25th Anniversary Digital Edition
Now Available!
The 25th Anniversary Digital Edition of Decorated Stoneware of Cowden, by Matthew R. Miller, is a new edition of the most extensive book ever produced on the antique stoneware potteries of Harrisburg Pennsylvania. Featuring expanded research, remastered and expanded photographic collections, and the modern convenience of the e-book format, this book fully details the story and history of the nine Harrisburg stoneware manufacturers.
Uncirculated Copies of the First
Edition Still Available
Self-published in 2001, the first edition of Decorated Stoneware of Cowden is a beautiful, full color, hardbound book which has been a mainstay reference among collectors and enthusiasts of Harrisburg stoneware for decades.
Operating from 1852 through 1924, there were nine manufacturers of blue decorated stoneware in Harrisburg, PA. These manufacturer's were T. H. Willson & Co., Willson's & Young, John Young & Co., William Moyer, J.W. Cowden, Cowden & Wilcox, F. H. Cowden, F.H. Cowden & Son, and Cowden & Company.
In addition to genealogy and history on the owners, potters, and potteries from this era, this new edition of Decorated Stoneware of Cowden is 195 pages in length and features over 450 color photographs of Harrisburg blue decorated stoneware. This book includes extensive photographic examples of the pottery produced by each Harrisburg maker, as well as advertisements, sale bills, maps, blueprints, and historic photos of owners and employees. The stoneware featured range from common examples to some of the rarest and most extravagantly decorated pieces ever produced, including a large number of pieces which have never before reached the public eye. The name, Cowden & Wilcox, and the stoneware produced in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, is among the most highly collected antique pottery in the nation.
Of interest to both beginning and seasoned collectors alike, this book also includes informative sections on the history and processes involved in creating salt glazed blue decorated stoneware, evaluating the conditions of antique salt glazed stoneware, and a new chapter highlighting some of the most interesting pieces to come to auction over the last two decades. A great book for anyone interested in stoneware, antiques, folk art, or history, now available in a convenient and affordable digital format!
Matthew Miller was born and raised in Central Pennsylvania in a family which both collected and celebrated antiques of many kinds. As a young adult, he found himself given the unique opportunity to photograph many of the finest collections of antique blue-decorated stoneware from Harrisburg, PA known to exist. This opportunity, paired with countless hours of research and writing, led to the publication of Decorated Stoneware of Cowden in 2001.
25 years later, Matthew is pleased to offer an extensively updated second edition of this work.
The stoneware produced in Harrisburg Pennsylvania, is among the most highly collected in the nation. In the 25th Anniversary Digital Edition of Decorated Stoneware of Cowden, the most extensive photographic study of this art ever published has been beautifully remastered and expanded!
Since authoring Decorated Stoneware of Cowden, it has been my pleasure to serve as a resource for questions on the antique stoneware of Central Pennsylvania. Please contact me with questions or comments at:
