Face Vessel
date: label: date made
content: late 1800s-early 1900s
label: Date made
content: c. 1850-1860
name: label: maker
content: unknown
notes: label: Description
content: The tradition of shaping human likenesses on ceramic vessels is thousands of years old. Face vessels held different meanings in different cultures around the world. Some were probably used in burial rituals, others satirized the person whose features were captured in clay, and still others were made just for fun.
label: Description
content: Potters rarely signed their face vessels before the the 1920s, making attribution difficult. The maker of this face vessel, on the right, is not known. It features rough white clay to represent the teeth and eyes, much as the slave-made pieces used kaolin pieces.
label: Description
content: This piece came to the Museum as part of the Van Alstyne Collection of American Folk Art. Eleanor and Mabel Van Alstyne collected more than 300 examples of American folk art over a period of about 40 years.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view (base)
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States
topic: label: Subject
content: Art Pottery
label: Subject
content: Blacks
label: Subject
content: African American
setName: label: See more items in
content: Home and Community Life: Ceramics and Glass
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content: Face Vessels
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content: Cultures & Communities
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content: Domestic Furnishings
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Eleanor and Mabel Van Alstyne American Folk Art Collection
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: CE.65.1066
label: catalog number
content: 65.1066
label: accession number
content: 256396
objectType: label: Object Name
content: face vessel
label: Object Name
content: vessel, face
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: stoneware (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: base: 1 3/4 in x 5 1/8 in x 5 1/2 in; 4.445 cm x 13.0175 cm x 13.97 cm
label: Measurements
content: overall: 7 3/4 in x 5 13/16 in; 19.685 cm x 14.81658 cm