During the period from 1810 to 1865, an abundance of functional ware was made at the remote Edgefield potteries in south Carolina and sold to neighboring countries and states. These potteries were worked in part by slaves who turned the pots, pushed the wheels, carried the wares, and loaded the kilns. In their free time, these slave artisans made pieces of their own choosing. They chose to make face vessels. One unanswered question concerning these small jugs relates to the message they were intended to convey. That message was once clearly understood by the slave population but is lost to us today. We believe their meaning was based in African traditions and an expression of their heritage, but the lack of documentation leaves gaps in historical data about the pottery. Face vessels have been found along the route of the Underground Railroad, evidence of their importance to the fleeing slaves.
Middle school students paid homage to these early artisans by making their own face vessels in Mrs. Brodie’s Ceramics class.
