Episode 43 | Liberty Antiques Recap: Pottery, Paintings, and a Benny Carter Birdhouse

Episode 43 | Liberty Antiques Recap: Pottery, Paintings, and a Benny Carter Birdhouse

Author: Matt Ledbetter November 10, 2025 Duration: 51:39

Matt and Kyle sit down after two full days of picking at the Liberty Antiques Festival in Liberty, North Carolina. Surrounded by their finds, they go through the haul piece by piece, from rare signed North Carolina pottery and 19th-century paintings to a pristine Benny Carter saw.

The conversation dives into the stories behind the buys, the lessons learned from years on the road, and the excitement that comes with finding something special in a sea of booths. From showcase surprises to pottery discoveries, this episode captures the rhythm and reward of a good show weekend.

Chapters
00:00 | Let’s get ready to go through the Liberty haul
04:54 | Matt reflects on first trips to Liberty and twenty years of picking
07:17 | The showcase buy and how to think through bulk deals
09:10 | Pottery finds at Liberty
14:41 | The mini painted basket
16:37 | 19th-century gilt frame paintings
19:37 | The $90 oval portrait
29:48 | Benny Carter painted saw and birdhouse
34:35 | Back to the showcase treasures and collecting small finds
48:28 | Reflections on Liberty and looking ahead
50:47 | Send in your folky stories

As the conversation wraps, Matt and Kyle look ahead to the next round of shows and auctions, reflecting on what makes Liberty so unique. From pottery and paintings to showcase treasures, the episode reminds us that every object has a story and every picker has a tale worth telling.

Watch the Dealer Setup Day vlog titled “Day 1 at Liberty Antique Festival | Quilts, Baskets, and a Ghost Table” now on the House of Folk Art channel. 

The second Liberty vlog will be released next Monday and will feature many of the items discussed in this episode.

Do you know a folk artist? Send in your folky stories:
📧 houseoffolkart@gmail.com
📞 (919) 410-8002

Leave your name and where you’re from, and you might get a shoutout on the next podcast.

Follow @houseoffolkart for more behind-the-scenes stories and upcoming auction dates at LedbetterAuctions.com.


Matt Ledbetter lives in a world of vibrant paint, carved wood, and compelling stories. In House of Folk Art, this Gibsonville, North Carolina auctioneer and collector pulls up a chair to share that world, drawing directly from his deep connections within the Southern folk art community. His perspective is unique; because he organizes renowned quarterly auctions, Matt often knows the artists personally and has handled their work firsthand. This isn't a distant academic lecture. Instead, each episode feels like a conversation about the objects and the people who make them, exploring the intricate history behind the creations and the profound, often very personal, motivations that drive the artists. You’ll hear about intimate encounters and the small details that give this art its soul, from the choice of reclaimed materials to the narratives etched into the surface. Tuning into this podcast means getting a backstage pass to a living tradition, where every whirligig, portrait, or memory jug carries a fragment of cultural history. Matt’s guidance helps unravel the rich tapestry of this creative landscape, making the stories behind Southern folk art accessible and deeply engaging for anyone curious about the visual heritage of the region. The House of Folk Art podcast builds, piece by piece, a vivid understanding of why these works resonate so powerfully.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 50

House of Folk Art
Podcast Episodes
Episode 65 | The Antique Baskets You Should Be Hunting For [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:33:32
Matt sits down with antique dealer and collector Laura Saville for a deep dive into old baskets, using examples from Matt’s collection and baskets Laura brought with her to answer a deceptively simple question: how do yo…
Episode 64 | Face Jugs, Monsters and the Art of Stacy Lambert [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:28:58
Kyle and Matt dive into the life, work, and wild imagination of North Carolina folk potter Stacy Lambert, using old photographs, stories, interview footage, and pieces from Matt’s collection to trace how Stacy developed…
Episode 63 | The Lost Art of Door-Knock Picking with Wade Ledbetter [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:09:43
Wade Ledbetter returns to the House of Folk Art to talk about the lost art of door-knock picking.Wade started picking around 1978 and spent more than 30 years driving back roads, choosing houses that looked promising, an…
Episode 62 | Mike Smith Was There: Rare Photos from Folk Art History [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 57:10
Mike Smith returns to the House of Folk Art with something remarkable: a collection of photographs he took while visiting folk artists across the South during the 1990s.Mike estimates that he has photographed thousands o…
Episode 59 | What Does a Real Folk Art Collector Collect? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:02:24
Matt and Sully are back at Ledbetter Auction Gallery in Gibsonville with a fresh stack from a 400-piece single-owner folk art collection that just came through the door.The collection had already been unboxed and was wai…
Episode 58 | Matt and Kyle Get Back to Folk Art [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:08:28
Matt and Kyle are back at the Auction Gallery in Gibsonville after a run of antique shows. Liberty and Fishersville were fun, but this episode gets back to the roots of House of Folk Art: self-taught art, pottery, carvin…
Episode 57 | Van Side at Fishersville Antique Expo [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 24:10
Fishersville was a great show this year. Friday was packed from the start, dealers were moving material early, and by Saturday morning Matt was already back at the van digging through the pile of things that he’s taking…