Manhattan Stoneware Lecture: Oct. 13, 2012, Washington, CT
By Brandt Zipp | May 4, 2012
Mark and I will be appearing at the Gunn Historical Museum in Washington, Connecticut, on Saturday, October 13, at 10 am to give a lecture on Manhattan Stoneware, 1795-1820, with a free appraisal event immediately following. This program is free and open to the public, but seating is limited and registration is required to attend. Please give the Gunn Museum a call at 860-868-7756 to register. Here is an “official” synopsis:
In 1795, four of the most important stoneware potters in American history were all working in lower Manhattan, around a place called “Potter’s Hill.” In 1820, two were still there, two had moved on: one to Baltimore–where he took the American stoneware craft to what could be called its zenith–and one to the west coast of Africa. The story of these potters during that quarter of a century and beyond is amongst the most interesting in the history of the American stoneware craft. This lecture will discuss the life and work of Clarkson Crolius, John Remmey III, Henry Remmey, and Thomas W. Commeraw–the latter a free African American potter who worked on Manhattan’s lower east side.
Brandt and Mark Zipp are principals in Crocker Farm, Inc., the nation’s leading auction house of American stoneware and redware pottery, located in Maryland. Their research and writings are consistent contributions to the study of American utilitarian ceramics. The book Brandt is authoring on Thomas W. Commeraw is one of the most anticipated works to be published on the topic of American stoneware.
Though the work of the early Manhattan potters was some of the first American stoneware to be studied and collected, this lecture will present their work from a fresh perspective, with a lot of “new” material. Afterwards, we will be happy to evaluate / provide verbal appraisals of attendees’ stoneware and redware. If you’re not too far from Washington, CT, we hope you can join us for what we hope will be an interesting day!
