Val Monk discusses the Brick & Pipe clay pottery in her blog ...

http://valputaruru.blogspot.co.nz/2015/05/the-mysterious-terracotta-vases.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed:+CrownLynnWithValerieMonk+(Crown+Lynn+with+Valerie+Monk+)

If Val had said to Tom Clark that these were made with brick or pipe clay maybe he would have known who made them and where.  Perhaps he thought of the term terracotta as something outside of his hands on knowledge, but bricks and pipes clay is another matter.  Ambrico were still making bricks and pipes until at least the 1970's I would say at a guess and this ware would have easily have been fired with them having the same low temperature and would not have got mixed up with the white clay in the Crown Lynn factory.

The Crown Lynn records to date show this brick and pipe clay ware with four digits and have the sizes that they were made as well as an ashtray.  So it was being made after 1964 and later.  Surely there is someone still around from that time that can fill us in?

I do know that Crown Lynn were still employing hand potters in the early 1980's and I'm keen to talk turkey with those that did this.  What did they make?  Where did they make it?  What clay did they use?  Who glazed this ware? ..... and so on.

I have a photo on my files of six of these vases from one of the auction houses in 2008 attributed to Crown Lynn Pottery Rhodes.  At the time this fascinated me to know that this type of ware was made and I wanted to know more about these people, but I haven't found out very much other than I admire the pottery they made.
The hunt goes on .....

Thanks Ev for all this, I have added a link to your comments to my blog post. It is weird isn't it that no-one has come out of the woodwork on this one!

^ Lloyd-Jenkins, Douglas (1992). "Modernism and the Auckland Design Community". New Zealand Home & Building: The 1950s Show (Auckland: AGM Publishing/Auckland Art Gallery) (Souvenir edition): 58. ISBN 0864631898.

This was found thanks to Google here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milan_Mrkusich

Is this the catalogue that Jim Drummond mentioned to Val Monk regarding Arthur and Olive Rhodes?
Now how do we find a copy?

I dont believe that is the catalogue Jim was talking about Ev. I asked Douglas if the attribution to Rhodes came from him and he said no.  Edit: I am not sure where we would get exhibition catalogues, unless we go direct to Douglas Lloyd-Jenkins. I am not sure how to get hold of him now he is no longer working at the Napier museum.

We may well be chasing a wild goose re the Arthur and Olive Rhodes names for this work as I was with Val when she asked James Parkinson from Art and Object about them.  His response was not very forthcoming and was as if their names were plucked from the sky ????

Anyway thanks to a Crown Lynn supporter [whose Father worked at Ambrico] on Facebook I realise that there are two different ashtrays.  One with a smooth top as is mumof1's on Val Monk's blog and mine and honjohn's that have a texture on the top.  How did I miss that? Just putting it here for future reference.

I agree that Rhodes could well be a wild goose chase. I believe that if they existed they would have popped up on the net by now - whoever made this terracotta ware was prolific and skilled. Still - we don't have a confirmed maker for that terracotta ware yet so who knows?

Dear Crown Lynn supporter on Facebook thinks one of her Dad's mates that worked at Ambrico is still alive !!!
*holds breath*

Oh, that would be fantastic to finally get an answer Holding my breath and crossing fingers till we hear !

Breaking news today from Finn at the Portage Museum as he saw a collection of these pots recently and one was signed "Rhodes" !!!!!!!
Can't wait to see a photo for myself and also Sandra found an Olive Rhodes from Pukekohe died last year aged 97.
So it feels like we are making some progress regarding this subject all of a sudden

Holding breath! This is very very exciting.

Douglas L-J was running a smallish decorative arts collection based in an old house in Melbourne last I knew. I've been in contact with him there a few years ago. I'll try and track him down again and get back to you.

This might help. I am posting two small Alan Rhodes vases so we can have a look at some of his other work.

Is this potter a relative????

I don't know. They were sold to me a few years ago by someone who claimed that they were made by the potter Alan Rhodes who also made the terracotta vases for Crown Lynn.
This person told me to have a look at the website below. I can't remember if seller was kiwialan or just thought that the website might be interesting.

http://www.kiwialan.co.nz/nzpotters.html

Gosh I will have to check that out, but I doubt very much that it was him.  I've known for a very long time that he is/was a Studio Potter and he always uses his AR mark.  In the 1960,s he was in the Hamilton Blue Grass County Band as was Lindsay Bedogni.

Alan Rhodes is not our mystery terracotta potter. He was born in the UK in 1947 and though they don't have a date for when he came to NZ they do know that he was with the Hamilton Bluegrass County Band from the mid 1960's. He has been potting in the Coromandel area for a long time and has never mentioned Crown Lynn to this friend of his.
His potting style is quite different to the mystery Rhodes I feel.

The Portage Museum has posted pics of a group of these pots along with a photo of one that has the name O. Rhodes 'painted' on the base in an acrylic paint perhaps.

My first thoughts are that this name could have been applied by anyone, as the stamp would have been applied with an oxide mix which is permanently under the glaze and the maker would have easily been able to utilise that to sign their work.
So I'm not convinced that O. Rhodes painted their name on the piece, in fact I'm sure they didn't.

Check it out here ...
https://www.facebook.com/TeToiUku/

I think it was probably the owner of the vase, perhaps they used it at A&P shows or at a church etc. A peculiar coincidence perhaps.

The Rhodes that these vases are presumed to be made by, are Arthur and Olive Rhodes.

And just to add to this thread. The pot with Rhodes painted on the base is the _one_ bought from the big A+O Jim Drummond auction.

Hmm. Jim is the one who told me they were made by olive and arthur rhodes. The plot thickens.