Shawnee Pottery
shawnee pottery
dealers of delicate
history
The Shawnee Pottery Company produced pottery from 1937 - 1961 from its location in Zanesville, Ohio.
The predecessor company to Shawnee Pottery was the American Encaustic Tiling Company, and the main product produced by American Encaustic was tiles.
American Encaustic Tiling Company was once one of the largest tile manufacturing companies in the world, but eventually they experienced economic difficulties, and in 1937 the company was purchased by Malcolm A. Schweiker and his brother Roy W. Schweiker.
Production under Shawnee Pottery Company began in August 1937 and the first products were decorative items like figurines, vases, and cookie jars.
Shortly after production began in 1937, Sears Roebuck and Company worked with Shawnee Pottery Company to design a line of dinnerware known as Valencia.
During WWII the Army Air Force had contracts with Shawnee Pottery Company from 1942 to 1946 which took up 90% of Shawnee’s production. During this period ceramic designer Robert Heckman joined the company.
Two of the most popular lines ever produced by Shawnee Pottery are the Pennsylvania Dutch line and the Corn King line.
