EarlyAmericanCeramics.com: A Good 19th Century Stoneware Jug from Manhattan Marked "C. Crolius Manufacturer New-York"

Thursday, February 13, 2025

A Good 19th Century Stoneware Jug from Manhattan Marked "C. Crolius Manufacturer New-York"

Aside from the history of the Clark family of potters in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont, which will be the subject of my eighth book that will be available in a few weeks, titled, An Influential Family of Early Potters: The Clarks of New Hampshire and Related Businesses, I will also discuss William Pecker's (1757-1820) circa 1810-1820 stoneware production in South Amesbury (Merrimacport), Massachusetts, seeing that some of Pecker's production ended up in New Hampshire. Pecker is a documented potter working in New York City during the 1802-1807 period, which is where he learned how to manufacture stoneware, working alongside such names as Crolius, Remmey, Commeraw and Morgan: http://www.earlyamericanceramics.com/2024/08/william-pecker-cited-as-potter-in.html.

Evidence of Pecker's residency in New York City is found each year in Longworth's New York Directory, where he seems to have moved around from one location to the next, although he is listed as working on Bayard Street in the 1803 City Directory, which is where Clarkson Crolius Sr. (1774-1843) owned a stoneware business. This is also the first time that Crolius Sr.'s Bayard Street Pottery is referenced in the city directory (this business was also located near the African American Burial Ground in Manhattan): https://www.crockerfarm.com/stoneware-auction/2023-11-10/lot-8/Exceedingly-Rare-Clarkson-Crolius-BAYARD-ST-New-York-City-Stoneware-Jar/.

This is Where Bayard Street is Located in Manhattan Today

See Article for More Information

According to the Green-Wood Historic Fund and Cemetery in Brooklyn, which is where Clarkson Sr. and other family members are buried, "The first Clarkson Crolius was the grandson of William Crolius (1731-1779), the founder of the family business, and the son of John and Maria Clarkson Crolius. He was involved in politics, serving as an alderman in New York City’s Sixth Ward for many years, as an assemblyman, and in 1825 was elected Speaker of the New York State Assembly. By 1811, he had risen to be Grand Sachem of the Tammny Society; he laid the cornerstone for the Old Tammany Hall that was built on Frankfort Street. He was also active in the military; during the War of 1812, Clarkson served as major of the 29th New York State Militia, then entered U.S. service, and rose to colonel. This mix of politics and military service was no accident. There was a spike in new American potteries around 1805; these were early American manufacturers, started in an effort to establish economic independence from England. Federal legislation from 1806 to 1809, and the Embargo Act of 1807, prohibited trade with England, and English imports fell by two-thirds; American manufacturers, including potters, had little competition from imports, and thrived.

Clarkson was in the stoneware business by 1794; he later moved the family pottery business to Bayard Street, but continued to live on Reade Street, near where the pottery had been located for many years."

Much of the Crolius pottery that exists today is from Clarkson Crolius Sr. or his son, Clarkson Crolius, Jr. (1806-1887), who was born in 1806 and was also a state senator. Clarkson Sr. potted until 1838, while Clarkson Jr. began in 1835 and continued production on Bayard Street into the 1840s.

Clarkson Street in Greenwich Village in New York City also bears the family name today, as well as the town of Clarkson in Western New York. They were named for Matthew Clarkson (1758-1825), a General in the American Revolutionary War, who became a State University of New York regent, an abolitionist politician, President of New York Hospital, Director of the New York Manufacturing Society, and President of the Bank of New York, formed by Alexander Hamilton.

This is Matthew Clarkson (1758-1825)

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Nevertheless, the following nineteenth century cobalt decorated stoneware jug is currently available from a second stoneware collection at Antiques Associates At West Townsend in Massachusetts (different from the collection that I have been writing about); the jug is marked "C. Crolius Manufacturer New-York," which was a mark used at Clarkson Crolius Jr.'s business on Bayard Street. This jug was made about 1835-1849, and is a good example of production from the Crolius Pottery in Manhattan during this period.

For more information - contact A.A.A.W.T.: https://www.aaawt.com/about/

Note: For more reading on this subject - see Meta F. Janowitz's article in the 2008 issue of Ceramics in America, titled, New York City Stonewares from the African Burial Ground: https://www.chipstone.org/article.php/412/Ceramics-in-America-2008/New-York-City-Stonewares-from-the-African-Burial-Ground.

Also see two significant eighteenth century Crolius family pieces of stoneware owned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan; an inkstand made by William Crolius in 1773, and a jug probably made by William's brother, John Crolius (1733-1812) in 1775. There are also at least two heavily decorated eighteenth century stoneware teapots known in private collections today from New York City, which were also possibly made by the Crolius family, among other privately owned eighteenth century objects.

Furthermore, there is the well-published nineteenth century stoneware punch bowl owned by the American Folk Art Museum in New York City: "The punch bowl was probably copied from imported Chinese export porcelain examples. The inscription on the bowl, which reads "Elisabeth Crane May 22, 1811," indicates that it was a special commemorative gift to a member of the crane family of Cranetown (now Montclair), New Jersey. Long attributed to John Crolius Jr. (1755-1841), it was recently suggested that the bowl may have been made by Caleb Crane, a potter in the Crolius workshop, as a gift for his wife, Elizabeth, or as a christening bowl for his daughter, who was also named Elizabeth."

Interestingly, the nineteenth century stoneware ring bottle that I recently wrote about could also be from New York City: http://www.earlyamericanceramics.com/2025/02/two-19th-century-stoneware-ring-flasks.html; the bottle is decorated with incised vines somewhat similar to the punch bowl.

Early 19th Century Stoneware Punch Bowl

Attributed to John Crolius Jr.s (1755-1841) Business in Manhattan

Possibly Made by Caleb Crane, a Potter Employed at the Crolius Pottery

Inscribed "Elisabeth Crane May 22, 1811"

Stands 7 3/4" Tall

Measures 15 1/2" in Diameter

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: American Folk Art Museum

19th Century Stoneware Ring Bottle Possibly Made in New York or New Jersey

Incised with Leafy Trailing Vines

Also Decorated with a Series of Impressed Circles that Form a Triangle

These Decorations are Highlighted with a Brown Ochre

Measures 11 1/2" from Top to Bottom

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: A.A.A.W.T.

19th C. Stoneware Jug Marked "C. Crolius Manufacturer New-York"

19th Century Cobalt Decorated Stoneware Jug Manufactured in Manhattan

Marked "C. Crolius Manufacturer New-York"

Made at Clarkson Crolius Jr.'s Business on Bayard Street

Circa 1835-1849

See Article for More Information

Photo Courtesy: A.A.A.W.T.

A View of the Mark "C. Crolius, Manufacturer, New-York"

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Photo Courtesy: A.A.A.W.T.

A View of the Handle

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Photo Courtesy: A.A.A.W.T.

This is Clarkson Crolius Sr. (1774-1843)

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Photo Courtesy: New York Historical Society

Clarkson Crolius Sr. Listed in Ward 6 in Manhattan

This is from the 1820 United States Federal Census

New York City was Divided into Wards Between 1683 and 1938

The Wards were Used for the Election of Various Municipal Offices

The Wards were Later Used to Construct the Boundaries of Larger Electoral Districts

See Article for More Information

This is Clarkson Crolius Jr. (1806-1887)

Like his Father, He was also Involved with Politics in New York City

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Additionally, some of the Manhattan stoneware has already sold, although there are still six very good examples of late eighteenth and/or early nineteenth century New York City or Hudson River region stoneware from the good stoneware collection that I have been writing about, which is currently available at Antiques Associates At West Townsend in Massachusetts. These are the objects. I will write more about them at a later time, although some were illustrated in Brandt Zipp's book, Commeraw’s Stoneware: The Life and Work of the First African-American Pottery Owner: https://www.commeraw.com.

Here is a link to the collection: https://www.aaawt.com/promotional/stoneware-collection/