Face Jug

Copied Burlon Craig, Face Jug, after 1974, glazed stoneware with porcelain, 18 5⁄8 x 12 3⁄8 x 13 in. (47.3 x 31.4 x 33.0 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Chuck and Jan Rosenak and museum purchase, 1997.124.150

Artwork Details

Title
Face Jug
Artist
Date
after 1974
Location
Dimensions
18 5⁄8 x 12 3⁄8 x 13 in. (47.3 x 31.4 x 33.0 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Chuck and Jan Rosenak and museum purchase
Mediums
Mediums Description
glazed stoneware with porcelain
Classifications
Subjects
  • Figure — fragment — face
Object Number
1997.124.150
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1997.124.150

Artwork Description

During Prohibition, face jugs were used to store whiskey and were often made with ugly features to scare children away from sneaking a taste. Burlon Craig made the blue glaze on this pot using ground glass, oak ash, clay, and water found near his home in Catawba Valley. After he molded his jugs on a foot-powered wheel and gave them their first firing, Craig would “dip ‘em in a drum of glaze, let some run inside, and give ‘em a roll.” (Chuck and Jan Rosenak, Museum of American Folk Art Encyclopedia, 1990)