Cherokee Unaker, British Ceramics, and Productions of Whiteness in Eighteenth-Century Atlantic Worlds

This article examines the uses and meanings of unaker, or “Cherokee clay”, among Cherokee and British potters, and between their respective political and cultural worlds, in the eighteenth century. By the time the British arrived in southeastern North America in the late sixteenth century, Cherokee...

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Autores principales:	R. Ruthie Dibble, Joseph Zordan
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Yale University 2021
Materias:	Fine Arts N Arts in general NX1-820
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/e4f33eba345a4d1fa21d895be4699f25
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:e4f33eba345a4d1fa21d895be4699f252021-12-01T10:52:28ZCherokee Unaker, British Ceramics, and Productions of Whiteness in Eighteenth-Century Atlantic Worlds10.17658/issn.2058-5462/issue-21/dibblezordan2058-5462https://doaj.org/article/e4f33eba345a4d1fa21d895be4699f252021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://britishartstudies.ac.uk/issues/issue-index/issue-21/british-ceramics-and-productions-of-whitenesshttps://doaj.org/toc/2058-5462This article examines the uses and meanings of unaker, or “Cherokee clay”, among Cherokee and British potters, and between their respective political and cultural worlds, in the eighteenth century. By the time the British arrived in southeastern North America in the late sixteenth century, Cherokee peoples had been producing complex ceramics made with the fine white material rooted in the Cherokee value of kinship with the material world since time immemorial. Recognizing the potential value of this white clay, British colonists made efforts to possess unaker as part of the larger colonial project of dispossessing the Cherokee Nation of its land. In the colonies and in England, potters including John Bartlam and Josiah Wedgwood used unaker strategically within the intertwined projects of fashioning a distinctly British ceramics tradition and a racialized national identity rooted in mercantilism. This article uses evidence of Cherokee ontologies alongside the correspondence of British potters, eighteenth-century patents, and the analysis of specific wares to describe the contradictions in establishing a British imperial identity through the appropriation of an inherently Indigenous material. In illuminating unaker’s inalienable kinship with its Cherokee family even after its extraction from the ground, and into our present moment, this article suggests new approaches to the study of British and colonial decorative arts made with materials gained from the expansion of empire.R. Ruthie DibbleJoseph ZordanYale UniversityarticleFine ArtsNArts in generalNX1-820ENBritish Art Studies, Iss 21 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Fine Arts N Arts in general NX1-820
spellingShingle	Fine Arts N Arts in general NX1-820 R. Ruthie Dibble Joseph Zordan Cherokee Unaker, British Ceramics, and Productions of Whiteness in Eighteenth-Century Atlantic Worlds
description	This article examines the uses and meanings of unaker, or “Cherokee clay”, among Cherokee and British potters, and between their respective political and cultural worlds, in the eighteenth century. By the time the British arrived in southeastern North America in the late sixteenth century, Cherokee peoples had been producing complex ceramics made with the fine white material rooted in the Cherokee value of kinship with the material world since time immemorial. Recognizing the potential value of this white clay, British colonists made efforts to possess unaker as part of the larger colonial project of dispossessing the Cherokee Nation of its land. In the colonies and in England, potters including John Bartlam and Josiah Wedgwood used unaker strategically within the intertwined projects of fashioning a distinctly British ceramics tradition and a racialized national identity rooted in mercantilism. This article uses evidence of Cherokee ontologies alongside the correspondence of British potters, eighteenth-century patents, and the analysis of specific wares to describe the contradictions in establishing a British imperial identity through the appropriation of an inherently Indigenous material. In illuminating unaker’s inalienable kinship with its Cherokee family even after its extraction from the ground, and into our present moment, this article suggests new approaches to the study of British and colonial decorative arts made with materials gained from the expansion of empire.
format	article
author	R. Ruthie Dibble Joseph Zordan
author_facet	R. Ruthie Dibble Joseph Zordan
author_sort	R. Ruthie Dibble
title	Cherokee Unaker, British Ceramics, and Productions of Whiteness in Eighteenth-Century Atlantic Worlds
title_short	Cherokee Unaker, British Ceramics, and Productions of Whiteness in Eighteenth-Century Atlantic Worlds
title_full	Cherokee Unaker, British Ceramics, and Productions of Whiteness in Eighteenth-Century Atlantic Worlds
title_fullStr	Cherokee Unaker, British Ceramics, and Productions of Whiteness in Eighteenth-Century Atlantic Worlds
title_full_unstemmed	Cherokee Unaker, British Ceramics, and Productions of Whiteness in Eighteenth-Century Atlantic Worlds
title_sort	cherokee unaker, british ceramics, and productions of whiteness in eighteenth-century atlantic worlds
publisher	Yale University
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/e4f33eba345a4d1fa21d895be4699f25
work_keys_str_mv	AT rruthiedibble cherokeeunakerbritishceramicsandproductionsofwhitenessineighteenthcenturyatlanticworlds AT josephzordan cherokeeunakerbritishceramicsandproductionsofwhitenessineighteenthcenturyatlanticworlds
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Cherokee Unaker, British Ceramics, and Productions of Whiteness in Eighteenth-Century Atlantic Worlds

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