Trio of Brasstown Carvers

Trio of Brasstown Carvers

Brasstown Carvers

John C. Campbell Folk School

Women woodworkers

Wood-carvers

Wood-carving

Martha Coffey (left), an unidentified man, and Mary Lou Carpenter (right) work on rooster woodcarvings. Brasstown Carver Martha Shaw Jordan Coffey (1916-2004) spent most of her childhood in upstate South Carolina before moving to the Brasstown area with her parents. She learned how to carve in 1968 when she was given an elephant napkin ring and she decided to make another one for herself. Martha learned from Murray Martin, Jack Hall, and Helen Gibson. She became a full-time carver and was especially skilled at chickens and camels. Mary Lou Carpenter began working at John C. Campbell Folk School in the late 1960s, first by finishing carvings and then in the Craft Shop shipping department.

JCCFS Photo Archives

http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/

photographs

eng

StillImage

72773

https://southernappalachiandigitalcollections.org/object/72773

Brasstown (N.C.)

Craft Revival