
WE TAKE YOU UP THE YADKIN RIVER BASIN TO OLD SALEM TO SPOTLIGHT
18th AND 19th CENTURY MORAVIAN POTTERS AND THEIR UNIQUE
CONTRIBUTION TO MORAVIAN CULTURE.
>> THERE'S SOMETHING FASCINATING ABOUT WATCHING POTTERS AT THEIR
CRAFT SKILLFULLY MOLDING THE CLAY INTO EVERYDAY ESSENTIAL
ITEMS.
IN THE 18th AND 19th CENTURIES, MORAVIAN CRAFTSMEN HAD A
GOD-DRIVEN FOCUS IN ALL THEIR WORK, AND IT'S THEIR EXTRA
ATTENTION TO DETAIL THAT IS HIGHLY VALUED AND TREASURED.
FROM BRICKS AND PIPES TO EVERYDAY POTTERY, ALL WAS MADE
CAREFULLY AND WITH PURPOSE BY HAND.
WE'RE HERE IN OLD SALEM FOR "COLLECTING CAROLINA" TO LEARN
ABOUT MORAVIAN DECORATIVE ARTS WITH BARRY SIDDEN AND, OF
COURSE, JOHANNA BROWN.
JOHANNA, TELL US ABOUT HOW SALEM GOT STARTED.
>> SALEM WAS ONE OF THREE MORAVIAN COMMUNITIES FOUNDED IN
THE 18th CENTURY BY THE MORAVIANS, WHO SETTLED IN THE
YADKIN RIVER VALLEY.
THEY PURCHASED 100,000 ACRES IN NORTH CAROLINA.
THEY CALLED THE TRACT THE WACHOVIA TRACT.
THEY SETTLED CHURCH-GOVERNED COMMUNITIES WHERE THE CHURCH
OWNED ALL OF THE PROPERTY AND MANY OF THE MAJOR BUSINESSES.
AND WE KNOW ALL OF THIS BECAUSE THE MORAVIANS WERE METICULOUS
RECORD KEEPERS, AND MANY OF THOSE RECORDS STILL EXIST, HAVE
BEEN TRANSLATED AND TRANSCRIBED FOR US TO USE.
>> JULIA, WHEN YOU COME TO OLD SALEM, YOU CAN VISIT THE SINGLE
BROTHERS' HOUSE AND THE POTTERY AND SEE MORAVIAN POTTERY STILL
BEING MADE TODAY THE SAME AS IT WAS IN THE 18th CENTURY.
>> TO LEARN MORE, WE VISIT THE MORAVIAN POTTERY EXHIBIT AT THE
MUSEUM OF EARLY SOUTHERN DECORATIVE ARTS DOWN AT THE END
OF MAIN STREET IN OLD SALEM.
JOHANNA, THIS IS SURELY THE MOST FAMOUS PIECE OF MORAVIAN
POTTERY.
>> IT IS.
THIS IS THE SHOP SIGN MADE BY GOTTFRIED AUST, WHO WAS THE
PROGENITOR OF THE NORTH CAROLINA MORAVIAN POTTERY TRADITION.
IT IS EARTHENWARE DECORATED WITH SLIP DECORATION, WHICH SLIP IS
LIQUID CLAY, AND HE USED SEVERAL SPIRITUAL SYMBOLS TO DECORATE
THIS DISH, AS HE DID WITH MANY OF HIS OTHER PIECES.
THE MORAVIANS WERE VERY SPIRITUAL PEOPLE, AND SO THEY
CHOSE TO DECORATE WITH SYMBOLS OF CHRIST AND CHRISTIAN BELIEF.
FOR EXAMPLE, THE CARNATIONS ARE REPRESENTATIVE OF CHRIST, AS ARE
THE LITTLE POMEGRANATES.
AND, OF COURSE, THE DOVE IS PROBABLY REPRESENTATIVE OF THE
HOLY SPIRIT.
>> AND THEY ALSO DECORATED THESE PLATES OVER HERE.
TELL US ABOUT THEM.
>> YES.
WE HAVE SOME OTHER DISHES THAT ARE DECORATED WITH OTHER SYMBOLS
OF THEIR BELIEFS.
THE ANEMONES, FOR EXAMPLE, ARE SYMBOLIC OF THE BLOOD THAT FELL
FROM CHRIST'S WOUNDS AS HE WAS CRUCIFIED.
THE POMEGRANATES ARE ALSO RELIGIOUS SYMBOLS.
ONE OF THE WAYS THAT WE'RE ABLE TO IDENTIFY THESE OBJECTS AS
HAVING COME FROM SALEM IS THAT WE'VE HAD AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL
PROGRAM HERE FOR A VERY LONG TIME, AND SO WE CAN LOOK AT
EXAMPLES THAT HAVE BEEN EXCAVATED BOTH IN SALEM AND
BETHABARA, WHICH IS ONE OF THE OTHER EARLY MORAVIAN
COMMUNITIES, COMPARE THEM TO EXTANT EXAMPLES, AND REALLY
PROVE THAT THEY CAME FROM THE WACHOVIA TRACT POTTERIES.
>> BARRY, WE'RE HERE IN MESDA, AND YOU BROUGHT IN A VERY
SPECIAL OBJECT FOR US.
TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT IT.
THIS IS A PIECE OF POTTERY KNOWN AS A PORRINGER, AND IT WAS MADE
HERE IN SALEM BY ONE OF THE EARLY POTTERS.
>> IT'S HIGHLY DECORATED.
TELL US WHAT'S SPECIAL ABOUT THAT.
>> WELL, IT IS.
MOST MORAVIAN UTILITARIAN WARE, OF WHICH THIS IS A PIECE, IS
UNGLAZED, ON THE OUTSIDE, ESPECIALLY.
THIS PIECE, AS YOU CAN SEE, IS GLAZED ON THE OUTSIDE.
IT HAS DECORATIVE RINGS, A DECORATIVE FOOT, A PRETTY SHAPE
TO THE HANDLE, AND GLAZED ON THE INSIDE AS WELL, EVEN WITH AN
EXTRA COLOR PUT IN.
>> WHY DID THE MORAVIANS GO TO SUCH TROUBLE?
>> YOU KNOW, THE MORAVIANS WERE FROM THE RELIGIOUS BACKGROUND
NOT REALLY WORKING FOR OTHER MEN.
THEY WERE WORKING FOR THE CHURCH AND ULTIMATELY GOD, AND SO THEY
WENT THE EXTRA MILE ON EVERYTHING THEY DID.
>> WELL, IT LOOKS VERY SPECIAL.
DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH IT'S WORTH?
>> THIS PIECE, SURPRISINGLY, IS WORTH BETWEEN $15,000 AND
$20,000.
>> WOW!
YOU MUST BE A PROUD OWNER TO HAVE THAT.
THAT'S VERY SPECIAL.
>> OH, YEAH.
>> THERE'S SO MUCH TO SEE AND ENJOY WHEN YOU VISIT OLD SALEM,
SO MAKE A SPECIAL STOP AND VISIT THE POTTERS SHOP IN THE SINGLE
BROTHERS' HOUSE.
AND REMEMBER THE POTTERS' CONTRIBUTION IN THE ORIGINAL
BRICKS AND TILE WORK AND ON THE SHELVES ALL AROUND YOU.
FOR "NORTH CAROLINA WEEKEND" AND "COLLECTING CAROLINA," I'M JULIA
CARPENTER.