Thirty-five brand guides to the makers behind the pottery studio — kilns, wheels, clay, glaze and tools — with who owns each name and where it is made.
A pottery studio runs on a handful of specialist makers: someone builds the kiln, someone the wheel, someone digs and blends the clay, someone mixes the glaze. Most are small, many are family firms, and several have changed hands in ways their customers never see. These guides set out who they are, who owns them today and where their products come from.
The cone: a standard owned by a charity
Almost every firing in an American studio is measured against pyrometric cones, and the best-known set comes from Ohio. The Orton Foundation says its roots go back to 1896, “the year Dr. Orton established The Standard Pyrometric Cone Company,” and that on his death in 1932 it became “a charitable trust to continue the operation of The Standard Pyrometric Cone Company.” A US appeals court upheld its tax exemption in 1949, quoting his will’s aim of furnishing “a mode of controlling or regulating the firing process of their wares with the highest attainable degree of dependability at the lowest reasonable cost.” Orton’s own chart explains why cones matter: “Cones do not measure temperature alone. They measure heatwork, the combined effect of time and temperature.”
Where the clay comes from
Studio clay starts in a mine. The US Geological Survey estimates that American clay production was about 26 million tons in 2025, from about 120 companies in 38 states, and that ball clay goes mainly to floor and wall tile (53 per cent) while 20 per cent of kaolin goes to ceramics. Its 2019 yearbook records that Georgia produced 92 per cent of US kaolin. Clay companies blend those raw materials into the bodies potters buy; our clay-maker guides explain which firms mine their own and which buy in.
Labels, listings and safety
Studio products carry safety claims of their own: kilns are electrical appliances that may carry a listing mark, and glazes carry art-materials labelling and statements about lead. The guides attribute those claims to the companies that make them and report regulators’ wording where we cite it. One maker in this hub, Mayco, has retired the words “Food Safe” from its labels in favour of “Suitable for Dinnerware.”
How to use these guides
Each guide covers the maker’s history and ownership, where it says its products are made, and its visual identity. Where a business has closed — as Highwater Clays’ clay manufacturing did after Hurricane Helene — we say so plainly. The table at the end gathers the essentials.
Kilns and wheels
The kiln and pottery-wheel makers that equip most studios.
- L&L Kilns — The 1946 family kiln maker that names the standard its kilns are listed to, lists which models are not, and fires to a scale owned by a charity in Ohio.
- Paragon — The 1948 garage kiln re-founded as a Texas partnership in 1981, whose controllers were once made by the charitable trust that makes the cones.
- Skutt — The 1953 Pacific Northwest family kiln maker that registered the name of its controller, publishes its own clearances, and in 2025 hired a CEO from a knife company.
- Shimpo — The Kyoto drive-maker’s potter’s wheel, whose logo its parent removed in 2018, whose pottery plant its parent lists in China, and whose ceramics line a US distributor says it bought in 2025.
- Brent — The potter’s wheel named after the California potter who built it, owned since 1978 by an Indianapolis clay company that says it made the first electric wheel two decades earlier.
- Olympic Kilns — The Seattle-born family kiln maker that moved to Georgia for the firebrick, gives three different founding years, and whose model codes are easy to misread as a safety mark.
- Rohde — The Bavarian family kiln maker that says German-engineered, builds in the Czech Republic and says so itself, and announced its American launch at the end of 2025 with a UL certificate.
The studio essentials
Cones, glazes, pug mills and more of the studio’s working kit.
- Orton — The Ohio foundation that has made pyrometric cones as a charitable trust since 1932, priced by its founder’s will for research, twice upheld as tax-exempt in court, and the maker of controllers it says cannot measure what cones do.
- AMACO — The Indianapolis family firm founded in 1919, a founding member of the art-materials safety institute, the owner of Brent wheels, and in 2026 the maker redacting its own glaze labels “to minimize frivolous lawsuits.”
- Cress — The Carson City kiln and furnace maker whose own website has dated it to 1934, to “over fifty years” and to 1973, which re-formed as a Nevada corporation in 2002, and which says it was first to UL-list a ceramic kiln.
- Cromartie — The Stoke-on-Trent kiln name that says it dates to 1946, whose company called Cromartie Kilns is dormant, whose trading business took another company’s name in 2013, and which sells American kilns alongside its own.
- Nabertherm — The Lilienthal family firm that began in 1947 making pottery kilns for private use, now exports more than three-quarters of its furnaces, says every one is hand-made in Germany, and has had three managing directors in 75 years.
- Peter Pugger — The California pugmill maker whose first machine was built in 1973 from salvaged garlic-processing equipment, whose co-founder half-regrets the name, and whose footer says “MADE IN THE USA.”
- Bailey Pottery — The Kingston, New York maker founded by an art-school potter in 1975, whose founder patented the slab roller and a removable kiln element holder in his own name, and whose kiln frames are welded in an old brick factory.
More kilns, wheels and tools
Further kiln, wheel and tool makers, and the dust they work around.
- Blaauw — The Dutch kiln maker founded by the ceramist Gerard Blaauw in the late 1970s, now under a new owner, which says it builds every kiln indoors “at our factory in Amsterdam” and ships custom kilns from Delft’s royal potteries to American campuses.
- Evenheat — The Michigan maker whose story begins in 1948 with a kiln built to fire china painting, whose corporation dates from 1971, and whose heat-treating ovens are now a fixture of the knifemaker’s workshop.
- Geil — The California gas-kiln maker whose founder designed a downdraft kiln in 1971, spent a decade getting it patented, and says he helped write the first safety requirements for gas-fired ceramic kilns.
- North Star — The Cheney, Washington maker of slab rollers and extruders founded by Robert J. Creighton, which says it makes everything on its own machinery, guarantees its rollers for life, and quietly edited its own claims in 2015.
- Laguna Clay — The California clay maker that began in 1976 with a founder selling pots from a van on the beach, was sold in 2017, makes clay in two states and colour porcelains in a third, and prints a standing warning about the silica in its products.
- Kemper Tools — The California pottery-tool maker that began with one tool in a garage in 1947, announced its closure in June 2024, found a buyer in August, and was bought by Laguna Clay in September.
- Speedball — The art-materials maker that traces itself to an 1899 pen company and a 1915 lettering nib, moved to Statesville in 1957, was bought out of its parent in 1997, and became a pottery-wheel maker in 2009.
The listing mark
Smaller makers of wheels, glazes, clays and burners, and the safety listings their products carry.
- Jen-Ken Kilns — The kiln maker that began in Michigan in 1951, took its name from a couple called Jenny and Kenneth, and has been built in Lakeland, Florida, since the Glotfelty brothers acquired it in 1991 through their mother’s ceramics-shop company.
- Euclid’s — The kiln and kiln-element brand of The Pottery Supply House in Oakville, Ontario, founded in 1958 by Jorgen Poschmann and joined by Graham Willis in 1961, still owned by both founding families, whose name is a pun on a Greek geometry book.
- Giffin Grip — The trimming chuck a production potter brought out in 1978, made on Lummi Island, Washington, by Giffin Tec, whose trade mark the US register lists in the name of its inventor, Brian Giffin, as an individual.
- Cone Art Kilns — The Ontario kiln maker built by a pottery-supply shop in 1982 after its kiln supplier closed, owned for eight years by Shimpo by one retailer’s account, bought back by its founder, and one of the few makers that prints its safety mark on the product page.
- Mayco — The glaze and colour maker that dates itself to 1954, has been in Hilliard, Ohio, since the early 1970s, was bought by its own chief executive in 2011, took over Duncan’s ceramic colours in 2020, and in September 2026 retired the words “Food Safe” from its labels.
- BlueBird Clay — The Fort Collins pugmill and clay-mixer name that Colorado potters were using as a maker’s mark by 1975, which traded for decades as Bluebird Manufacturing, changed hands around 2023, and now carries on the Soldner pottery wheel as BlueBird Clay.
- Ward Burner Systems — The Dandridge, Tennessee, gas-burner shop for kilns, raku and distilleries, run by Marc Ward, whose website still tells customers it is “far better to call us than to email us,” and which marks its valves, not its burners, as “CSA/UL approved.”
The clay makers
The firms that dig, blend and sell studio clay, and where it comes from.
- Potclays — The Stoke-on-Trent clay maker that grew out of a Staffordshire fireclay-mining company of the 1930s, has been run by the Noake family for four generations, and still uses the pale-firing fireclays its predecessor mined.
- Valentine Clays — The Stoke-on-Trent clay maker that dates itself to 1979 and a father-and-son team, is run by the Ault family, and names its raw materials in its own product copy, from Dorset ball clay to Scottish quartz sand and a Burgundy stoneware.
- Sheffield Pottery — The Massachusetts clay maker that began when a newly married couple bought a farm with a clay pit in 1943, is still run by their son, and mines its own Sheffield clay on its Berkshire County property.
- Standard Clay Company — The Pittsburgh-area clay maker that began when a frit salesman supplied clay to the city’s school art teachers, built a range of numbered clay bodies, bought two older clay names, and now trades as Standard Clay Company.
- Highwater Clays — The Asheville clay maker a young couple founded in 1979, which grew into a River Arts District landmark, and whose clay manufacturing closed permanently after Hurricane Helene flooded it in 2024; a retail store in Florida remains.
- Continental Clay — The Minneapolis clay maker incorporated in 1990, run by the Swartout family, which says its raw clay “comes directly from the mines” and that it blends over four million pounds of clay and glaze a year.
- Coyote Clay & Color — The Albuquerque glaze maker founded by the potter Martin Butt, which once made a clay with mica from the Taos area and pumice from the Jemez, and now makes cone 6 glazes it says are lead-free and toxicologist-reviewed.
At a glance: who owns the name and where it is made
Taken from each guide’s fact panel, as of October 2026. Ownership and production change; follow the link for sources and detail.
| Brand | Origin | Owner | Where made |
|---|---|---|---|
| AMACO | Indianapolis, Indiana, USA (1919) | Philpott–Sandoe family (fourth generation, it says) | Indianapolis (glazes, it says) |
| Bailey Pottery | Kingston, New York, USA (1975) | Jim and Anne Bailey | Kingston, New York |
| Blaauw | Netherlands (late 1970s) | Rob van Erven (by 2021) | Halfweg, near Amsterdam (it says “Amsterdam”) |
| BlueBird Clay | Fort Collins, Colorado (by 1975) | The Cut Shop, LLC (d.b.a. BlueBird Clay) | Fort Collins-based maker |
| Brent | Los Angeles, California, USA (1967) | American Art Clay Co. (AMACO) | USA (AMACO says) |
| Cone Art Kilns | Toronto area (Richmond Hill), Ontario (1982) | Tucker family (Frank Tucker, founder) | “Designed and built in Toronto, Canada” |
| Continental Clay | Minneapolis, Minnesota (1990 (incorporated)) | Family-owned (CEO Michael C. Swartout) | Minneapolis, it says; a second site in Denver |
| Coyote Clay & Color | Albuquerque, New Mexico (by 2001) | Founder Martin Butt | Albuquerque, New Mexico |
| Cress | See entry — the company gives several dates | Cress family, it says | Carson City, Nevada |
| Cromartie | Longton, Stoke-on-Trent, England (1946 (it says)) | Bosson family (company register) | UK (front-loaders, it says) · see entry |
| Euclid’s | Oakville, Ontario, Canada (1958) | Poschmann and Willis families (The Pottery Supply House) | Built by PSH in Oakville, the company says |
| Evenheat | Michigan, USA (1948 (brand)) | Privately held (see entry) | Caseville, Michigan (“PROUDLY MADE IN THE USA”) |
| Geil | California, USA (1971 (design)) | Paul H. Geil (named as owner on its site) | Southern California |
| Giffin Grip | Colorado / Washington, USA (1978) | Giffin family; trade mark held by Brian Giffin | Lummi Island, Washington (“MADE IN THE USA”) |
| Highwater Clays | Asheville, North Carolina (1979) | Brian and Gail McCarthy | Asheville until 2024; Asheville plant closed after Hurricane Helene |
| Jen-Ken Kilns | Michigan, USA (1951) | Mike and Randy Glotfelty (Sir Ramic Porcelain, Inc.) | Lakeland, Florida (“Proudly made in the USA”) |
| Kemper Tools | California, USA (1947) | Laguna Clay (since 2024) | California (“proudly rooted in the U.S.A.”) |
| L&L Kilns | Chester, Pennsylvania, USA (1946) | Lewicki family | Swedesboro, New Jersey |
| Laguna Clay | California, USA (1976) | Terrakotta, Inc. (since 2017) | California, Ohio and Florida (see entry) |
| Mayco | California, then Hilliard, Ohio (1954) | Colleen Carey Brennan and Kevin Brennan (since 2011) | Hilliard, Ohio (molds and tools, per its certificate) |
| Nabertherm | Bremen, Germany (1947) | Naber family | Lilienthal, Germany (it says) |
| North Star | Washington State, USA (late 1960s / early 1970s (it says)) | Not verified | Cheney, Washington (“not made offshore”) |
| Olympic Kilns | Washington State, USA (early 1970s) | Haugen family | Flowery Branch, Georgia |
| Orton | Columbus, Ohio, USA (1896) | Charitable trust (since 1932) | Westerville, Ohio |
| Paragon | USA (garage workshop) (1948) | Todd Lokash | Mesquite, Texas |
| Peter Pugger | San Luis Obispo, California, USA (1973) | Privately held (see entry) | Ukiah, California (“MADE IN THE USA”) |
| Potclays | Brownhills, Staffordshire; Etruria, Stoke-on-Trent (1932 / 1941) | Noake family (Potclays Limited) | Etruria and Brownhills, it says |
| Rohde | Prutting, Bavaria, Germany (1977) | Rohde family | Dyjákovice, Czech Republic |
| Sheffield Pottery | Sheffield, Massachusetts (1943 / 1946) | Cowen family (Sheffield Pottery Inc.; John Cowen, president) | Sheffield, Berkshire County — some clay mined on site |
| Shimpo | Kyoto, Japan (1952) | Daido USA (ceramics line, by its account) | Not stated on product |
| Skutt | Olympia, Washington, USA (1953) | Skutt family | Portland, Oregon |
| Speedball | Camden, New Jersey, USA (1899 / 1915) | Speedball Art Products (management buyout 1997) | Statesville, North Carolina (“Crafted in Statesville”) |
| Standard Clay Company | Pittsburgh area, Pennsylvania (after 1947) | Turnbull family | Carnegie, Pennsylvania (“Office & Plant”) |
| Valentine Clays | Stoke-on-Trent, England (1979) | Ault family (Valentine Clays Ltd) | Stoke-on-Trent |
| Ward Burner Systems | Dandridge, Tennessee (“over 40 years”) | Marc Ward (company records not checked) | Dandridge, Tennessee shop; some parts third-party |
Frequently asked questions
What is a pyrometric cone?
A small ceramic cone that bends when it has received a given amount of heat. Orton says cones measure “heatwork, the combined effect of time and temperature,” not temperature alone, which is why potters fire “to cone 6” rather than to a single temperature.
Do pottery-supply companies make their own clay?
Some do and some do not. Several guides in this hub describe firms that dig clay from their own pits, while others blend raw materials bought from mines, and each guide says which.
Part of our Tools & Industrial brand guidelines. See also brands by industry.