Historic artifacts transformed into beautiful works of art

What do you get when you marry historic artifacts with skilled artists? You get the beautiful Heritage Collection of jewelry and pottery from New Bern Historical Society. All of the pieces in the Collection incorporate an artifact recovered from an archeological dig here in New Bern; some date back before 1750. The Society has partnered with Hearnes Jewelry’s Audrey Corby and Fairfield Harbour resident Sonia Humphrey of Ocean Inspired Jewelry who have crafted singular works of art. Potter Joyce Basye has also participated joining historic artifact with modern pottery. The Heritage Collection of jewelry is only available at Hearne’s Jewelry at 1331 McCarthy Blvd, or at Sonia’s Ocean Inspired Jewelry Tuesdays and Saturdays at the Farmer’s Market in New Bern. Pottery pieces can be seen only at Mitchell’s Hardware at 215 Craven St.

Every artifact in the Heritage Collection was recovered from an archeological dig in 1980. A team of archaeologists from the North Carolina Division of Archives and History conducted an investigation at the Haslen House dependency site on East Front Street. The trove of recovered artifacts was transported to Raleigh for further examination. The collection was returned and eventually gifted by the New Bern Preservation Foundation to the New Bern Historical Society.

New Bern Historical Society Curator, Jim Hodges is thrilled with the result of this partnership. “We are pleased to make available a few select artifacts from the Haslen Dependency archaeological dig that have been transformed into beautifully crafted works by talented artists. We have prepared a certificate of authenticity to accompany each piece. They are indeed unique.” He hopes that people will enjoy having their own bit of New Bern History, and eventually plans to have a display of some of the larger artifacts for public viewing at the Attmore-Oliver House.

The mission of the New Bern Historical Society is to celebrate and promote New Bern and its heritage through events and education. Offices are located in the historic Attmore-Oliver House at 511 Broad Street in New Bern. For more information, call 252-638-8558 or go to NewBernHistorical.org or facebook.com/NewBernHistoricalSociety.