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| Accession # | 43.128.12 |
|---|---|
| Maker | Thomas W. Commeraw |
| Title | Jug |
| Date | early 19th century |
| Medium | Glazed stoneware |
| Dimensions | 15 × 10 × 10 in. (38.1 × 25.4 × 25.4 cm) base: 5 1/4 in. (13.3 cm) Top diameter: 1 7/8 in. (4.8 cm) |
| Credit Line | Gift of Arthur W. Clement |
| Location | American Identities: Colony to Nation / Inventing American Landscape |
| Description | Jug, glazed stoneware, watermellon shape, yellow-gray salt glaze, single loop handle, decoration on front of six incised crescents and six pendant leaf forms in gray-black color. Condition: small cracks and nicks. |
Curatorial Remarks: 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.
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Gallery Label
Free Black American potter Thomas W. Commeraw operated a stoneware ceramics manufactory in the Corlears Hook neighborhood on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, south of Potters’ Hill, which was the center of New York City’s stoneware production. Commeraw’s vessels came in a variety of shapes for storing liquids, as in this example, or foodstuffs like grain, oysters, and preservatives. They were used in homes of all economic classes and as shipping containers for goods during international transportation. Commeraw branded his wares, marking them with his name and location of production, as well as his signature stamped floral and circular decoration highlighted with cobalt glaze. With this act of marketing, he firmly claimed space as a prominent business owner in the city’s competitive stoneware market.
