Stoneware maker
Western Stoneware Company marks
Western Stoneware was created in 1906 by buying seven potteries: five in Illinois (Monmouth Pottery, Weir, Macomb Pottery, Macomb Stoneware, and D.
- Active
- 1906–2006
- Based in
- Monmouth, Illinois, United States
- Marks listed
- 1
- Typical pieces
- crocks, jugs, churns, water coolers
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 crock or jug, inside a maple leaf
The plant number (1–7) identifies the factory; Plant 1 was Monmouth, Plant 2 Weir, Plants 3–4 Macomb.
History
Culbertson of White Hall), plus Clinton, Missouri and Fort Dodge, Iowa. Each became a numbered plant, and the company kept Monmouth's maple leaf as its trademark. Early output was salt-glazed and Albany-slipped with freehand cobalt, but it soon moved to Bristol glaze with stenciled and stamped marks.
Dating clues
- A maple leaf with a plant number means 1906 or later; the same leaf with 'Monmouth Pottery Co.' is pre-merger.
- Plant 1 (Monmouth) stopped production after 1930 and Plant 6 (Clinton) in 1910; Plant 3 (Macomb Stoneware) burned in 1913, which helps narrow plant-numbered pieces.
Look-alikes and reproductions
- Monmouth Pottery Co. maple leaf marks (pre-1906).
Other names on the marks
Western Stoneware Co.; WSCo.
Where sources disagree: Sources differ on the end date: WorthPoint gives 1906–2006, while other summaries mention a closure in 1985 and a revival that closed in 2005 or 2006.
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.