Etruria Pottery

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HOW TO USE THE DATABASE

The Database is organized by location, but you can find a pottery initially by searching for its name, which is at the top of the of the page with dates of operation below. Alternate names and the names of other potteries on the same site are noted at the top of the right-hand column, just above the pottery’s location.

The types of wares made appear below the pottery name in the left-hand column, followed by the references that informed these classifications.

Sample images of maker’s marks may be enlarged by clicking on the image.

Notes include a variety of information compiled from many standard sources and are presented as miscellaneous tidbits.

In the Gallery and Map Gallery in the right-hand column you will see historic images and insurance maps of the pottery’s facilities if available as well as historic advertisements and images of the wares made.

You can download more detailed information in all of these categories by choosing a PDF of the pottery’s full listing, which also includes the documentary sources. The PDF is text only and does not contain any images.  Data from the 1860, 1870 and 1880 industrial censuses area also included in the PDF if they exist for a given pottery. This data gives you a picture of the size of the pottery operation and the age and gender makeup of its work force.

You can help expand the database by contributing pictures and information. Contact POTS by the email address at the bottom of the page.

In operation    1894-1932

Wares

ElectricalHotel chinaSanitaryTablewareToilet sets

Toilet and table earthenware (Industrial Directory 1906)

Pottery ware (Industrial Directory 1909)

Dinner ware and electrical porcelain (Industrial Directory 1912, 1918)

Novel earthenware (Industrial Directory 1927)

Electrical porcelain (Industrial Directory 1927)

Electric porcelain refractory tubes for resistances (Industrial Directory 1931)

General and hotel wares (Podmore 1932)

Maker's Marks

Click to enlarge

Notes

“Following the demise of the Ott & Brewer Company, the Cook Pottery Company was formed February 14, 1894, to manufacture china on that site. Products inlcuded semi-vitreous ware, porcelain dinnerware, Belleek-type items, and Delft-type items. It is possible that Cook inherited O&B molds as well as the building. Perhaps the best known Cook item is their Admiral Dewey pitcher, which commemorated Dewey’s victory at Manila in 1898.”

— Robinson, Dorothy and Bill Feeny. 1980.  The Official Price Guide to American Pottery & Porcelain.  House of Collectibles, Orlando, Florida.

Selected References

Trenton Board of Trade. 1900.  Industrial Trenton and Vicinity.  George A. Wolf Publishers, Wilmington, Delaware.

Stover, Edward. 1903. “Technical Advances in Trenton.” Transactions of the American Ceramic Society:147-150.

Harney, W.J. 1929. “Trenton’s First Potteries.” Sunday Times Advertiser, July 7, 14, 21 and 28, 1929.

Podmore, Henry. 1932. “Old Pottery Landmark Passes at Trenton.” Ceramic Age:271.

Robinson, Dorothy and Bill Feeny. 1980.  The Official Price Guide to American Pottery & Porcelain.  House of Collectibles, Orlando, Florida.

Goldberg, David J. 1998.  Preliminary Notes on the Pioneer Potters and Potteries of Trenton, N.J.: The First Thirty Years – 1852 – 1882 (And Beyond).  Privately published, Trenton, New Jersey.

Conroy, Barbara J. 1999.  Restaurant China: Volume 2.  Collector Books, Paducah, Kentucky.

Other firms at this site:

Other Names

Cook Pottery Company; Cook Company; C.H. Cook Pottery Company; Cook China Company; American Sanitary Pottery Company

Block and Lot:
39-2A/4

Historic Street Address:
Clinton Avenue near Belvidere and Delaware Railroad; East of Normal School; Millham Road; North Clinton corner of Ott; Clinton corner of Ott; N. Clinton Avenue corner of Ott; Clinton Ave. east of Normal School

Municipality:
City of Trenton

Image Gallery

Cook Pottery Co. Etruria Works, 1900 Industrial Trenton (Wolf p. 82 top)
Cook Pottery Co., 1900 Industrial Trenton (Wolf p. 82 top)
Commemorative Pitcher, press-molded whiteware with transfer prints of the Flagship Olympia and Admiral George Dewey, made by Cook Pottery Company, ca. 1898, 3.5 in H. The pitcher commemorates Admiral Dewey's victory at Manila in May 1898 during the Spanish-American War. The spout is in the shape of an eagle's head with wings forming the neck of the pitcher. Collection of the New Jersey State Museum, CH140

Map Gallery

Cook Pottery, 1905 Lathrop
Cook Pottery, 1908 Sanborn Map
Cook Pottery, 1927 Sanborn Map
Map References

Lathrop, J. M. 1905.   Atlas of the City of Trenton and Borough of Princeton. A.H. Mueller & Company, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  (Plate 9: shown as “Cook Pottery Co. Etruria Works”)

Sanborn Map Company.  1908.  Insurance Maps of the City of Trenton, Mercer County, New Jersey, Volume 1. Sanborn Map Company, New York, New York.  (Vol.1, plate 37: shown as “Cook Pottery Co. Etruria Works”)

Sanborn Map Company.  1927.  Insurance Maps of the City of Trenton, Mercer County, New Jersey. Sanborn Map Company, New York, New York.  (Vol. 1, plate 53: shown as “Cook China Co.”)

Franklin Survey Co.  1930.  Real Estate Plat‑Book of the City of Trenton and Borough of Princeton, Mercer County, New Jersey. Franklin Survey Co., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  (Plate 30: shown as “Cook Pottery Etruria Works”)