This is a red earthenware form that I cannot recall having seen from the potters in Strasburg, Virginia before, whereas this object was recently acquired by a friend from a picker's private collection in New England. This late nineteenth century slip decorated red earthenware harvest jug was most likely made at either the J. Eberly & Company Pottery or the S. Bell & Son Pottery in the late 1800s, although the form does not appear to be illustrated in any of the books that have been published about pottery production in Strasburg. However, the form is mentioned in text, but it does not seem to be illustrated in any of the picture plates published in the books.
Furthermore, the basic shape of this jug is a larger form of the smaller sized red earthenware jugs that are known from Strasburg today, although the potter then altered the jug adding a spout to the front of it, which formed the shape of the harvest jug.
Interestingly, though, a filter was added behind the pouring spout, which was likely used to keep any debris out of the water or liquid when it passed through it. This might suggest that this type of jug may have been used along a river or a creek, etc. and the filter would have prevented any unwanted small sticks or leaves (or such) from getting into the drinking water. It is a similar idea when compared to the filters that were applied on teapots all over world, as well as some American stoneware filtering water coolers, such as one example that was made by Peter Herrmann in Baltimore that is displayed at the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
But this form is published on a trade card from about 1890 that I received a few years ago from the collection of Gene Comstock, author of The Pottery of the Shenandoah Valley Region. A price list is printed for many of the plain and ornamental wares made at J. Eberly & Company in Strasburg, a business operated by Jacob Eberly (1830-1908) and Daniel Letcher Eberly (1859-1919); the price list indicates that one-gallon harvest jugs were sold for $3 per dozen: http://www.earlyamericanceramics.com/2019/08/late-19th-century-j-eberly-company.html.
Nevertheless, I would be curious to learn how rare or known this form is today from the Strasburg potters. Are there many other slip decorated red earthenware harvest jugs known?
Note: Here is a link to a story that I posted to this website in December of 2022, which further discusses the J. Eberly & Company trade card: http://www.earlyamericanceramics.com/2022/12/an-outstanding-glazed-red-earthenware.html.
A Late 19th Century Red Earthenware Harvest Jug from Strasburg, VA
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