Artist/Maker Thomas W. Commeraw (ca. 1771 – 1823)

Jug

ca. 1797-1819

Place madeNew York, New York, United States, North America

Stoneware, cobalt oxide

Overall: 15 x 10 in. ( 38.1 x 25.4 cm )

Purchased from Elie Nadelman. The conservation of this object was supported through the NYSCA/GHHN Conservation Treatment Grant Program administered by Greater Hudson Heritage Network. This program is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. Additional support is provided from the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation.

1937.821

Scholars long assumed that stoneware potter Thomas W. Commeraw was of European descent. Recent research, however, shows that he was a free African American. His pottery was located at Corlear's Hook on the East River, near today's Chinatown. It produced utilitarian storage vessels like this jug from about 1797 to 1819. Commeraw was involved in the antislavery movement, and in 1820 he traveled to Sierra Leone as an advocate for the American Colonization Society, which promoted the "return" of free African Americans to Africa.

DescriptionSalt-glazed stoneware jug with impressed maker's mark and decorated with impressed crescents and leaves painted with cobalt blue.

Markingsimpressed: on front: "COMMERAW'S / STONEWARE / NEW YORK"

ProvenanceThe Folk Art Collection of Elie Nadelman

ClassificationsCERAMICS