Metlox Pottery

Metlox Pottery, strictly speaking Metlox Manufacturing Company, was a manufacturer of ceramic housewares, located at 1200 Morningside Drive, Manhattan Beach, California. The pottery factory closed in 1989.

Metlox Pottery
Incorporated
IndustryPottery
FateClosed
Founded1927 (1927)
FounderTheodor C. Prouty and Willis Prouty
Defunct1989 (1989)
Headquarters
Manhattan Beach, California
,
United States

History
Metlox Pottery miniatures "playful bears"

Metlox Pottery was founded in 1927 by Theodor C. Prouty and his son Willis Prouty, originally as a producer of outdoor ceramic signs. After the death of T.C. in 1931, Willis renamed the company Metlox Pottery ("Metlox" is a combination of "metal" and "oxide," a reference to the glaze pigments), and began producing dinnerware. The Metlox Manufacturing Company was incorporated 5 October 1933.[1] Evan K. Shaw, of American Pottery in Los Angeles, purchased Metlox from Willis Prouty in 1946.[2] After Shaw's death in 1980, Kenneth Avery became the president of Metlox.[2] The first line of pottery produced, "Poppytrail," became well known for its brightly colored glazes derived from locally mined metallic oxides. Subsequent lines included "Nostalgia," "Red Rooster," "California Provincial," "Colonial Homestead," "Homestead Provincial," and "Colorstax."

In the 1950s Metlox introduced a line of modernist dinnerware featuring free form designs and squared plates using "blanks" that were then decorated with designs and colors. These were then marketed under the pattern names of "California Contempra", "California Modern" and "California Freeform" names.

Besides kitchenware, Metlox also produced a very popular line of large ceramic horses and carriages in the 1950s. Carl Romanelli designed vases, figurines and miniatures for Metlox. A line of collectible ceramic people planters called "Poppets," designed by studio potter Helen Slater, were produced starting in 1970.

Metlox's incorporation was terminated on 4 January 1988. The pottery factory closed in 1989 after 62 years of operation. Metlox's 97,000-square-foot (9,000 m2) former site is now occupied by Shade Hotel and other businesses.[3]

On 21 June 1989, the Los Angeles Times reported lead and other dangerous heavy metals that were byproducts of the pottery-making process had been dumped for years into a 60-by-40-foot open-air pit on the plant property at Manhattan Beach Boulevard and Valley Drive. Officials said it could take at least two years for the mess to be cleaned up.[4]

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See also

California pottery

References

Citations
  1. California Secretary of State Archived 2010-06-05 at the Wayback Machine, retrieved 2010-06-11 via query for entity number C0155727
  2. History of Metlox Pottery, retrieved 2010-06-11
  3. Peninsula People, December 2005 Archived 2010-11-29 at the Wayback Machine, retrieved 2010-06-11
  4. "Poisoned Past: Metal Waste Contaminates Site of Closed Pottery Factory in Manhattan Beach", by Paul Feldman, Times Staff Writer, June 21, 1989

Sources
  • Gibbs, Carl. Collector's Encyclopedia of Metlox Potteries: Identification and Values, Second Edition. Collector Books (2001) ISBN 1-57432-224-9
  • Chipman, Jack. Collectors Encyclopedia of California Pottery, Second Edition. Collector Books (1998) ISBN 1-57432-037-8
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