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

Summer 2021 Stoneware Auction

Lot #: 382

Price Realized: $1,200.00

($1,000 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 / Oct 5 1975," Wayne Hewell, Gillsville and Cleveland, GA, 1975, wheel-thrown jug with hand-modeled and applied clay face, including unglazed eyes with black-glazed pupils, narrow nose, open mouth with quartzite teeth and protruding tongue, and large ears. Surface covered in a local clay glaze known as "Martin slip," occasionally used by Lanier Meaders. Underside incised with Chester Hewell signature, although the jug was actually made by Chester's cousin, Wayne Hewell, who was working at the family pottery at the time. This jug was glazed at the Lanier Meaders pottery and fired in Lanier Meaders' tunnel kiln, during a period when the Hewell Pottery was producing garden ware that would not achieve stoneware temperature. Chester Hewell would later build his own wood-burning kiln for firing stoneware. 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 potteries of the period. Provenance: Collection of Dr. John A. Burrison, Atlanta, GA; on loan to the Atlanta History Center, Atlanta, GA since 1981. As-made condition with some firing cracks to base, extending onto underside. H 8 1/4".