Jar

This storage jar was made in Edgefield, South Caroline, a center of ceramics production in the decades before the Civil War. Used for the storage of food and grain before the age of refrigeration, the jar made of stoneware and covered in a locally source alkaline glaze. The piece is distinguished by its slip-decorated surface, evident in the repeated blue lobes and the painted capacity marker "6", specifying 6 gallons. An incised maker's mark "CHANDLER Maker" indicates the jar was made by Thomas Chandler Jr, one of the most productive and entrepreneurial potters in Edgefield, who actively advertised in local newspapers.

Born and trained in Baltimore, Chandler carried the potting and decorative techniques of the mid-Atlantic to South Carolina, where he is believed to have settled in the 1830s. Chandler worked at a variety of area potteries- sometimes on his own, sometimes in partnership, and always with the assistance of enslaved potters who supported ceramic production in the Edgefield region. Chandler is known to have owned at least 4 slaves and in one of his best known jars depicted a wedding between two enslaved individuals.

According to historian Philip Wingard, Chandler began to use stamped maker's mark in 1844. This object dates to the last decade of his life, in the eight-year interval before he left for North Caroline in 1854.

Chandler is credited by ceramics scholars with introducing Baltimore-style slip decoration to Edgefield. The majority of his pottery was decorated with iron and/or Kaolin slip, trailed by slip-cup or brushed classic designs, including swag and tassels, loops and swags, cartouches, daisy and bell flowers, tulips, and three leaf clovers, along with some figural as well as abstract creations. One pot with figural decoration, now in the collection of the High Museum is also attributed to his hand.

The jar will bolster the museum's small collection of Edgefield wares, adding to a corpus of works that now include a David Drake poem jar and three face jugs. The jar is the first work by Thomas Chandler to enter the collection and the first slip-decorated Southern ware. It will be featured in the MFA's upcoming exhibition of southern stoneware Hear me now: the Black potters of old Edgefield South Carolina. Likely produced with the assistance of enslaved artisans, the piece is in keeping with our commitment to sharing a range of diverse narratives in the Art of America wing and across the MFA.