Field Jug
PeriodCirca 1827 - 1838
Place MadeManasquan, New Jersey, U.S.A.
MediumSalt glazed stoneware
Dimensions16.5 × 10 in. (41.9 × 25.4 cm)
ClassificationsStoneware
Credit LineMarshall P. Blankarn Purchasing Fund, 1956
Object number1979.528.45
DescriptionA large salt glazed stoneware jug with two wide applied handles at the neck. The jug is decorated on one side with two incised birds highlighted with cobalt blue, standing on floral sprays. On the opposite side of the jug is an incised floral spray, highlighted with cobalt blue. Above the decorations, set within shallow incised banding is the inscription "DAVID W. CUBBERLEY" in block lettering highlighted with cobalt blue. Dabs of cobalt blue encircle the lower ends of the jug's handles.Curatorial RemarksThis jug is attributed to potter Nicholas Van Wickle (1796 - 1865). As with many New Jersey pottery famiies, the Van Wickle family's lives and business intertwined with those of other pottery families. Nicholas was the son of Jacob Van Wickle (1770 - 1854), learning the craft from his father. Nicholas was named after his grandfather, Nicasius Symon Van Wickelen (1728 - 1801). Nicasius does not seem to have been a potter but rather a farmer. His son Jacob worked as a potter, running a factory with Captain James Morgan and Branch Green in Old Bridge, Middlesex County, New Jersey, from 1805 to about 1827. The Van Wickle and Morgan families were intertwined for several generations. Both James and Charles Morgan were witnesses to Nicasius Van Wickle's will in 1801, and Jacob Van Wickle married James Morgan's sister, Sarah Morgan. Nicholas Van Wickle married Ida Suydam (1796 - 1857) in 1821. The couple had nine children, three of whom died in childhood. Nicholas Van Wickle seems to have assisted his father in the running of the Old Bridge pottery for a time, possibly serving as an apprentice under his father's direction. In 1824, Nicholas Van Wickle purchased 430 acres in Manasquan, and opened his own pottery there. Van Wickle also seems to have been a successful farmer. By 1838 Van Wickle owned 700 acres as well as his stoneware firm. An advertisement in the January 25, 1838 issue of the Monmouth Inquirer and General Advertiser noted that Van Wickle "has for sale at his factory at Manasquan, Monmouth County, New Jersey, a general assortment of Stone Ware, such as Pots, Jugs, Jars, Pitchers, &c., &c., which he will sell on reasonable terms." By 1840, however, Van Wickle had closed his pottery and relocated with his family to a farm in Franklin Township, Bound Brook, Somerset County, listed in the federal census. In the 1850 census, Van Wickle was listed as a "farmer," his real estate valued at $37,000. Van Wickle's wife Ida died in October of 1857. At some point within the next three years, Nicholas remarried, this time to Jane Ann Mullender (1808 - 1862). In 1860, he was also listed as a farmer, with real estate valued at $15,000 and personal property valued at $1000. Nicholas Van Wickle died in 1865 at the age of 69 and was interred in the Bound Brook Cemetery in Somerset County, New Jersey.NotesThis jug may have been created for David W. Cubberley of Robbinsville, Mercer County, New Jersey. David was born in 1792, the son of William T. and Elizabeth Tindall Cubberley. Cubberley was a successful farmer. In the 1850 Federal Census, his real estate was valued at $20,000, a considerable sum at that time. Tax Assessment lists noted that Cubberley had a "two horse carriage and harness" as well as "two gold watches." This fanciful jug, with a spray of flowers and a pair of birds facing each other, may have been commissioned as a personalized storage container for Cubberley's home.
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