5 Gallon A.P. Donaghho Double Handled Stoneware Jug

Circa 1880s: This historically important 18" tall five gallon double-handled jug from Parkersbug, West Virginia's storied A.P. Donaghho pottery not only remains in superb original condition with no chips, cracks, or repairs and only minor in the making firing anomalies, but it includes the incised initials "FM," which almost certainly ties it to Ford Mendenhall, a Donaghho employee who was photographed outside the Parkersburg pottery. This photograph is published on page 33 of West Virginia pottery expert Jim Stage's self-published 2017 volume The Donaghho Story. Young Mr. Mendenhall was wagon driver for the pottery; so this jug might have been initialed to signify a load of crockery he was to deliver. Also, Mendenhall may have been promoted to potter's assistant or some such position so that the jug served as an example of his work to be examined once it came out of the kiln. Whatever the case, these initials help tie the jug to a pottery employee. Additionally, the double-handled jug is a much desired form, and finding an example in this pristine condition is a rarity in itself.