Bachelder

O. L. Bachelder, pottery craftsman of the old school, who was a poverty-stricken failure at 58, is now, ten years later, one of the most sought-after ceramic artists in America. He lives frugally in a simple shack in the North Carolina mountains, does his own work except for a clay-boy and a horse to turn his mixing-wheel. From the rich mineral clay of the region he shapes and bakes vases and bowls of exquisite pattern and myriad hues--rose, amber, mahogany, violet, sang de boeuf. Some of his types, known as "Omar Khayyam vases," command high prices from connoisseurs. No two of his pieces are alike.