EarlyAmericanCeramics.com: A Beloved Example of Pottery from Anna, Illinois Made in 1871 for a Cartoonist from New York City

Saturday, January 19, 2019

A Beloved Example of Pottery from Anna, Illinois Made in 1871 for a Cartoonist from New York City

While visiting New York City yesterday and the Winter Antiques Show at the Park Avenue Armory in Manhattan, I made it a priority to stopover afterwards to the New York Historical Society and see one of my all-time favorite pieces of American pottery. In fact, I wrote on Facebook last night that no matter how many times I view this jug, I will never get tired of seeing it. Because of its history and my personal feelings, I feel this is the finest piece of Anna Pottery in existence, as well as one of the best pieces of American folk pottery ever created.

According to the New York Historical Society, "The Anna Pottery Company of Illinois made this as a thank you gift for Thomas Nast, a famous political cartoonist of the 1860s and 1870s. Nast had used his cartoons to attack the massive misappropriation of public funds by Boss Tweed and his henchmen, who controlled the political machine known as Tammany Hall. Tweed is the bearded head with glasses, and most of the other heads are his associates. Also notice the behinds of all the Tammany Hall members trying to climb into the pot of money and power. A lot of people knew about Tweed's corruption, but it was Nast's cartoons in Harper's Weekly that finally aroused the public, the newspapers and government officials to arrest Tweed and send him to prison. The pottery makers also added their hero Nast to the jug. He's the highest head on the jug, the one not attached to a snake's body. Today political cartoonists still see Thomas Nast's cartoons as the gold standard for their profession. And this sculpture stands as a testament to the power of artistic expression."

Temperance Jug Made for Cartoonist, Thomas Nast in 1871