Jar

Artist/Maker
Rogers, William
Place Made
Yorktown Virginia United States of America
Date Made
1710-1740
Medium
stoneware
Dimensions
HOA: 14″; WOA: 10 1/2″; DOA: 10 1/2″
Accession Number
5961.5
Description
During the 17th and 18th century the vast majority of ceramics in colonial America were imported wares. In general, Great Britain preferred her colonies to be exporters of raw materials and importers of finished goods. In fact, manufacturing in the American Colonies was actively discouraged. None the less, entrepreneurs saw opportunity in providing local consumers with finished goods, often with a wink-and-nod from colonial officials. In 1733 Virginia Governor William Gooch reported to his superiors in London that “We have at York Town upon York River one poor Potter’s Work for Earthen Ware.” In reality, William Roger’s operation at York Town was anything but a poor pottery producing low-grade earthenware. Archaeological excavations conducted between 1966 and 1982 revealed that his pottery was producing high quality lead-glazed earthenware and salt glazed stoneware for export and local production. The pottery relied on both indentured white and enslaved laborers of African descent.
Despite the prolific output of this pottery, its utilitarian wares only survive archaeologically.

REFERENCES: Norman F. Barka, “Archeology of a Colonial Pottery Factory: The Kilns and Ceramics of the ‘Poor Potter’ of Yorktown”, in Ceramics in America (Chipstone Foundation: 2004)

Martha W. McCartney and Edward Ayres, “Yorktown’s ‘Poor Potter’: A Man Wise Beyond Discretion”, in Ceramics in America (Chipstone Foundation: 2004)

History
Excavated at “Governor’s Land” a 3000 acre tract outside of Jamestown.
Artist Biography
MAKER: Most likely born in England between 1680 and 1688, William Rogers came to America and worked in Yorktown, Virginia. Rogers was married and had a daughter before he arrived in Virginia in 1710. He immediately began running a brewery, the intricacies of which he had learned at his father’s distillery at Southwark, England. By May, 1711, Rogers had acquired title to his first two town lots in Yorktown. He also began to take affidavits in a chancery court, examined witnesses in a lawsuit involving land, and assisted in taking inventories of deceased persons’ estates. He is not mentioned during 1713 or 1714, and he may have returned to England or been devoted his time to his business. By 1714, he regularly appeared in local records as a witness, juror, or plaintiff. Rogers’ first wife died, and by 1718 he was married again to a woman who was probably from England. From 1718 to 1733, William Rogers was involved in over six business enterprises. In 1724 he is referred to as a merchant, and he had clearly entered into the town’s middle class. The profits from his brewery and pottery enabled his to expand and diversify his business enterprises, and he was able to buy additional property. Rogers died in 1733, and it is evident that there was some strife between his daughter from his first marriage and his second wife. In fact, upon her death, Rogers’ wife left all her belongings, including those of her husband, to their daughter, Sarah, thus excluding the daughter of the first marriage.
Credit Line
Loan courtesy of Department of Historic Resources of the Commonwealth of Virginia