Skip to main content
The distinctive incised flowers and unusual spelling of “COERLEARS” mark this jar as an early Commeraw example. A resourceful early owner of the jar added the wire collar to stabilize the cracks and extend the life of their valued possession.
Exhibition History"Crafting Freedom: The Life and Legacy of Free Black Potter Thomas Commeraw", New York Historical Society, New York, NY, January 20, 2023 – November 26, 2023.
Artist
Thomas W. Commeraw
(active 1796 - 1819)
Jug
Date1797-1819
MediumStoneware
DimensionsOverall: 9 1/2 × 6 3/4 × 10 1/2 in. (24.1 × 17.1 × 26.7 cm)
Object numberN0070.1989
Credit LineCollection of the Fenimore Art Museum. Gift of J. Holman Swinney
Photograph by Richard Walker
Label TextFor two centuries, the story of craftsman Thomas W. Commeraw was lost to history. Born enslaved, Commeraw rose to prominence as a free Black entrepreneur with a thriving pottery at Corlaer’s Hook on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. Between the late 1790s and 1819, Commeraw produced thousands of utilitarian stoneware jars and jugs, marking them boldly with his name and his distinctive decoration. Surviving vessels attest to his skill at the potter’s wheel, while historical records document his activities as a business owner, family man, and engaged citizen. After a series of economic reversals forced him out of business, Commeraw made the fateful decision in 1820 to leave the U.S. and seek better opportunities in Sierra Leone, Africa.The distinctive incised flowers and unusual spelling of “COERLEARS” mark this jar as an early Commeraw example. A resourceful early owner of the jar added the wire collar to stabilize the cracks and extend the life of their valued possession.
Exhibition History"Crafting Freedom: The Life and Legacy of Free Black Potter Thomas Commeraw", New York Historical Society, New York, NY, January 20, 2023 – November 26, 2023.
On View
On view
