(4) Pottery and Metal Pieces from Various American Makers. The owl and frog bowl appear to come from Turtle Island Pottery in North Carolina, the Rookwood Pillow Vase is from 1882, marked thusly with a paper label and signed on the base, and the flat metal coaster with an ornate M (or W) on it is marked "L.E. Mason Co. Boston, Mass." on the bottom. 

Largest Size (Owl): 5 x 4 x 6 1/2 in. 

In 1980 a small studio called Turtle Island Pottery was established in Old Fort, North Carolina. It was founded by husband and wife team Maggie (Born 1953) and Freeman Jones (Born 1947). Freeman had studied pottery in a variety of forms in college, graduating in 1969 with a degree in Art and traveling around the country studying under a variety of shops and master potters. Maggie had grown up in Tarrytown, New York, and began working as an apprentice to a studio potter before she even graduated high school. She opened her own studio in Avon, Connecticut in 1972, building a gas kiln and working with various local potters. In 1974 she met Freeman, and in 1977 they and their budding family moved to North Carolina to explore the folk art pottery that characterized the region. Over the years they developed a system where Freeman would shape the forms and Maggie would paint, mold, and otherwise decorate the pieces, together emulating the Arts and Crafts movement while creating unique functional pottery pieces. Maggie was an artist in residence at Scripps College in 1984 and took watercolor classes in 2000, events which further evolved their style, and Freeman taught frequently at Blue Ridge Technical College, with many students coming to work and learn from them afterwards over the years. An immense showroom was constructed in 2007, and they began traveling around the country giving lectures, demonstrations, and selling their pieces together. Tragically, Freeman was diagnosed with dementia in 2024 just one week before Hurricane Helene hit the area and utterly devastated their home and studio, although thankfully many of their materials and work survived. While Freeman uses pottery now almost solely as a form of therapy, Maggie continues to offer pieces through Arrowhead Gallery in an effort to get the company back on its feet.