Undated
WESTERN STONEWARE / COMPANY / MONMOUTH ILL.
Unlettered outlined maple leaf with a separate oval company stamp; ornamental capacity numeral above.
printed · Stoneware · Monmouth, Illinois, United States
Pottery & porcelain
Western Stoneware marks
Western Stoneware marks include printed “WESTERN / STONEWARE / CO” on Stoneware in Monmouth, Illinois, United States.
- Active years
- From 1906
- Country
- United States
- City / region
- Monmouth, Illinois
- Products
- Stoneware containers, Crocks, Jugs, Churns, Bakeware, Art pottery, Garden pottery, Dinnerware
- Marks
- 5
Combined company formed 1906. Large-scale pottery through 2006 was followed by art and specialty production; current owner dates from 2014.
What to look for
- Read the lettering within and below the maple leaf. Monmouth Pottery and Western Stoneware used related leaf devices, but their company names differ.
- Look for a separate oval company stamp, a leaf with the full company name, or the WS initials. A large number above the decoration commonly gives capacity; do not treat every number as a date.
- Some early pieces identify a plant. Record the complete plant wording before linking a vessel to a particular factory.
Dated marks & timeline
5 marks
Undated
WESTERN / STONEWARE / CO
Company name runs diagonally across the outlined maple leaf.
printed · Stoneware · Monmouth, Illinois, United States
Undated
2 / WESTERN / STONEWARE CO / MONMOUTH ILL
Company and place inside a detailed leaf; numeral at its upper center.
printed · Stoneware · Monmouth, Illinois, United States
Undated
WESTERN / STONEWARE / OVENPROOF / MONMOUTH / ILL / U.S.A.
Leaf includes OVENPROOF and the Monmouth location below the company name.
printed · Stoneware · Monmouth, Illinois, United States
About Western Stoneware
Western Stoneware Company was formed in 1906 by combining seven Midwestern potteries. Its headquarters were in Monmouth, Illinois. The former Monmouth Pottery became Plant One and Weir Pottery became Plant Two; other factories were in Macomb, White Hall, Clinton and Fort Dodge. The business retained the maple leaf associated with Monmouth and used it in several printed and moulded marks.
Its early output included crocks, jugs, churns and other containers for storing food. Advertising pieces carried merchants’ names, and the company also made bowls, garden pottery, lamps and decorative ware. Art pottery was offered from 1919, followed by artistic dinnerware in the 1930s. In 1953 Eva Zeisel designed a short-lived line of informal stoneware dinnerware, including bird-shaped pieces and stackable covered forms, with hand-printed decoration and a Cloud Gray glaze.
Ownership changed several times after the 1950s. Food containers remained important through the 1970s, followed by crocks, bakeware and giftware into 2006. The company subsequently concentrated on art pottery and specialty products. David and Linda Wade purchased it in 2014. Later small-scale production continued in Monmouth, while the former industrial plant buildings passed to other uses.
Also known as: Western Stoneware Co. · Western Stoneware Art · Western Stoneware Company
Look-alikes & how to tell them apart
Monmouth Pottery Company →
The predecessor used the maple leaf before the 1906 combination. Its full company wording distinguishes those early stamps from Western Stoneware. Later Monmouth branding continued within Western.
Red Wing
Both produced utilitarian stoneware, advertising pieces and blue decoration. Read the company stamp and distinguish Western’s maple leaf from Red Wing’s wing and other devices.