Mark Hewitt (NC, b. 1955), Two Stoneware Jardinieres

Pittsboro, each of planter form with crimped relief band beneath a flat rim, the first a 2003-2006 salt glazed form with tooled equatorial ring to waist, underside stamped "WMH" with apprentice "Z" stamp for Zac Spates (11 x 12 1/2 in.); the second circa 2000, featuring pale cream glazed body, cobalt and ash slip frieze decoration to the shoulder, the underside stamped with potter's later cipher (11 3/4 x 13 in.).

Born in Stoke-on-Trent, England, Mark is the son and grandson of directors of Spode, the fine china manufacturers. As a student at Bristol University in the early 1970′s, Mark read Bernard Leach’s “A Potter’s Book,” and decided to become a studio potter rather than an industrial manager. This decision led to a three-year apprenticeship with Michael Cardew, and later another with Todd Piker in Connecticut, where Mark met his wife, Carol.

In 1983 they moved to Pittsboro NC and set up their pottery. Mark built a very large wood kiln and began making the distinctive functional pots for which he is known, specializing in very large planters and jars, along with finely made smaller items. He uses local clays and blends the different North Carolinian folk traditions together into a contemporary style that has attracted a sizeable following.

Mark’s work has been featured in numerous publications including the Smithsonian magazine, the cover of American Craft magazine, and he has written extensively in the ceramic press. Mark has exhibited in London, New York and Tokyo, as well as throughout the US. He is well-represented in museum and private collections.

Mark was awarded a United States Artist Fellowship in 2015 for contributions to the creative landscape and arts ecosystems of the county, and was a finalist for the 2015 Balvenie Rare Craft Award for contributions to the maintenance and revival of traditional or rare craft techniques. In 2014 he was awarded a Voulkos Fellowship at the Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts in Helena, Montana, for his outstanding contributions to the ceramic arts.

Blue glazed jardiniere with hairlines to rim and body; otherwise good estate condition.