Backcountry Notes

click on the image for a larger viewA collector friend from North Carolina, Peg Wiebe, sent me this reproduction of an advertisement for Sunset Mountain Pottery which was published in July 1929. Sunset Mountain Pottery was made by J. B. Cole's Pottery and sold by a business named The Treasure Chest in Asheville, NC.  The dates generally given for this arrangement are 1929-1935, so this ad is very likely the first for Sunset Mountain Pottery.

This is how the advertisement describes the wares:

The gorgeous autumnal colorings of this quaint hand-turned pottery from the “Hill Country” of Carolina makes it readily adaptable to home decoration. The cool dark green or the warm sunset tones blend charmingly with late summer and early autumn flowers. Several of the pieces shown will also make delightful lamp bases.

All shapes are available in two colors – orange reds with darker markings, and dark green with darker markings. Please specify color when ordering.

The glaze described as "orange reds with darker markings" must have been the J. B. Cole's Pottery vase with "Sunset Mountain Pottery" stamp (inset) - - click on image for larger viewchrome-red glaze which was very popular during the Depression years and remains a favorite of modern collectors.  The "dark green with darker markings" may be the same as the green and black glaze described in the 1932 Cole Pottery Catalog.  Many more shapes and colors were added to the Sunset Mountain Pottery line over the years.

The Treasure Chest and another mountain crafts business, Log Cabin, were combined and incorporated in 1932 as Three Mountaineers, Inc.  The business eventually came to focus on wooden furniture and other wooden articles.  The Sunset Mountain Pottery line was discontinued in 1935.