Charles Counts (1934-2000) American, Signed Biblical Themed Art Pottery Vase. The exterior portrays Adam and Eve (with the words indicating which is which next to the figures) along with the apple in white and green tones, with a gradient greenish interior. Titled on bottom "Adam/Eve" and signed along with the words "Rising Fawn" indicating it was made at the facility on Lookout Mountain, Georgia. Dated 1983. 

Condition: Commensurate with age. 

Size: 6 x 6 x 7 1/2 in. 

Charles Counts was born on November 13th, 1934 in Lynch, Kentucky. His ancestors were some of the earliest pioneering settlers of Russell County, Virginia, and he grew up hearing stories of their trials and tribulations taming the Appalachian wilderness. His family moved to Oak Ridge, Tennessee in 1944, where he first became interested in pottery at high school. Counts graduated from Berea College, which supported traditional Appalachian crafts and maintained workshops that taught multiple regional techniques. He earned a master’s degree in pottery and weaving at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, in 1957, and then studied under Bauhaus-trained master potter Marguerite Wildenhain at Pond Farm in Guerneville, California. The Bauhaus Movement had a lasting effect on the Appalachian arts and crafts, as their spare functional design principles were first introduced to the United States when its exponents fled Nazi domination of Europe. Counts also did advanced work in ceramic technology at the University of Southern California under Carlton Ball and Susan Peterson. After spending two years in the Army he returned to the Oak Ridge area in 1959 and opened a pottery studio at Beaver Ridge along with his wife, Rubynelle. In 1963 Counts moved his entire operation to Lookout Mountain, Georgia, to be closer to a small artist’s colony that had sprung up at the New Salem Community near Rising Fawn. His contributions to the arts community provided a focal point for collectors and created an economic boom for those making arts and crafts in the area. An annual event, the Plum Nelly Clothesline Crafts Fair, was organized at Rising Fawn by a print maker within the artist’s community, and Counts successfully applied for federal funding to create an apprentice ceramics program for local people at their studio, The Pottery Shop. This led to further collaborations, such as with a group of local traditional quilt makers, The Rising Fawn Quilters. Counts had been in Japan during his time in the Army and was heavily influenced by their reverence for beauty, quality, and utility, and along with his love of Medieval German craftsmanship he became an exponent of hands-on practical learning and “discipleships,” akin to the Japanese tradition of artists copying and perpetuating their master’s style and even adopting their name to continue the legacy. He was concerned that traditional crafts of Appalachia would be lost with the cultural changes wrought by mass migrations from rural America into cities, as well as from the mountains of the South to the manufacturing regions of the North. He promoted the economic benefits of producing crafts to supplement household income in depressed areas, and in 1956 Counts became a key member and supporter of the Southern Highland Craft Guild. He briefly published a newsletter called the Southeastern Craftsman in 1965, and contributed to Appalachian Heritage and other art and craft magazines throughout his life. He also worked with the Smithsonian Institution to produce a 1971 report on American folk art and handicrafts, and began teaching classes and workshops at the University of Tennessee, Chattanooga as well as Dalton State College in Georgia. By the early 1980s Counts was increasingly interested in the history of Nigeria and its craft traditions. He began traveling to the country regularly, first teaching pottery at Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria before accepting a full-time position at Maiduguri University, returning to the United States infrequently from the late 80s onward. On May 18th, 2000, Counts died after a brief battle with malaria in Borno, and his ashes were returned to Oak Ridge, Tennessee to be interred. He received numerous awards and recognitions in his life and permanent exhibitions of his works can be found in Georgia, North Carolina, and his adopted home of Nigeria. 

Commensurate with age.