History, Natural History & the Arts
The pottery of Thomas W. Commeraw, a stoneware manufacturer working in the city of New York during 1797-1819, has been acquired by American museums since the early twentieth century.
Always assumed to be a white potter of European descent, Commeraw’s remarkable life story languished in obscurity until a chance encounter with a census record sent collector, auctioneer and author Brandt Zipp on a long journey to bring it to light. [Read more…] about Rediscovered Black Potter Thomas W. Commeraw
According to archeological records, groups of nomadic Paleo-Indians traveled through the Finger Lakes region approximately 8,000 to 9,000 years ago. Small bands of these hunters and gatherers followed large game during the last stages of the Ice Age when the glaciers that formed the area’s notable lakes were receding.
Somewhat more recent early archaic archeological sites scattered across Western New York reflect a culture that was highly mobile and left little in terms of an archeological record. [Read more…] about Early Inhabitants of the Finger Lakes Region
In her new book Revolutionary Things: Material Culture & Politics in the Late Eighteenth- Century Atlantic World (Yale University Press, 2023), Ashli White of the University of Miami, explores the circulation of material culture during the America, French, and Haitian revolutions.
[Read more…] about Revolutionary Things: Material Culture & Politics in the Atlantic World
As New York City reached its Silver Jubilee in 1923, one of the ways it celebrated 25 years since its formation as a greater city uniting the five boroughs was to have residents vote on the six people who had done the city the most good. Who made the Big Apple’s early honor list? [Read more…] about Archer M. Huntington: Titan Arts Patron of New York City
George Lukacs of Poughkeepsie, a historian of early ceramics of the Hudson River Valley, is currently researching the history and archaeology of a previously undocumented 18th century pottery.
Pottery was once an important economic driver on Long Island, with readily available clay along the North Shore providing the basis for a profitable industry.
Local collector Mark Smith has made a particular study of one such concern, a business in Huntington that spanned most of the 19th century and into the 20th.
In this episode of The Long Island History Project, Mark relays the history of Brown Brothers (and their Huntington successors and predecesors) using his private collection of pottery as illustration. [Read more…] about Long Island’s Brown Brothers Pottery Podcast
Fort Ticonderoga recently acquired a unique ceramic pitcher, which is decorated with printed designs and text. The text includes a quote from Thomas Jefferson, from his first inaugural address. The pitcher was made in the 1810s in the Staffordshire Potteries, in England.
Due in part to the availability of clay, salt, lead and coal, potteries around Staffordshire formed a center of ceramic production in the early 1600s. By the late 1700s, North Staffordshire was the largest producer of ceramics in Britain. In the 19th century Staffordshire pottery was widely distributed around the world. [Read more…] about Fort Ticonderoga Acquires 1810s Staffordshire Pitcher
A four-gallon stoneware jug manufactured by Fulper Bros. in Flemington, New Jersey during the 1880s is now part of the New York State Museum’s Weitsman Collection of American Stoneware. Now on display at the State Museum, the historically significant piece of stoneware was recently acquired for the Museum by stoneware collector and benefactor, Adam Weitsman.
According to an announcement release to the press today, “The acrobat jug, a sought-after example of decorated American stoneware, has been breaking stoneware record prices at auction for decades and Weitsman had wanted the piece for over thirty years.” Weitsman recently purchased the jug from Allen Katz Americana the statement says. [Read more…] about Unique Stoneware Jug Depicting Entertainment Acquired
After hiding away in private collections – and a California coat closet – for nearly 200 years, a unique piece of early American decorative art is returning home to New York, where it will be housed at the New York State Museum thanks to collector Adam Weitsman. Weitsman, President of Upstate Shredding, also donated a monumental jug, two water coolers considered important by the museum and a gallon jug decorated with the image of a ship.
“The addition of these recent pieces of decorated stoneware surely put the New York State Museum on the map as having the premier collection of American stoneware. Not only are the decorations unique and outstanding as works of American folk art, but the documentation and history of these recent acquisitions enable us to learn so much more about the stoneware industry and those artists who left us such remarkable works of art,” said John Scherer, Historian Emeritus of the New York State Museum.
Weitsman has made a number of donations to the museum in the past, and a Herington incised jug will be an important – and valuable – addition to the collection.
A double-handled, profusely decorated stoneware jug is among the latest items Weitsman has donated. Inscribed “BENJAMIN HERINGTON,” it was bought at auction for what was, at the time, a record-breaking $138,000. The jug, considered by some a masterpiece, was made as a memorial to a 22-year-old potter who drowned in the Norwich, Connecticut harbor in 1823.
The double-handled jug joins two other pottery donations from Weitsman, including a 21 1/2 inch tall jug made in Poughkeepsie in the mid- to late-1800s, and a one-gallon stoneware jug decorated with the image of a ship, made in New York State between 1835-1846. The new acquisitions also include two water coolers made by Jonah Boynton of Albany purchased from New York City dealer Leigh Keno.
Stoneware was an integral part of the history of New York State and the expansion of the country in early days of exploration and settlement. In a time before refrigeration, stoneware was used to store and transport foodstuffs and drinking water. Clay deposits ideal for making stoneware were found around New York State, notably in what is now New Jersey, lower Manhattan and eastern Long Island. New York State became a large stoneware producer and artisans in New York developed durable vessels decorated with rich designs using incision techniques and distinctive rich blue coloring.
Weitsman began collecting American stoneware at age 11 and made his first donation of more than 120 pieces to the museum in 1996. In a 2009 article for Antiques and Fine Art Magazine, ‘Art for the People: Decorated Stoneware from the Weitsman Collection,’ Scherer wrote, “Since his initial donation Weitsman has continued to add at an aggressive pace to the museum’s holdings, making it the premier collection of American decorated stoneware in the country.”
The Weitsman Stoneware Collection is available can be viewed by the general public at the New York State Museum in Albany, New York.