Lanier Meaders, (Quillian)

1917 Born Mossy Creek, Georgia

1998 Died Mossy Creek, Georgia

PRIMARY WORK EXPERIENCE

—Family pottery-studio worker

1967—became fulltime potter

—Instructor Brenau College, Gainesville, Georgia

 BIOGRAPHY

Quillian Lanier Meaders widely known as Lanier Meaders used locally sourced stoneware clay and glaze materials including wood ash and lime. He is also known to use Albany Slip. He produced a wide variety of functional picecs as well as the face jugs his family is so well known for.

He was born into the Meaders family pottery tradition. The Meaders family pottery was founded by Lanier’s grandfather, John Milton Meaders in 1893. He began the family face jug production making 1000s in addition to a full line of functional pottery. Lanier’s father Cheever produced a small number of face jugs.

 Meaders learned to make and use glazes growing up in a family of functional potters and face jug makers. Throughout his career, he produced work using these traditional glazes which produced strong earth-brown, olive-green, and rusty-gray stoneware.

Lanier Meaders can be credited with keeping the Southern folk pottery making of Georgia alive and vital with his distinct style and sculptural creativity shown both in his traditional functional pottery and face jugs which utilize stones for teeth.