Jug

Artist/Maker
Collin Rhodes Factory
Place Made
Aiken County South Carolina United States of America
Date Made
1846-1850
Medium
stoneware –alkaline-glazed
Dimensions
HOA: 7″
Accession Number
1054.4
Description
Thrown on a wheel, this alkaline-glazed jug has a floral motif executed from the base to the shoulder of the jug. Opposite the decoration, a single strap handle is attached at the neck of the jug. A strap handle is made by pulling or extruding a strip of clay, placing one end of the strip against the vessel, then looping it out to make the handle shape. This differs from a handle that is pulled from the vessel after the clay is attached.

STYLE: Much of the stoneware produced in Edgefield from about 1840 to 1860 was decorated with clay slip which was brushed or trailed onto the dried ware before it was fired. Decoration was applied to stonewares produced at the Phoenix Factory and the C. Rhodes Factory on Shaw’s Creek. The Edgefield decorative tradition appears to have originated at the Phoenix Factory where a kaolin based clay slip and an iron bearing clay slip were often combined to create figures, scenes and floral motifs. The clay slip decoration was applied to the wares before firing. Loops and swags, sometimes punctuated by tassels or flowers, were a common Edgefield decorative motif.

MAKER: The Collin Rhodes Factory was established in 1846. Scholar Cinda Baldwin notes that Collin Rhodes was more of a proprietor than the likelihood that he made pottery. He joined in numerous partnerships at various pottery factories in Edgefield and had several pottery factories often operating at one time under his auspices. At his factory, white slip-trailed decoration was often employed, as is seen on this jug.

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

Credit Line
Purchase Fund