Lee and Pup McCarty

Through the Bamboo Lee & Pup McCarty’s Delta Oasis By Lana Lawrence Draper Folks who were raised in small Delta towns are used to giving geographical landmarks as means of direction. When asked where a certain town or place is, a common response might often be “It’s not too far fromGreenville, up 61” or “Go one hundred miles south of Memphis and try not to blink.” Interestingly enough, one particular Delta locale never needed such point of reference. The mere mention of the town Merigold would elicit the immediate response of, “Oh…McCartys!” It’s for good reason that Merigold and McCarty's ring synonymously in the minds of many Mississippians. A world-renowned pottery business started in 1954 would quietly put this tiny town of 600 on the map, as a unique and thoroughly-Delta landmark.

Lee and Pup McCarty met as college students at Delta State University, Lee having received an earlier undergraduate degree from the University of Mississippi. After Lee completed his master’s degree in education from Columbia University, the couple returned to Ole Miss where Lee taught for several years. During this time they developed their love of pottery-making and first began experimenting with natural Mississippi clay from a pit on William Faulkner’s property in Oxford. Soon their work became an avocation and a permanent place was needed for their studio and kilns. Lee McCarty grew up in Merigold during the days when cotton was still king and several plantations were headquartered there. A thriving downtown business district was flanked by the Illinois Central railroad tracks. Two blocks away stood a mule barn owned by Albert Smith. “When we came back to Merigold, we needed a place to live and set up our studio, and Aunt Margaret offered us Uncle Albert’s mule barn and lot,” he recalls. Although it might have been an unlikely new home and pottery studio to the unimaginative eye, the McCartys could see its potential. The animals were moved out and the transformation began. “We built all this from one nail up,” says Lee. “We insulated with cardboard those first years, sweated in the summer and froze in the winter. I remember us having to bust ice off the clay and thaw it to throw. The bricks for the first terrace Pup laid all by herself with just one helper.” The walls around this first terrace hold a special place in Pup’s heart. “The cypress boards came from the Wooten plantation outside Shelby,” she recollects. “They were tearing down the tenant houses and we needed the boards. The Wootens are old and dear friends and we always think of them when we look out at this terrace. Now their grandchildren are coming here too and keeping up our family friendship.” Today “The Barn” is still home and studio to the McCartys. Cypress walls and stands of bamboo border the terraced gardens, creating a world apart from the rush and hustle of day-to-day life. Walking through the lush greenery, one can sense the feeling of ease and calm — the muse, if you will — that gives this place its unique character. It is a sort of sanctuary where the individualistic spirit of the Delta is manifested and the old, soft Delta accents can be faintly heard. During a recent return to McCarty’s, as I passed from the blinding mid-morning sunlight into the deep shade of the bamboo tunnel that is the only evidence of an entrance to the studio, I was struck by how little had changed since I first visited over forty years ago. As a little girl, I remember being mesmerized by the sight of “Mr. McCarty” behind the potter’s wheel. I watched as he skillfully shaped undulating forms into bowls, candleholders or vases. While working, he would speak of people and times gone by to customers, friends or little girls such as I, whose curiosity got the better of them. I recall slipping out of the shop, through the French doors, and into the gardens, shrouded in cypress fencing and dappled with soft light that pierced its way through the trees. Fountains splashed. Birds sang. It was magical then, and it is magical now. The McCartys still fashion their work from Mississippi clay. Beginning with just that raw basic element, through their imagination and skill, it is transformed into works of beauty—sometimes functional, sometimes whimsical — replete a simple elegance that is uniquely McCarty. Collectors throughout the country and around the world cherish McCarty pottery. The work has even made its way to the Smithsonian Museum. During my visit to “The Barn,” I realized that what brings the throngs of collectors and friends to visit McCarty Pottery isn’t just the beauty of the pottery or the inviting gardens; it is the McCartys themselves. They welcome their guests with what I can only describe as “Delta warmth.” As we left the studio already crowded with shoppers for a walk through the gardens, Lee told how Pup, who hailed from the hills of Mississippi, designed the terraced gardens as a release from the flat Delta landscape. According to Lee, Pup is the one with a creative eye in the garden who oversees the pruning of the trees and all of their construction projects. “I married up!” he declares. An author once called Lee McCarty “one of the last of the true renaissance men.” A scholar, a teacher, a botanist, a physicist, and a chemist, he brings all those skills to bear on his art. He is also an accomplished musician, skilled on both piano and guitar. While Lee can play almost anything on the piano, he likes to entertain guests with ballads from the ‘40s or boisterous show tunes. When he picks up his guitar, Lee prefers playing Spanish classical music but if pressed can show intrigued visitors how to use a glass bottleneck to get that unique Delta Blues sound. While Lee is the consummate entertainer and storyteller, Pup is a most gracious hostess. She is able to make a guest instantly at ease and feel as if part of the family. Her extensive knowledge of art and artistic styles is readily apparent just by observing the couple’s surroundings. During the early years, the McCartys would travel on extended forays into Mexico and points south. Thanks to these trips they have an extensive collection of primitive, pre-Columbian pottery and art. Later they would travel the globe, expanding their personal horizons to Europe and the Orient. By exposing themselves to a large variety of cultures, specifically to the art of those cultures, the McCartys improved both their own art and their surroundings. Today, both the Pottery Studio and The Gallery are a family affair. Joining Lee and Pup’s business in 1998 were godsons Jamie and Stephen Smith, both Merigold natives, the sons of Stephanie Smith and the late James R. Smith, III. Although Lee and Pup are still responsible for the creative aspects of the business, development of new designs and overall quality control, Jamie and Stephen are lending their expertise to the business and organizational functions of the family ventures. Two-year-old Sarah Bennett Smith, daughter of Jamie and Jenny Smith, represents a new generation of the McCarty family and is making her own mark on the garden landscape and in the hearts of her adoring parents and “grandparents.” As we walked through the gardens, Lee embarked on a running narrative, relating tales and the history of the McCarty grounds. “Now these Iris Cristata came from Jane Rule’s garden in Ruleville,” Lee points out. “This is a brown turkey fig. Jamie and Stephen’s grandfather had one planted at every tenant house on his place.” He spoke fondly about Aunt Mary Eslander and her boarding house where tea was served every afternoon, the big fig tree from Thomas Jefferson’s garden (that makes the best preserves), the crepe myrtles that once had bordered the mule lot, and shallots that came from Pup’s family home in Ethel. The stories were enchanting and endless. The McCartys’ gardens are more than just a collection of various botanicals. They are the gardens of family and friends. Every plant, every tree, and even the gristmill (where Lee once sacked corn for Uncle Albert for two bits a Saturday and which now forms the base of a striking fountain) are a part of the living history of Merigold. Lee and Pup McCarty’s gardens are personal and that fact is the source of the mystique that envelops those who visit, leaving them comforted knowing there is still a place where the gentle Delta spirit is alive and well. On that day in the garden, other visitors joined and listened attentively as Lee swapped “do you remembers” and “did you knows” while he continued the guided tour. All too soon, Pup appeared to remind us that it was time for Lee’s lunch and traditional afternoon nap. I left wondering how many other stories were still untold and vowed to come back to hear more. Stephen and Jamie Smith, who were raised in the McCarty home, talk about what prompted them to move back to Mississippi and help run the McCarty business. Jamie Smith had been most recently working in Atlanta and Birmingham in sales and sales management in information technology. “What drew me home was the lifestyle that you can have in a small Delta town, and that you can have as a potter,” says Jamie. “It’s an independent way of life. You have to understand I was constantly around Uncle Lee and Aunt Pup growing up. I got to play in the clay, and we learned to swim in this pool. My mother still has a number of my very first pottery pieces that I threw way back then,” he recalls. Pup says she remembers allowing Jamie to have a 30-pound block of clay when he was eight or nine years old. “He pounded the clay into something that was supposed to be Moby Dick,” she laughs. “We were all amazed that it actually made it through the firings.” Pup also credits Jamie for the inspiration for the McCarty hippos. “When Jamie was young, he was fascinated by big animals, whales, dinosaurs and especially hippos. He kept on and on about hippos and so we designed our own versions in the late 1960’s and made them for many years.” Jamie says Lee taught him about throwing pots in the studio. “He’d look over my shoulder and correct my stance or grip. Throwing pots, firing them and seeing the end result was a great deal of fun for me. Keep in mind, it’s also very hard physical work but when you love it, it becomes more fun than work. This kind of work, this lifestyle and the kind of life you can have in a small town versus a big city appealed to me. So when I was asked to come home, I jumped at the chance,” Jamie says. Stephen Smith was a lawyer in Athens, Georgia for a number of years before he made the move back to Merigold shortly after his brother did. “Uncle Lee lives life on his own terms,” says Stephen. “That is something to admire and emulate, if possible. What appealed to me is the quality of life created by being in our family business and by living in my hometown. My brother and I are the fourth generation of our family to be in Merigold. It is so rare today to find generations of a family in the same town, and I realize how lucky we are to have this opportunity. I would much rather watch my niece play tea party with ‘Unk’ and Aunt Pup than to try a case or take a deposition any day of the week." Jamie says that through it all, he and Stephen learned from the McCarty’s how to live life to the fullest. “I think we gained an appreciation for the arts from Lee and Pup and our mother. We certainly learned from example about a good work ethic and perseverance,” he continues, “but at the same time we see how important it is to take time to spend with family and friends. Work hard, play hard, you could say!” The work ethic of the McCartys has been recognized by many. In the late 1990s, the Japanese government invited them to exhibit in Tokyo. More recently, famed Mississippi artist Bill Dunlap said they had “the work ethic of immigrants” when he spoke at the presentation to the McCartys of the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters. That same year, the University of Mississippi Museum paid homage to the McCarty’s with a three-week exhibit, “Masters of Merigold: 40 years of McCarty Pottery.” The fusion of their expertise, experiences and skill has resulted in something uniquely Delta — uniquely Mississippi and internationally acclaimed. The McCarty’s also own a restaurant in Merigold, which is a perfect compliment to their lifestyle and to the charm of their surroundings. Enclosed by the signature McCarty cypress wall, The Gallery is a hidden treasure that bears the same charming, simple elegance that its founders first created in the pottery studio and gardens. Open only for lunch, The Gallery offers two entrees daily, a cold and a hot dish, each with an appetizer course, two vegetables and a dessert. One of Lee’s grand pianos graces the corner of the dining room while pieces from the McCarty’s personal art collection from around the world lend an international flare. The food is expertly prepared and served on McCarty pottery. Many dishes use fresh herbs and vegetables picked from the McCarty’s own garden. While no signs lead to the McCarty Studio or The Gallery restaurant, people from across the country and around the world travel to the quaint town of Merigold and find their way to this Delta icon. You might come to the McCarty’s to buy pottery, but you will leave knowing that they offer much more than a beautifully crafted piece of clay. When the world is too much around you, and you wish you could go back to a simpler time and remember gentle voices from your childhood, the gardens are waiting and the McCarty’s will welcome you as you come through the bamboo and into their Delta oasis. <...HOME...>