Jug

In 1850, free Black potter Lucius Jordan marked this jug with his initials “LJ,” thereby claiming ownership of his creation and marking the jug with his identity. At various times in his life the documentary record listed Jordan as either white or Black. Beginning in 1836, Washington County, Georgia, tax records listed Jordan as “free person of Cullor.” County documents from the 1860s and 1870s, meanwhile, listed Jordan as white. While documents illustrate the complexities of race in Georgia, what is clear is that Jordan identified as a potter and signed his works, forever sealing his ownership in clay.