Consummate Collectors: The Ward Collection of Southern Ceramics

David and Jon Ward were both born in South Carolina, evidently destined to become two of the leading collectors of the famous alkaline-glazed pottery for which their home state has become so well known. Though David was born in Johnston, Edgefield County, the region's stoneware industry would remain unknown to him for the first few decades of his life. Jon, his wife, was born in Orangeburg. The two met in Columbia, another pottery landmark, and married in 1967. After serving four years in the U.S. Air Force as a Russian interpreter, Ward graduated from South Carolina School of Law and established himself as an attorney in 1970. Meanwhile, Jon served as a lay Methodist minister, a role that she honorably held for twelve years. It is Jon who takes responsibility for introducing David to the art of collecting. Both were drawn to "anything handcraft" and "anything folk art," as David put it. In 1977, they purchased the William Bates house in Greenville County, an antique itself, built in 1835 for Rhode Island-born textile pioneer, William Bates. Stashed away in the home's attic, the couple discovered three mysterious pieces of pottery, painted green and pink, which they purchased for $10 each from the previous owner. Cleaning the vessels off, they came to learn that these were locally made examples of alkaline-glazed stoneware. Two of the pieces were rare canning jars marked by the Spartanburg potter John Gilreath, lots 50 and 51 in this auction; the third was a fine, iron-slip-decorated jug by Thomas Chandler, lot 35. (A matching jug was offered to the Wards for free, but they declined because it was missing its handle. Jon humorously recalls that she would eventually find the handle, partially buried outside by the front porch.) Such was their first, serendipitous introduction to pottery, in the form of pieces used over a century ago on their newly acquired property. This experience sparked the couple's interest in ceramic art, one that naturally fit with the handcrafted objects that had started to accumulate in their home.

The Wards' home, the 1835 William Bates House, before and after its renovation.

As budding antiques collectors and dealers during the early 1980s, the Wards opened a booth in a shop in Edgefield owned by Stephen and Terry Ferrell, two of the leading dealers in and collectors of South Carolina stoneware. The Wards and Ferrells developed a close friendship and David credits the father-son duo with "turning them on to some good pieces" early in their collecting days. Through attending auctions, scouring shops, and making connections with other prominent figures in the pottery community—such as Ralph McClendon, Sr., who proudly displayed a local stoneware collection in his Pottersville Museum—the Wards began acquiring pieces. The high-country dining room of their William Bates House, with its tall ceilings and original, hand-carved fireplace mantel, was originally meant to hold Jon's collection of blue-and-white china. Instead it became the home of the couple's growing assortment of jars, jugs, and pitchers made in Edgefield. Disciplined and driven, David and Jon soon established themselves as leading collectors of a field that was largely in its infancy. South Carolina pottery was still taking form as a genre unto its own. Through handling and studying the material, they became experts, developing a solid understanding of what constituted a good piece of pottery. Condition and decorative quality wisely became the two driving forces of their collecting instincts. As evidenced by this catalog, the vast majority of pieces the Wards owned survive in a remarkable state of preservation, particularly for their age and origin. The decorative quality of the stoneware also played a significant role, with the Wards pursuing slip-decorated works from the 1840-1850 time period produced at Phoenix Factory and the potteries of Thomas Chandler and Collin Rhodes. To acquire such beautiful pieces, the couple also possessed a daring willingness to pursue high-end pieces at a time when relatively few collectors did.

The Wards' iconic face vessels, purchased at the famous John Gordon sale in 1999.

For advanced collectors, questions arise like "What's really out there?" and "How can I improve my collection?" For connoisseurs like the Wards, the collecting bug was not just about finding representative examples, but about acquiring definitive works. The old adage, "Buy the best you can afford," comes to mind and it was one the Wards lived by. Their forty-five-plus years in the field have resulted in a refined collection of attractively glazed and decorated pieces from Edgefield's most artistic years of production, with additions from the northwestern counties of South Carolina, areas of North Carolina, and select 19th and 20th century ceramic operations from throughout the country. Their collection, offered in this auction in its entirety, totals over one hundred pieces and is highlighted by a number of important examples that would be extremely difficult to improve upon. Leading this group is lot 1, the Edgefield face pitcher. David recalls the Christie's auction of the John Gordon Collection of Folk Americana. Held in January of 1999, this landmark event featured a large selection of 19th and 20th century American face vessels, a number of which were produced in Edgefield, including a small face-decorated pitcher. Distinguished by its extremely rare form and highly expressive modeling, the pitcher was the standout of the group. Ward called the auction house to schedule phone bidding, only to hear that there was a problem. Christie's did not accept phone bids under $2,000 and a number of the Edgefield face vessels they were offering were conservatively estimated well under that amount. David assured the woman on the phone that he would start the bidding at $2,000 on all of these lots, and she agreed to accept his bids. Despite being estimated at $700-$1000, the face pitcher ended up selling for $17,250 (including buyer's premium) to David, a near record price for an Edgefield face vessel at the time. Aware of the rare opportunity, he told his phone bidder that he had more "butter and egg money" and smartly purchased a second example, a jug made at the Miles Mill Pottery, lot 3 in our auction of the Ward Collection. When asked recently why he decided to buy the face pitcher, David stated, "because it was the best." To this day, the Wards' face pitcher is considered amongst the top tier of the roughly two hundred Edgefield face vessels known. Coming from one of the nation's best folk art collections and having sold at one of the nation's leading auction houses, the piece sold for a shocking price in its day, but the Wards were keenly aware that, as a Southern object in a still-growing market, its best days were ahead of it.

Selections from the Wards' collection in their home.

David and Jon would go on to acquire other premier examples of Edgefield stoneware in the first decade of the 21st century. One significant purchase is a stamped Phoenix Factory jar with bold iron slip floral decoration, lot 4 in this auction. It was the first example bearing a maker's mark from this short-lived, circa 1840 pottery that David had seen come to market, and he eagerly purchased it at Charlton Hall in the year 2000. Another is the double-handled jug with two-color slip floral decoration, incised "C. Rhodes Maker," purchased at Brunk Auctions. Made at the Collin Rhodes Pottery on Shaw's Creek circa 1843, this work combines exquisite form and decoration with very rare incised details and signature to produce one of the finest jugs known from this operation. Equally decorative and rare, the jug will be sold as lot 2 in the Ward sale.

The Collin Rhodes signature on Lot 2 in the auction.

A hallmark of this couple's collection is its unusually fine selection of stoneware made at the Thomas Chandler pottery at Kirksey's Crossroads circa 1850. Better to best examples of Chandler stoneware for their type in this auction include lot 5, the double-handled jug with kaolin-slip floral decoration; lot 7, the iron-slip-decorated butter pot; lot 8, the half-gallon "Waranted Good" jug; and lot 10, the large iron-slip-decorated pitcher. The Wards' focus on both decorative quality and condition is evident in all of these examples.

Attesting to the high standards they set for themselves, several pieces from the Ward Collection have been exhibited in museums and published in accompanying catalogs. These include nine pieces in Swag & Tassel: The Innovative Stoneware of Thomas Chandler, held at the McKissick Museum in 2018 and 2019; seven pieces in Great Pots from the Traditions of North & South Carolina, held at the North Carolina Pottery Center in Seagrove, NC in 2017; and three pieces in Hear Me Now: The Black Potters of Old Edgefield, South Carolina, held at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and University of Michigan Museum of Art, in 2022 through 2024. Always willing to share what information they had, the Wards have also been passionate about finding answers to their own pottery questions. In the vein of Tennessee scholar /collector, Carole Wahler, the Wards' collecting of information was a close second to their collecting of objects. On our arrival to retrieve their collection in January, we were given boxes full of books, newspaper clippings, correspondences with leading collectors and museums, pottery-related genealogies handwritten by David, and various fragments of original research. These included a fascinating, as-yet-unpublished article on troubled South Carolina potter, S.C. Dickson, written by David, perhaps the most thorough study of this figure to date.

In our opinion, the Wards serve as a model for how to collect: build relationships, pursue the best you can find, and always continue learning. It is our great privilege to offer the Ward Collection of Southern Ceramics to the public. We would like to thank you for your interest in this special sale and, most of all, David and Jon for entrusting their wonderful collection with us.