Virtual Tuesday Talk—Clay and Conviction: Thomas Commeraw’s Legacy in Post-Revolutionary New York

Thomas Commeraw was a highly-skilled master stoneware potter (active ca. 1797–1819), a family man, a community leader, a patriot, and an abolitionist in New York City in the decades just after the American Revolution. Though his work has been collected since the turn of the 20th century, Commeraw’s life remained mysterious to curators and collectors until 2010, when a partner in a stoneware auctioneer house announced his findings that Commeraw was a free Black man. The surprised reaction of many to this information brings into view assumptions about race and craftwork and demonstrates the power of maker stories and craft to shape historical narratives. This talk explores Commeraw’s agency and impact as a Black craftsman during an era of gradual emancipation and continued oppression in New York. Using Commeraw’s work as a case history, this presentation examines ways objects acquire meaning through exhibition, scholarship, and market forces.

Speaker: Jill DiMassimo, Independent Researcher