- Accepts Etsy gift cards
Albert Hodge began creating pottery in 1989 when a knee injury forced him to retire from his job as a match cloth cutter for a furniture company. He built a workshop in his backyard, purchased an electric kiln and potter's wheel, and taught himself to make pottery. A left-handed artist using a right-handed potter's wheel, Hodge developed an unconventional technique in which he pulls the clay from the inside of his pot, instead of the outside. He collects nineteenth-century pottery from nearby "Jug town," North Carolina, the local name for the area where Catawba and Lincoln counties meet. The shapes and styles of these pieces continue to influence Hodge, who makes about twenty pieces every week.
Face jugs, a staple of popular folk craft, are some of the most iconic works in the history of American folk art. While nearly synonymous with Americana and American folk art traditions, their origins were co-opted from an amalgam of disparate cultural influences. The oldest most likely stems from the traditional African practice of creating expressive jugs to serve as headstones. Brought to America by the cruel act of slavery, the tradition found a prevalence in throughout the Southeast that thrives to this day. Similarly, International trade from China imported the highly sought after art of red ceramic glazes. One of the most recognizable and prized forms of face jugs are the vibrant Red Devils faces. In the south these embellished pots were used to buy & store liquor; the ominous features would scare children so they would not be tempted to try the contents. England too has a cultural form of figurative pottery know as Toby Jugs. Toby Jugs typically feature archetypal characters or famous men.