Frederick Hurten Rhead (1880–1942) was a ceramicist and a major figure in theArts and Crafts movement. A native of England, he worked as apotter in the United States for most of his career. In addition to teaching pottery techniques, Rhead was highly influential in both studio and commercial pottery. He worked for theRoseville Pottery, established his own Rhead Pottery (1913–1917), and in 1935 designed the highly successfulFiesta ware forHomer Laughlin China Company.
Today, Rhead's work is displayed in major art museums.
Rhead was born inHanley, Staffordshire, into a family of potters. His fatherFrederick Alfred Rhead began his career as an apprentice atMintons Ltd, where he learned to be apâte-sur-pâte artist. He went on to work in a number of other potteries, including a business of his own which failed. Young Frederick's mother Adolphine (née Hurten) also came from an artistic family. Frederick Hurten's siblings includedCharlotte Rhead, a talented designer who remained in England; and Harry Rhead, who followed his brother to work in the United States.
Rhead was educated in the Potteries District of Staffordshire, where he lived until he emigrated to the US. At that time the conurbation consisted of separate towns, which have since united as the city of Stoke-on-Trent. Rhead went to school in Hanley. He served an apprenticeship inBurslem under his father and attended classes at theWedgwood Institute in the same town.After completing his education, Rhead taught art inLongton. He becameart director of a pottery called Wardle and Co. in Hanley. His sister Charlotte also joined the firm.[2]
In 1902, Frederick Hurten Rhead emigrated to the United States, where his uncleLouis Rhead (1858–1926) was a successfulgraphic designer in New York.
Emigrants from Stoke-on-Trent, where ceramics was the dominant industry, tended to settle in such places asTrenton, New Jersey, or, as in Frederick Rhead's case,Ohio. Both areas had pottery industries to exploit theclay deposits. Rhead's first USA position was managing a small art pottery at Tiltonville, Ohio, which changed its name from Vance Faience to Avon Faience in 1902.[3] Pieces from Rhead's time at this pottery rarely come on the market.[4] Production at Tiltonville was being transferred to nearbyWheeling, and in 1904, Rhead left to work as a designer for theWeller pottery inZanesville, Ohio, but he did not stay there long. In 1904, Rhead became art director at theRoseville Pottery in Zanesville. Roseville was a large pottery which produced some art pottery as well as more utilitarian lines.[5] In 1908 the company reduced the amount of handcrafting in its production, and the following year Rhead moved toUniversity City, Missouri, although his brother Harry stayed on at Roseville.
Rhead, along with American potterAdelaïde Alsop Robineau and French potterTaxile Doat, was recruited byEdward Gardner Lewis, the founder of University City, to teach at thePeople's University there. This institution specialized in what is now calleddistance learning and was then usually called correspondence school. Rhead created a potterycorrespondence course, although some pottery students also resided at the Art Academy. After Lewis became bankrupt in 1911, he ceased supporting the pottery studio. Taxile Doat continued pottery production at University City for a few years, but the Rheads moved to California.
Apart from teaching, Rhead produced some vases and tiles at University City, sometimes working with his wife Agnes.[6]In October 2012, a four-tile panel by Rhead sold for US$637,500 at auction in the US.[7] It was bought on behalf of theMuseum of the American Arts and Crafts Movement, currently under construction inSt. Petersburg, Florida.[7] The 20 3/4-inch-square panel, depicting apeacock, was made in 1910.[7]
Rhead's first California position was inMarin County at the Arequipatuberculosissanatorium. The director had decided to offer pottery classes to the patients.[8] TheArequipa Pottery, which opened in 1911, was a sideline for the sanatorium, but Rhead was ambitious in his plans. He sourced suitable clays, experimented withglazes and taught decorative techniques such astubelining (a technique also associated with his sister Charlotte). Rhead's methods were not regarded by the management as sufficiently businesslike. In 1913 he was replaced at the Arequipa Pottery byAlbert Solon, another potter from Staffordshire, who reduced production costs.[9]
Rhead remained in California, starting his own pottery studio inSanta Barbara in late 1913 or early 1914.[10] Operating until 1917, the Rhead Pottery produced ware which is now highly valued. In 2007 a Rhead vase from this period set the record, subsequently overtaken, as the most expensiveAmerican art pottery at auction.
In the later part of his career, Rhead worked in larger-scale, more commercial production.Rhead returned to Zanesville, where he worked forAmerican Encaustic Tiling Company.[11] The wordsencaustic tile refer to the 19th-century revival of amedieval technique for the production of floor tiles. During Rhead's time, the company combined production of some art tiles (forfireplaces, etc.) with large-scale production of more utilitarian ware. American Encaustic was reputed at one time to operate the largest tileworks in the world. It was forced to close in the 1930s, a victim of theGreat Depression.
In 1927 Rhead was hired as art director of theHomer Laughlin China Company inNewell, West Virginia. He continued in the position until his death in 1942.
In the 1930s, Rhead conceived and designed a line of glazeddinnerware calledFiesta. It was based on a spherical theme inArt Deco style. The pottery came in five colours. The concept was that the customer could acquire pieces of different colours to mix and match according to taste. Introduced to the public in January 1936, the line was an immediate success. The idea of mixed solid colours on dinnerware was not new but Rhead's version was more successful. Such a concept had previously been marketed by twoCalifornia potteries, the Catalina Pottery ofSanta Catalina Island in the early 1930s and theBauer Pottery.
The Homer Laughlin Company expanded the line with new shapes, and eventually new glaze colours as well. It became the best-selling line of dinnerware in the US. Rhead designed a similar line called "Harlequin", which was sold inWoolworth's, an important customer of Homer Laughlin.
Frederick Hurten Rhead died in New York City in November 1942 from cancer.
Rhead was active in two different fields: studio pottery and industrial ceramics, where there was sometimes less scope for artistic originality.
Rhead's pottery is displayed by major American museums, including theMetropolitan Museum of Art.[5]His American work can command very high prices, although his English work remains much more modestly priced.[12]
The mass-producedFiesta designs may be his best known achievement, as the line has remained in production since 1936, although not continuously. After Rhead's death, the production of "Fiesta" ran into problems related to war-time conditions. The United States Government took control of all availableuranium to develop theatomic bomb. Anoxide of uranium was necessary to produce the vibrant orange-red glaze ofFiesta. Without that key color, and with the severe reduction in variety of open-stock items available, the appeal of the line suffered. Consumer interest in, and sales of, the line did remain strong for some time. Despite the introduction of a new palette of glaze colours,[13] sales progressively declined over the following 27 years until the entire line was discontinued in January 1973.
After an absence of 13 years, the line was revived with an altered clay body and glaze composition. This second incarnation ofFiesta dinnerware was first marketed in early 1986 to capitalise on the 50th anniversary of the original line's introduction. In addition, popular taste was embracing vintage design.
Some vintageFiesta casting moulds designed by Rhead were used in production of the new ware. Most shapes had to be slightly altered, or completely redesigned to meet the requirements of the new materials.
Bernard Bumpus (1921–2004) was the leading authority on the Rhead family, and knew a great deal about Frederick Hurten Rhead's background in England. In 1986 Bumpus curated an exhibition at theGeffrye Museum, London, calledRhead Artists and Potters. It toured other museums including thePotteries Museum & Art Gallery in Stoke-on-Trent. Bumpus hoped to take a version of the exhibition to the US, but, despite American interest in the Rhead family, he was not able to obtain the necessary funding.[14]
A detailed study with good illustrations. It was published in connection with an exhibition held in 1986. It is better on Rhead's American career than his English background.
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