EDITOR’S NOTE: Red Wing Pottery and Stoneware is closing its salesroom. According to a news release posted last week on the company’s website, owners Bruce and Irene Johnson are shuttering the store due to stress and pressure related to a lawsuit; threats against them, their family and the business; and more. You can read the complete statement by clicking here.
While the salesroom will remain open only through December 24, the company will continue to produce a limited number of Red Wing Pottery and Red Wing Stoneware pieces at the Stoneware facility. Those products will be available for purchase online.
I visited the store in October 2014 and drafted the following post in May 2015, planning to publish it as part of a series on Red Wing. I still intend to publish that series. Eventually. For now, this post stands alone:
A sign in Red Wing Pottery summarizes the company’s history.
RED WING AND POTTERY. The two are synonymous in the Mississippi River town of Red Wing in southeastern Minnesota.
As far back as 1861, when German immigrant farmer John Paul created the first piece of stoneware from clay found on area land he intended to farm, pottery has been a part of Red Wing’s story.
Potter Mark Connolly
Today potters still shape clay into practical and beautiful works of art at Red Wing Stoneware & Pottery. Crocks, pitchers, mugs, bowls, commemorative pieces and much more are created by the hands of those devoted to this craft.
A large jug inside the pottery store lists chapters of the Red Wing Collectors Society.
Signature Red Wing pottery has a passionate following with chapters of the Red Wing Collectors Society scattered throughout the country. They hold conventions and are serious about this Minnesota pottery. Check out the Society’s website, where experts will even answer your questions about Red Wing pottery for free.
This river town also boasts a new Pottery Museum of Red Wing and plenty of antique stores with Red Wing pottery.
Visiting potters Paul and Denise Morris of Morris Pottery in Ogilvie created Minnesota-shaped pottery for the Red Wing company.
I love this Minnesota-made pottery. I’m not a collector, although I have a few pieces. There’s something about owning an aged crock or an artsy piece of Red Wing pottery that connects me to that German immigrant farmer, to this river town, to the land.
Red Wing Pottery on West Main Street.
Join me now on a photographic walk through Red Wing Pottery on West Main Street. The company has a second location, Red Wing Stoneware, along U.S. Highway 61.
Potters were on their lunch breaks when I visited the store.
Water and clay.
Classic Red Wing with the company’s signature logo.
My husband peruses pottery in the “seconds” section of the store.
Commemorative items customized for customers.
More Morris Pottery art.
More commemorative merchandise.
Beautiful pottery.
In the “seconds” section.
Graceful with the signature Red Wing logo.
© Copyright 2015 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
Minnesota Prairie Roots 
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