About this artwork
This vessel is similar to the earliest known face jugs made in South Carolina and Georgia in the second half of the 1800s. Beginning in 1858 a number of enslaved people from the Kongo region of central Africa were trained as potters in the Edgefield District of South Carolina. They produced utilitarian wares as well as their own pottery. Jugs such as this one are thought to have been used for ritual or religious purposes as they are too small to hold enough water for a field hand. A number of such jugs have been found along routes of the Underground Railroad, suggesting they were valuable enough to be carried as their owners attempted to escape slavery.
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Status
- Currently Off View
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Department
- Arts of the Americas
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Artist
- Artist unknown
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Title
- Face Jug
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Place
- Edgefield county (Object made in:)
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Date
- c. 1860
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Medium
- Stoneware and alkaline glaze
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Dimensions
- H.: 13.3 cm (5 1/4 in.)
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Credit Line
- Juli and David Grainger Fund
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Reference Number
- 2006.84
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IIIF Manifest
- https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/186659/manifest.json
Extended information about this artwork
Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.