The Stoneware of James Rhodes, 1774-1784 Richard W
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September/December 2011 Vol 12, Issue 3/4 T RENTON POTTERIES Newsletter of the Potteries of Trenton Society Trenton Makes Pottery: The Stoneware of James Rhodes, 1774-1784 Richard W. Hunter, Rebecca White and Nancy Hunter Exhibit Background: the ten-year period he was in Trenton, From mid-September 2012 virtually nothing is known of his earlier through late January 2013 the Trenton life. Museum Society is presenting an exhibit The exhibit explains the discovery at Ellarslie, the Trenton City Museum, of the kilns and the archival research, but highlighting the stoneware pottery of James focuses mostly on displaying the extraor- Rhodes, one of the few known American dinary variety of gray salt-glazed stone- stoneware potters of the colonial period. ware products made by James Rhodes. The existence of James Rhodes and Many of the items on display are frag- his distinctive wares has come to light over mentary, a result of their archaeological the past decade following the archaeological provenance. However, among the reas- discovery of two kiln sites within the City sembled vessels, visitors can view plates, of Trenton and some painstaking historical dishes, bowls, cups and saucers, tankards, research into colonial documents. First, in jugs and pitchers, coffee pots, tea pots and the spring of 2000, a pottery kiln was dis- ointment pots, along with numerous piec- covered on the Lamberton waterfront dur- es of kiln furniture. Rhodes employed ing the construction of the Route 29 tun- some signature decorative motifs that dis- nel. Some 13,000 sherds and pieces of kiln tinguish his products from those of other furniture (items used to help in stacking potters – floral designs and rough geomet- pots in the kiln during firing) were re- ric patterns, executed in naturalistic style trieved from this site. The kiln is still in- in painted cobalt blue – but perhaps his Contents tact, buried beneath the tunnel roadway. most engaging trait was the quirky appli- In 2005, a second kiln was found a mile cation of molded faces on to the shoulders Trenton Makes Pottery: The from the first in the backyard of the Eagle of some of his jugs and pitchers. Stoneware of James Rhodes, Tavern property on South Broad Street This exhibit is being curated by 1774-1784 during the City’s restoration of this local Richard Hunter, President of Hunter Re- Richard W. Hunter, Rebecca White and Nancy Hunter .......... 1 landmark. Hundreds more sherds were search, Inc., a Trenton-based historical recovered. Research into documents and and archaeological consulting firm, and analysis of the artifacts established a link Museum Society board member; Rebecca between the two sites. It is now believed White, Archaeological Laboratory Direc- that James Rhodes operated the waterfront tor, URS Corporation; and Nancy The Potteries of Trenton Society is a non -profit organization dedicated to the kiln from 1774 until 1777, working for the Hunter, formerly manager of Gallery 125 study and preservation of Trenton’s prominent Philadelphia merchant, William in downtown Trenton. ceramic past. Officers: President— Patricia Madrigal; Treasurer—Jay Richards. Then, from 1778 until his death The following article is based Lewis; Secretary—Brenda Springsted. in 1784, Rhodes ran his own pottery- around the narrative panels, images and Board: Ellen Denker, Richard Hunter, making business on a property adjoining artifacts developed for the Ellarslie exhib- Meta Janowitz, Jay Lewis, Emma Lewis, William Liebeknecht, George Miller, the Eagle Tavern site (which later became it. Brenda Springsted, Rebecca White. part of the tavern property). Despite our Newsletter Editor: Patricia Madrigal knowledge of James Rhodes’s activities over Page 2 Trenton Potteries Vol 12, Issue 3/4 James Rhodes: An Incomplete correct James Rhodes, we don’t know Biography for sure that he was transported to the James Rhodes is a mystery in American colonies as opposed to so many ways. We don’t know where some other location in the New or when he was born, or how he came World. to be in Trenton in the years leading What is known is that James up to the Revolutionary War. We Rhodes, by 1774, was living on the don’t know where he trained as a pot- Lamberton waterfront and working as ter. We don’t know where or when he a master potter for the Philadelphia- married his wife Catherine, or where based merchant William Richards. or when their son William was born Rhodes is identified as a and raised. The Rhodes family has “householder” in the Nottingham been challenging to research. The Township tax ratable assessments for name is not uncommon and has sever- 1774. The tax assessor followed a def- al variant spellings – Rhodes, Rhoads, inite route from house to house, much Rhoades, Roads – that are found scat- like a modern postal deliveryman. tered across a wide range of 18th- From the identity of Rhodes’ immedi- century documents. ate neighbors, we can establish that he Our best informed guess is was living at this time on today’s that James Rhodes was English and Lamberton Street in the vicinity of that he lived and worked as a potter present-day Cliff and Landing Streets, in either the Bristol area, or in Staf- very close to William Richards’ pot- fordshire, or possibly in Yorkshire, tery where he was then believed to before coming to North America. He have been working. may be the James Roads, a potter in In the August 22, 1774 issue of Brislington near Bristol, who was ac- the Philadelphia newspaper, the Penn- cused of counterfeiting the coin of the sylvania Packet, William Richards was realm in 1764 …. he may also be the offering stoneware for sale at his re- James Rhoades who was convicted of cently built pottery on the banks of receiving stolen property in Bristol in the Delaware River in Lamberton (or, Figure 1. August 22, 1774, early 1772 and was then sentenced to more precisely, Trenton Landing) Pennsylvania Packet. William transportation later the same year. (Figure 1). In addition to his river- Richards advertises stoneware Even if this second individual is the front pottery at this location Richards for sale at Lamberton. controlled several wharves, ware- houses, a store, a bakery and a fishery. He also operated a schooner “packet service” between Philadelphia and Trenton Landing. Most of Richards’ facilities at Trenton Landing, includ- ing his pottery, were situated on land owned by Daniel Coxe. Coxe, a wealthy and ardent Loyalist, fled town for Philadelphia at the begin- ning of December 1776 just before the Battles of Trenton. Among the several buildings and structures at Trenton Landing destroyed by marauding American forces around the time of Trenton Potteries Vol 12, Issue 3/4 Page 3 the battles were William Richards’ house and pottery. Richards, a patriot, took charge of provisioning the Pennsylva- nia Navy during the early years of the Revolutionary War. He began to re- establish his commercial presence at Trenton Landing in the summer of 1778 after the British withdrew from Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley. By August of that year he was looking to revive the pottery and was adver- tising for “a man that understands making the GR Holland stone ware.” In the meantime, however, James Rhodes bought a property of his own on the Bordentown Road, immediate- tain. He was a former neighbor of Figure 2. The Richards kiln ly adjacent to the building today Rhodes in Lamberton. What was the fully exposed. known as the Eagle Tavern, and set story here? Perhaps the assault up his own “potworks,” which he op- stemmed from differences over war- erated up until his death in 1784. time loyalties or business dealings. Why James Rhodes parted Rhodes took Clunn to court, and Clunn company with William Richards is pressed countercharges. They both unclear, but the two of them may appeared before the Burlington Court have had a falling-out over the Revo- of Oyer and Terminer on June 30, 1784 lution. Rhodes did not enlist in the and were bound over for a future hear- military on either side of the conflict ing. At some point between early July (he may have been too old to serve) and late November 1784 James Rhodes and there is no record of him swear- died and the court case was finally dis- ing allegiance to either the Crown or missed on June 28, 1785. What was the the patriot cause. Yet, so far as we can cause of Rhodes’ death? Did he die of tell, he spent the war years in Trenton. injuries sustained during his alterca- He probably witnessed the Battles of tion with Clunn? No one knows. Trenton, their lead-up and their after- After James Rhodes died, the math, first-hand. He likely observed pottery soon shut down. It appears at close quarters the gathering of that his widow Catherine leased or French and American forces in Tren- sold the property to settle his debts. ton in early September of 1781 en Catherine Rhodes died in Trenton in route to their victory over the British 1808; the fate of the Rhodes’ son Wil- at Yorktown later that fall. He proba- liam is unknown. bly saw the French army pass through Trenton again in September of 1782 on A Tale of Two Kilns their return northward. James Rhodes the stoneware On August 3, 1783 James potter was exposed through some dili- Rhodes was the victim of an assault gent and timely archaeological explo- and battery by Joseph Clunn. Clunn, ration, both in the field and in the la- a local tavern keeper and merchant, boratory, and some persistent research fought with distinction on the Ameri- into historical documents. As a result can side, attaining the rank of Cap- of this work, two separate stoneware Page 4 Trenton Potteries Vol 12, Issue 3/4 pottery kilns were found, roughly ing of “wasters” (defective pottery three-quarters of a mile apart, and products), pieces of the kiln structure both have been securely associated and items of kiln furniture.