Ceramics in the City, the Countryside, and the Sea: Pottery, Politics, and Archaeology

This session will cover a range of topics concerning the effects of political events on the production and distribution of pottery, the political activities of potters past and present, and how ceramics excavated at sites connected to historically important figures can be used to tell contemporary stories. The people who made and decorated pots, the householders who bought them, and the archaeologists and curators who excavate and interpret them are subject to political circumstances that can be studied in a number of ways. Topics to be discussed include messages conveyed through the medium of household ceramics, potters in Tammany Hall politics and excavations at City Hall in New York City, the Delaware wreck of the DeBraak, vessels excavated at the boyhood home of George Washington, and early-nineteenth century engine-turned teawares made in Philadelphia.