Jug
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.