Extremely Rare Stoneware Face Jug with Exceptional Glaze, Stamped "BROWN POTTERY," Arden NC origin, circa 1930, semi-ovoid jug with applied facial features, including close-set eyes with pierced pupils and eyebrows, a Roman nose with carved nostrils, small ears with pierced centers, and open mouth baring broken china teeth. Surface dipped in an Albany slip glaze, followed by a highly unusual, secondary dipped glaze possibly composed of ash. The resultant glazed surface is gray-green with lighter runs throughout, producing an aesthetic much like that of the alkaline glazes of 19th century Edgefield, South Carolina. Underside impressed with early, small-sized "BROWN POTTERY" maker's mark above an incised number "47." This jug is the only Brown Pottery example that we have seen glazed in this manner. Some face jugs produced by the Browns in Atlanta, Georgia, prior to their arrival in North Carolina, exhibit a related (but more sporadic) "frogskin" glaze, produced by dipping the pieces in Albany slip and exposing them to vaporous salt (salt glazing) inside the kiln. The treatment on this jug, however, is different- the glaze being thicker, more opaque, and clearly dipped. As the Brown family consistently relied on simple brown glazes for their face jugs, this work is easily the finest-glazed example that we have seen. Very nice condition with two shallow chips to each ear. H 8".
