Stoneware manufacturer. In 1855, potter Theodore Gunther left the Alsace-Lorraine region of France for America. He first settled in Detroit, Michigan, and worked there making stoneware until 1859, when he married Bertha Schaeffer and relocated to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. After four years working at a stoneware factory in Milwaukee, he moved to Sheboygan in 1863, where he opened the Eastern Stoneware Factory in partnership with local potter Peter Berns. In 1866, Gunther bought out Berns' share of the company for $1,000. The Gunther pottery produced stoneware churns, crocks, jugs, and beer bottles using clay imported from New Jersey and Illinois. An 1868 directory for the city of Sheboygan lists three men who worked as "stoneware turners" for Gunther: Anton Bellet, Edward Beau, and William Weller. In 1881, Gunther employed at least ten men and turned out 8,000 gallons of ware per month. The pottery closed in 1885, following his death. View examples of stoneware by Theodore Gunther in the Wisconsin Decorative Arts Database.

Learn More

Dictionary of Wisconsin History

Explore more than 1,600 people, places and events in Wisconsin history.

[Source: Edwards' annual directory of the City of Sheboygan for 1868-9 (Chicago, 1868); History of Northern Wisconsin (Chicago, 1881); Kenneth Dearolf, Wisconsin Folk Pottery (Kenosha Public Museum, 1986).]