![Shawnee Pottery Smiley Pig](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/62/Shawnee_Pottery_Smiley_Pig.jpg)
The Shawnee Pottery Company was a manufacturing company best known for producing Corn King pottery and the Pennsylvania Dutch lines of pottery. Both of these lines are considered highly collectible.
The company actively produced pottery from 1937 to 1961 from its location in
Zanesville, Ohio
Zanesville is a city in and the county seat of Muskingum County, Ohio, United States. It is located east of Columbus and had a population of 24,765 as of the 2020 census, down from 25,487 as of the 2010 census. Historically the state capita ...
.
Predecessors
The predecessor company to Shawnee Pottery was the American Encaustic Tiling Company. American Encaustic's main product was tiles, which required a two-step process. The process involves the firing of the clay and then the glaze. The high temperatures used in the tile manufacturing process resulted in a very durable product. The American Encaustic Tiling Company was one of the largest tile manufacturing companies in the world.
The American Encaustic Tiling Company was located at 2200 Linden Avenue in
Zanesville, Ohio
Zanesville is a city in and the county seat of Muskingum County, Ohio, United States. It is located east of Columbus and had a population of 24,765 as of the 2020 census, down from 25,487 as of the 2010 census. Historically the state capita ...
. It was built in 1891 and cost approximately a million dollars. Governor
William McKinley
William McKinley (January 29, 1843September 14, 1901) was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until his assassination in 1901. As a politician he led a realignment that made his Republican Party largely dominant in ...
dedicated the new building on April 19, 1892. Also, Shane Macdonald was part owner of Shawnee Pottery in 1893. Malcolm A. Schweiker and his brother, Roy W. Schweiker purchased the American Encaustic Tiling Company in 1937 after it faced economic difficulties.
The towns of Zanesville,
Roseville,
Fultonham
Fultonham is a village (United States)#Ohio, village in Muskingum County, Ohio, United States. The population was 115 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is part of the Muskingum County, Ohio, Zanesville micropolitan area. Fultonham ...
, and
Crooksville, located in
Muskingum County, Ohio
Muskingum County is a county located in the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 86,410. Its county seat is Zanesville. Nearly bisected by the Muskingum River, the county name is based on a Delaware American Indian ...
, and
Perry County, Ohio
Perry County is a county located in the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 35,408. Its county seat is New Lexington. It was established on March 1, 1818, from parts of Fairfield, Washington and Muskingum counties. ...
, were home to many famous pottery factories, some of which no longer exist and some of which are still producing beautiful pieces of pottery. Roseville, Crooksville, and Fultonham are all within a 15-mile radius of Zanesville. The Zanesville area was known as the largest pottery-producing region in the country. The more famous names readily associated with this area are
McCoy, Burley Winter,
Hull
Hull may refer to:
Structures
* Chassis, of an armored fighting vehicle
* Fuselage, of an aircraft
* Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds
* Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a ship
* Submarine hull
Mathematics
* Affine hull, in affi ...
,
Roseville,
Weller, and Shawnee Pottery. Today, the Hartstone Pottery Company is based in Zanesville, and they produce hand-painted stoneware pottery.
History
In 1937, Shawnee Pottery began operations in the former American Encaustic facility in Zanesville, Ohio. Arrowheads found in the area, in conjunction with the heritage of local Shawnee Native Americans, inspired Louise Bauer, who was an in-house designer for this new company, to develop a logo with an arrowhead and profile of a Shawnee Indian Head.
The Shawnee Pottery Company operated from 1937 through 1961.
After the new logo was finalized, the company became known as Shawnee Pottery. Production under this new company name began in August 1937. The first products were primarily decorative items like figurines, cookie jars, and vases, which could be found in "
five and dime
A variety store (also five and dime (historic), pound shop, or dollar store) is a retail store that sells general merchandise, such as apparel, automotive parts, dry goods, toys, hardware, home furnishings, and a selection of groceries. It us ...
" stores such as
F.W. Woolworth Company
The F. W. Woolworth Company (often referred to as Woolworth's or simply Woolworth) was a retail company and one of the pioneers of the five-and-dime store. It was among the most successful American and international five-and-dime businesses, se ...
,
S.S. Kresge
Sebastian Spering Kresge (July 31, 1867 – October 18, 1966) was an American businessman. He created and owned two chains of department stores, the S. S. Kresge Company, one of the 20th century's largest discount retail organizations, and the ...
, and
McCrory Stores
McCrory Stores or J.G. McCrory's was a chain of five and dime stores in the United States based in York, Pennsylvania. The stores typically sold shoes, clothing, housewares, fabrics, penny candy, toys, cosmetics, and often included a lunch coun ...
. Shortly after production began in 1937,
Sears Roebuck and Company
Sears, Roebuck and Co. ( ), commonly known as Sears, is an American chain of department stores founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosenwald, with what began as ...
asked the Shawnee Pottery Company to design a line of dinnerware known as Valencia and a line of kitchenware exclusively for their stores.
World War II had its effect on Shawnee Pottery. The
Army Air Force
The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...
had contracts with Shawnee Pottery Company from 1942 to 1946, which provided Shawnee with 90% of its production. During this period, ceramic designer Robert Heckman joined the company.
Products
Between 1937 and 1942, Shawnee Pottery manufactured decorative items using a two-step, or two-fire, process. The greenware (unfired clay) received its first firing. A china underglaze was applied to the pottery. After that paint was applied. This application of paint over the glaze is referred to as cold paint.
[ Due to the age of the pottery, it is not uncommon to notice that the paint has deteriorated greatly over time.
Two of the most popular lines ever produced by Shawnee Pottery are the Pennsylvania Dutch line and the Corn King line. These two lines of pottery were produced by the two-fire method which resulted in a very durable product.
Shawnee's products are still popular with pottery collectors.] Their best-known product lines include "pig" cookie jars and the Corn King line of dinnerware.[
]
References
{{Reflist
Ceramics manufacturers of the United States
Zanesville, Ohio
Defunct manufacturing companies based in Ohio