---
product_id: 16641410
title: "Red Brick, Black Mountain, White Clay: Reflections on Art, Family, and Survival"
brand: "christopher benfey"
price: "€ 31.98"
currency: EUR
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 8
url: https://www.desertcart.hr/products/16641410-red-brick-black-mountain-white-clay-reflections-on-art-family
store_origin: HR
region: Croatia
---

# Red Brick, Black Mountain, White Clay: Reflections on Art, Family, and Survival

**Brand:** christopher benfey
**Price:** € 31.98
**Availability:** ✅ In Stock

## Quick Answers

- **What is this?** Red Brick, Black Mountain, White Clay: Reflections on Art, Family, and Survival by christopher benfey
- **How much does it cost?** € 31.98 with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship
- **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.hr](https://www.desertcart.hr/products/16641410-red-brick-black-mountain-white-clay-reflections-on-art-family)

## Best For

- christopher benfey enthusiasts

## Why This Product

- Trusted christopher benfey brand quality
- Free international shipping included
- Worldwide delivery with tracking
- 15-day hassle-free returns

## Description

Red Brick, Black Mountain, White Clay: Reflections on Art, Family, and Survival

## Images

![Red Brick, Black Mountain, White Clay: Reflections on Art, Family, and Survival - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/718DKChXqiL.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5.0 out of 5 stars







  
  
    great book
  

*by A***R on Reviewed in the United States on May 18, 2013*

I got this from the library and read it and realized I needed this book. It has the kind of combination of personal story and fact that work so well with creative nonfiction. It also has information I didn't know. I've made a fair number of pots and the information on clay and clay formations was fascinating. The same can be said in the stories and history of Black Mountain. Christopher Benfey explores his Quaker/Jewish heritage with a light hand and a sense of humor and wonder.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5.0 out of 5 stars







  
  
    Clay and People
  

*by M***L on Reviewed in the United States on April 19, 2012*

This book is a fascinating interweaving of North Carolina family history, and the development of North Carolina pottery. It is a fascinating and informative read that covers more than two centuries.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4.0 out of 5 stars







  
  
    Microhistory of Benfey’s family and American Pottery tradition
  

*by M***A on Reviewed in the United States on August 29, 2015*

RB,BM ad WC is the latest of Christopher Benfey’s books. I read one of his books every summer and it’s like giving myself a present of a cultural romp through…. Well at the beginning the Gilded Age and Japan, then the Amherst intellectual club and now…. Pottery  tradition! Who would read a book on that if not an expert? Well you will be surprised of how interesting this topic actually is.Among Benfey’s books this one has a particular aspect: that of being based on his own memoires. It is also the history of let’s say “clay” in the American cultural tradition. Benfey’s family has a double ascendency, on one side of North Carolina bricklayers, on the other side from European immigrants to America who with their artistic qualities influenced deeply the American art tradition tied to the Bauhaus movement. Distant relatives at the end were somehow interested also in the “white clay” tradition which is the basis for porcelain production.These three “paths” serve as an inspiration for the three section book, which however doesn’t stick all the time to the traced itinerary but “serendipitously” meanders among references, people, artists, many artists and traditions….. and religion! Because religion is, or was at least in those times, a founding aspect of relations and behaviors. Here we are talking about Quakers, with their simplicity and straightforwardness of which the CB is very proud of.Red Brick is the story of the iron rich clay used to build bricks at the feet of the Appalachian mountains and of people connected to this tradition together with CB grandfather: Levi Coffin the slave-saver, Randall Jarrell the poet, the Jugtown pottery with the Busbees, the Owens, the Japanese influence on American pottery, Mark Hewitt. But it is also the story of the parents and relatives of Benfey’s father from Germany among whom the renowned publishers Ullsteins, Theodor Benfey the linguistic and inspirer of the word “serendipity”, through his transcription of the tale of “The Three Princes of Serendip”.Black Mountain is the story of the 24- year Black Mountain College community illuminated by the experience of the Albers (also Benfey’s relatives) Anni and Joseph and their many friends and acquaintances: Diego Rivera, Oskar Kokoschka, John Cage,  Merce Cunningham and Buckminster Fuller and many others.  The inspiration of the German Bauhaus passed directly into the American Culture (fusion of form and function and honest use of materials) gaining in its passage relatedness and contrast.  Just mentioning famous students (Ruth Asawa, Karen Karnes, David Weinrib, Rauschenberg, Charles Olson, etc etc), Benfey drags us through modern American art, leaving tidbits of knowledge and curiosity to further explore.White Clay is a branched essay on American kaolin, the clay used for porcelain, not the more humble earthenware and bricks spoken about till now. It stems from the exploration by  Thomas Griffith, Wedgewood’s agent in search of white clay for his master’s factories, to America and the Cherokee Indians who in the late 18th century  were the keepers of the secret ingredient. Even in this historical passage Benfey has a relative, William Bartram that together with Andrew Duché (probably the first to make porcelain in US with however no success) made it into history books.  William Bartram independently of his own fame seems to have been the inspirer of some of Coleridge’s poems.The book ends with a hasty description of Whistler’s mother’s portrait and the painter’s fascination with pottery and many cross references to Benfey’s interest in this topic.The book makes a quick read, but if you decide to deepen the knowledge on the mentioned characters the question changes a lot. Compared to the Author’s other books, I think it is less polished and meditated, however the compulsion of writing a family memoire must have been great and a tingling of emotion runs through this work.  The comparison with Edmund De Vaal’s “The Hare with Amber Eyes” is a must and probably RB, BM and WC follows De Vaal’s stereotype even if De Vaal himself has been inspired by Benfey’s books and essays as he openly recognizes. One fact that disturbed me a bit is the tendency of the Author to transpose into history all he narrates. We have the impression episodes he describes took place many years ago, while the history he is talking about is really very recent. I write from a European perspective where history is so long, so even that close to us seems recent, but the American outlook is probably different.One of WB phrases has captured my imagination as descriptive of CB book: “some of these steep soft rocky banks or precipices seem to be continually crumbling to earth, and in these moldering cliffs I discovered veins or strata of most pure and clear white earth”. Some episodes as pieces of shining mica glitter in front of our eyes on a background of much marginal information.

---

## Why Shop on Desertcart?

- 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016
- 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories
- 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price
- 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members)
- 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection
- ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews

**Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.hr/products/16641410-red-brick-black-mountain-white-clay-reflections-on-art-family](https://www.desertcart.hr/products/16641410-red-brick-black-mountain-white-clay-reflections-on-art-family)

---

*Product available on Desertcart Croatia*
*Store origin: HR*
*Last updated: 2026-03-24*