Metlox Potteries of Manhattan Beach, California, operated between 1927 and 1989 as a manufacturer of a wide range of dinnerware and artware products. An early iteration of the company, Proutyline Products Company, was founded by the Prouty family in 1921. Proutyline built a manufacturing plant in Hermosa Beach, California, and produced architectural tile under the brand Hermosa Tile. Theodor (T.C.) Prouty and his son Willis were avid inventors with over 70 patents credited to them. Among their patents was a design for a tunnel kiln in 1925, which allowed them to dramatically increase tile production. In 1926, the Proutys sold their factory to Ohio-based American Encaustic Tiling Company.

In 1927, they founded Metlox Manufacturing Company as a division of Proutyline. The name Metlox is a concatenation of “metal oxide,” a generic term for materials used in the ceramics process. Metlox began production in a new plant at 1200 Morningside Drive near downtown Manhattan Beach (the location has since been turned into a shopping mall that retains the Metlox name). Metlox’s early production included ceramic bases for neon signs: the famous Pantages theater in Hollywood boasts a Metlox-manufactured marquee. Like many potteries specializing in commercial production, business began to dramatically slow in the early 1930s. Looking for ways to stay in business, Metlox cast their eye on the popular colorware dinnerware lines being produced by J.A. Bauer & Sons and retooled their manufacturing facility for dinnerware production. There’s some dispute about when they started production, but Metlox’s most prominent colorware line, the “Poppy Trail” 200 Series started in 1934, Mission Bell (300 Series – 1935, produced for Sears), Yorkshire (1937), and Pintoria (400 Series – 1937). Artware lines followed in 1938. Metlox also produced many promotional lines, such as the California Pottery line for White King Soap in the mid-1930s.

Dinnerware production halted in the early 1940s while Metlox produced a variety of metal shell casings and machine parts to support the war. Post-war dinnerware lines that followed catered to the new craze for hand-painted dinnerware (following the success of Franciscan Desert Rose) with lines like Camellia and Ivy. In 1946, Willis Prouty sold Metlox to Evan K. Shaw. Shaw developed relationships with most of the Southern California potteries and became good friends with Fay Bennison, the president of Vernon Kilns. Metlox’s best and most interesting dinnerware design work came under the direction of Shaw in the 1950s with iconic lines like Contempora, Aztec, Navajo and Del Rey, to name just a few.

Faced with changing consumer tastes, increased foreign competition (copying!) and rising production costs, Metlox closed their doors in 1989.

Site of the former Metlox Pottery plant in central Manhattan Beach. The site has since been converted to a shopping mall. You can read more about the contentious post-Metlox clean-up and development history of the site here. Image source: The Daily Breeze.

Selected Metlox Colorware Lines

Metlox 200 Series

Metlox 200 Series was Metlox’s first contender in the colorware market, going head-to-head with Bauer and Pacific Pottery. Company records from the early 1930s are spotty, making it difficult to track the actual items in production for any of these early lines. Some pieces may only be designated with a “California Pottery” in-mold mark, others – like Mission Bell – have a backstamp, but don’t include the Metlox name. The Series 200 Poppy Trail dinnerware evolved into a huge line. Colors included the full spectrum of bright glazes (rose, blue, green, ivory, red, yellow) and later in colorful matte-glazed pastels (15 colors in total).

Most commonly found pieces are pitchers, carafes, tumblers, and teapots – the rest of the items (especially individual pieces such as plates, cups, and bowls) can be hard to find. This is a common phenomenon for most dinnerware lines of the period – hostesses in the 1930s – the throws of the Great Depression – weren’t likely to throw out their existing dinnerware sets, but supplement them with colorware serving pieces. Beverage sets in particular are very common.

Metlox Pintoria: Square with flair!

Produced only between 1937 and 1939, Metlox’s fabulous Pintoria line was square with flair! Also known as the “400 Series” line, this short set included a serving platter, serving bowl, dinner plate, salad plate, bowl, cup and saucer, creamer and open sugar.

Commercial ceramists often looked to other artists and designers for inspiration in creating new lines. In 1929, the Dutch artist Piet Mondrian made waves with his “Composition with Red, Blue and Yellow,” featuring a block pattern in three primary colors (red, yellow, blue) and three primary values (grey, black, white) in a vertical and horizontal grid. No doubt influenced by Mondrian, Metlox came up with Pintoria, a unique, modern square pattern. Metlox glazed Pintoria in seven 200 Series colors: Delphinium Blue, Old Rose, Canary Yellow, Turquoise Blue, Poppy Orange, Rust, and Cream. With its flat edges, Pintoria chips easily, and the forward-thinking design was likely not popular with consumers. As a result of its short production run, Pintoria is hard to find.