Johan Willem Crolius (d. 1779) , also known as William Crolius, was a German-born American potter who owned kilns in New York City. The business he started operated in New York City from 1730s - 1850s and originally was located on Potbaker's Hill, an underdeveloped area of Lower Manhattan. He established a dynasty of potters in New York that existed until the 1850s. The Crolius has been called the most important

stoneware Stoneware is a broad class of pottery fired at a relatively high temperature, to be impervious to water. A modern definition is a Vitrification#Ceramics, vitreous or semi-vitreous ceramic made primarily from stoneware clay or non-refractory fire ...

makers in the history of the USA. As his workshop created some of the earliest known examples of stoneware in the USA, he may have introduced salt-glaze stoneware to North America. Crolius products were widely distributed across several states. Crolius was born in Neuwird in the

Westerwald The Westerwald (; literally 'Western forest') is a low mountain range on the right bank of the river Rhine in the States of Germany, German federal states of Rhineland-Palatinate, Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia. It is a part of the Rhenish Ma ...

region of present-day Germany. Crolius migrated from

Eifel The Eifel (; , ) is a low mountain range in western Germany, eastern Belgium and northern Luxembourg. It occupies parts of southwestern North Rhine-Westphalia, northwestern Rhineland-Palatinate and the southern area of the German-speaking Com ...

to New York City around 1718. In 1724 he married Veronica Cortselius, also born in Neuwird, at the Dutch Reformed Church, New York. Crolius started his workshop Manhattan sometime before 1730. He was a member of the

Dutch Reformed Church The Dutch Reformed Church (, , abbreviated NHK ) was the largest Christian denomination in the Netherlands from the onset of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century until 1930. It was the traditional denomination of the Dutch royal famil ...

with other potters from his region: Johannes Remmi and Kemple. Crolius enslaved the family of Thomas Commeraw, manumitting them in his will after he died in 1779. His work is associated with other New York pottery families Remney, Commeraw and Kemple. There were over 15 potters named over several generations.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Croliu, Johan Willem 1779 deaths People from Neuwied German emigrants to the United States American potters