EarlyAmericanCeramics.com: Early American Face Jug Exhibit at the Fenimore Art Museum and a Face Jug Acquired Earlier this Summer

Friday, August 30, 2019

Early American Face Jug Exhibit at the Fenimore Art Museum and a Face Jug Acquired Earlier this Summer

While driving through upstate New York a few weeks ago with my nephew, Jason and niece, Alexis, we stopped at the Fenimore Art Museum in Coooperstown, New York in order to see the Mr. and Mrs. George S. Meyer Collection of Early American Face Jugs. The collection is phenomenal with a wide selection of face jugs from the Midwest and Southern regions, especially those made in the Edgefield District in South Carolina.

The Meyers Collection took decades to assemble with many of the face jugs coming from Ohio antiques dealer, David Good. They reportedly bought their first piece in 1980, and since then have acquired the largest known private collection of period Edgefield face jugs, as well as significant examples from other potters employed all over the United States.

There is a book available, but it was not published by the museum. It can be purchased through the website https://sandringhampress.com/. This collection will travel to South Carolina in 2020, when it will be displayed in its entirety at the South Carolina State Museum in Columbia.

Early American Face Jug Exhibit at the Fenimore Art Museum

An Early American Face Jug Exhibit is Currently on Display at the Fenimore Art Museum

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Card Handed Out by the Museum on How to Purchase a Book

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Information on the Back of the Card on How to Purchase the Book

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But before I saw the Meyers Early American Face Jug exhibit, I acquired this stoneware face jug earlier this summer. I was told that it was reportedly found decades ago in Pennsylvania.

This object was made by applying the face, ears and hair to an ovoid stoneware jug, creating a face jug. The base has been inscribed with the initials "T.H.," but this was not likely done by the potter. The initials were scratched into the jug after it had been fired in the kiln, and instead probably represent some type of past ownership.

These photos were taken on our way to a New York Mets game outside of the American Folk Art Museum's Collection and Education Center in Long Island City in Queens. And, although I do not where this jug was made, I certainly thought its look was great. It does appear to have significant age and it is rather heavy in weight.

Stoneware Face Jug in New York City