Extremely Rare Early Lanier Meaders Stoneware Devil Face Jug

July 21, 2018 Stoneware Auction

Lot #: 40

Price Realized: $2,950.00

($2,500 hammer, plus 18% buyer's premium)

PLEASE NOTE: This result is 6 years old, and the American ceramics market frequently changes. Additionally, small nuances of color, condition, shape, etc. can mean huge differences in price. If you're interested in having us sell a similar item for you, please contact us here.

July 21, 2018 Auction Catalog

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Important and Extremely Rare Alkaline-Glazed Stoneware Devil Face Jug, attributed to Lanier Meaders, Cleveland, GA, circa 1965, wheel-thrown jug with applied facial features, including large ears and nose, ball-shaped eyes set deep within their lids, a slightly-open mouth, and horns. Surface covered in an opaque, olive-green alkaline glaze with black-glazed accents to pupils. This jug survives as one of the rarest face vessels known by the Georgia master, Lanier Meaders, potted during his earliest period of face jug production in the 1960s. Characteristic of Meaders' earliest work, this jug features a smooth "frogskin" alkaline glaze with cruder application of the facial features and blackish pupils accenting the glazed eyes. In our research, we can find only one other Lanier Meaders devil jug of this style and age; this second example sold at Slotin Folk Art Auction in 2007, deaccessioned by the Smithsonian Institution, possibly setting a world auction record for a Lanier Meaders face jug. Provenance: From a Virginia private collection. One horn restored. Minor wear to edge of ears. One ear with very faint line. H 8 1/2".