I brought home this twentieth century stoneware face jug last week made by Quillian Lanier Meaders (1917-1998) in Mossy Creek, Georgia; I acquired it from Dave Hillier at Antiques Associates at West Townsend in Massachusetts. The jug survives in as-made condition with an alkaline glaze and clay teeth and eyes. My niece Alexis' instant reaction was that it looked like a witch so she decided to dress it up as one for Halloween. And I thought this would be appropriate seeing that the most expensive piece of his stoneware to sell at auction was a Jack-o-Lantern that brought $16,500 (plus the auction premiums) at Slotin Folk Art in Buford, Georgia in 2007. This jug likely dates from the 1970s or early 1980s; the base has also been signed by Meaders.
According to the National Endowment for the Arts, an independent federal agency in Washington, D.C., "Quillian 'Lanier' Meaders was born on October 4, 1917, near Cleveland in northern Georgia. At one time, the area had been among the most concentrated pottery centers in the state. Lanier's grandfather, John Milton Meaders started the Meaders Pottery in 1892, and all six of his sons learned the craft. But only Lanier's, father, Cheever made it a lifelong passion. He produced a variety of wares that were glazed with wood-ash or lime (alkaline) glazes. Later, he produced face jugs or whimseys, which were in high demand, though he (reportedly) didn't like them much.
Lanier Meaders helped his father run the shop, but he didn't become a full-time potter until 1967, when he was 50, around the time a Smithsonian crew arrived from Washington, D.C. to document the work of his father, Cheever Meaders. The museum wanted Cheever's face jugs for the first Festival of American Folklife. When Cheever became ill, Lanier stepped in to make enough of the jugs to fill the order. They sold for $2.50 each and became a hit. When his father died that year, Lanier took over the business. He is said to have created more than 10,000 face jugs (in his career). All of this life, he continued the alkaline-glazed stoneware tradition of the area, working along with a foot-powered treadle and a rectangular wood-fired tunnel kiln.
The face jugs produced by Lanier underwent a considerable evolution. The first ones featured blobs of clay representing the eyes, a nose, and a mouth applied to a jug wall. Later ones, featured careful attention to the details of the jug."
A Stoneware Face Jug Made by Lanier Meaders in Mossy Creek, Georgia
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