WS George pottery marks

About W. S. George

W. S. George Pottery Company manufactured American dinnerware in Ohio and Pennsylvania during the first half of the twentieth century. William Shaw George acquired control of an East Palestine pottery in the early 1900s. The business grew into a group with facilities at East Palestine, Canonsburg and Kittanning. Its products included semi-porcelain tableware, hotel china and early toilet ware.

The company offered many dinnerware shapes and decorative lines. Bolero and Lido appear prominently in its backstamps, while Canarytone identifies the pale-colored ware associated with some Lido pieces. Other marks name Rainbow or White Granite. Cavitt-Shaw was identified directly on the pottery as a division of W. S. George. Floral transfers, colored bodies, bands and metallic trim provided different treatments of the company’s table services.

The East Palestine business entered bankruptcy in 1955 and passed into Royal China ownership. Production and corporate winding-up did not end everywhere at the same moment. The Pennsylvania pottery history continued into the 1960s. Complete line names, body, shape and decoration help place surviving pieces within the company’s varied output; a short numeric code alone does not establish a manufacturing year.