{"product_id":"bb-craig-stoneware-birdhouse","title":"BB Craig Stoneware Birdhouse","description":"\u003cp\u003e20th century Burlon \"BB\" Craig stoneware birdhouse. Holes at top for hanging with rope or thick twine, and a hole for placing a dowel for the perch.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCondition:\u003c\/strong\u003e Minor chip in surface on the top swirl pattern\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMaterial:\u003c\/strong\u003e Stoneware\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePeriod:\u003c\/strong\u003e 20th century\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 8\"H x 6.25\" diameter\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eInventory#\u003c\/strong\u003e V16757 \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt; color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;\"\u003eBurlon Craig (1914-2002, Vale, NC), known as “BB Craig,” learned to make pottery as a teenager by trading labor-- chopping wood for local potter James Lynn in exchange for lessons. After serving in the Navy during World War II, he returned home and purchased Harvey Reinhardt’s kiln and farmland, settling into a life that balanced farming, factory work, and pottery. Craig helped revive the Catawba Valley pottery tradition, one of the foothills region’s rarest cultural contributions, rooted in techniques brought by German immigrants in the 18th century, which relied on wood-fired groundhog kilns and alkaline glazes made entirely from local materials. For more than 20 years, Craig was the only working potter in the Catawba Valley, the sole representative of the tradition, first producing primarily utilitarian stoneware-- churns, pitchers, crocks, and jars-- before expanding into the expressive face jugs, snake jugs, and ring jugs that would make him a legend.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt; color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;\"\u003eIn the 1980s, Craig's shop became a mecca for students of the alkaline-glazed stoneware tradition because, unlike other local potters, he retained all the old techniques. If it hadn't been for Burlon, the Catawba Valley Tradition would certainly have disappeared. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Aptos; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; color: black; mso-themecolor: text1;\"\u003eIn 1981, examples of his work entered the Smithsonian Institution collection, and in 1984 he received the National Endowment for the Arts’ National Heritage Fellowship — the highest honor in American folk art. In 1991 he received the N.C. Folk Heritage Award, and in 2008 the Reinhardt-Craig House, Kiln and Pottery Shop entered the National Register of Historic Places. His work is held in fine museums across the United States, and pieces bearing his distinctive stamp remain among the most sought-after examples of Southern folk pottery.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 10.5pt;\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"villageantiques","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45069277888712,"sku":null,"price":350.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0152\/9066\/3012\/files\/IMG_8009.png?v=1777494150","url":"https:\/\/villageantiquesonline.com\/products\/bb-craig-stoneware-birdhouse","provider":"Village Antiques and Interiors","version":"1.0","type":"link"}