About Tom Jones
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Tom grew up in Fairhope, Alabama and became interested in pottery in high school where he studied under master potter Edith Harwell. Edith was well know for her work at her studio "Pinewood Pottery" also located in Fairhope. After graduating high school Tom was offered a scholarship from Mississippi College in Clinton, MS where he attended for 2 years with an emphasis in pottery . He was also the first freshman to be allowed to take pottery in the first year. Lewis Walsh was the pottery instructor and encouraged Tom to pursue his dream of being a full time potter.
In 1976, Tom helped Ralph Jennings start A & D Pottery on the site of the current pottery. In 1979 due to hurricane Fredrick the A & D Pottery closed so in January 1980 Tom and his wife Pam opened Tom Jones Pottery shop at THE MARKET PLACE in Daphne, Alabama. The ware was manufactured from their home & the studio at Clay City but sold in the Daphne store.
The Daphne store closed in 1985. All the displays & ware were moved back to the Clay City shop. In 1992 a another retail venture was opened in New Orleans in the French Quarter. This shop was open for 2 1/2 years before closing. Later that year, 1994, another retail shop was opened on the grounds of the Grand Hotel in Point Clear. This shop was open off and on for 4 years closing in 1998.
After years of having multiple shops in assorted locations, selling to shops and galleries throughout the region, Tom's pottery is now exclusively available at the pottery in Clay City.
Tom Jones Pottery is located off Baldwin County Highway 33, in an area known as Clay City, which is appropriately named for its rich clay deposits and long time manufacturing of pottery, brick and tile. One of the first Clay City potteries, the Gable Pottery, was started on the banks of Fish River around 1850. After being flooded plus the increased popularity of glass and tin cans that pottery was closed due to the catastrophic 1906 hurricane. The Fairhope Clay Products was started in 1916 and produced building tile, drain tile and brick. That business was closed in the early 2000's.
In 1940 the current pottery building was located further from the river, yet close enough to receive coal shipments brought up river on barges.
The building was built in a stand of Pine Trees which were merely topped and used for center supports. You can actually see some of the bark left intact on a couple of the support poles.Over the years termites have taken their toll on these poles so they are no longer viable. The timbers of the structure were salvaged from the Alabama State Docks when the docks were being renovated during the same time period. The current front door was salvaged from the Daphne Elementary School in Daphne, Al when that school was being renovated. The coal fed Beehive Kiln remains intact on the property but is no longer used.
Some of Tom's handmade products are created from the same clay that was used in the earlier pottery endeavors, but now the pottery is fired in a kiln fueled by natural gas to a temperature of 2400 degrees. All of the ware is lead free, most is oven, microwave, and dishwasher safe.
