Thomas Commeraw

Thomas W. Commeraw, also known as Thomas H. Commereau, was an early 19th century African-American potter and businessman.

Career

Commeraw was an African-American ceramist producing ceramics in early-19th-century New York working between 1797 and 1819.[1] He operated a ceramics business on the Lower East Side waterfront on Corlears Hook. Commeraw's work was known for its painted blue tassels, scallops, and petals. Commeraw's containers were used in many ways including holding a variety of products including oysters, preserved fruit and alcohol. In 1820, he left the United States to travel with the American Colonization Society to Sierra Leone.[2][3][4]

Jar by Commeraw - 1797-1819

Commeraw's works are in these collections: Metropolitan Museum of Art, Brooklyn Museum, National Museum of American History, The Winterthur Museum of Art, New-York Historical Society, Grolier Club, and the New York City Archaeological Repository.[5][6][7][8]

In 2022, Commeraw's work was included in the exhibition Before Yesterday We Could Fly at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.[9] In 2023, Commeraw will be the subject of Crafting Freedom at the New-York Historical Society, the first single-artist show to be dedicated to him.[10]

Thomas Commeraw jar (top) at the Before Yesterday We Could Fly show, Met Museum - January, 2022

References
  1. "Failey Grants Awarded To Three Noteworthy Projects". Antiques And The Arts Weekly. 2021-12-07. Retrieved 2022-02-05.
  2. "About | News | Thomas Commeraw artifact now curated by the NYC Archaeological Repository | NYC Landmark Preservation Commission". archaeology.cityofnewyork.us. Retrieved 2022-02-05.
  3. Kahn, Eve M. (2011-10-13). "From Manhattan to Sierre Leone". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-02-05.
  4. "365: Mark Shapiro on 19th-century potter Thomas Commeraw". Tales of a Red Clay Rambler. Retrieved 2022-02-05.
  5. "Brooklyn Museum". www.brooklynmuseum.org. Retrieved 2022-02-05.
  6. "Met Museum collection". www.metmuseum.org. Retrieved 2022-02-05.
  7. "Commeraw jug – Truths of the Trade: Slavery and the Winterthur Collection". truthsofthetrade.winterthur.org. Retrieved 2022-02-05.
  8. "Stoneware jar". National Museum of American History. Retrieved 2022-02-05.
  9. "Before Yesterday We Could Fly: An Afrofuturist Period Room". www.metmuseum.org. Retrieved 2022-02-05.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  10. "Failey Grants Awarded To Three Noteworthy Projects". Antiques And The Arts Weekly. 2021-12-07. Retrieved 2022-02-18.


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