Ben Owen, Potter
In the hills around Seagrove, North Carolina, the name “Ben Owen” denotes not one, but three potters.
Benjamin Wade Owen (1904 to 1983) was the son of Rufus Owen of Moore County, North Carolina. He started working for Jacques and Juliana Busbee at Jugtown Pottery in 1923 and stayed 36 years. Ben was one of the Depression era potters that Jacques Busbee brought to museums in New York City, Washington, D.C. and New Orleans. There Ben Owen learned of the shapes, forms and designs pioneered by the Chinese. At Jugtown, Ben is noted for a mottled frogskin green glaze, a brown splattered tobacco spit glaze and a red/blue glaze he called Chinese blue. “Quietness, modesty of form and harmony are the elements I attempt to achieve,” said Ben in 1969. The impressed mark for Jugtown is “Jugtown Ware” in a circle with a one-handle jug in the center.
Ben Owen opened his own shop, Old Plank Road Pottery in 1959. For one year (1959 to 1960) he impressed his work “Pottery/by/Ben/Owen.” He then changed his mark to an impressed circle, “Ben Owen/Master Potter” (1960 to 1973). He closed Old Plank Road Pottery when he retired in 1973.
Benjamin Wade Owen Jr. (born 1937), known as Wade, reopened his father’s kiln and shop in 1981 and renamed it Ben Owen Pottery. Pottery made by Ben Owen Jr. around the time of the reopening was hand signed, “Ben Owen Pottery.” In 1984, he changed his mark to a stamp, “Ben Owen/Pottery.”
By the time Benjamin Wade Owen III (born 1968) was 15 he was a skilled potter with commissions from the Reagan White House and the North Carolina governor’s office. He studied ceramics at Pfeiffer College and graduated from Eastern Carolina University in 1993 with a degree in ceramics. Two years later he was studying Japanese pottery, not in museums like his grandfather, but in Tokoname, Japan. Today Ben Owen III works at Ben Owen Pottery and specializes in simple Asian forms fired in a wood-burning kiln. When he has a kiln opening for his Chinese red and blue glazes, notices are sent or e-mailed to a large fan base. He occasionally uses gas and electric kilns to achieve various glaze effects. His mark has changed over the years. Early work is hand signed in script “Ben Owen III.” More recent work is marked “Ben Owen III” followed by the year. Work not crafted by Ben Owen III is hand signed “Ben Owen Pottery” followed by the potter’s initials.
Note: Some members of the Owen pottery dynasty, notably M.L., preferred the sound of an “s” at the end of their name. None of the three Bens added an “s.”
Reference note by p4A.com Contributing Editor Pete Prunkl.