page_title: Ironstone china
section_title: United States
hierarchical_section_title: Ironstone china / History / United States
caption_attribution_description: Syracuse China - Oakleigh - airbrushed stencil design on bread and butter plates
context_page_description: Ironstone china, ironstone ware or most commonly just ironstone, is a type of vitreous pottery first made in the United Kingdom in the early 19th century. It is often classed as earthenware although in appearance and properties it is similar to fine stoneware. It was developed in the 19th century by potters in Staffordshire, England as a cheaper, mass-produced alternative for porcelain.
  There is no iron in ironstone; its name is derived from its notable strength and durability.
  Ironstone in Britain's Staffordshire potteries was closely associated with the company founded by Charles James Mason following his patent of 1813, with the name subsequently becoming generic. The strength of Mason's ironstone body enabled the company to produce ornamental objects of considerable size including vestibule vases 1.5 metres high and mantelpieces assembled from several large sections.
  Antique ironstone wares are collectable, and in particular items made by Mason's.
context_section_description: In the United States, ironstone ware was being manufactured from the 1850s onward. The earliest American ironstone potters were in operation around Trenton, New Jersey. Before this, white ironstone ware was imported to the United States from England, beginning in the 1840s. Undecorated tableware was most popular in the United States, and British potteries produced white ironstone ware, known as "White Ironstone" or "White Granite" ware, for the American market. During the mid-19th century it was the largest export market for Staffordshire's potteries. In the 1860s, British manufacturers began adding agricultural motifs, such as wheat, to their products to appeal to the American market. These patterns became known as "farmers' china" or "threshers' china". Plain white ironstone ware was widely marketed in the United States until the end of the 19th century.
  Notable 19th-century ironstone manufacturers in the United States include:
  Empire Pottery
  Onondaga Pottery, Syracuse China
  Walter Scott Lenox
  Homer Laughlin
caption: A Syracuse China example of mid-20th-century restaurant ware made of ironstone china.
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