Artist/Maker

Seigler, John W.

Place Made

Date Made

1854

Medium

stoneware –alkaline-glazed

Dimensions

HOA: 14 5/8″; WOA: 12″

Accession Number

5813.50

Description

This ovoid, alkaline-glazed stoneware jar is marked in white slip, “John Sigler / Maker / 1854,” and was made in the shop of John W. Seigler at Shaw’s Creek outside of Edgefield, South Carolina. On opposite sides of the shoulder, lug handles were placed against the sides of the jar. Alkaline glaze is a mix of clay and ash or lime that acted as a flux.

MAKER: In 1853 John W. Seigler purchased the former Collin Rhodes pottery factory at Shaw’s Creek, outside of Edgefield near Eureka, South Carolina. Seigler was the proprietor of the pottery factory, but he did not make pottery. Instead, he hired itinerant potters to make the pieces at the factory. Author Cinda K. Baldwin notes that brothers Jacob and John Stauber from Germany likely managed the pottery factory. Both brothers were listed as stoneware potters in the 1860 census.

Baldwin, Cinda K. “Great & Noble Jar: Traditional Stoneware of South Carolina.” Athens, GA: UGA Press, 1993.

Credit Line

The William C. and Susan S. Mariner Collection