The Pottery
Decker made a wide variety of utilitarian pieces which included: jugs, crocks, jars, churn pots with lids, flower pots, jardinières, stands, spittoons, bottles, chamber pots, drain pipes, funnel strainers for cisterns, rolling pins, sugar bowls with lids, and barrel shaped kegs. Decker made specialty pieces, which were also utilitarian, such as chimney flue caps, canning jars, drink coolers with a spigot in the base, milk pans, coin banks, some bee-hived shaped, and a horn.
Janice Keck stated in West Side Story, a Knoxville newspaper:
Decker fame rests upon his making in clay, items not usually associated with pottery. Considered unique is Decker’s rendering in clay of an inkstand, a model of a tree trunk section, and a ceramic horn (all pictured below). The tree trunk is a free-standing piece, fashioned like a log – branches trimmed off, etc. Decker has even depicted the bark ridges and bumps. The horn is a simple shepherd’s horn – which has no valves or other attachments to aid in making music. The sounds made by Decker’s ceramic horn are produced by the curvature and shape of the horn itself. According to curator Elaine Evans (McClung Museum at the University of Tennessee), the horn produces a ‘low mooing sound.’ Could it have been used to call the cows home at night?
UNIQUE PIECES
YARD ORNAMENTS
Decker’s ability to diversify was a distinguishing mark that set him apart from other potters. The yard ornaments below are a fine example. Most potters produced mainly utilitarian pieces. David Kent Miller stated, Although quality was stressed, it is the astounding variety in the things produced, which sets this pottery apart from others which operated throughout the area. The proof that quality was imperative is that, even today, those [pieces] which have escaped breakage are in amazingly fine condition with both glaze and color undimmed by time and elements.
FACES
Face jugs and fence post heads are among the unusual pieces created at Keystone Pottery by William Decker. Face jugs were vessels, while fence post heads were merely ornamental. While an exhaustive history of the origin of these vessels will not be expounded upon here, scholarly documentation and oral histories offer various origins of, and uses for, jugs with facial features, which have been in existence for centuries around the world. Canopic jars in Egypt, dating from 750 B.C., were used for funerary purposes. Potters in Peru and Zaire created portrait vessels as early as 200 A.D.
Native Americans, also potters, were known for creating life-like head pots, complete with ears and piercings, as early as the 1400s. These vessels were actually the shape of a human head with an opening at the top. While the purpose is unknown, it has been proposed that these may have been replications of the severed heads of enemies, or deceased relatives.
Comical faces on salt-glazed jugs, including stuck out tongues, were also created by German potters in the 1500s, with the faces becoming more prominent over time. These were referred to as Beardman (originally Bartmann which means bearded man) or Bellarmine jugs.
According to a PBS documentary entitled, "Face Jug," the grotesque face jugs are associated with a group of enslaved Kongolese men and women who were brought to America illegally in 1858 on the last slave ship, Wanderer. Many of these people were taken to Lewis Mills Pottery in Edgefield, South Carolina. Dr. Mark Newell, an archaeologist, states that this was when face jugs began appearing in the area. He believes face jugs are an adaptation of the Nkisi dolls the Kongolese used in religious rituals. When compared in the documentary, face jugs are nearly identical to the facial features of the dolls, with wide eyes and open mouths. The dolls had an opening in which magical items were inserted. Dr. Newell asserts that face jugs were used similarly in South Carolina. Once these items were sealed, they were buried at a front or back door to ward off evil spirits. The face jug being investigated in this documentary was found buried in front of a door.
A similar theory of usage explained in the documentary is that enslaved African Americans, who were skilled potters in Africa, used face jugs for burial purposes to ward off evil spirits so the soul could go to heaven unhindered. Tukufu Zuberi, Professor of Race Relations at the University of Pennsylvania, stated that the prominent design and grimace reminded him of sculptures he had seen in Africa. He consulted with Jim McDowell, a potter in Weaverville, North Carolina, and a descendant of potters enslaved in 18th century Jamaica, who still makes face jugs using the 19th century tradition. McDowell believes the jugs were used as gravemarkers, and related that these were made and given to people while they were still living. They would add extra personal features to the jugs. When these people died, the jug was placed on their grave, because enslaved people were not allowed to have tombstones. It is also believed that the jugs were used for the utilitarian purpose of carrying water into the fields.
White potters in America began making face jugs in the 19th century to attract more customers with novelties. Venturing away from funerals and ritualistic purposes, there is a story that moonshine was stored in the jugs, and the ugly face was to scare children away from the contents. Another story is that supporters of temperance made the ugly faces to dissuade imbibers! Whatever the origin, or purpose, face jugs and fence post heads were a part of Keystone Pottery inventory.
A fence post head is featured at the home of Decker in this photograph: Fence Post Head.
DISTINCTIVE CHARACTERISTICS
There are several distinctive characteristics of Decker pottery. Decker used a salt glaze technique, which he learned from his father and grandfather, who were potters in Germany. While some potters did use salt glaze, the alkaline glaze, which was indigenous to the South, was the overall preferred glaze because of the uneven finish that sometimes occurred with the use of salt. Another downside to the use of salt glaze, was the more frequent rebuilding of the kiln, because the salt would “melt your kiln.”
In form and shape, Keystone Pottery jars and urns are semi-ovoid, crocks and jugs usually cylindrical, and jugs have rounded shoulders. Decker’s specialty pieces, such as ring jugs, ink wells, face jugs, chicken fountains, monkey jugs, and rundells (which are barrel shaped drink dispensers). . . have a more refined look than the work of [his] contemporaries. Other identifying traits are: thin-walled and light weight, stamped with metal and wood number stamps, traditional German decorations of tulips, fleur-de-lis, and blue dots done in blue cobalt, five specific types of handles, and usually, firing scars. In general, most potters were maker[s] of utilitarian wares, and only made ornamental pieces specifically to order.
The handwrittten signatures below, a distinguishing trait of Decker pottery, read as follows:
(1) August 10, 1891 Made by C. F. Decker, Sr.
(2) August 18, 1897 Made by C. F. Decker, Sr. At the Keystone Pottery of Chucky Valley East Tenn
(3) Illegible Date - C. F. Decker Chucky Valley Washington County East Tenn
This sugar bowl is the earliest known signed piece by Charles Decker, Sr. The German spelling of the name is used: Cathrine Deiker - Charles Deiker. This bowl could possibly be in celebration of their wedding anniversary, as it was made in Pennsylvania circa 1856.
For a detailed description of each pottery piece, click on the image. To enlarge the image further, click on image again on the description page.
THE FAMOUS ADVERTISING JAR
One particularly impressive advertising piece is now a part of the collection in the Reece Museum at East Tennessee State University. Decker referred to this piece as his advertising jar.
This magnificent 30-gallon advertising jar is shown on the front porch of the Reece Museum. Written on this particular photo, are the impressive measurements of 26" high and 55" in circumference. The specifications of this jar are as follows:
This is a large spun jar that functioned as an advertising piece for Keystone Pottery. The jar is salt-glazed with cobalt decoration. One side is stamped with the following: MADE BY C.F. DECKER / PROPRIETER OF KEYSTONE POTTERY / CHUCKY VALLEY / WASHINGTON CO. TENN / SEPT. 16, 1884. Large floral decorations surround the stamp, including a small tulip underneath. A cobalt wavy line with dots circles the top of the vessel. Two twisted rope-style handles (extremely rare for Keystone Pottery pieces) are attached towards the top of the jar. There is a metal band embedded in the clay below the rim.
Now 138 years old, this jar is as beautiful today as the day it was made, proving Decker's claim to superior pottery.
More information may be found here: Charles F. Decker, Sr. Advertising Jar
GRAVE MARKERS
While Decker probably could have been just as successful making only utilitarian pottery, his German ancestry and artistic talent may have instilled in him the desire to be creative. This creative and somewhat fanciful flair is evidenced by a list of his special pieces from the Beverly Burbage Papers such as: garden or yard ornaments, which were unique in size and decoration, grotesque jugs (face jugs), and grave markers. When compared to grave markers made by other potters in the area, Decker’s were identified by the round turned ones favored by him. Burbage stated that other markers fell far short when compared to Decker’s, which included elaborate writing, and were beautifully scripted with cobalt blue impressed letters. The markers were also decorated with stars, diamonds and other Pennsylvania German motifs.
While most grave markers have either been stolen or damaged beyond repair by machinery, at one time, there were several in church cemeteries of the East Tennessee area. These include: Mount Lebanon and Murray (Isaac) Cemeteries in Jonesborough, where the Decker family is buried; Mohlar Cemetery in Gray; Morningstar Independent Baptist Church in Limestone; Mount Zion Methodist in Telford; and Mountain View Home Veterans National Cemetery in Johnson City. A quote in the Herald and Tribune in 1982 stated that in contrast to the graying, crumbling, eroded limestone markers in the older cemeteries of the county, Charles’ stones stand fast even today against weather and time, their inscriptions clear and declaring their faith in eternity. In 1982, some of these grave markers would have been nearly 150 years old, further evidence of the quality of Decker pottery.
From utilitarian pieces to unusual aesthetic pieces, from grave markers to horns, Decker definitely left his mark on the pottery industry in Appalachia. According to Mildred Phillips Decker, wife of Henry F. Decker, Charles Decker took the premium at all the East Tennessee fairs at Knoxville, including 1879, 1880, as well as the premiums in the Philadelphia fair in Pennsylvania.
Keystone Pottery has been exhibited in many museums, and one only has to see the actual pieces to be amazed and impressed with the quality workmanship.