Stacker Jug

Dateca. 1920

Maker Otto Brown (attributed to) (b. 1899- d. 1980)

MediumBrown salt-glazed stoneware

DimensionsH: 11 1/2"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number2003.900.1

DescriptionCylindrical stacker or whiskey jug with applied Albany slip over entire body except inch wide band at transition between the body of the jug and the neck where the slip was wiped off before firing. Small, narrow neck and hand-pulled loop handle coming from the base of the rim and terminating with a thumb impression at the top of the slip-free band. Incised decoration on the side of the jug beneath the handle depicts a man's head in profile. The man is smoking a cigarette and wearing a straw hat. The name Otto Brown is incised beneath the portrait. It has been postulated that this is either a self-portrait or a portrait done by one of Otto Brown's brothers who were also potters.Label TextAs the nineteenth century progressed, the jug form became increasingly more straight walled and uniform, an evolution that culminated in the stacker jug around 1900. When these pieces were stacked in a kiln, a ring fitted around the top third of one jug allowed another to be stacked on top of it, created tall towers of jugs so more vessels could be fired at the same time.
Stacker jugs, which were perfect for storing whiskey, were popular in the South during Prohibition. The unintentional result of ban on liquor was to keep the dying pottery industry alive.Mark(s)Otto Brown