The Mccoy/Nelson-McCoy/Brush connection goes back as far as 1899, with McCoy Pottery being founded in Roseille, Ohio by J. W. McCoy. It became Brush-McCoy Pottery Company in 1911 and in 1925 was changed to Brush Pottery. The mark "Brush" was usually added on their pieces. George Brush began in 1901 working in Zanesville, Ohio. He started his own pottery company in 1907. The company burned to the ground and in 1909 he joined McCoy, which became the Brush Pottery in 1925. Nelson McCoy was established in 1910 as the Nelson McCoy Sanitary Stoneware Company. It was established by Nelson McCoy, a third generation McCoy potter in Roseville, Ohio with the aid of his father, J. W. McCoy. They manufactured jars, churns, jugs, poultry fountains, and footwarmers. By 1925 they expanded to Majolica jardiniares, umbrella stands cuspidors, and a line of vases and small jardiniares in a brown to green mottled glaze. Beginning in the late 1920's to mid 1940's, a utilitarian stoneware was produced with some being glazed in the popular blue and white. Also, a dark brown and medium to dark green in a high gloss was produced. It became known as Nelson McCoy Pottery Company in 1933. In 1940, they began producing cookie jars, dinnerware, and novelty artware. Various themes of cookie jars (as many as 200) were produced. In the early years of production, McCoy produced kitchenware, majolica jardinieres and pedestals, umbrella stands, and cuspidors. They began producing art pottery in 1903. The first line was Mt. Pelee, which is very rare today. Matt Green and an iridescent charcoal gray were the two types of glazes used. Some of the pieces resemble pieces by George Ohr. In 1904 the company was rebuilt after being destroyed by a fire. A new line of artware was designed; Loy-Nel Art and Renaissance. They were hand-decorated with standard brown lines under the glaze with colored slip. Olympia and Rosewood were two more lines of artware produced. They were relief-molded brown glaze, decorated in natural colors with wreaths of leaves and berries or floral sprays. Most of the artware pieces were unmarked. But, some were die-stamped "Loy-Nel Art, McCoy" or an incised line identification. Nearly all the marks incorporate "McCoy". Some of the older pieces are marked "NMUSA". There are approximately 15-20 (some of which will be shown below). Nelson McCoy sold McCoy Pottery in 1967 to the Mt. Clemens Pottery. McCoy Pottery closed in the late 1980's. A manufacturer for almost 10 years tried and successfully adopted the McCoy Pottery name and mark. They reproduced old McCoy designs with a very close old McCoy mark. They also used Brush McCoy and B.J. Hull fraudently. The compound name "Brush/McCoy" was not originally used on cookie jars. Legal action was finally taken and stopped them from continuing to use the McCoy name. For more information see the recently updated The Collector's Encyclopedia of McCoy Pottery by Sharon and Bob Huxford or McCoy Pottery Collector's Reference and Value Guide, bol I and II, by Margaret Hanson, Craig Niessen, and Bob Hanson. Another one is Sanfords Guide to McCoy Pottery by Martha and Steve Sanford. To view the McCoy Pottery marks:
www.mccoypottery.com/mark.html
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ALERT!
Numerous "new" cookie jars are in the marketplace. Some manufacturers have expanded their lines with new designs to attract the collector market. There are many "limited edition" and "artist-designed" jars. Reproductions, signed and unsigned, are creating an uncertainty among collectors. The Mammy cookie jar was used as a example for the production of a new jar with the addition of "Dem Cookies Shor Am Good" in embossed letters. There is a reproduction with the McCoy mark being sold as an original to fool buyers. This is not authentic. There are some jars with cold-painted "Cookies" or "Cookie Cabin". It is not known whether McCoy made them with and without cold paint.
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