This is an incredible twentieth century stoneware face jug or sculpture that was created in the nineteenth century Southern pottery tradition, which has been shown recently at some of America's premier antiques shows by Madison, Connecticut antiques dealer Alan Katz. Additionally, this is certainly among the more impressive post-American Civil War and twentieth century stoneware face jugs or sculptures known to exist today.
The information that accompanies the object, reads in part, "This bust was made by Peter Wright McAdam; McAdam and his family were premier pottery makers operating on the Eastern Shore of Mobile, Alabama (in the late nineteenth and twentieth century). The kiln workers were primarily African American." The bust is signed "P.W. McAdam, February 16, 1925."
Peter Wright McAdam (1867-1932) was born in Scotland, migrating to America in 1872, where he arrived with his family in New York, relocating to Alabama. Peter married Florence O'Neal McAdam (1871-1941) in 1895 and the couple had five children. Although, when he arrived to America, he was a young boy, and his father James McAdam (1820-1880), a skilled Scottish trained potter, operated a stoneware business in Montrose, Alabama, which he established and ran with two of his sons.
However, sometime after James' death in 1880, the rest of the family eventually moved to the Montgomery, Alabama area. Peter married Florence O’Neal, the granddaughter of Captain James O’Neal (1821-1912) and the daughter of Captain William O'Neal (1851-1918). The O'Neals were partly a family of boat captains in Alabama, who migrated from Ireland.
Around the time McAdam married Florence or shortly thereafter is when he relocated to Daphne in order to operate the O’Neal Pottery, which was owned by William. This is where the master potter fashioned many fine stoneware articles for the local households of Daphne and the surrounding area. His artistry with clay is not only regarded in text as local legend, but can be seen today on tombstones, which are embellished with weeping willows, acorns and oak leaves.
In fact, McAdam's tombstone is made out of stoneware, where it is located in the Methodist Church Cemetery in Daphne, reading in part, "Beloved husband, father & master potter." Both Captain James and Captain Williams' tombstones are also made out of stoneware, and located in the same cemetery.
Furthermore, this stoneware bust is illustrated on page 84 in a book written in 1988 by Frank Maresca, titled, American Primitive: Discoveries in Folk Sculpture. According to the book, "Until recently, American primitive sculpture was seen as a kind of folk art, where the design and purpose of these objects are rooted in a community of tradition and related to the daily material and spiritual needs of ordinary people. But in recent years, collectors and historians have begun to place this body of art within the realm of fine art."
Stoneware Face Bust Made by Peter Wright McAdam in Daphne, AL
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