Rick Stewart : Professional Cooper Learning from a Legend In this site you will find information on the art of Coopering,the history of Alex Stewart, my Grandfather, and the story of what it was like to learn from a legend.

Although I expanded my career into the Automotive Industry (managing a car dealership), I still love to Cooper in my spare time. Unfortunately, due to my busy schedule, no orders can be taken at this time.

A Family Tradition

I was taught the art of Coopering by my Grandfather, Alex Stewart, and as the only decendant to learn the Coopering trade from him, my work is displayed alongside his work in several different museums throughout the U.S. My Grandfather, Alex, was from Sneedville, Tennessee. He learned the Coopering trade from his father, and with a native skill that had been finely tuned by years of daily experience and accumulated knowledge, he made all the traditional cooper's wooden wares- buckets, barrels, churns, tubs, and piggins. He also made chairs, baskets, bowls, rolling pins, wooden forks and spoons, musical instruments, and wooden carvings, and was quoted as saying he could make anything that could be made out of wood, using no nails or glue. Alex received the National Heritage Fellowship Award in 1983, at the age of 91. He truly lived an American Heritage.
He has also had several books written about him or including him. I was fortunate to learn from the last traditional cooper and I too follow his exact way of the trade. I also am included in several books and magazines and my work is in the same museums as my Grandfathers. I taught woodworking at a high school in Hancock County, TN, taught at the Arrowmont School of Arts in Gatlinburg, TN. , and received a grant from the National Endowment of the Arts to Japan for 6 months in 1988 to teach others what Alex, my Grandfather, taught me so well. Coopering is a family tradition, as I am the fifth generation of coopers in my family.