The largest pieces to exists from Anna Pottery are also referred to as "Fair Jugs" these large cylindrical vessels commemorate the social highlight of the year. This jug commemorates the Southern Illinois Fair held at the fairground in Anna Illinois on August 26, 27 & 28, 1884. Aside from the imposing size the most distinctive feature of these jugs is that they have overall incised tubular design consisting chiefly of row after row, column after column, list after list of names. Fairs were the most important social and cultural events of the season in Southern Illinois. For most rural people the coming of their local fair was "the big event of the year". The Union County Fair was held annually in Jonesboro beginning in 1855. The annual Southern Illinois Fair began in Anna in 1880. From the start of the Anna fairs, Cornwall served as secretary for their association's board of trustees. Wallace frequently served as superintendent of amusements for the Anna fairs. He was in charge of the midway, Eight of these fair directories are known to exist, six made for local fairs, one for a Carbondale, Illinois fair plus the one made in 1879 for the Inter-State Industrial Exposition in Chicago. The core lists of incised names on the local fair directories consist of the names and titles of the officers, the names of members of the executive committee for the particular association sponsoring the fair, the superintendents and titles for each of the one to two dozen premium categories, and the names of each member of each superintendent's committee of fellow judges for each category.
View in Catalog Lot # 3506 will be auctioned off September 12, 2011.