Unknown American
Face Jug

Public Domain

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Images(3)

Maker Unknown American

CultureAmerican

Titles

Face Jug

Datec. 1860–1870

Made inEdgefield District, South Carolina, United States

MediumAlkaline-glazed stoneware with kaolin

Dimensions8 1/2 × 6 1/4 × 6 3/4 in. (21.6 × 15.9 × 17.1 cm)

Credit LineThe Bayou Bend Collection, museum purchase funded by the W. H. Keenan Family Endowment Fund

Object numberB.2019.3

Current Location

The Audrey Jones Beck Building

108 Hevrdejs Gallery

On view

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Department

Bayou Bend

Object Type

CERAMICS

DescriptionThis face jug was made in the Edgefield District of South Carolina, probably just before or just after the Civil War. With its arresting features and insistent presence, it reflects a range of historical dynamics, especially the role of slavery in American industry and agriculture. Relying heavily on enslaved potters, this area of western South Carolina developed a flourishing stoneware industry in the early 1800s. Its production was overwhelmingly alkaline- or ash-glazed ware that used ash as a flux to aid the melting and vitrification of the glaze. Face jugs made by African or African-American potters bear comparison with African sculptural traditions, particularly with minkisi, or power figures, from the former Kingdom of Kongo in west-central Africa that sometimes incorporated pieces of shell or porcelain as eyes. The precise meaning and function of the face jugs within the communities that made and used them is unclear. However, recent scholarship strongly suggests that they were imbued with spiritual significance related to beliefs and traditions that enslaved people struggled to retain for themselves and that continued long after the era of slavery ended.
ProvenanceClive W. Bridgham (1951–2018), Providence, Rhode Island [1]; Estate of Clive W. Bridgham; sold by [Gustave J. S. White Auctioneers, Newport, Rhode Island, June 27, 2017]; purchased by an anonymous individual [2]; consigned to [Crocker Farm, Sparks, Maryland, March 23, 2019, lot 73]; purchased by MFAH, 2019.

[1] The jug was found among the possessions of Clive W. Bridgham, a descendant of Samuel W. Bridgham (1775–1840), who served as the first mayor of Providence, Rhode Island. Samuel Bringham’s nephew Thomas Paine (1786–1859) was a naval officer who resided in Savannah and Charleston, where he possibly acquired the jug.

[2] The present example and a related jug were purchased at a Rhode Island auction of Bridgham’s personal property by the same individual and consigned for sale at Crocker Farm.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks

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Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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