John B. Swann acquired the Wilkes Street Pottery in 1813 and announced the opening of his Stoneware Manufactory two years later. Swann apprenticed with the Alexandria potter Lewis Plum, and mastered the technique of Stoneware production in his first years at Wilkes Street.
Swann's first Stoneware imitated the brown English wares. Jugs and jars were partially dipped in a thin iron wash which was allowed to drip down the sides. By 1820 he had changed to the production of grey salt-glazed Stoneware, often decorated with cobalt blue. Swann's decoration is somewhat reserved, with small brush strokes and sparse decoration, sometimes consisting only of small dabs of color. However, his symmetrical, flowing foliage designs are repeated with increasing elaboration by Swann's successors. As Alexandria's first Stoneware potter, Swann established a decorative tradition which was to continue and evolve throughout the history of the Wilkes Street Pottery.
Swann’s early pottery was dipped in a brown iron oxide
wash which was allowed to drip down the sides of the vessel.
By 1820, Swann was decorating stoneware with
sparse cobalt blue decoration.
