Charlotte Rhead was an extremely successful ceramic artist who’s colourful work during the 1920’s and 1930’s has become highly collectable. Charlotte Rhead’s Art Deco inspired pieces are distinctive in design, and she was a talented designer from a family with a strong potteries background. With a career spanning more than four decades, and she was a contemporary of other popular Art Deco artists’ Clarice Cliff and Susie Cooper.
Potteries Auctions identify and provide valuations on a wide range of Charlotte Rhead pottery, and we regularly sell Charlotte Rhead ceramics at auction.
Popular Charlotte Rhead Ceramics at Auction
Sold September 2015
Sale Price £150
Sold July 2019
Sale Price £3,300
Sold March 2019
Sale Price £450
Sold September 2016
Sale Price £160
Sold September 2016
Sale Price £300
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Charlotte Rhead Facts
- At the beginning of the 20th-century, the Rhead family was living in Fenton where Charlotte and her sister Dollie studied at Fenton School of Art.
- Charlotte Rhead’s father began his career as an apprentice with Minton Pottery, learning pate-sur-pate ceramic decoration.
- Charlotte’s elder brother Frederick Hurten Rhead also became a well-known pottery designer in America. Charlotte Rhead started her career at Wardle & Co Pottery in Hanley, a pottery in a nearby town to their family home, where her brother Frederick was art director before he emigrated to the USA in 1902.
The History of Charlotte Rhead
Frederick Rhead, Charlotte’s brother, was the art director at Wardle and Co, and sister Charlotte joined before he left in 1902. Charlotte Rhead’s distinctive wares are well-known for her tubelined designs and, while Charlotte did not stay at Wardle and Co long, it gave her the opportunity to develop her skills as a tubeliner.
In 1905, Charlotte found employment as an enameller at Keeling & Co of Burslem. She was next employed as a designer at tile-maker T & R Boote. From this period of her work, we auctioned a rare tube lined tile in our September 2016 sale for £500. In our March 2019 sale, a pair of Charlotte Rhead rectangular plaques with tube lined decoration sold for £480.
In 1912, Charlotte joined Wood & Son, a firm which operated several potteries, taking charge and later working as a designer.
Charlotte is perhaps best known, though, for her association with Burgess & Leigh of Middleport, where she worked as a designer from 1926 until 1931. It was here that Charlotte produced some of her best designs. The most sought-after designs by collectors these days are from this period of her work, and they pay huge amounts for good examples. In our July 2019 auction, what is believed to be an unrecorded design sold for £3,300, and is a record price for a Charlotte Rhead charger.
In the 1930s, she moved to the firm of AG Richardson in Tunstall. Their brand name was Crown Ducal, where she designed and produced many popular designs that were still in production after her death in 1947 until the early 1960s. She enjoyed success in her own lifetime, and her pieces remain popular today.
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Potteries Auctions can collect items for auction from anywhere in the UK, and we can also handle large collections from all over the world, so just get in touch with us to discuss. We pride ourselves in our packing and shipping service to get goods out to purchasers, making it a perfect solution for buyers who can’t attend auctions in person.
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