Edgefield Face Vessels
Edgefield face vessels are a form of pottery found in the former Edgefield district of South Carolina in the latter half of the 1800s. These jugs, made by both plantation slaves and continued later by freed slaves, are expertly crafted handled pottery, which shortly after being spun on a pottery wheel, were given brute and stylized faces. While the base pottery of these faces are masterfully crafted, the faces are unrealistic and characterized, showing not that they were made by those who couldn’t craft faces, but that they were actually crafted to reflect an exact style, which likely originated from Africa. The masks vary greatly in design, with some emphasizing eyes, others mouths, others noses. In almost all cases the eyes and teeth were made from kaolin, one of the key materials used in the production of porcelain. The use of kaolin was most likely due to how common it was in the Edgefield area. It was in this Edgefield area that many potteries were opened after the Civil War. These potteries were one of the only places which offered jobs to freed slaves. These freed slaves were allowed to create what they wanted for the first time, leading to the face vessels.
The face vessels stood out to me because of the immense character that they possessed, which seemed very different to many American creations. Specifically, I was really entranced with the white eyes and teeth, as well as the brutish features. In my recreation, I unfortunately did not have access to kaolin, so instead I chose to simply not glaze the teeth and eyes. Overall, the process was not incredibly difficult to produce, as the high-tech equipment and modern clay really created an easy experience. Compare my electric pottery wheel and the fact that I could simply drop the piece off for glazing, it is very apparent to see how my experience is almost incomparable to that of the original artists. After pinning the clay into what I felt was a good shape, I attached each feature of the face after shaping it separately. In order to make it look like one piece of clay, I smoothed the clay down from the features onto the surface. In general, although it does not match any specific piece of Edgefield pottery, I feel as if the general idea was accomplished to the best of my abilities. I had a lot of fun working the features, which I think was part of the piece’s original creations, as they were not meant to be depictions of any specific people, nor were they really used for storing anything. They were and are still very unique decorative pieces that truly stand out in the history of America.
Here it is when I finished molding the clay:
Here it is after it was fired for the first time and with wax painted on the eyes before it was dipped in the glaze:
Here is the final product:
Looking at it now, I think the importance of the kaolin for eyes and teeth is extremely important as the eyes and mouth are a lot less interesting than they would have been with it. In general though I really like that outcome, and I'm glad I can understand a bit more how these pieces would have been created.
Thank you!