Object Details
maker
Meaders, Cheever
Description
The tradition of shaping human likenesses on ceramic vessels is thousands of years old. Face vessels held different meanings in different cultures around the world. Some were probably used in burial rituals, others satirized the person whose features were captured in clay, and still others were made just for fun.
The earliest face vessels known to have been produced by white southern potters were probably not made until the end of the 1800s. White potters working in the Edgefield area in the mid-1800s may have seen similar vessels made by African American potters who were enslaved, and taken the idea with them as they moved out of South Carolina.
The piece on the left was made by Georgia potter Cheever Meaders (1887-1967) who produced a small number of face vessels. Although they were popular, Meaders felt that they were too much trouble to make. Meaders used pieces of broken, glazed plates for the eyes and teeth on this piece.
Location
Currently not on view
Credit Line
Mrs. C. Malcolm Watkins
date made
1967
ID Number
CE.274459.02
catalog number
274459.02
accession number
274459
Object Name
vessel, face
Physical Description
ceramic, stoneware, coarse (overall material)
Measurements
overall: 8 1/2 in x 4 1/2 in; 21.59 cm x 11.43 cm
place made
United States: Georgia, White county
See more items in
Home and Community Life: Ceramics and Glass
Face Vessels
Cultures & Communities
Domestic Furnishings
Data Source
National Museum of American History
Link to Original Record
Record ID
nmah_573763