George E. Ohr

Ohr was born in Biloxi, Mississippi, on July 12, 1857. The self-styled “mad potter of Biloxi” is known especially for his unique ability to create very thin-walled vases on a potter’s wheel and his various techniques for distorting a piece’s shape—e.g., twisting the vase to make an undulating pattern, flattening the opening in segments to get a pie crust effect, pinching the rim and bending it in a bunched ribbon effect, etc. In 1881-2, starting in New Orleans, Ohr hopped on freight trains and stopped in 16 states to visit every potter he could find. In 1883, in Biloxi, he built his first pottery. A prolific worker, he is said to have created over 10,000 pots in his lifetime. Ohr died on April... more.