Tennessee State Museum Explores the Rich History of Tennessee Pottery in New Exhibition

Nashville, Tenn. - October 30, 2026 -- The Tennessee State Museum invites visitors to discover the people, places, and traditions behind Tennessee pottery with the new exhibition, Pottery from the Collection. Now open in the Museum's Art Before 1900 gallery, the exhibition draws from the Museum's extensive ceramics collection, the largest public collection of Tennesseeceramics.

Featuring pottery from Tennessee's three grand divisions, the exhibition showcases the regional styles that emerged across the state. A variety of forms - from utilitarian vessels made for everyday use to expressive works that demonstrate the artistry of individual potters - offers a closer look at a tradition that has been part of Tennessee's history since before statehood.

"Tennessee pottery tells stories not only through the objects themselves, but also through the communities, families, and individual makers who created them," said Ashley Howell, executive director of the Tennessee State Museum. "This exhibition provides an opportunity to see the remarkable variety of pottery produced across Tennessee and to explore the ways the state's natural resources helped shape this important craft tradition."

Tennessee's abundant clay deposits provided the raw materials needed for pottery production, and potters often established their businesses and communities near these resources. Pottery was frequently a family enterprise, with skills and traditions passed from one generation to the next. By the late 19th and early 20th centuries, pottery had become an important commercial product, as some potteries industrialized and expanded production.

Middle Tennessee developed a network of interconnected family potteries centered around clay deposits in Putnam, White, and DeKalb Counties. The exhibition features work associated with the Dunn, Hedgecough, Roberts, Elrod, and Spears families, whose pottery shared distinctive decorative characteristics. Visitors will also encounter the unusual ceramic tombstones made by the Hedgecough family, demonstrating how pottery traditions extended beyond household objects.

East Tennessee developed a long tradition of both stoneware and earthenware production. Greene County became home to numerous potters, and the area around Lick Creek was known as "Pottertown" because of the number of potteries operating there. Among the featured makers is Christopher Haun, whose distinctive redware reflects the artistic traditions of the region.

In West Tennessee, visitors can learn about the Craven family, whose members established a community of potters in Henderson County beginning in the 1820s. The region was known for utilitarian stoneware, including jugs, crocks, churns, and storage vessels. The exhibition also features the Pinson Pottery Company, which emerged as a leading industrial pottery operation in the region in the 1880s and produced both everyday wares and decorative pieces.

"I hope visitors come away with a greater appreciation for the skill and creativity of Tennessee's potters, as well as an understanding of how these objects can tell us about the communities, resources, and traditions that shaped the state," said Julia Doyle, curator of fashion and textiles at the Tennessee State Museum and exhibition co-lead.

The exhibition also considers the renewed interest in pottery during Tennessee's craft revival of the 1970s and 1980s. Institutions such as Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts in Gatlinburg helped introduce pottery to new generations of makers, while ceramic artists formed guilds and cooperative communities and promoted their work through craft fairs, symposiums, and exhibitions.

The Museum's first major exhibition on Tennessee pottery was presented in 1971. Today, pottery continues to be an important part of Tennessee's craft tradition, and decades of collecting and scholarship have continued to expand
knowledge of these traditions.

Pottery from the Collection will be open through August 2027.

About Tennessee State Museum

Celebrating its 90th anniversary in 2027, the Tennessee State Museum, located on the corner of Rosa L Parks Blvd. and Jefferson Street at Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park, is your home to thousands of years of Tennessee history, art, and culture. Through six permanent exhibitions titled Natural History, First Peoples, Forging a Nation, The Civil War and Reconstruction, Change and Challenge and Tennessee Transforms, the Museum takes visitors on a journey-through artifacts, films, interactive displays, events and educational and digital programing-from the state's geological beginnings to the present day.Additional temporary exhibitions explore significant periods and individuals in history, along with art and cultural movements. The Museum is free and open to the public Tuesdays to Saturdays from 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. and Sundays from 1 p.m. - 5 p.m. For more information on exhibitions and events, please visit TNMuseum.org.

Contact:
Stephanie Davis
Communications Assistant | Tennessee State Museum
[email protected]
(615) 770-5857