Artist

Franklin Lafayette (“Fate”) Becham

born Crawford County, GA 1871-died Crawford County, GA 1958
Also known as
  • Fate Becham
Born
Crawford County, Georgia, United States
Died
Crawford County, Georgia, United States
Biography

Stamped on the upper left loop handle of this whiskey jug [Double Handled Whiskey Jug 1986.65.29] are the initials "FLB," identifying marks of the Georgian potter, Fate Becham. The 1850 census in Crawford County identified Fate's father, "Wash," and his four uncles as "Jug makers," a statistic that also applied to eighteen potteries operating in the same county before 1907. With the widespread destruction of livestock during the Civil War, the corn harvests shifted from feed to whiskey, which required enormous quantities of stoneware for its storage and sale. Potters of eastern Crawford County, such as the Bechams, specialized in liquor jugs, which were sold as fast as they could be made. Wash's sons, Fate and Jack, continued the family tradition until Prohibition curtailed the demand for jugs. Fate stopped working as a potter around 1918.

Lynda Roscoe Hartigan Made with Passion: The Hemphill Folk Art Collection in the National Museum of American Art (Washington, D.C. and London: National Museum of American Art with the Smithsonian Institution Press, 1990)

Works by this artist (7 items)

View all artworks
Ana Mendieta, Anima (Alma/Soul), 1976, printed 1977, chromogenic print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Smithsonian Latino Initiatives Pool and the Smithsonian Institution Collections Acquisition Program, 1995.54.1.2, © 1976, Estate of Ana Mendieta
Anima (Alma/​Soul)
Artist
Date1976, printed 1977
chromogenic print
Not on view
Ana Mendieta, Sweating Blood, 1973, single channel, super-8mm film transferred to high-definition digital media, color, silent; 03:18 minutes, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the American Women's History Initiative Acquisitions Pool, Administered through the Smithsonian American Women's History Initiative, 2021.38, © The Estate of Ana Mendieta Collection LLC. Courtesy Galerie Lelong & Co. Licensed by Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY
Sweating Blood
Artist
Date1973
single channel, super-8mm film transferred to high-definition digital media, color, silent; 03:18 minutes
On view
Ana Mendieta, Anima (Alma/Soul), 1976, printed 1977, chromogenic print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Smithsonian Latino Initiatives Pool and the Smithsonian Institution Collections Acquisition Program, 1995.54.1.5, © 1976, Estate of Ana Mendieta
Anima (Alma/​Soul)
Artist
Date1976, printed 1977
chromogenic print
Not on view
Ana Mendieta, Anima (Alma/Soul), 1976, printed 1977, chromogenic print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Smithsonian Latino Initiatives Pool and the Smithsonian Institution Collections Acquisition Program, 1995.54.1.3, © 1976, Estate of Ana Mendieta
Anima (Alma/​Soul)
Artist
Date1976, printed 1977
chromogenic print
Not on view