R. Guy Cowan was born in Ohio and educated in ceramics at the New York State School of Ceramics at Alfred. His first studio was founded in the Cleveland suburb of Lakewood in 1912. He did most of the designing himself, producing a variety of art pottery and ceramic tiles. In 1917 he received an award for his pottery at the International Show at the Art Institute of Chicago. He closed the studio while he served in the First World War.

Upon returning from the war, he moved to a larger studio in the adjacent suburb of Rocky River. The studio prospered and the pottery was distributed to prestigious department stores around the country. By 1928 Cowan Pottery had grown to a staff of 35, producing 175,000 pieces a year ranging from stock designs to limited editions. Well known artists were affiliated with the studio too, including Waylande Gregory, Viktor Schreckengost, Thelma Frazier Winter, Margaret Postgate, Alexander Blazys, and others. Many of them had outstanding careers apart from their work at Cowan Pottery. The studio distinguished itself with the quality of the ceramics, the unique glazes — many of which have never been reproduced — and the wide array of Art Deco pieces it created for its avant-garde clientele. The works brought international recognition to American Art Pottery and the "Cleveland School" in particular.

Unfortunately, during the Great Depression the public could appreciate Cowan Pottery but not afford it. The company closed in 1931. R. Guy Cowan spent the remainder of his life as the chief designer for Syracuse China (including designing the china service for Higbee's Silver Grille.)

The Rocky River Public Library acquired over 800 pieces of Cowan Pottery in 1978 from an estate. Donations have now increased the inventory to over 1100 pieces. In 2006 the library was completing a renovation, resulting in more exhibit and storage space for the museum, although only about 20% of the collection is on view at any given time. The curator, Sue Brown, knew of our special interest in Art Deco and prior to our arrival intentionally filled the exhibit space with all Deco pieces! We were certainly appreciative of her efforts to show us this extraordinary collection. She also presented a brief slide show about the history of Cowan Pottery. We were so enthralled with the pottery that we forgot we were in a library and admittedly got rather loud. A stern look and a loud "Shhhhh!" from a librarian reminded us of our grade school days … www.cowanpottery.org.

An outstanding book about this subject: “Cowan Pottery and the Cleveland School” by Mark Bassett and Victoria Naumann (Schiffer Book for Collectors, 1997) is still available—check the Cowan Pottery web site to order.

Please visit our Galleries to view more of our Tour Photographs.