Extremely Rare Face Jug by Chester Hewell at the Lanier Meaders Pottery, 1975

Summer 2021 Stoneware Auction

Lot #: 381

Price Realized: $1,320.00

($1,100 hammer, plus 20% buyer's premium)

PLEASE NOTE: This result is 3 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.

Summer 2021 Auction Catalog

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Extremely Rare Early-Period Stoneware Face Jug with Alkaline Glaze, Chester Hewell at the Lanier Meaders Pottery, Signed "Chester Hewell / Gillsvll(sic) / GA / SEPT 10-75," Gillsville and Cleveland, GA, 1975, wheel-thrown jug with hand-modeled and applied clay face, including white-and-black-glazed eyes, narrow nose, open mouth with broken china teeth, and large ears. Incised and coggled details to shoulder. Surface covered in a green modified alkaline glaze used by Lanier Meaders. Underside with incised signature. This work is one of the first face jugs produced by Gillsville, Georgia potter, Chester Hewell, and was actually glazed at Lanier Meaders' pottery and fired in Meaders' tunnel kiln in Cleveland, Georgia. At the time, the Hewell Pottery was producing garden ware that would not achieve stoneware temperature, so Meaders allowed the young potter to use his kiln. The two would eventually build wood-burning kilns of their own and remained friends until Meaders' death in 1998. The above information was provided by Dr. John A. Burrison. An important work from the burgeoning face jug industry of the latter 20th century, combining the efforts of two of the leading artists of the period. Provenance: Collection of Dr. John A. Burrison, Atlanta, GA; on loan to the Atlanta History Center, Atlanta, GA since 1984. As-made condition with some tight firing cracks to front, becoming wider at the base and underside. H 9 1/2".