Background

Don Carpentier dedicated himself to reviving the art of making mochaware. Mochaware is turned on a lathe. To make the pieces with the original techniques, Carpentier went to England, researched, and found original late 18th-century foot-powered lathes, which he refurbished. Don recreated an 18th century village on his father’s property in upstate New York. He named the recreated village Eastfield because it was built in his father’s east field. Don dismantled and reassembled more than 20 historic buildings that still serve as a working laboratory for students attending the Early American Trades and Historic Preservation Workshops. It is the longest-running historic preservation school in the country. This became the place where Don made his mochaware. Don died in 2014, and since then, his mochaware creations have only increased in value.