Face Jug

Copied Burlon Craig, Face Jug, after 1974, glazed stoneware with porcelain, 18 5812 3813 in. (47.331.433.0 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
Dimensions
18 5812 3813 in. (47.331.433.0 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Chuck and Jan Rosenak and museum purchase
Mediums Description
glazed stoneware with porcelain
Classifications
Keywords
  • Figure — fragment — face
Object Number
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)