A Stoneware Face Jug Found Decades Ago in Pennsylvania

I wrote last weekend that towards the end of each year, I try to go through all of my old pictures that I intended to write something about, but never did, and post an article about the objects that I photographed. This post is another example of that.

At the beginning of last summer, I purchased this cold painted stoneware face jug from Robesonia, Pennsylvania antiques dealer Greg Kramer, which he had owned for sometime, and he recalled it being found decades ago in Pennsylvania. He said he bought it at a local auction in the 1990s, and he thought it was found in the area, as well. I thought it was a really interesting example, and extremely well made in both form and paint.

However,  I have not been able to determine exactly where it was made, thus why I have not written about it. Although, I have thought that its production is similar to a group of painted stoneware face jugs depicting African Americans, reportedly made by a Mr. Nelson in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina in the 1920s, and discovered in the 1990s. These jugs have sold in the past decade through Crocker Farm in Sparks, Maryland and Wooten & Wooten in Camden, South Carolina, among other places.

The style of the production, the color of the clay and the painted surface also somewhat remind me of face jugs made throughout the twentieth century by the Brown family in Arden, North Carolina. Nonetheless, I have yet to find a matching example. But it was suggested by West Granby, Connecticut antiques dealer, Robert Girouard that this may have been manufactured to be used as a birdhouse. It may have also been made to stand on a fence post.

These pictures were taken while driving to a New York Mets baseball game in June 2019 outside of the American Folk Art Museum's collections and education center in Long Island City, near Queens in New York City.

Stoneware Face Jug Found Decades Ago in Pennsylvania

My Nephew Jason Holding the Face Jug Outside the American Folk Art Museum in New York City

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20th Century American Cold Painted Stoneware Face Jug

Manufacturer Unknown to Me

Similar to Wares Made in North Carolina as Early as the 1920s

Found Decades Ago in Pennsylvania

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Another View of the Face Jug

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View of the Face

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View of the Back

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View of the Base

Possibly Manufactured to be Used as a Birdhouse

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Please Stay Tuned...Much More to Come...