September/December 2011 Vol 12, Issue 3/4 T RENTON

Newsletter of the Potteries of Trenton Society Trenton Makes : The 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 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. with Rhodes. Located less than 50 feet from The Richards Kiln: Construc- the historic shoreline, the kiln meas- tion of the Route 29 tunnel through ured 14.5 by 8.5 feet in plan and had a South Trenton in 2000 removed much firebox at each end. The brick-built of the archaeology relating to the colo- structure was oriented northwest/ nial port of Lamberton (aka Trenton southeast and set at an angle to the Landing). Among the many features riverbank to counter the prevailing documented by archaeological moni- southwesterly winds. The kiln was of tors during construction was a stone- updraft type and burned wood fuel. ware kiln at the pottery of William An upper chamber, where the pottery Richards (Figure 2). Ultimately, the was stacked for firing, was positioned remains of the kiln were left in place. over a ring-like flue system that circu- Today they lie buried beneath the lated heat beneath the floor. Vents in roadway near the upstream end of the the floor allowed the heat to pass up- tunnel, inaccessible but preserved for wards into the firing chamber. Over- the future. all, the kiln is a relatively sophisticat- Before being re-buried the kiln ed structure and far more technologi- was examined and recorded by ar- cally advanced than the simple circu- chaeologists working rapidly over a lar or oval updraft kilns used for fir- two-week period so as to minimize ing earthenware pottery. delays to construction. The kiln was No close parallels have been photographed extensively. Plan and found for the Richards kiln in North profile drawings were produced to America, which is probably mostly a Figure 3. Left: Mid-16th cen- scale in the field. Detailed notes were result of so few 18th-century stone- tury Italian kiln for firing tin- made of the kiln’s construction and ware pottery manufacturing sites hav- glazed earthenware. Right: salient features. Roughly 13,000 arti- ing been subjected to archaeological Late 17th century stoneware kiln in , England. facts were recovered, mostly consist- excavation. The structure most close- ly resembles a type of kiln built in the late 17th century at John Dwight’s Fulham Pottery in London, which in turn is similar in form to 16th-century Italian kilns used for firing tin-glazed earthenware (Figure 3). The Rhodes Kiln: Between 1976 and 1981 Mercer County Community College and Rider College, in conjunc- tion with the Trenton Historical Socie- ty, conducted an informal archaeolog- ical field school on the Eagle Tavern property. Much of the excavation ac- tivity took place in the rear yard of the tavern and a rich haul of artifacts was recovered. Sadly, no report was is- sued on this work and no catalog of artifacts was compiled. Much of the field documentation has since been Trenton Potteries Vol 12, Issue 3/4 Page 5 lost, although most of the artifacts have been retained by the Historical Society. In 2003 Hunter Research ar- chaeologists briefly examined the col- lection of artifacts and were surprised to find that it included pottery frag- ments and kiln debris remarkably similar to the material recovered from the Richards kiln site. With a grant from the New Jersey Historical Com- mission, the Trenton Historical Socie- ty retained Hunter Research to catalog the artifacts and carry out historical research. In the course of this work, it became clear that not only was the pottery almost certainly fashioned by the same potter who had worked at the Richards site, but also there was Figure 4. The Rhodes kiln be- very likely another kiln located on or be characterized with some confidence. hind the Eagle Tavern, 2005. very close to the Eagle Tavern proper- For most, if not all, of his production ty. Archival studies made the connec- he made use of the local stoneware tion real in the person of James clays of the Raritan Formation that Rhodes, who bought the property im- were accessible in the Lower Delaware mediately adjoining the original Eagle Valley and along the banks of Raritan Tavern lot in 1778 and operated a pot- Bay. tery there until his death in 1784. Pottery Products: Much of In 2005, when the Eagle Tav- Rhodes’ output was utilitarian – simple ern was under restoration by the City forms suitable for use in the home (in of Trenton, Hunter Research moni- the kitchen, dining room and bed- tored contractor excavations in the chamber), in the dairy or on the farm. rear and side yards. This led to the Storage jars, chamber pots, milk pans, identification of James Rhodes’ stone- plates, bowls, porringers and pipkins – ware kiln near the northern edge of these were all turned out in quantity, the tavern property (Figure 4). Unfor- mostly as gray or gray-brown salt- tunately, most of the kiln has been re- glazed vessels, sometimes plain, some- moved by the deep cut of the Amtrak times decorated. He put out a fine line Northeast Corridor railroad line, but of jugs, pitchers, bottles, tankards and enough evidence was gathered to mugs that would have seen wide- broadly characterize the products of spread use in inns and taverns as well the pottery. Valuable data also still as in private homes. Among his higher remain in the ground awaiting future -end products were coffee pots, tea- scientific recovery. pots, cups and saucers; and then there were other more specialized items such What James Rhodes Made as inkwells and ointment pots (Figure The range of pottery and kiln furni- 5). ture made by James Rhodes is prolific. While American potters mak- Many of the decorative traits he ap- ing salt-glazed stoneware in the 18th plied to the wares allow his work to century commonly decorated their Page 6 Trenton Potteries Vol 12, Issue 3/4

products with incised and painted blue patterns, Rhodes made use of certain decorative elements that dis- tinguish his work from that of his col- leagues. Incised multi-lobed flowers (often with “penny” coggle rouletting) and fishscale triangles, usually high- lighted in cobalt blue, are typical of his production (Figure 6). He also Figure 6. Examples of decorative treatment adopted motifs such as checker- on Rhodes’ pottery. Left: incised multi-lobed flowers. Right: fishscale triangles. boards, fleur-de-lis, watchsprings and “GR” medallions, although these were widely used by other potters. One of Rhodes’ most notable trademark treat- ments was the application of molded or sprigged designs of floral reliefs and mask-like faces on to jars and pitchers (Figure 7). Rhodes’ production was likely geared less to the local Trenton mar- ket and rural consumers in the Dela- ware Valley than it was to the emerg- ing towns of the eastern seaboard. The plantations of the south and the Caribbean were another probable out- let for Rhodes’ wares. In this context the William Richards and James Rhodes potteries were competing with European stoneware producers, Figure 7. One of the faces recovered from especially those in England, at a time the Rhodes kiln. when American manufacturers were about to break free from the con- vessels inside. Saggers also protected straints of British mercantilism. In the vessels from direct contact with the years to come, as Rhodes’ pottery is flames and exploding debris during more readily recognized by archaeolo- firing. gists, museum curators and collectors, Most of the saggers recovered Figures 5. Pottery recovered the trade aspects of this distinctive from the two Trenton kiln sites have a from the Rhodes kiln. Top: American-made stoneware should slightly wider base and thick rim to mug. Middle: storage jar. become more clearly understood. provide strength and stability for Bottom: ointment pots. Kiln Furniture: Rhodes made stacking. The wide base doubled as a use of a whole set of ceramic prod- lid for the sagger below. Most of the ucts, usually fashioned out of coarse saggers have from three to five round fireclay, when placing and separating or oval openings cut out of the body his carefully made vessels inside the and shallow U-shaped notches cut out firing chamber. Mugs and other frag- of the rim. These allowed the salt va- ile vessels were placed inside cylindri- por to pass into the sagger and glaze cal containers called saggers (Figure the vessel inside. They also made 8). The sturdy construction of saggers them easier to lift and carry, and allowed them to be stacked prevent- made it easier to pry the saggers apart ing damage to the delicate rims of the if they were fused together by the salt Trenton Potteries Vol 12, Issue 3/4 Page 7

Figure 8. Saggers of different shapes and sizes from the Rich- ards kiln. glaze. Some of the saggers have a shelves or were fashioned into pillars. long U-shaped gash cut out of one Individual pots were stacked using side that allowed the full length of a makeshift clay dividers often referred vessel handle or spout to be glazed. to as wads, pips or props. All of these At least five different sizes of saggers materials were found in abundance at were recognized at the Richards kiln. the two kiln sites as they were typically By examining the shadows, areas of discarded after the firing was com- discolorations and small pieces of ves- plete. sels adhered to the insides and out- sides of sagger bases it is possible to Rhodes Stoneware in Context match the different saggers to the ves- European Precedents: During the sel forms that were most likely fired 12th and 13th centuries German potters in them (Figure 9). found that vessels made from un- In addition to the saggers, glazed high-fired stoneware clay could many other types of kiln furniture hold liquids without leaking. By the were used to support and separate 15th century German stoneware pot- vessels in the firing chamber. Large ters had established techniques for salt- slabs of refractory fireclay served as glazing their wares and were develop- ing methods for embellishing their stoneware with elaborate molded and incised decorations. The peak of brown German stoneware production may be seen in the distinctive jugs and bottles known as “bellarmines” deco- rated with molded long-bearded faces and named for the Italian Cardinal Roberto Bellarmine (1542-1621). In the 16th and 17th centuries stoneware pot- teries in the Westerwald region in the Figure 9. Sagger base showing discoloration Rhineland dominated the industry pro- from fired vessels and vessel form that might ducing bluish gray wares decorated in have produced the markings. Page 8 Trenton Potteries Vol 12, Issue 3/4

outside London in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, was one of the leading factories producing wares that closely imitated Rhenish stoneware. As the 18th century wore on English potters in a number of cities and in the Staffordshire region developed high- quality white salt-glazed table wares, both plain and decorated, and also turned out vast quantities of brown “iron-dipped” utilitarian wares. The American colonies provided a sizea- ble market for both English and Euro- pean in the 17th and 18th centuries. American Stoneware Potteries: The first stoneware potteries were es- tablished in North America in the ear- ly to mid-18th century. The earliest and one of the best documented in archaeological terms is the William Rogers pottery in Yorktown, Virginia, which was making British-style brown stoneware from around 1720 until 1760. Rogers, like William Rich- ards in Trenton, was primarily a mer- chant and not a potter himself. His Yorktown pottery was just one of many different Rogers business inter- ests. In the mid-1720s, Anthony Du- ché opened a pottery in Philadelphia and produced both brown and gray stoneware in imitation of English and Rhenish styles for sale in the Ameri- can market. Duche was a master pot- ter and stayed in business until his death in 1762. Three of his sons fol- lowed in his footsteps, making pottery in Philadelphia, New England, South Carolina and Georgia. In the late Figure 10. Eighteenth-century 1720s and 1730s, two German fami- stoneware potteries in New contrasting black, brownish purple, lies, the Croliuses and the Remmeys, Jersey. and, most frequently, dark blue de- recent immigrants from the Rhine- signs. land, set up stoneware potteries in After many years of importing City, setting in motion a German stoneware, the English began potting dynasty that continued into to manufacture their own stoneware the early 19th century. Their distinc- during the 17th century. John tive gray stoneware made widespread Dwight’s Fulham pottery, operating use of incised and painted decoration Trenton Potteries Vol 12, Issue 3/4 Page 9 with German motifs. and likely made use of clay brought in These early American stone- from the Cheesequake area. Although ware potters reproduced the forms primarily earning their living as farm- and decorations that reflected the ers, three generations of Kemples made methods and traditions of their coun- German-influenced stoneware pottery try of origin. James Rhodes, following at this site well into the 1790s. This in their wake later in the 18th century, pottery site was explored in the 1950s adopted some forms and decorations by Robert Sim and then again in the that appear German, others that are 1970s by Brenda Springsted, yielding a more obviously English, and some valuable sample of Kemple wares, alt- that are a blending of the two. For hough no evidence of a kiln structure. example, his “lighthouse-shaped” cof- By the 1770s the Morgan family fee pot is similar to forms made in had expanded their activities beyond English stoneware and refined earth- the mining and shipping of clay and enware, while the cobalt blue decora- established a stoneware pottery of their tion on the gray body is more com- own. This operation, run by Captain monly associated with German stone- James Morgan and his son James Mor- ware. Rhodes’ pottery sits squarely at gan, Jr., fueled the growth of the vil- the beginning of an American stone- lage of Cheesequake in the later 18th ware tradition that would flourish century. The Cheesequake stoneware throughout the 19th century. industry began to expand in the 1790s Eighteenth-Century New Jersey and early 1800s as other potter fami- Stoneware Potteries: The foundation of lies, notably the Warnes and Letts, set New Jersey’s stoneware industry lies up additional potteries in the village. in the high-quality clay of the Raritan The Cheesequake potteries were also Formation. This material was much explored by Robert Sim in the 1950s. sought after by stoneware potters Excavations in the mid-1990s by throughout the Middle Atlantic re- Hunter Research in connection with gion from the early years of the 18th the widening of N.J. Route 34 discov- century. On the south shore of the ered one of the Morgan kilns. Raritan Bay, near the mouth of The Kemple, Morgan and Wil- Cheesequake Creek, a “clay bank” liam Richards potteries are so far the controlled by the Morgan family was only New Jersey stoneware producers an important source of clay for New known to have been active before the York City potters perhaps as early as American Revolution. By 1778 James the late 1720s. By the 1760s clay from Rhodes and Bernard Hanlon had set this vicinity was being shipped to up stoneware potteries in the Trenton stoneware potteries from Maine to the area, while either during or shortly af- Carolinas. James Rhodes may have ter the war Peter Sandford, possibly in insisted on using this prized material association with Burnet Richards (a for the wares he was making in Tren- younger brother of William Richards), ton. was making stoneware in the Barba- The earliest stoneware manu- does Neck/Hackensack vicinity in Ber- factory so far identified in New Jersey gen County. Ichabod Halsey was also is the Kemple pottery near Ringoes producing stoneware in Elizabethtown (Figure 10). John Peter Kemple, a na- before the end of the century, but by tive of the Rhineland who probably this time most of New Jersey’s stone- knew the Crolius and Remmey potter ware output was originating from families in New York, set up his Cheesequake. stoneware pottery in the late 1740s

rno,N 80 08608 NJ Trenton,

120 W. State Street Street State W. 120

Potteries of Trenton Society Society Trenton of Potteries

Potteries of Trenton Society and mail to: to: mail and Society Trenton of Potteries the to payable check your make Please

email______email______

City______State______Zip______Zip______State______City______

______

Address:______Address:______

Name:______Name:______

Annual Membership $25 $25 Membership Annual

wsletter, lecture, meeting, and conference costs. costs. conference and meeting, lecture, wsletter, ne support to used is contribution Your lectors.

the ceramic products manufactured here. We welcome welcome We here. manufactured products ceramic the pottery workers, historians, archaeologists and col- and archaeologists historians, workers, pottery

Membership in the Potteries of Trenton Society is open is Society Trenton of Potteries the in Membership to all interested in Trenton’s pottery industry and and industry pottery Trenton’s in interested all to POTS Membership Membership POTS

Newsletter of the Potteries of Trenton Society

120 W. State Street Trenton, NJ 08608

Phone: 609-695-0122 We’re on the web! Check us out at Fax: 609-695-0147 www.potteriesoftrentonsociety.org Email: [email protected]