Coxon Belleek China Company

Coxon Belleek China Company

Founded	1927
Defunct	Factory closed November of 1931 and Company Dissolved in September of 1932
Headquarters	E. Bowman St., Wooster, Ohio, United States

Comprehensive History

On January 3, 1927 the Coxon Belleek China Company was established on E. Bowman St., where the Akron Brass Company was once located, in Wooster, Ohio by J. Fred Coxon, his brother Edward B. Coxon, and Edward Coxon Jr. The elder Coxon brothers were the sons of Jonathan Coxon of Trenton, New Jersey who along with Walter Lenox had established the Ceramic Art Company in 1889 which later became the Lenox China Company.

From the start, the quality of Coxon Belleek china matched that of Irish Belleek, and the Wooster business soon had accounts with the largest and most prestigious department stores in the country. In 1929 the Coxons sent a 24-piece platinum-decorated set of dinnerware to President Herbert Hoover at the White House. It is likely that this set was actually ordered by Mrs. Hoover as the first lady's grandparents, the William Henrys, lived in Wooster and she visited them often. She may well have seen Coxon Belleek during the course of one of her trips to the city. Presently, the whereabouts of the Hoover Coxon Belleek platinum-decorated set of dinnerware is unknown.

Some china collectors believe the Coxon Belleek product represents one of the finest examples of Belleek America has ever produced. It is noted for its shell-like, iridescent or translucent qualities. Most pieces carry the Coxon Belleek logo on the back of the ware. Because Coxon used the term Belleek, he had to pay a trademark-like royalty to the Irish company.

Nearly 60 different Coxon Belleek dinnerware patterns have been found and identified. The one most commonly found in the Wooster, Ohio area is D-1025. However, many of the patterns do not carry any number at all. Only two patterns have names: "Boulevard" and "Iota", the latter supposedly named for Fred Coxon's secretary. Furthermore, many of the department stores that sold the dinnerware had their own names imprinted on the backs of the pieces.

At the peak of production, the Coxon company employed 75 workers, 12 of whom were artists employed to decorate the dinnerware.

The Coxon Belleek China Company was the last of 11 American potteries that tried to duplicate and market a fine dinnerware comparable to Irish Belleek. The company operated in Wooster from 1927 to 1931 before going out of business because of a combination of poor management and the onset of The Great Depression.

Newspaper articles

Newspaper citations with no attached images

• December 22, 2008: "Wooster Was Home to Fine China Company" by Paul Locher, The Daily Record, p. ?.

References

• Konkle, Ward. "The Coxon-Belleek Company" Wayne County Historical Society of Ohio Winter Quarterly Newsletter Jan.-Mar. 1998: 1-2.