Pottery & Porcelain maker
Weller Pottery marks
Samuel A.
- Active
- 1872–1948
- Based in
- Fultonham, Ohio; Zanesville, Ohio from 1882, United States
- Marks listed
- 9
- Typical pieces
- vases, jardinieres, planters, ewers
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: base
Hand-incised company marks came before stamped ones on early lines such as Aurelian, Eocean and Louwelsa. The exact wording isn't quoted in the sources consulted.
Where: base, often around a shape number
A half-circle seal: the line name curves across the top and 'Weller' runs straight below. This example is for Louwelsa. Other lines of the period used the same layout with their own names.
Where: base
A double-circle trademark with the pattern name around the top and Weller around the bottom.
Where: base
Block capital letters applied with a die stamp.
Where: base
An ink stamp of a full kiln.
Where: base
An ink stamp of a half kiln.
Where: base or side
Circular paper labels printed with the company and line name, with blank spaces for stock number and price. Black and silver foil labels were also used.
Where: base
Written by hand as either 'Weller' or 'Weller Pottery'.
Where: base
An in-mold script mark, sometimes found with artists' script signatures.
History
Weller started the pottery in 1872 in Fultonham, Ohio, making flowerpots, crocks and other plain wares, and moved to Zanesville in 1882. In 1894 he bought the Lonhuda Pottery and moved into art pottery, with lines such as Louwelsa, Dickensware and Sicard. By the 1910s it was described as the largest art pottery in the world. After World War I it moved toward cheaper molded commercial lines, and it closed in 1948 after Essex Wire Corporation took a controlling interest.
Dating clues
- Weller never used a year code, so dating rests on the mark style, the line and the form.
- Hand-incised marks usually mean before 1900. The half-circle seal points to about 1896 to the early 1900s. The double-circle mark points to about 1910 onward.
- Kiln-shaped ink stamps point to the mid-to-late 1920s. An in-mold script mark with 'Since 1872' points to after 1935.
- Marking was inconsistent because so much was mass-produced. Some pieces carry only an artist's signature, or no mark at all.
Other names on the marks
S. A. Weller; Weller
Where sources disagree: The mark chronology comes mainly from Just Art Pottery. JD's Auctions agrees on every date but uses very similar wording, so the two may not be independent. Wikipedia and Just Collectibles confirm only the history dates. The kiln ink stamps are described but their wording isn't quoted, so 'text' is left blank.
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.