Extremely Rare Alkaline-Glazed Stoneware Face Jug with Rock Eyes and Teeth, attributed to Cheever and Lanier Meaders, Cleveland, GA, circa 1967, ovoid jug with hand-modeled and applied clay face featuring large rock eyes set within protruding lids, curved ears, nose, and smiling mouth with rock teeth. Surface covered in a mottled olive-colored alkaline glaze. A collaborative work by father, Cheever, and son, Lanier, the piece was made when The Smithsonian purchased over two-hundred Meaders jugs to be sold at their Folk Life Festival in 1967. The underside bears the penciled inscription, "Meaders / Georgia / 7-3-67." Featuring exceptionally large rock eyes and an appealing green glaze, this face jug ranks among the greatest Meaders family products known. Provenance: Carl and Marian Mullis Collection; Ex-Stan Clark, Gillsville, GA.; On long-term loan to Colonial Williamsburg, 2019 to 2023. Professional restoration to area of lower lid of proper left eye, extending partway around the outer curve of the eyelid. An area of professional restoration to outer curve of the proper right eyelid. Due to the size of the eyelids and frequent in-the-firing losses found on 1960s era Meaders family face jugs, it is likely that the restoration covers in-the-firing damage. H 8".
