Frederick Hurten Rhead

Frederick Hurten Rhead (1880–1942) was a ceramacist and a major figure in the Arts and Crafts movement. A native of England, worked as a potter 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 the Roseville Pottery, established his own Rhead Pottery (1913–1917), and in 1935 designed the highly successful Fiesta ware for Homer Laughlin China Company. Today, his work is displayed in major art museums.

Rhead was born in Hanley, Staffordshire, into a family of potters. His father Frederick Alfred Rhead began his career as an apprentice at Mintons Ltd, where he learned to be a pâte-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 included Charlotte 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 USA. 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 in Burslem under his father and attended classes at the Wedgwood Institute in the same town. After completing his education, Rhead taught art in Longton. He became art director of a pottery called Wardle and Co. in Hanley. His sister Charlotte also joined the firm.

In 1902 Frederick Hurten Rhead emigrated to the USA. He was not the first member of his family to move there, as his uncle Louis Rhead (1858–1926) had already become established as a successful graphic designer in New York.

...
Wikipedia