Bartley Crucible & Refractories, Inc. manufactured graphite crucibles in a plant at 67 Oxford Street in Trenton, New Jersey, a major center for the pottery industry. The company was originally named the Jonathan Bartley Crucible Company and was incorporated on February 24, 1908.

Lewis H. Lawton (1876-1953), a former master bricklayer, and a practical operating man, took over the plant management in 1911. In August 1917, he developed "Lawtonite," a new patented refractory of superior quality, and the firm was able to secure a large share of the crucible market. Crucibles are used in all metal melting and casting, as well as in laboratory work. The market was shared among a dozen or so specialized firms. Bartley sold crucibles all across the country and around the world.

Bartley was profitable and enjoyed a good reputation until 1926. By then, some of the founders had died, and their heirs took less interest in the business and began to withdraw capital. Competitors had improved the quality of their crucibles and cut into Bartley's market share. After quarreling with the owners, Lawton determined to buy them out in 1929. Lawton changed the name of the company to the Bartley Crucible & Refractories Company in 1930. Unfortunately, the stock market crash occurred while the transaction was in progress. Though Lawton did acquire the company, the Depression dried up markets, and local banks refused to honor their commitments to loan working capital. After failing to obtain an RFC loan, the firm went into Chapter 77 reorganization and shut down in March 1936.

The company was reorganized as Bartley Crucible & Refractories, Inc. on July 12, 1937 and resumed production in August 1937. However, his new backers kept Lawton on a tight rein, and the company's ability to meet orders deteriorated along with quality control. It was also discovered that the pre-Lawton owners had failed to pay real estate taxes for many years. Lawton resigned the presidency in November 1939.

In 1940, control of the company was purchased by Walter L. Shearer (1900-1984), a ceramic engineer who had been a consultant to Bartley since 1930. Shearer, a native of Washington, D.C., was born on June 26, 1900, and graduated from Lehigh University with a degree in chemical engineering in 1922. Following graduation, he worked in the Ceramics Division of the Bureau of Standards and then taught ceramics chemistry at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Here he met Minna Turton (1902-1962), a school teacher, whom he eventually married after a fourteen-year courtship.

While at Rutgers, Shearer published in the ceramics trade journals and did consulting work for the Trenton potteries. In this way, he met Rodney T. Rouse (1901-1977), a practical ceramicist, and on July 15, 1928, they formed the firm of Rouse & Shearer, Inc., opening a laboratory on 163 Bloomsburg Street in Trenton. Rouse & Shearer provided testing services for the nearly 200 ceramics manufacturers located within a 50-mile radius of Trenton, many of which did not have their own technical staffs. They also did testing for raw materials suppliers and sold prepared colors and glazes. Rouse left the firm in 1930, but Shearer continued to do business under the old name. Bartley was one of Shearer's major clients, and Shearer moved his laboratory into Bartley's plant in the early 1930s.

With his technical training, Shearer was much more flexible and better equipped to ride out the Depression than Lawton. When things were slack, he was able to pick up a few dollars doing water quality tests and even autopsies on police dogs. He formed a useful connection with John Earley (1881-1945), an architectural sculptor, supplying him with colored aggregates and glazes. Earley made precast panels and other economical decorative elements that were used to ornament many WPA-era buildings and public works projects, including the Federal Triangle in Washington.

Shearer became president of Bartley Crucible in January 1941; by this time, the firm was nearly shut down, with only two full-time and two part-time employees. The plant and most of the equipment were sold at a tax sale, and Shearer moved both businesses into smaller quarters at 15 Muirhead Avenue in 1942. Shearer concentrated on his testing and supply business, but manufactured crucibles in small lots to order. He briefly manufactured dental porcelain in the 1940s and decorative porcelain and figurines in the 1950s. Walter Shearer retired at the end of 1971 and turned over both businesses to his son, Arthur L. Shearer (1942-). Bartley continues to produce crucibles, while Rouse & Shearer now concentrates on producing frit and specialty sizing.