The Case:
Our Pennsylvania contributor has a startling piece of art – a ceramic jug with eyes, nose, ears and teeth bared in a grimace.
In 1950 her grandfather, a plumber, was digging up land for a school in Germantown, PA, and found this peculiar piece of pottery.
Our contributor suspects African Americans made this face jug during the Civil War era and wonders if it came to Philadelphia on the Underground Railroad.
History Detectives researches the site where the plumber first found this pottery, to see if there could be an Underground Railroad connection, visits the Philadelphia Museum of Art and heads to South Carolina to try to find out the who, what, when and where of this curious jug.
More Photos Of The Face Jug
Our contributor April Hynes from Washington Crossing, Pennsylvania brought us a ceramic jug that has been in her family for years. It's known as a face jug, and the style is believed to have been brought to America by slaves from the Congo. View the object from different angles.
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