The Potter's House • 1782

The Potter's House . 1782. North Carolina's first documented wheel-thrown, kiln-fired pottery was made in Bethabara.. Pottery played a leading role in establishing Bethabara as a major center of trade. The large-scale pottery operation in Bethabara was not only the first documented in the North Carolina colony, but it was also the most influential, with the Moravian style spreading throughout the surrounding region. When master potter Gottfried Aust arrived in Bethabara in November of 1755, he was the only potter of his kind among the region's settlers. As word spread to outlying communities about Bethabara's pottery operation, demand grew. By 1757, people came to Bethabara from up to 100 miles away to buy Aust's earthenware pottery, and it was sold in high quantities as far west as Fort Dobbs and as far east as Charleston. , The Potter's House, built in 1782, represents the later stage of Bethabara's pottery production. Johann Gottlob Krause lived and worked here for 13 years, constructing a kiln behind the house to fire pottery. When the Butner family arrived in 1802, they continued the pottery tradition for seven decades. The Krause Butner Kiln was excavated by Stan South and a team of archaeologists in 1966 and later by archaeologist John Clauser. Over time, the Potter's House has experienced many architectural changes. The image below shows a half-timbered wing addition (1796) and porch that are now gone. , Bethabara's Potters , Gottfried Aust was North Carolina first master potter. He came from Pennsylvania to Bethebara in 1755, and in less than a year had established a running shop, which was then located within the palisade fort. Before Aust moved to Salem, his pottery operation was among the most profitable trades at Bethabara. After Aust left Bethabera in 1771, no pottery was made at Bethabara for 15 years until Rudolph Christ became Bethabara's second master potter., Rudolf Christ started work as Aust's apprentice when he was sixteen years old. Unlike Aust, who kept to his customary ways of making and designing utilitarian pottery, Christ wanted to experiment with different styles like Queensware and tortoisesbell glaze ware. After twenty years of fighting with Aust, Christ set up his own pottery shop in Bethabara in 1786. Peter Oliver, Christ's enslaved assistant, became so proficient in the pottery trade that he was able to purchase his freedom from his pottery sales. , Johann Gottlob Krause, Aust's adopted son and apprentice, was the first potter to live in the Potter's House. Krause served the Bethabara community as potter, brick maker, and mason for many years. Better known for his masonry work, Krause supplied the bricks for many of the structures at Salem, including the Boy's School, Winkler Bakery, and the tavern. , John Butner bought this property from Krause in 1800 and raised his family here. He made utilitarian crockery ware in the connected shop. Because pottery was no longer as profitable, Butner also farmed nearby fields, operated a general goods store across the street, and ran Bethabara's post office. In 1829 Butner represented Stokes County in the House of the North Carolina legislature. John's son, Joseph Butner, assisted with the pottery business and continued making pottery here after John's death from 1857 to 1872. , [Captions] , Bottom left: Courtesy of Old Salem Museum and Gardens Special thanks to Suzanne Panei, National President, National Society Children of the American Colonists, 2018 , Top center: Fluted Anthropomorphic Pipe, Aust, c. 1722-1788.