State

The Jugftown I Knew Fond recollections of the place and the people — a special world By KATHARINE MEI/VI N Nol much seems changed these days at Jugtown, in upper Moore County. The same log buildings are there; the same high quality and variety of tra¬ ditional pottery shapes and colors are to be had at the sales building; even the same earthen kilns, heated by slabs, produces this ware. Clay is still ground (or was) by mule power and then fashioned on the kick-wheel. The one element missing, for those of us fortu¬ nate to have known them, are the Bus- bees: Jacques and Juliana, who began the pottery operation there in the early part of the century; had the original buildings constructed and hired the first of the native potters, themselves descendants of earlier potters who came from Staffordshire, England. I was in college when I first visited Jugtown. My cousin was an acquain¬ tance of Mrs. Busbec through her work as a clerk in our local drugstore, where the Busbees shopped when in Car¬ thage. The two of us made a number of trips to the red clay upper section of the county before good roads made it the prosperous place it is now. I was fascinated: both by the pottery, the quaint setting of Jugtown. and its two delightful owners. A Charming Host Mr. Busbec. renowned as an artist, lecturer and writer in his own right, proved a most charming host. His pride, aside from the pottery, was his THE STATE, May Ш4 fine iris garden planted north of the little show room, or sales room. Here he experimented with choice iris, and you were always taken to admire them when in bloom. I was saddened on a recent visit to Jugtown to find no evi¬ dence that this garden had ever flourished. Mr. Busbee was also a dclighful raconteur, with an endless supply of good tales in witty dialact. but never at the expense of the people around him. His good looks, cleverness and charm seemed out of place in this isolated section of the county. Had I realized it then, neither Juliana nor Jacques were bereft of civilized contact: the world outside came to them. Officers from Ft. Bragg, winter residents from Pine- hurst and Southern Pines, visitors from Raleigh. Greensboro. Chapel Hill, even New Yorkers visited the Busbees. One of the many stories Mrs. Busbee told me was of a New York theatrical troupe who came to Jugtow n to immerse themselves in native ways and speech before putting on a moun¬ taineer play on Broadway. They bought costumes from local residents, caught the nuances of local speech (then much like mountain dialact) and thoroughly enjoyed the novelty of life at Jugtown. For some years Mrs. Busbec had maintained a part-time sales business in the Greenwich section of Manhat¬ tan: running a tea-room, selling the pottery that Jacques sent her. Later, having learned that a local lady in the Jugtown area was still weaving fine woolen cloth. Mrs. Busbec added the sale of this product to her output. Mr. Busbee had his suits tailored from some of this same hand-woven cloth. In addition, handmade split-bottomed chairs, another Moore County craft, were shipped north to sell. In 1923 8*n Owen*. о young mon of outstanding ability wot chosen by Jocques Busbee lot tpeool training and taken to »tudy pottery in tke country'* fm«*t museums. Owen* become Jugtown’* chiet potter, widely known for the eicelience of hi* work, and he corned on the Jugtown tradition until hi* dcoth lo*t yeor The** recent photo* of Owen* were token with hi* grandson. A new generation of the family it nor carrying on the cnrft (photo* by Mildred АИ.П, court,, у th* sondirtiel»*9to^^wy).. Slate Library tfafcWh 17