Question:
We have a large blue stoneware bowl that is stamped on the bottom RWS Co. It has a wide 1.5" band around the top of it. The color is medium sky blue, but you can see some light green showing through. I don’t know if it is discoloration or was made that way. Also, there is no glaze around the very top rim. It looks sand colored. We are guessing it was made this way because it does not look like the glaze chipped off. We received the bowl from my husband’s grandmother who used it when making bread. She died in late 1988 at age 103. We will keep the bowl in the family, but would like to tell our family a little about it. Does this sound like the type of bowls made by your company in the past? How much should we insure it for? We are guessing $50. Thank you. Nanci

Answer: Nanci, you have a Red Wing milk pan. They came is sizes 4 3/4" to 15 1/2". The 7" through 10 3/4" (you measure these bowls across the top) are the most common. Now, the signed blue milk pans are extremely hard to find (and yours is singed you lucky duck!). RWS Co stands for the Red Wing Stoneware Company. These milk pans (bowls) appeared in every stoneware catalog Red Wing ever published starting around 1906. Red Wing milk pans were a main stay in every household kitchen. Your blue milk pan in mint condition has a value of $175. Nice bowl and you should be so lucky that it was handed down through the family. If this were my bowl, you could ad another zero to the value and I still would never part with it. Al Kohlman