Built around 1835, the Cotton Tenant House at Strawbery Banke is a working pottery that showcase the artistry of Steven Zoldak and Maureen Mills. The couple use a variety of traditional and contemporary techniques. Mills's expertise is in the traditional method of slip trailing, which involves drawing freehand with thin colored clay onto a moist pot using a bottle with a small nozzle or a brush. The pattern that is created has a slightly raised texture and invokes the flavor of the Old World with a contemporary interpretation. Her wax-resist work is similarly styled, but the patterns are drawn on using brushes dipped in hot wax.

Zoldak has used his expertise in carved and pierced work to develop some stunning one-of-a-kind pieces. They are extraordinarily labor intensive, but we will feature work as it becomes available. Every piece is more beautiful than the last! He has also developed a line of functional work which is decorated using wooden stamps (hand carved by him) and pressed into the clay while moist, creating an embossed effect.

The glazes used on their work are mixed in their workshop and are non-toxic. Once fired with natural gas, the effects achieved by this reduction are visible on pots, yielding subtle variations that depend on placement in the kiln as well as application of the glaze and the firing time. This unique character of each piece is a testament to the hand made process.

Strawbery Banke affords a wonderful opportunity to experience and imagine American life as it has evolved during the past four centuries. Its restored houses, its featured exhibits, its historic landscapes and gardens, and its interpretive programs reveal much about our ancestors and how they forged the America that we live in today. The Crowley Collection has galleries that showcase the Strawbery Banke Museum:

Houses

 

Goodwin Mansion

Marden-Abbott House

Shapley-Drisco House

Rider-Wood House

Aldrich House

Wheelwright House

Chase House

Jones House

Walsh House

Pitt Tavern

 

Exhibits

 

Dinsmore Shop (Cooperage)

 

General

 

The Grounds and the Visitors Center

Fourth of July Celebration

The Crowley Collection also has galleries that depict life in the city of Portsmouth:

Colonial Architecture

Maritime Tradition

Street Scenes and People

Market Square Day

Performing Arts

Portsmouth Country Club

The Crowley Collection offers other New England themes, including scenics, autumn foliage, county fairs, Red Sox Nation and historic sites such as Old Sturbridge Village and the Robert Frost Farm.

Permission to use our copyrighted images can be obtained from The Crowley Collection by using the contact link below. The Crowley Collection has extensive photographic libraries of general stock photography and golf images.