The depth and breadth of memory jugs make them the perfect subject for my inaugural Don’t Throw That Out blog. Everything about this folk art screams UPCYCLE. From the reused jug and reinvented mastic to the collection of recycled trinkets, each facet of a memory jug is gloriously recreated. Famous for their use of tessera (an ancient Greek term referring to pieces of tile or marble that today include small baubles and miscellany), memory jugs are a form of mosaic. However, instead of a mosaic wall or floor, they are…wait for it…jugs. Not just any old jugs but jugs encrusted with tessera in mosaic fashion.
The origin of memory jugs can be traced to a seventeen-century African American slave custom when they were used as grave markers. In place of a costly headstone, the memory jug was embellished with broken china, pottery shards, and small items either belonging to or in memory of the deceased.
More readily available evidence suggests memory jugs were a nineteenth-century pastime where women of leisure—adhering to the idiom “Idle hands are the devil’s playground”—made Victorian lace, elaborate embroidery, and memory jugs; the latter a precursor to modern-day scrapbooking.
Google memory jugs, and you will meet contemporary artists who have made this art form their medium. Fabulous renditions are showcased on Pinterest and Etsy, which is where I discovered the art form and was inspired to learn the process. The lumpy putty-like substance, a telltale sign of memory jugs, is window glazing used as both mastic and grout. The beauty of window glazing is its malleability. It dries slowly from the inside out, so you can spread it all at once over the entire piece, and it won’t dry out (at least not overnight).
As the name implies, memory jugs are made in memory of a person or an event, which aids in the selection of tessera. While the design of a memory jug appears seemingly random, its execution follows a carefully constructed plan.
A memory jug container is typically made of ceramic, earthenware, or glass. The jug shape is ideal for mosaics because the small opening at the top makes it easy to cork and prevents dust from collecting on the inside of the vessel. The jug handle also makes it practical. The accumulation of mastic and tessera makes for a heavy piece of art, so a handle is handy if you have to lift the jug to move it. Memory jug vessels are easy to find at thrift stores; the glass jug circled in the photo above was picked out of the trash.
Side note: The above photo illustrates just one corner of my upcycling treasures. Read my blog, The Art of the Find, for ideas on collecting memory jug materials. For tips and techniques on creating a workspace and storage area for your memory jug designs, please read my blog, Upcycling Storage and Workspace.
Really, any vessel that appeals to your artistic sense will work. Memory jug makers often think outside the box to consider other types of containers—vases, pitchers, wooden boxes—basically any object or form with a flat surface that can hold a smear of mastic and a heavy application of tessera. The piece above, Pastorale, was auctioned off to raise funds for a local Suzuki program. It’s not the best photo, but if you zoom in on the tessera, you will see that this 1/8 child’s cello (damaged and beyond repair) is lined with decoupaged lace doilies and encrusted with old jewelry that I found at thrift stores and garage sales. Upcycling, I think, at its best.
My work with memory jugs often combines another form of mosaic called pique-assiette, which uses broken chinaware rather than uniformly shaped mosaic tile squares. This blog’s featured image, Everything’s Coming Up Roses, exemplifies my fusion of pique-assiette and memory jugs. The picture below, Sax and Violins, is a memory jug I made from a damaged violin with a missing scroll. I gave this piece to my sister, a classical violinist. The “tiles” in this piece include pique-assiette in blue hues (my sister’s favorite color) with Capodimonte bits and old costume jewelry.
Stay tuned for my upcoming blog on pique-assiette entitled Pique Your Interest with Pique-Assiette Mosaics.
