Travel Guides
Pottery Itinerary for the Seagrove Area -- Stop 4 Westmoore Pottery
Leaving Ben Owen Pottery, make an immediate left onto Busbee Road. Half a mile up the road you will see Westmoore Pottery, a small brick Tudor-style building on the left, at 4622 Busbee Road.
David and Mary Farrell of Westmoore Pottery are, like many of the artists here, potters who grew up elsewhere but who were drawn to Seagrove because of their love of its pottery traditions. The Farrells met as apprentices at Jugtown Pottery. No longer newcomers, they have been established artists here in Westmoore for thirty years.
The specialty of Westmoore Pottery is the recreation of early American and European ceramics. In this way their work differs from much of the tradition of the Seagrove area, but the Farrells were trained in Seagrove methods, and their appreciation for the past and the excellence of their ceramics makes Westmoore Pottery an important stop on this tour. Because of the historical accuracy of Westmoore Pottery’s wares, their pieces appear in dozens of living-history museums, and have been used in many movies, including “Cold Mountain” and “Amistad.” The Farrells are particularly renowned for their work in decorated earthenware, or redware, a medium that was largely replaced by stoneware in this part of North Carolina in the nineteenth century. The Moravian potters in Salem (present-day Winston-Salem) produced outstanding decorated redware, and their work is a special inspiration to the Farrells. Visiting Westmoore Pottery, you’ll learn about European North America’s earliest ceramic traditions, ancestors of today’s Seagrove pottery.
Photo: Blue plate by Westmoore Pottery, photo courtesy of Westmoore Pottery; pitcher and red plate by Westmoore pottery, photos by Tom Jackson.
Please click here to proceed.