A Small 19th Century Alkaline Glazed Stoneware Jug Owned by the Connecticut Historical Society in Hartford

There have been a number of examples of stoneware made in Edgefield, South Carolina that have been found in New England over the past 100 years, although each object likely tells a different story of how it migrated to New England. Some of those objects include face jugs now owned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts and the National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. There was even a face jug that was plowed out of a field in Massachusetts and advertised in the November 1987 issue of Maine Antique Digest. I have tried to learn the location of the field, but so far I have not been successful.

(Left) Advertisement from the November 1987 Issue of Maine Antique Digest

(Right) This is How the Jug Appears Today

Photo Courtesy: Private Collection

I also wrote about an early Pottersville jug from Edgefield that I found, with my niece Alexis, some years back in the Boston area, as part of an article published in the October 4, 2019 issue of Antiques & Auction News, titled, Thomas Chandler's Pottery Production: McKissick Museum Of The University Of South Carolina Holds Innovative Exhibition: http://www.earlyamericanceramics.com/2019/10/thomas-chandler-story-in-oct-4-2019.html.

Nonetheless, while visiting the storage area of the Connecticut Historical Society in Hartford, Connecticut seven or eight years ago, as part of the research for my now published fifth book, titled, A Celebrated Industry: The Historic Wares of Southeastern Massachusetts, Bristol County and Cape Cod, I noticed a small nineteenth century alkaline glazed stoneware jug sitting on a shelf that appeared like it may have been made in Edgefield. The jug stands under four inches tall.

Furthermore, the museum did not have much information about its history or even where it was made, although it was acquired by the historical society during the first-half of the twentieth century. As a result, I have wondered what type of history that it retained in New England, and whether any of that history included the Hartford area.

A Small 19th Century Alkaline Glazed Stoneware Jug

19th Century Southern Alkaline Glazed Stoneware Jug

Probably Made in Edgefield, South Carolina

Stands 3 3/4" Tall

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: Connecticut Historical Society

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