South Carolina State Museum

Pottery from one of the largest and most important private collections of South Carolina stoneware in the United States is featured in the prestigious, Tangible History: South Carolina Stoneware from the Holcombe Family Collection.

 

“The name Dr. Fred Holcombe has been recognizable to South Carolina pottery and decorative arts collectors for
decades,” said Curator of Art Paul Matheny. “The family started collecting in the 1960s, but had limited showing its collection until the Difference in Dirt exhibit a few years ago, when we exhibited specific examples of the Holcombe pottery to fill gaps in the exhibit."

 

The exhibit will focuses on highlights from the Holcombe family stoneware collection, ranging from exquisite pottery from the old Edgefield district by makers such as Thomas Chandler to the Collin Rhodes factory and the highly-recognized slave potter Dave. It also includes significant pottery from the Upstate, including the Owensby, Whelchel and Williams pottery shops, among others.  Stoneware is fire-hardened clay, so called because it becomes almost as hard as stone after being heated to about 2,000 degrees. It is highly collectible, especially Edgefield pottery, well known for its unique glaze.

The exhibit includes approximately 50 examples from the Holcombes’ collection, plus several pieces from the Museum’s collection.

 

“I want people to recognize this traditional art form that was common in South Carolina and which spread throughout the Southeast,” added the curator. South Carolina was the first state to develop alkaline glaze stoneware, though it originated in Asia. 

 

 

 Tangible History: South Carolina Stoneware from the Holcombe Family Collection can be seen through December 2010 in the fourth-floor Recent Acquisitions Gallery.