Face Jug

Brown's Pottery, Face Jug, after 1923, glazed stoneware, 6 ⁵⁄₈ x 4 ⁷⁄₈ x 5 ⁷⁄₈ in. (16.9 x 12.3 x 14.8 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr. and museum purchase made possible by Ralph Cross Johnson, 1986.65.26

Artwork Details

Title: Face Jug
Artist: Brown's Pottery
Date: after 1923
Location: Smithsonian American Art Museum
/
Luce Foundation Center
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3rd Floor
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28B
Dimensions: 6 ⁵⁄₈ x 4 ⁷⁄₈ x 5 ⁷⁄₈ in. (16.9 x 12.3 x 14.8 cm.)
Credit Line: Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr. and museum purchase made possible by Ralph Cross Johnson
Mediums: stoneware
Mediums Description: glazed stoneware
Classifications: Decorative Arts
Subjects: Figure — head
Object Number: 1986.65.26
Linked Open Data: https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1986.65.26

Artwork Description

Davis P. Brown, the founder of Brown's Pottery, made the company's first devil jug in the early 1920s, which he placed outside the store's door to attract attention. Since then, Brown's Pottery has created a wide variety of jars with human faces, from the humorous "drunks jugs" with many handles for the tipsy user, to the "chicken waterer jugs" with wide mouths and no teeth.