Nell Cole Graves (1908 – February 17, 1997) was a

potter A potter is someone who makes pottery. Potter may also refer to: Places United States *Potter, originally a section on the Alaska Railroad, currently a neighborhood of Anchorage, Alaska, US * Potter, Arkansas *Potter, Nebraska * Potters, New Je ...

from

Seagrove, North Carolina Seagrove is a town in Randolph County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 285 at the 2019 census. It was named after a railroad official when the area was connected by rail. The center of population of North Carolina is located a fe ...

, and a winner of the 1996 North Carolina

Heritage Award The PRS for Music Heritage Award is a ceremonial plaque installed in a public place to commemorate a link between a famous musician or music band and the location they performed their first live gig. The UK-wide plaque is awarded and funded by ...

. Graves grew up in

Montgomery County, North Carolina Montgomery County is a rural county located in the southern Piedmont of the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 25,751. Its county seat is Troy. History The county was formed in January 1779, by an act of th ...

, with her father, Jacon B. Cole, and her brother, Waymon Cole. Her father owned a pottery shop called J.B. Cole Pottery, through which two centuries of Cole potters persisted in the region. During Graves' early childhood, it was typical for women and children to help with preparing

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...

, glazing, and loading kilns, while the men were tasked with making the pottery and running the business. Graves father, however, taught her on a treadle wheel from age 9. Graves eventually came to run the family business. Graves married Philmore Graves, and owned Graves Candle Shop, which was located south of Seagrove, as well as J.B. Cole. She died in the late 1990s, and was buried in the old Fairgrove Church Cemetery behind Graves Candle Shop.

References

External links

Official Seagrove Area Visitor Information
American potters 1908 births 1997 deaths American women potters 20th-century American ceramists 20th-century American women artists Ceramists from North Carolina People from Montgomery County, North Carolina {{US-artist-stub