Shawnee pottery was started in Zanesville, Ohio in 1937 receiving its name and unique mark from an arrowhead found on the grounds of the plant as it was being built. Shawnee Indians were known to have made pottery in that area long before white settlers pushed them out, and so the company named itself after these long-lost locals.

The company took over the site from the defunct American Encaustic Company, which produced decorative architectural tiles until the Depression shut it down. Shawnee hired some of the employees who had lost their positions at American Encaustic, bringing much-needed relief to desperate folks. Other workers included well-known designers who had worked at Frankoma, Roseville, Weller and Hull.

Most of the pieces made at the Shawnee Pottery sold in department stores and dime stores like Woolworth's, SS Kresge and Sears. They weren't supposed to be fine art, just pretty and serviceable for every day use. The mass production process demanded a simple design, and the price, between ten and thirty cents, meant that details were usually rather limited.

Shawnee Pottery made dinnerware and kitchenware for the most part, with some decorative pieces thrown in as well. The pottery closed in 1961, a victim of inexpensive foreign imports, and other potteries took over many of their molds and designs. That made identification of Shawnee pottery a real challenge, since they often used paper labels with only an incised "USA" mark on the bottom.