James Roark was the son-in-law of Denton County, Texas, potter John Cranston. After working for his in-laws, he established his own shop not long after John Cranston’s death. Like his father-in-law, he sometimes used cobalt slip to decorate his pots, a technique common in the Northeast and Midwest, but rare in Texas.

This jar features five quickly drawn ovals in cobalt slip, positioned as if they were leaves on a stem that was never added to the image. In addition, it bears an impressed maker’s mark “ROARK” and an incised eight-gallon capacity mark.