Stoneware Jug c. 1937

Annie B. Johnston rendered this stoneware jug with graphite and watercolor on paper. Johnston was part of the Index of American Design, a New Deal project employing artists to document American decorative and folk arts. This jug, a common utilitarian object, speaks volumes about the material culture of its time. Stoneware was particularly important in the rural South, where enslaved and free African Americans were often the primary producers of pottery. The jugs were used for storing water, milk, or sometimes, less legally, moonshine. Johnston's careful rendering of the jug invites us to consider the labor, skill, and cultural traditions embedded in this everyday object. It stands as a humble yet powerful reminder of the diverse hands that have shaped American material culture.