Lanier Meaders

Face jug, 1979

Meaders' grandfather, John Milton Meaders, started his pottery business in the community of Mossy Creek, Georgia, in 1893, employing his five sons. Lanier's father, Cheever Meaders, took over the business in 1920.[4] Meaders continued the traditional ceramic craftsmanship of his forefathers by producing alkaline-glazed stoneware solely working with a foot-powered treadle wheel and a wood-fired kiln. Like his father, he employed materials that were indigenous to the region in the production of his stoneware. His ash glaze was made of Albany slip and regular stonewear clay, sifted ashes from his kiln and powdered calcium carbonate. Meaders typically created pieces in earth-brown, olive-green and rust-gray similar to those while a young apprentice to his father.[5][6]

Signature on jug

Meaders' contributions to Southern folk art have been recognized by multiple entities including the National Endowment for the Arts, the Smithsonian, and the Library of Congress. His work is exhibited in the Smithsonian Institution[7] and various museums across the United States. In 1978 he and his mother, Arie Meaders, were honorees of the Library of Congress with Meaders Pottery Day.[5] He was a recipient of a 1983 National Heritage Fellowship awarded by the National Endowment for the Arts, which is the United States government's highest honor in the folk and traditional arts,[8] and was the recipient of the Governor's Award for the Arts in 1987.

• Quillan Lanier Meaders at Smithsonian American Art Museum