[Archived] “America’s Historic Kilns” Lecture at Alexandria Archaeology Museum January 28

Historic Ceramics Scholar to Discuss “America’s Historic Kilns”

The Alexandria Archaeology Museum is offering a free illustrated lecture about historic pottery kilns on Saturday, January 28, at 10 a.m. Independent scholar and functional potter Brenda Hornsby Heindl of Liberty, N.C., will present “America’s Historic Kilns: A Potter’s Perspective.”

A graduate of the Winterthur Program in American Material Culture and a recipient of a research grant from the American Ceramic Circle, Heindl has been studying pre-1850 American salt-glaze and alkaline-glaze stoneware kilns and kiln furniture since 2010. The presentation will be on her initial research and findings from archaeological collections, comparative photographs of the kiln sites she has researched, as well as her observations as a potter on the operations of historic American kilns.

She works primarily with salt-glazed stoneware, having trained in the Ceramics Apprenticeship Program at Berea College in Berea, Kentucky. Her studio, Liberty Stoneware, is an outlet for her research in historic ceramics and experimental archaeology.

Alexandria’s own pottery tradition dates to the late 18^th century, and Alexandria is noted for its production of salt-glazed stoneware in the early and mid-19^th century. Archaeologists have investigated and excavated two kiln sites in Alexandria – the Wilkes Street Pottery and the Piercy Pottery.

This lecture is sponsored by the Friends of Alexandria Archaeology (FOAA). Reservations are requested, and can be made by emailing archaeology@alexandriava.gov or calling 703.746.4399.

The Alexandria Archaeology Museum is located on the third floor of the Torpedo Factory Art Center, 105 North Union Street, #327, in Old Town Alexandria.

For more information, call the Alexandria Archaeology Museum at 703.746.4399 or visit www.alexandriaarchaeology.org.