Guadalupe Pottery Company
Jar

Public Domain

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MakerAttributed to Guadalupe Pottery Company(American, active c. 1857–1869)American, active c. 1857–1869

CultureAmerican

Titles

Datec. 1857–1869

Made inSeguin, Texas, United States

MediumTitamium-oxide and alkaline-glazed stoneware

Dimensions7 1/4 × 4 1/2 diameter (18.4 × 11.4 cm)

Credit LineThe Bayou Bend Collection, gift of William J. Hill

Object numberB.2012.54

Not on view

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Department

Bayou Bend

Object Type

CERAMICS

DescriptionNorth 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.
ProvenanceDr. Georgeanna Herman Greer (1922–1992); Estate of Dr. Georgeanna Herman Greer; consigned to [Harmer Rooke Galleries, New York, November 18, 1992, lot 777]; ...; [John St. Clair, Austin]; purchased by William J. Hill (1934–2018), Houston, 2003; given to MFAH, 2012.
Exhibition History"Houston Collects: African American Art," The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Upper Brown Pavilion, July 31–October 26, 2008.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks

On bottom, under clear tape,inscribed with black ink over white paint: GREER / #9
On bottom, inscribed in black ink over white paint: TGW 37.37
On bottom, printed label [removed by conservation]: HARMER ROOKE / GALLERIES / 777 /NEW YORK CITY / SALE:
On bottom, printed label [removed by conservation]: 777

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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