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1993 North Carolina Folk Heritage Award
Recipients Celia Cole Perkinson and Neolia Cole
Womack Potters Sanford
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• Celia Cole Perkinson and Neolia Cole Womack come
  from one of the
• oldest pottery-making families in the state.

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

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

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When she and Celia were young, they decided that
making pottery was what they wanted to do. Its
hard work, but Celia says it doesnt matter how
bad you feel, when you get in the clay and you
start making pottery, you forget all that.
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• Their clay comes from Smithfield, dug from the
  same vein the family has used for almost seventy
  years.

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Neolias grandson, Kenneth George, puts the clay
into a pug mill for grinding, removing air
bubbles, and making it the right consistency for
turning.
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• Kenneth says he learned to make pottery by
  watching and imitating his Granny and Aunt Celia.
  

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• Neolia does all of the glazing.

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

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

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Sometimes their treatment of handles is
especially distinctive.
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• This is not to say Coles Pottery hasnt changed.

The pottery itself had to move in 1971 when the
highway shifted. Twice it burned to the ground,
and they rebuilt.
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Inside, theyve installed four electric kilns,
and now they fire pieces every day instead of
once a week.
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Tradition, for them, has been a springboard to
new things.
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Neolias 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.
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One of the most important measures of traditional
potters is their skill in turning the pots.
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That art is especially clear in Celias
miniatures.
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These beautifully crafted pieces sometimes stand
no more than a centimeter high.
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Outsiders often dismiss miniatures as cute
playthings, but potters are more likely to see
them as a test of skill.
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A potter who can take a form and miniaturize it
while keeping its shape and proportion ranks as a
master in the pottery community.
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The Cole sisters are widely recognized for
combining a deep commitment to tradition with
creativity and good humor.
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The Coles have been keepers and transformers of
North Carolinas pottery tradition, and theyre
training the next generation to ensure the
continuation of that tradition.
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Coles Pottery 3410 Hawkins Avenue Sanford, North
Carolina [phone]
Photographs by Roger Haile, and courtesy of
Coles Pottery