North Carolina native John M. Wilson trained to be a lawyer and later became a Presbyterian minister and entrepreneur. In 1850, he moved his family and those whom he enslaved to Missouri. In the wake of the violence that arose in the region in the dispute over whether Kansas would enter the Union as a free state or a slave state, Wilson moved in 1856 and settled in Seguin, Texas. By 1857, he established the Guadalupe Pottery, which was active until 1869. Most of the work was carried out by enslaved workers, some of whom later established the firm of H. Wilson & Company. They may have learned the trade while in North Carolina or from others trained in southern pottery traditions associated with the Edgefield District of South Carolina, which included the use of a partially subterranean groundhog kiln and alkaline or ash glazes.

This jar is distinguished by its curving, ovoid form. As the 19th century drew to a close, stoneware jars and jugs took on straighter-sided forms that made more efficient use of space in the kiln and for shipping and storage.

Straight-sided jars and jugs became increasingly dominant forms as the 19th century drew to a close, favored for their more efficient use of space and the greater ease in stacking and storing them.