1993 North Carolina Folk Heritage Award Recipients Celia Cole Perkinson and Neolia Cole Womack Potters San

1. 1993 North Carolina Folk Heritage Award Recipients Celia Cole Perkinson and Neolia Cole Womack Potters Sanford

2. Celia Cole Perkinson and Neolia Cole Womack come from one of the oldest pottery-making families in the state.

3. For more than 200 years, Coles in every generation since their great- great grandfather have made pottery in the North Carolina piedmont.

4. Their father, A. R. Cole, opened his shop in Sanford around 1934. They credit him with what they know about pottery.

5. Neolia says that a lot of times, especially early in the morning when the shop is quiet, she catches herself asking, “Now, would Daddy have done it this way?”

6. When she and Celia were young, they decided that making pottery was what they wanted to do. It’s hard work, but Celia says it doesn’t matter how bad you feel, when you get in the clay and you start making pottery, you forget all that.

7. Their clay comes from Smithfield, dug from the same vein the family has used for almost seventy years.

8. Neolia’s grandson, Kenneth George, puts the clay into a pug mill for grinding, removing air bubbles, and making it the right consistency for turning.

9. Kenneth says he learned to make pottery by watching and imitating his Granny and Aunt Celia.

10. Neolia does all of the glazing.

13. Some of her glazes have changed over the years, shifting with customer demand. But glazes are also part of the Cole tradition.

14. Neolia is known especially for her multicolor glazes, and she sees to it that the shop still offers a startling array of colors and patterns.

16. In keeping with family traditions, the Coles also create and produce a variety of forms.

18. Sometimes their treatment of handles is especially distinctive.

28. This is not to say Coles Pottery hasn’t changed. The pottery itself had to move in 1971 when the highway shifted. Twice it burned to the ground, and they rebuilt.

29. Inside, they’ve installed four electric kilns, and now they fire pieces every day instead of once a week.

30. Tradition, for them, has been a springboard to new things.

31. Neolia’s comments and signature, which she usually writes on the bottom of a piece, have evolved into her “writing” jug, which she makes by special request. Here you can find some of her favorite sayings, like, “If you cannot say something nice about someone, keep your big mouth shut.” Or, “Watch out for temptation, the more you see of it, the better it looks.”

33. One of the most important measures of traditional potters is their skill in turning the pots.

34. That art is especially clear in Celia’s miniatures.

35. These beautifully crafted pieces sometimes stand no more than a centimeter high.

36. Outsiders often dismiss miniatures as cute playthings, but potters are more likely to see them as a test of skill.

40. A potter who can take a form and miniaturize it while keeping its shape and proportion ranks as a master in the pottery community.

43. The Cole sisters are widely recognized for combining a deep commitment to tradition with creativity and good humor.

47. The Coles have been keepers and transformers of North Carolina’s pottery tradition, and they’re training the next generation to ensure the continuation of that tradition.

49. Cole’s Pottery 3410 Hawkins Avenue Sanford, North Carolina (919) 776-9558 Photographs by Roger Haile, and courtesy of Cole’s Pottery