Jug

About this Brooklyn Icon

The Brooklyn Museum is commemorating its 200th anniversary by spotlighting 200 standout objects in its encyclopedic collection.

Thomas Commeraw was a free Black American potter known for his stoneware vessels. They came in a variety of shapes for storing liquids, as in this example, or foodstuffs like grain, oysters, and preservatives. As is typical of Commeraw’s pottery, this jug is incised with his name, the location of production, and floral decoration, all accented with cobalt-blue pigment. These details illustrate Commeraw’s interest in making a specialized, branded product to market his wares.

Born enslaved, Commeraw operated a kiln as a free business owner in the Corlears Hook neighborhood on Manhattan’s Lower East Side from the 1790s to 1819. Historical documentation reveals that he was active in national and local political debates, the free Black community, his religious congregation, and the fight for abolition. In 1820 he traveled to Sierra Leone as an advocate for the American Colonization Society, which endorsed the return of free African Americans to Africa. He was initially optimistic about the colony, describing the beauty and fertility of the land. However, the society maintained rigid control over inhabitants, and with the death of his second wife during a forced relocation of the settlement, Commeraw returned to the United States around 1822.