Jane (Sigler) Burckard – Memory Jug
Author: Tracy Sigler | Posted: August 9th, 2009 | | Tags: Jane Silger Burckard, memory jar, memory jug | 16 Comments »
Jane (Sigler) Burckard - Memory Jug / Memory Jar
Today’s featured artist also happens to be my aunt Jane. And, it just happens to be her birthday! Together, let us celebrate aunt Jane and her foray into terracotta modication, or should I say “beautification.” This artifact is what paleontologists call a “memory jug” or “memory jar.” On the Mill Creek reservation the natives call this rather large and heavy, but delicate piece the “Juggernaut” or possibly “Jug-or-not.” As all history of this memory jar has been passed from one generation to the next through the oral tradition, and no documentation, save for these photographs, is known to exist, the exact spelling remains a mystery.
The enigmatic artist, who is a particularly social being and yet camera shy, declined to be filmed in our interview about her memory jug magnum opus. If you have any questions about the process involved in producing this jug please post them in the comments section. Jane is known to be a regular reader of this site. On behalf of my aunt who couldn’t appear on video I would like to thank all the little people who contributed to the making of this memory jug.
See detailed close ups of Jane’s memory jug.
Read more about the folk art tradition of memory jugs.
Thank you Tracy for appreciating my memory jug enough to put it on your website. I am honored. As in all acceptance speeches, I must also thank my brothers, Robin, and Bob, whose contributions of Indian and English pottery collected from the property and Billy Dancy whose fabulous archaelogical items all made the jug a true memory. And last, but not least, my husband, Bill, for his mortaring skills and patience beyond belief, and again, my brother, Robin, for making it all come together. Jane Burckard
Dear Jane,
I love your memory jug. I want to try one myself. Are you willing to divulge the kind of mortar you used, and any other tricks that might make the first time easire?
I am pleased that you like my memory jug. This was my first attempt and my brother, who is an artist, helped me tremendously. My husband tried several mortars which would adhere to the terracotta planter that it is based on and found that thin set mortar worked best. We did sections at a time starting at the bottom and working up to the top of the section; letting it dry and doing another section. We drew a template of the pot on paper and put the artifacts down on paper in the design we wanted before starting to place in the mortar. There are some web sites on memory jugs, but I didn’t find them very helpful. I couldn’t have done it without my brothers design and my husband’s mortaring. Feel free to ask if you have questions.
Jane, I really like your memory jug. I wish you had shown it to us when we were there in December. Bill will likely bring back some interesting relics from Turkey to add to your collection. Perhaps we can see it another time? It was nice visiting with all of you. We wish each of you a happy and prosperous New Year.
Thanks Tracy for sharing this. I have enjoyed visiting your websites. They are very interesting.
Thanks R.D. for visiting the site!
Did you grout it afterwards? or just apply thin set to the whole pot and then push the stuff into it and let it dry? some of the items would be hard to grout around after the fact! I JUST LOVE WHAT YOU HAVE DONE AND WANT TO TRY ONE! Do you think the thinset works better than mastick? Thanks! Lori
By the way, I have been waiting for some instructions on this project so I can teach it to my 10 year old art students and have them be able to glue down their favorite junk! Any ideas what would be a good base for them? We just did picture frames with tiles and they didn’t even want to grout them. They needed instand gratification. Who’s gonna argue? Maybe little galvinized buckets would work and I saw some cheap ones at Michaels… Hmmm. I need to think about it…
My grandmother had a memory jug and we used to look at it for hours. It was the first thing we would go to when we visited her. I want to make one for each of our four grandsons using some of the small toys they have played with over the years and some of my trinkets as well. Mastic, Durham’s Water Putty and Aleene’s thick Designer Tacky Glue have been offered as bases for the items on the jug. Which if any do you think is best? Where can I find a good pottery jug? Thanks, Lee
We experimented with regular mortar and thin set mortar and found the adherence better in the thin set. We put the mortar on in sections and pushed the items into it (you should layout the items the way you want them first). I am not familiar with mastic. Regarding school kids, I have heard that the jugs got started during the Depression as a project for kids using things like glass jars, etc. and putting window putty on them for the grout. They would use things like beads, shells, marbles, buttons, etc. For the occasional item that would fall off, I would put a strong glue in the indentation and put the item back in. I used a terra cotta flower planter right out of the yard, but have seen them used on ceramic and pottery jugs, jars, vases, etc. Have fun.
Wow, what a great Memory Jug! I found this site last night quite by accident, I had Googled “directions for memory jug” hoping to find out what types of clay are used, but I think this type of jug with the mortar will be so much easier for me to make, as clay can be so hard and I don’t have a lot of strength in my hands. A few years ago I was in a “garden junk” mode and I covered old bowling balls with lots of different things…one with pennies(no grout), one with fossil from the Chesapeake Bay, this one I did grout, and many with broken china mosaics and half marbles, I used GE silicone II for doors and windows in clear as my glue and several years later they are still outside doing fine, right now they are under 2 feet of snow! I also love to make mosaics with broken jewelry and have covered a couple of duckpin (small) bowling balls, one of these I did use clay over the whole ball, but I think I put it on a little to thin and some things did pop off and needed to be glued back into place. Also the clay I used has a pinkish hue and I didn’t want that for my jug. I can hardly wait until this snow melts and I can find the 2 large clay flower pots I know I have and try this, I may just have to break down and buy something if I can find the right piece! Also I love that you share what you know!!Thanks so much for posting this! Paula
Thank you for sharing! I hope to make memory jugs with 100 junior high students in a couple of weeks, but had been unsure of what adhesive to use. I will do a trial run this weekend with the thin set.
Do you think Liquid Nail would work on pottery or glass?
Thanks, LC
Hi, I’m so glad I found some info on making a memory jar, especially what type of mortar. I wanted to use self drying clay, since I’m not experienced with working with mortar. I wanted to do it on a tall glass vase, I don’t know if mortar would work. Also, I was wondering what clay or mortar could be spray painted first, since gray will not enhance the antique buttons and pins I will be using. If anyone out there has any suggestions, please e-mail me at motherofpearl501@cs.com. It would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you for starting me off in the right direction with your generous info on making a memory jar.
Many of the old jugs were made using window putty (DAP). The product available to people way back when got hard by itself but the product has changed over the years. You can still make a memory jug with it today, but you need to varnish over it to make it hard. The good thing about using putty is that it stays pliable while you work. Once it is varnished it takes on a beautiful patina.
Your memory jar is fabulous. I have an old one that was a gift to me years ago and I love it. I have been collecting bits of odd and unusual junk to make one of my own and your helpful hints will get me on track to doing just that. Thanx for sharing.