Catawba Indian Pottery

Monday, October 31, 2005

Catawba Indian Pottery Rebecca Pitcher Arzada Sanders

This piece is currently on Ebay. Click here to view the pitcher.

Arzada Brown Sanders, 1896-1989, was the daughter of John and Rachel Brown. She was present when M.R. Harrington did his famed 1907 photographic series of the Brown’s working in clay and appears in some of Harrington’s photographs. After her marriage to John Idle Sanders she began to work in clay independently. She never stopped working in clay until age prevented her from following her art. She placed a small group of her work in the Smithsonian Institution. This Arzada Sanders collection is the only contemporary pottery in this important collection which mostly dates from the 19th century. A number of her descendants , including Donald Sanders, are active in the making of traditional pottery.
written by Tom Blumer

This beautiful Catawba Indian Rebecca pitcher is 9 inches tall. This Catawba Indian pottery Rebecca pitcher is a rare piece. It was handcrafted by the famous Catawba Indian Master potter Arzada Sanders. This piece was made in 1947 and given to Doris Sanders who passed it down to her son Donald, so here is your chance to get a valuable piece. Some of our former presidents have her pieces as it was the custom to present the new president with a piece of Catawba Pottery and Arzada was usually the potter of choice of the Catawba Tribal leaders. Catawba pottery is all hand crafted in the Tribal tradition passed down for hundreds of years. The potters would never consider using wheels or slip molds. As a matter of fact all the pottery is "burned" outside in a open pit. All proceeds from this sale will be used to support the Catawba Indian potters. This is a dying art and we are doing all we can to support the potters. It will be a honor to own a fabulous piece like this.