Stoneware maker
Monmouth Pottery Company marks
The Monmouth Pottery Company made utilitarian stoneware (crocks, jugs, churns and bowls) in Monmouth, Illinois.
- Active
- c. 1892/1894–1906
- Based in
- Monmouth, Illinois, United States
- Marks listed
- 2
- Typical pieces
- crocks, jugs, churns, bowls
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 of Bristol-glazed crocks, churns and jugs
Logo of two men standing in a crock.
Where: side, lettering in the center of a maple leaf
Monmouth is the 'Maple City', hence the leaf.
History
It began with salt glaze and Albany slip decorated in cobalt, then moved to Bristol glaze with stenciled and stamped marks. In 1906 it became Plant 1 and the head office of the new Western Stoneware Co., which kept its maple leaf trademark.
Dating clues
- By 1902 most Monmouth wares carried the maple leaf; after 1906 the leaf reads 'Western Stoneware Co.' with a plant number.
- Salt-glazed pieces with freehand cobalt are from the early years, before the change to Bristol glaze.
Look-alikes and reproductions
- Western Stoneware Co. maple leaf marks (1906 on).
Other names on the marks
Monmouth Pottery Co.; Western Stoneware Plant 1
Where sources disagree: Western Stoneware's own history dates Monmouth Pottery to 1892; the Blue & White Pottery Club and WorthPoint say it began production in 1894.
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.