Stoneware maker
Cowden & Wilcox marks
John Wallace Cowden and Isaac Wilcox ran a stoneware pottery in Harrisburg, and it is one of the easiest Pennsylvania makers to recognize because of its loose cobalt floral brushwork.
- Active
- c. 1863–1880 (under this stamp)
- Based in
- Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, United States
- Marks listed
- 1
- Typical pieces
- crocks, jugs, cream pots, pitchers
The marks, by date
Each mark’s wording is written out as a transcription: the words and line breaks, not a picture of the mark. Where a source describes a mark instead of quoting it, the description is shown in italics.
Where: side, near the rim
History
It made crocks, jugs, cream pots, bowls and pitchers. The pottery continued under later Cowden family names after the partnership stamp went out of use.
Dating clues
- Doc's Crocks, citing Phil Schaltenbrand's 'Big Ware Turners', dates the partnership stamp to 1863–1880.
Look-alikes and reproductions
- Other Harrisburg stamps such as WM. MOYER, J. YOUNG & CO. and T.H. WILLSON & CO.
Other names on the marks
Cowden, Wilcox & Co.
Where sources disagree: CowdenAndWilcox.com says the pottery ran 1861–1923 under various names; Doc's Crocks dates the Cowden & Wilcox stamp to 1863–1880; search summaries also mention a Cowden, Wilcox & Co. period (1867–1873) that we could not confirm on an opened page.
Sources
Marks help identify a maker and a date range, but they can’t prove a piece is genuine. Reproductions and later reissues can carry old marks. This entry isn’t an appraisal.