For the 13th year, American Folk Art & Framing (AFA) presents the ever popular Face Jug Show, opening on the website Wednesday, May 7, at 11 a.m., with phone sales beginning at noon, and at the gallery on Friday, May 9, at 11 a.m. A reception will be held from 5–8 p.m. on May 9, and the show runs through Wednesday, May 28. Fourteen potters—including new artists—demonstrating a range of personalities with their jugs will be featured in the show.
Face jugs are a longstanding tradition in the South, with the first known ones created in this country in the mid-1800s in Edgefield, SC, by enslaved Black potters. “Over the years, popularity of these face vessels has waxed and waned, but the tradition has managed to survive and even thrive,” says gallery owner Julia L. Mills. “Today, face jugs are an eagerly sought after and widely collected part of our mountain heritage.”
Wayne Hewell is a 5th-generation farmer and face jug maker who lives in the mountains of Georgia. He often adds humorous elements such as cigars, furtive sideways glances and twisting, pointed ears to his face jugs. He has participated in AFA’s annual show for more than 20 years. For this event, he will bring a variety of work, including newly created stack jugs…