Jar
| Maker | John Lehman |
| Title | Jar |
| Date of Creation | c. 1876 |
| Location | Rock Mills, Alabama |
| Materials | Alkaline-glazed stoneware |
| Institution | Birmingham Museum of Art |
| Credit Line | Museum purchase with funds provided by the Frank and Nelle Newton Acquisition Fund and general acquisition funds |
| Accession Number | 2010.11 |
| Photo Credit | Birmingham Museum of Art |
| Category | Ceramics |
This large storage jar is among the most graphically rich and mysterious pieces of southern folk pottery. Theories abound as to why John Lehman—a German-born potter working in Rock Mills, Alabama, and Stockton, Georgia—created this jar, decorated with the likenesses of presidents George Washington and Thomas Jefferson and other patriotic motifs. Some experts believe that the jar might celebrate the U.S. centennial of 1876, while others suggest that the jar celebrates the restoration of political power to the Democratic Party that marked the end of Reconstruction following the Civil War.