Face Jugs

The history behind face jugs is one born of mystery. The stories of their origins and purpose vary from the 1200's to the early 1900's. One of the most popular and accurate theories is jugs originated with the African slaves in America. Most of the African slaves that were brought to America were processed in the Caribbean. It is here that they acquired conflicting beliefs in voodoo and western Christianity. Both of these religions require a grave marker when a person passes away. If there is no marker, the slaves believed there would be serious consequences for the deceased souls. Since the African slaves were denied head stones by their white masters, they decided to create their own.

The slaves would harvest natural clay from the land or if they were lucky maybe get their hands on some scrap clay from some type of factory setting, which was usually higher in quality. They would create works of arts which resembled "ugly faces" but were and still are considered beautiful to this day. The pots were cooked on an open wood fire with ugliness being the focal point for one critical reason. The fact that the uglier the face, the more effective it was at driving away evil spirits while simultaneously functioning as their grave marker. Moreover, it was believed that the ugly jug had to sit for a full year at least to guarantee the spirit a safe passage to the afterlife. If something were to happen to the jug, such as break, the spirit would then enter into a struggle with the devil. This was a tarrying prospect to the African slaves and thusly, the popularity of the face jugs spread.

In the 1820's the art of making face jugs moved into South Carolina, Georgia, North Carolina, and other states. By the 1830's Mossy Creek Country Georgia became one of the largest pottery communities in the south. In addition, towns like Meeders, Davidson, Brownlow and Chander. By the 1920's, the face jugs evolved and started to serve a new purpose. They became the first form of what would now be considered a child safety lock. The jars were made uglier and uglier to scare young children away from the moonshine that they would be storing inside.

An important name in the history of face jugs is Lander Meaders. Lander was the most famous face jug porter who lived in Georgia. This artist almost singlehandedly kept folk art pottery alive in the south. Even today, there are still a few families who make face jugs in the traditional way to keep the authenticity. They do this by using local clay which was used by their slave ancestors and molding and shaping the clay, along with wood firing in a specific way much as the forefathers of face jug pottery before them. The original technique used in giving the face jugs such an eerier look is using porcelain teeth and eyes. Face jugs are considered to be fun to make by many crafters and they will often create personal face jugs in their free time from unused scrap clay.

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