Isaac Suttles was born in Ohio and probably was employed by John M. Wilson at the Guadalupe Pottery sometime after the Civil War. Census records from 1870 suggest that Suttles worked with and resided with the family of Marion J. Durham. Durham had joined Wilson as a partner in the Guadalupe Pottery after the war and purchased Wilson’s remaining interest in 1869, establishing what became known as the Durham-Chandler-Wilson pottery. By 1873, Suttles had established his own pottery in La Vernia, Texas. Suttles is thought to have introduced the technique of salt glazing to the Guadalupe Pottery, to the Durham-Chandler-Wilson pottery, and in turn to H. Wilson and Company.

With a salt-glazed surface and cobalt slip decoration, this jar reflects Suttles’ Ohio heritage. Cobalt decoration and salt glazing were typical of wares made in the Northeast and Midwest, but are rarer in Texas, where the southern alkaline or ash glazing technique was well established.