Antique Painted Folk Art Moonshine Beehive Brown Jug

This is an old moonshine 1/2 gallon beehive brown glazed (inside and out) stoneware jug that I purchased a couple of days ago and was looking for some additional information on.

The jug measures about 6 3/4" in height and has about a 6 1/4" diameter on the bottom and the bottom does not have any brown glaze on it. The jug has a folk art painting on it depicting a barefoot bearded man with a hat and a rifle or shotgun hunting in the mountains with his dog.

On the upper portion of the jug it is stamped with the letter "M". The cork was inside the jug when I purchased the jug and when I pulled it out there was only portion of the cork left so I put that back into the top of the jug.

I live in the Washington DC area about 90 Miles from West Virginia, Appalachian Mountains where possibly a mountain scene similar to this would have been used or perhaps from somewhere else.

I think this jug was made in the late 1800's or early 1900's. I'm not sure when the folk art painted scene was painted on the jug. I'm also not sure what the letter "M" represents on the jug (Perhaps "Moonshine" "Medium" the makers initial or something else).

Does anyone know where this jug was made, when it was made, what the letter "M" represents or when the folk art might have been painted on it?

Thanks!
Kevin

 

Cute decoration, but does it not bother you that the bottom appears to have so little wear?

 

Bakersgma, I attribute the little wear on the bottom since it's stoneware and when I bought the jug it had a semi thick layer of dried powdery yellowish-orange clay or dirt on the bottom of the jug as if the jug had been sitting in a barn for 100 years or so. Holding the bottom of the jug made my hand turn yellowish-orange so in this case I had to wash the dirt off the bottom. There was no clay or dirt on the rest of the jug. Just south of where I live, 10 miles or so and then another 50 miles in a lot of directions there are lots of old barns and farm land. So, I guess you can say it doesn't bother me any.

 

Hate to say that I am with Bakersgma on this. Jug looks relatively new and the painting newer yet. I see no degradation of the bottom or anomalies to the glaze as would be expected for a 100 year old jug .... much less to the paint. Also, the way the glaze stops perfectly above the bottom would not be typical for an old jug. The jugs were made quickly with glazes that tended to run. This looks like modern production to me.

 

My guess is it dates to the 1950s at the earliest.

 

Thanks verybrad and evelyb30, I appreciate your thoughts..