Middle Tennessee transitional stoneware pottery jar with strap handle, sometimes referred to as a "honey or molasses container" stamped "J. S." for Jeff Spears. 11" H. Late 19th century. Note: In Middle Tennessee, family-operated potteries were concentrated in White, Putnam, and DeKalb Counties on lands rich in clay deposits situated on the Eastern Highland Rim. Pottery manufacturing in this three-county area seems to have been tied to the arrival of Andrew LaFever in White County about 1824. LaFever's six sons and the three generations of the family which succeeded them had connections with most of the major potteries in the area and seem to have influenced their products. Also noteworthy among family operations were those of the Dunn, Hedgecough, Roberts, Elrod, and Spears families. (Source: TN State archives) Condition: Several chips to rim. Chipping to handle and some scattered chips to body.