Bluebonnets by Louisville Stoneware-circa 1986

Beautiful stoneware plate made in 1986 by Louisville Stoneware in Kentucky, USA.
This plate was made to commemorate the Sesquicentennial of the great State of Texas and its state flower…the Bluebonnet.

The Louisville Stoneware factory has roots dating back to 1815 when it began baking in Louisville, Kentucky.

From the 1800s to 1970, factory operated under several different names as a result of several owners before settling on Louisville Stoneware.

NAMES:
Bauer Pottery
Cherokee Pottery
Louisville Pottery
J.B. Taylor Company

OWNERS:
Jacob Lewis
The Lewis Family
John B. Taylor

In 1970, a Kentucky ceramics engineer named John Roberts purchased the furnace and stoneware factory and named the company Louisville Stoneware.
Under Roberts, the company allowed ceramist artists to experiment with different designs.
Also, the factory began to make commemorative items produced by seasoned arts for special occasions . One of their most famous commemorative patterns was for the Kentucky Derby.
Louisville Stoneware also could be commissioned to produce patterns for restaurants. They created some for companies like Cracker Barrel and Kentucky Fried Chicken and more.
John Roberts sold the company to Christy Lee Brown in 1997.
Brown sold Louisville Stoneware more in retail online and small retail outlets in solely just in the Kentucky area. Brown also increased the company sales to 3 million a year.
In 2007, Brown retired and sold the furnace building and factory to dinnerware and bakeware company Two Stones, Inc.
Two Stones, Inc. owner, Stephen A. Smith still owns and sells the Louisville Stoneware in four shops in the Louisville area under the name A Taste of Kentucky and the furnace and factory is a tourist attraction and provides tours.

FUNNY FACTS:
Louisville Stoneware in Kentucky actually uses and bakes their pottery with clay from the state of Indiana.

HISTORICAL FACT:
In the 1930s when the company was J.B. Taylor Company, a potter named Mary Alice Hadley.
In 1939, Mary started her own M..A Hadley Pottery. Mary’s pottery became highly collectible and sought after due to Hadley’s
creative and hand painted patterns and color palette. Her shop is now called Hadley Pottery and is still in business today in Kentucky😊

Plate weighs 2 pounds and thirteen ounces of cream and blue Indiana clay… baked and glazed to perfection.
Also comes with gold-toned wire wall holder and hanger seen in photo.
Vertical stand used in photos is not included in this sale.

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