Images(13)

1959.900.2, Jug and 2008.900.1, Storage Jar

1959.900.2, Jug, 2015-343, Bottle and 2008.900.1, Storage Jar

Jug

Date1812 - 1830

Artist/Maker Goodwin & Webster (active ca. 1810-1840)

OriginAmerica, Connecticut, Hartford

MediumSalt-glazed stoneware

Dimensions10 1/16" x 6 3/8" (25.5 cm. x 16.1 cm.)

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1959.900.2

DescriptionBrown stoneware jug with incised decoration. Ovoid body, small mouth. Handle from rim is attached to the shoulder. Five rings around the neck. Incised design of a soldier with a stick-like sword in his left hand. Large face in profile, (the figure is facing to the left) wearing a cap and a feather and a star. (War of 1812 as inspiration.) Cobalt is rubbed into the design and at the bottom and top of the handle and under the maker's stamp.Label TextHorace Goodwin and McCloud "Mack" Webster worked as potters on Front Street in Hartford, Conn., between 1810 and 1840. The soldier may have been inspired by the patriotism associated with the War of 1812. After the war, England flooded the United Sates with inexpensive utilitarian ceramic wares, making it difficult for many American potters to stay in business. Perhaps Goodwin and Webster were appealing to a sense of nationalism by adding a soldier to their utilitarian jug.

Horace Goodwin (d. 1850) and McCloud "Mack" Webster (d. 1850) worked as potters on Front Street in Hartford, Connecticut, between 1810 and 1840. The soldier may have been inspired by the nationalism and patriotism associated with the War of 1812.

This crudely incised soldier possibly commemorates the War of 1812 with its intensely nationalistic aftermath. Goodwin and Webster produced other pieces with symbolic and representational decorations, among them a Masonic Jug bearing a tri-square and divider.

A soldier raising a sword decorates the front of this strap-handled jug. Quickly but deftly incised, the stylized figure with an over-sized head may have been inspired by the nationalism and patriotism associated with the War of 1812.
The surnames stamped on the jug refer to Horace Goodwin (d. 1850) and McCloud "Mack" Webster (d. 1850), who produced pottery in Hartford, Connecticut, in the period 1810-1840. At least one source states that the firm conducted business at two different sites, but both of these were on Front Street in Hartford.Mark(s)"Goodwin/&/Webster" stamped on frontProvenanceStony Point Gallery Folk Art Gallery, Stony Point, N. Y.