The Witching Jug an antique Stoneware appraisal

Judy G. from Folsom CA asks: I have inherited a wonderful old pottery piece my grandmother bought from an itinerant dealer (my grandparents had a large shop) in the 1950's। It's a tan/brown jug, 8.5" tall with a ferocious devil face and claws and a lion-like mane in plain clay. It has another smaller face on the back on the handle. The man told her it was a witching jar and was used to put spells on people in ealy America. I can't find anything like it online, but I remember that my grandmother found a reference in a book (in the 50's) and that it is indeed a witching jug.

AW says: That's a great old jug thanks for the detailed photos and your request.

I agree it is a witching jug, albeit a very fancy one. Usually common on hand jars and containers were used for witching jugs, but there were of course ceremonial examples such as the one you have. A few things I can safely say and then on to some speculation. One is that your jug is authentic and it's around the turn of the century, no later than the 1920s and not any earlier than the 1850s. This form of single handled stoneware jug was a staple in that era. Yours looks to have no damage as far as I can see, which would have made sense, something so ceremonius would have been handled with great care. I'm sure your jug is an American item.The marks on it are not known to me, although the moon shaped mark is similar to Rookwood Pottery mark I found labeled as unknown. Later on the opposite page I found another similar mark which was attributed to Joseph Banely, another Rookwood potter. Although Rookwood potters were certainly avant garde artisans, it seems a little "out there" even for them. Your jug is of a very good quality and is truly a one of a kind item, so any appraisal I give is speculative at best, but if it were mine, I'd expect it to bring about $2500.00 at auction, if the company and artist were identified possibly quite a bit more.