SPARKS, MD. — An Edgefield, S.C., alkaline-glazed stoneware face harvest jug led Crocker Farm’s March 23 sale as it sold for $82,600. The circa 1845–70, 8½-inch-high jug features an applied and twisted mustache, an element the auctioneer called “nearly unprecedented in Edgefield face jug production.” Stylistically, the auction house noted that the piece may relate to a face jar or umbrella stand that is attributed to the Miles Mills Pottery currently in the collection of the High Museum in Atlanta, Georgia. A second, small-sized monkey jug with similar mustache was also sold in The John Gordon Collection of Folk Americana, Christie’s, January 15–19, 1999.

The winning bid went to a phone bidder. Following the sale, Luke Zipp told Antiques and The Arts Weekly, “It’s the third highest price ever for an American face jug.” Crocker Farm holds the other two records at $100,300 and $92,000. He continued, “Face jugs still seem to be increasing in popularity and notoriety. The top bidder and the underbidder were new bidders on face jugs with us; it’s always a good sign to see that the market is growing.”

This jug was the second offered of two Edgefield face jugs touted as a recent discovery out of the estate of Clive W. Bridgham (1951–2018) of Barrington, R.I., where they were found in a closet. The first sold in Crocker Farm’s July 21, 2018, sale to Americana collector Jerry Lauren for $70,800. The Bridgham’s had more than one connection to South Carolina, and it was believed that the jug traveled to Rhode Island through one of them.

Watch for a complete report in an upcoming issue.