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Face Vessel

National Museum of American History

Object Details

Meaders, Cheever
Description
The tradition of shaping human likenesses on ceramic vessels is thousands of years old. Face vessels held different meanings in different cultures around the world. Some were probably used in burial rituals, others satirized the person whose features were captured in clay, and still others were made just for fun.
The earliest face vessels known to have been produced by white southern potters were probably not made until the end of the 1800s. White potters working in the Edgefield area in the mid-1800s may have seen the slave-made vessels and taken the idea with them as they moved out of South Carolina.
This jug, on the right, was made by Georgia potter Cheever Meaders (1887-1967) who produced a small number of face vessels. Although they were popular, Meaders felt that they were too much trouble to make. Meaders used pieces of broken, glazed plates for the eyes and teeth on this piece.
Starting in the 1960s, a growing interest in southern face vessels as examples of 20th-century folk art prompted collectors, historians, and cultural institutions to seek out and encourage the potters who produce them. This piece was donated to the Smithsonian by Ralph Rinzler and his wife. Working for the Smithsonian's Office of Folklife Programs, Rinzler was instrumental in the rediscovery and popularization of face vessels.
Location
Currently not on view
Credit Line
Ralph and Kathryn Rinzler
ca 1967
ID Number
1981.0287.7
accession number
1981.0287
catalog number
1981.0287.07
Object Name
vessel, face
Physical Description
ceramic, stoneware, coarse (overall material)
Measurements
overall: 8 1/4 in x 6 15/16 in; 20.955 cm x 17.62125 cm
place made
United States: Georgia, White county
See more items in
Home and Community Life: Ceramics and Glass
Face Vessels
Cultures & Communities
Domestic Furnishings
National Museum of American History
Record ID
nmah_578630
Metadata Usage (text)
CC0
GUID (Link to Original Record)
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746b2-c544-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa

Related Content

  • American Face Vessels

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IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and media viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. Visit the IIIF page to learn more.
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