This project began with the goal of reconstructing the life of Thomas W. Commeraw. Ideally, I hoped to be able to unearth this man’s story from the graveyard of history and present it in book form, in a high-quality and accurate way befitting of his importance. Looking back now on Commeraw’s Stoneware, which was published in 2022, I am truly grateful that I was finally able to achieve this goal, and am particularly thankful for the tremendous outpouring of support I received once it was published.
The Commeraw Project’s primary goal remains advocacy for Thomas Commeraw’s legacy. However, the initiative that bears his name has now also taken up the mantle of researching and rediscovering historical African-American potters at large.
While we are constantly working toward that broader goal, here are some specific potters we are currently actively researching:
Thomas W. Commeraw (c. 1772 – 1823), Manhattan
I tried to be as exhaustive as possible as I researched and wrote Commeraw’s Stoneware, but there is always room for more research on this all-important Black craftsman. Meanwhile, I love seeing newly discovered examples of his work, or pieces that have been sitting privately in collections for many years. Please do not hesitate to contact me for all things Commeraw-related, including speaking engagements.
John Wesley (c. 1834 – 1906), Columbia, Pennsylvania
In March 2025 I was honored to present a lecture at the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts on a newly discovered African-American face jug maker working in Lancaster County, PA: John Wesley. Wesley’s rediscovery happened because Rob Hunter (long-time editor of Ceramics in America) was researching a name that appears on an important jug at Colonial Williamsburg, then found him on my recently published “African-American Potters: 1850-1880 Federal Census Extract.”
(Here’s an interview Rob and I gave to Antiques & the Arts Weekly about the discovery.)
I’m currently trying to finish out my Wesley research, which is already far along in the process, with the hopes of publishing on him.
About 50 newly discovered African-American potters in my 1850-1880 Federal Census Extract
This is perhaps the most significant research accomplishment of the Project apart from Commeraw’s Stoneware. I was able to identify about 50 undocumented African-American potters through census research, and published my findings to the internet in early 2023. This list has already yielded great fruit, with more to come!
Please click here to view this list; if you have any pieces of pottery signed by one of these men, I would very much appreciate it if you contacted me.