Events
Jim McDowell featured as one of “300 Names defining the USA’s creative landscape” under “Keepers of Culture”
A selection of 100 objects by 34 artists will spend the summer at the LongHouse Reserve in East Hampton.
“I am a descendant of slaves.”
~Jim McDowell, potter
~Jim McDowell, potter
“My face jugs are ugly because
slavery was ugly.”
~Jim McDowell, potter
slavery was ugly.”
~Jim McDowell, potter
“There are times when I sit at the wheel
when I believe ideas come to me
from the ancestors.”
~Jim McDowell, potter
when I believe ideas come to me
from the ancestors.”
~Jim McDowell, potter
“I’ve been making face jugs for over
35 years, but I am not a folk artist.
I am directly inspired by African
American and Caribbean traditions.”
~Jim McDowell, potter
35 years, but I am not a folk artist.
I am directly inspired by African
American and Caribbean traditions.”
~Jim McDowell, potter
Africans made face jugs for use in spiritual and funerary practice or to ward away evil. There are many myths and stories about these jugs. Sometimes a face jug was buried next to the doorway of a home, in the belief it held a spirit of protection. I’ve heard they are created ugly to scare away the devil. Another story says if the face jug on a grave is found to be broken, the soul of that person went on to heaven. Whatever the reason for their existence, I know face jugs, often called conjure jugs, were made by enslaved and newly freed persons of African descent in this country.
I believe 19th century or early 20th century white potters appropriated the face jug design, now considered southern folk art. I’m taking it back, one jug at a time.
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