Red Wing Pottery

Pottery produced by John Paul, a German immigrant potter, in a farm near Red Bull, over the years 1861 through to 1863, using the techniques he had previously learned.[1]

The pottery production was continued by William M. Philleo under the name of Red Wing Terra Cotta Works, altering John Paul recipe by adding silica to the natural red clay.[1]

The former Minnesota Stoneware Company building in Red Wing.

Crock manufactured by the company.

An offshoot of Red Wing Terra Cotta Works, the Minnesota Stoneware Company was in production from 1880 to 1906, making a salt-glazed version of the pottery. It is one of the companies that merged to form Red Wing Union Stoneware Company.[1][2]

North Star Stoneware was in production from 1892 to 1896.[2]

Red Wing Stoneware Company was in operation from 1877 to 1906. It is one of the companies that merged to form Red Wing Union Stoneware Company.[2] In 1984 John Falconer bought the rights to the name and started manufacturing stoneware again in Red Wing. In 2013 B. and I. Johnson purchased the company.[7]

Union Stoneware Company was in production from 1894 to 1906. It is one of the companies that merged to form Red Wing Union Stoneware Company.[2]

Red Wing Union Stoneware Company incorporated all the offshoot companies under the operating name of Red Wing Union Stoneware Company, and operated from 1906 to 1936.[1][2][8]

In 1926 Red Wing began producing Art Pottery. The first production was of "Brushed Ware". For the first time each shape was marked with an ink stamped number.[9]

Red Wing Potteries, Inc. is the same company as Red Wing Union Stoneware Company. The name changed in 1936 and was retained until the pottery closed in 1967.[10]

RumRill Art pottery, founded by George Rumrill, was made by Red Wing from 1933 to 1937. George Rumrill was an art pottery designer & salesman who contracted with Red Wing to make his art pottery. RumRill shapes were numbered from 50 to 677.[11][12])

From 1938 to 1941 RumRill pottery was made in Ohio[13] and possibly by Shawnee Pottery,[14] Gondor Pottery[15] and Florence Pottery in Mount Gilead, OH[16]

In 1938 Red Wing began producing art Pottery under its own name. For several years they remarked existing RumRill shapes[17] [18]

Dinnerware was made by Red Wing from 1935 to 1967. More than 100 hand decorated patterns were produced. View pictures of all the dinnerware patterns at Golden State Red Wing's Learning page[19] For detailed Red Wing dinnerware information see[20][21]

Red Wing Pottery was formed in 1967, when R.A. Gillmer (the last President of Red Wing Potteries) purchased the company from the other shareholders during liquidation. The company operated primarily as a retail business until 1996 when the third generation of the Gillmer family began production again with a smaller output than its early boom years. In 2013 Bruce and Irene Johnson purchased the company to be run as a family business and kept in Red Wing.[7]