Shaw's Creek, Edgefield District, South Carolina, runny olive green over brown alkaline glaze, tapered ovoid form, applied kaolin slip "1854" date at shoulder between two slip lines, beneath four slip punctates, likely four gallon capacity, applied flared lug handles at shoulder, rounded rim, 15 in.

Provenance: Private Collection

Note: There are very few of these dated examples known, Brunk Auctions sold a similar jar in our January 8th, 2011 sale, lot 248. That example was decorated with a kaolin slip "John Seigler Maker" signature applied on one side, and a "1854" slip date applied on the other side. That piece now resides in the The William C. and Susan S. Mariner Southern Ceramics Collection on display at MESDA. In 1853, John W. Seigler acquired the former Collin Rhodes pottery factory at Shaw's Creek, located near Eureka, South Carolina, just outside of Edgefield. While Seigler was the proprietor, he did not personally create the pottery. Instead, he employed itinerant potters for the production. According to author Cinda K. Baldwin, it is likely that brothers Jacob and John Stauber, who were German immigrants, managed the factory. Both brothers were identified as stoneware potters in the 1860 census. For further reading see Great & Noble Jar: Traditional Stoneware of South Carolina, by Cinda K. Baldwin, Athens, GA: UGA Press, 1993., and the Journal of Early Southern Decorative Arts,. Edgefield District Stoneware: The Potters Legacy, by Corbette Toussaint