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Facejugs. 103 Figure 42a. The jugs in this photograph were made in 1967 and 1968. The smallest is by Cheever, the other two, by Lanier. (Photo by Ralph Rinzler, 1979.) Figure 42b. These later jugs were made by Lanier a decade after those in the above picture. (Photo by Robert Sayers, 1979.)
104 form in White County is generally credited to Gillsville potter Will Hewell, who worked in the area periodically between 1910 and 1940. The Browns, who worked around Cleveland in 1920 and 1921, also knew the form, and Brown family descendants continue today to make face jugs at a pottery near Asheville, North Carolina. That Cheever Meaders recalls as a boy seeing a three-foot example occupying a corner of his grandfather's porch may mean that facejugs have even deeper roots in the region. Thus the local origin of the form remain;; a mystery. In an engaging aside, Lanier Meaders muses that the ultimate origin of the face jug may lie with the Viking adventurers of the North Atlantic: "They settled most of the world anyhow, they were a seagoing people. And all their ships, you know, wooden ships, had some kind of a head on them: a dragon or bird head or some kind of animal." In view of their popularity wim customers, it is surprising that these intriguing jugs were never considered as more than ephemera by family members. Cheever, ever the production potter, disliked the time spent modeling the faces and complained diat his fingers were "too stiff" for the chore: "People ask for 'em, but I ain't fooling widi it much. Don't like to make 'em. Too much work. If I make one, set it off, and time I get it decorated and fixed up, I could turn two or diree other pieces of some kind. I could turn two pitchers, and I never have yet made enough pitchers." Cheever continued to manufacture face jugs in his last year primarily because they were profitable. His pieces retained a primitive simplicity with their rough, unshaped eyebrows, their pinched-off clay noses, and their china and ceramic tile teeth. In marked contrast to these are die facejugs presendy being made by his son, Lanier. Lanier Meaders's attitude toward his specialty jugs is almost as cavalier as his father's: "Well, they're nothing except to make somebody mad wim. They can be used for that pretty well. Tell a fella it had his picture, you'd have to fight him after he's seen it. They're about the ugliest thing a person can make." On the other hand, since around 1969 Lanier has taken great care with his modeling. Approaching "sculptural realism" (though still grossly exaggerated), his jugs now have caved-in cheeks, quartz eyes, and finely detailed lips, ears, and eyebrows. Each vessel has its own "personality," conveying a great deal of the maker's wit and talent. Some of Lanier's
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CheeverMeaders, circa 1933. (Photo
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The publication of this monograph w
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Editor's Preface In 1978, the Smith
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when the pace of work and passage o
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Introduction This handmade pott'ry
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We made a commitment to document th
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E. Richard Sorenson seven months af
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pace. Thus, we arrived just as a ki
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them by pottery entrepreneurs. The
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ville to the lumber mill at Helen,
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well known to scholars, kindly prov
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The Meaders Family I remember very
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oad tunnel" kiln and a mule-drawn "
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Hall County, and several of the Whi
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crocks, cover them with a sheet, hi
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and the Meaderses. Around 1920, an
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to Arie and Cheever Meaders in litt
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Figure 6. Cheever Meaders and his c
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Joiirnal and Constitution mum i in
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Adanta and Asheville. Cheever's wor
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esiding in his parents' small cotta
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Work Processes Our approach to pott
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SHELVES o L WHEEL STORAGE TABLE WEb
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Figure 12. The pottery yard, 1967-6
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textured yellow clays in the other
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Figure 15. Lanier's electric mud mi
Page 53 and 54: ^///M/M$zzzn ty/W'""/"PZa Figure 16
Page 55 and 56: Figure 17. Crib assembly, showing b
Page 57 and 58: vessels turned to the same height a
Page 59 and 60: Contouring tools. (Photos by Ralph
Page 61 and 62: Figures 21, 22, 23. Turning a six-g
Page 63 and 64: Figure 23a. Rejoining top and botto
Page 65 and 66: Metal pottery lifters. Figure 25a.
Page 67 and 68: would roll out short pieces of soft
Page 69 and 70: Like the Meaderses' treadle wheels,
Page 71 and 72: Figure 29. The bottom side of the u
Page 73 and 74: to handle the glazed ware very care
Page 75 and 76: the next (fig. 33). In general, the
Page 77 and 78: All of the traditional ware was pla
Page 79 and 80: from an earlier dollar-a-cord. As t
Page 81 and 82: squeeze the excess moisture out, an
Page 83 and 84: had been turned too thin for the cl
Page 85 and 86: while a prefired and hammered clay
Page 87 and 88: thin with a slight twist to one sid
Page 89 and 90: children would file out to the work
Page 91 and 92: with the previous night's whole mil
Page 93 and 94: Figure 39b. Bottom of the pitcher,
Page 95 and 96: Figure 40. A four-gallon churn comm
Page 97 and 98: 98 water and washed; then they were
Page 99 and 100: Figure 41. Three storage vessels: a
Page 101 and 102: 100 many as 300-400 stoneware fruit
Page 103: 102 large share of the potters' bus
Page 107 and 108: 106 and the introduction of new lab
Page 109 and 110: 108 For her part, Arie Meaders has
Page 111 and 112: Glazes A characteristic, though unu
Page 113 and 114: 112 Ash Glaze At one time, ash glaz
Page 115 and 116: 114 with this glaze, purchasing pre
Page 117 and 118: 116 melt at a relatively low heat
Page 119 and 120: 118 burns to a light or dark green
Page 121 and 122: 120 Figure 44b. Lanier's kiln, 1979
Page 123 and 124: 122 Lanier's kiln, 1968. (Illustrat
Page 125 and 126: 124 REBUILDING A KILN Pointing to h
Page 127 and 128: 126 With the supports in place, the
Page 129 and 130: 128 are kinds of people out there I
Page 131 and 132: 130 Cheever Meaders (1887-1967), th
Page 133 and 134: 132 1979 Cleveland, January 13 Robe
Page 135 and 136: 134 DIGGING THE CLAY View of clay p
Page 137 and 138: 136 Cheever throws, centers, raises
Page 139 and 140: 138 Lanier removes churn from wheel
Page 141 and 142: 140 Lanier pounds glass bits in oil
Page 143 and 144: 142 He bricks up front and builds u
Page 145 and 146: Glossary Albany Slip: A riverine cl
Page 147 and 148: 146 is tied around die charm to sec
Page 149 and 150: 148 simply an accumulation of broke
Page 151 and 152: 150 To "shut down" die kiln: To cea
Page 153 and 154: Bibliography: Published Sources on
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Notes Preface NOTES 1. Byington, Ro
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156 2. John Ramsay, American Potter
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158 Chapter III: The Ware NOTES 1.
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160 8. This technique is mentioned
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