Second Floor Hours
865-215-8824, eths@eastTNhistory.org |
First Floor Hours
865-215-8830 |
Third Floor Hours
865-215-8801 |
Second Floor Hours
865-215-8800 |
On Saturday mornings at least twice a year, a community gathers around Peter Rose’s wood-fired kiln in northeast Knox County. It is a ritual that is not uncommon to the South, a celebration of the kiln’s opening, a chance to see and possibly purchase direct from the potter a molded piece of clay that has been dramatically transformed by days of wood firing.
Australian by birth, Rose came to East Tennessee in 1985 by way of Japan and England. Four years later when Rose set out to build his own wood-fired kiln, it was these ceramic cultures—and the advice of a visiting Korean potter—that shaped the final structure. The kiln was completed in 1992, and Rose was ready to begin firing, ready to begin melding his past, multi-cultural experiences with the traditions of Southern folk potters.
Today, Rose continues to advance the wood-fired pottery tradition in East Tennessee, as seen in the utilitarian and sculptural pieces on view in the gallery above. The video below explores additional aspects of Rose’s life and work, while following one jug from being molded by hand to being hardened by fire.