Face Jugs by Su N.: December 2009

Happy New Year!

All best wishes for a Happy, Healthy, and Prosperous 2010 for all of us.

Icehouse Pottery Show - Finished for another few months at least!

We closed the show at 5PM tonight - another successful year; it's always so nice to leave with empty boxes rather than the heavy boxes we lugged in. Looks like we have two new members and a possible 3 more. They found out about us through various sources - friends, Internet, publications, and newsletters. That, on top of the members culling their stock and making room for their next best idea ever.... it's been a great year and it's all looking up.

Icehouse Pottery Show - Still open, Sunday 12/06/09

Icehouse Pottery Studio

3 Hamburg Turnpike

Riverdale, NJ

10AM-5PM

973-616-4700

www.icehousestudio.org

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Day One - Icehouse Pottery Show

Mother Nature chose today to invite Old Man Winter into our house. While our visitors were steady, we'd hoped for more and look forward to tomorrow, once this weather turns into nothing. The up side is that several prospective members visited and checked us out; no one felt rushed and it was a lotof fun talking to them. There are some really interesting people thrilled to find a studio with openings in their own neighbourhood. The coming year looks fine indeed!

Face Jugs, Ugly Jugs, FUN JUGS!

Most simply put, “Face Jugs” are vessels decorated with faces. Their long history gives insight into our culture and people overcoming the influences set against them.

The Face Jugs in America likely had their start with slaves in the South, perhaps influenced by the ancestry worship in Voodoo from the Caribbean. The slaves adopted them to mark graves; by law the slaves could erect no grave markers, nor were they permitted to read and write, but they could make these jugs after their work hours in the potteries. And the jugs could defy masters as slaves weren’t able; for example, many of the jugs depicted smoking faces, although slaves were denied the habit. As the Christian influence grew, the face jugs grew more ferocious to fend off the devil so their relatives could get to Heaven unchallenged. A broken face jug was an indication that the dearly departed was in battle with the devil over their soul.

North Carolina farmers used pottery to augment their income. When they became bored, they adopted the slave art of face jugs as a release; the potter showed off to a boss, customer or other potters. The fiercer the better: the hooch jugs decorated most often needed to be unique (and scary!) to keep youngsters from getting into the alcohol. After the civil war, tin and glass came into widespread use; the need for pottery declined, affecting the farmer/potter’s income. When Prohibition came and the potters realized that they needed the bootleggers’ payment for their wares, it was explained that as a person became more inebriated, the faces became scarier and uglier, thereby influencing many to stop their drinking. The temperance movement could hardly complain and face jugs once again defied pressure from a dominant force.

Face jug characters glimpse our character; what amuses or is curious about the people and events around us. Each of these jugs comes alive with all their foibles and oddities. And they have that most important feature when we choose those we love: they make us think, but also smile or giggle or laugh. And a little of that each day makes life worth living.

Face Jugs by Su N.

Happy New Year!

Icehouse Pottery Show - Finished for another few months at least!

Icehouse Pottery Show - Still open, Sunday 12/06/09

Day One - Icehouse Pottery Show

Face Jugs, Ugly Jugs, FUN JUGS!

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Rogue's Gallery

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Series B

Series A