Collection brings back memories

I've been a member of Friends of the Sargeant Gallery for a few years. Last year I joined the Friends art trip to Wellington to view the Crown Lynn collection at the City Gallery. Most of us would have used Crown Lynn or seen it somewhere, what I didn't realise was the extent of the work and the variety.

Crown Lynn dates back to 1854, on a farm in Hobsonville owned by Rice Owen Clark, and started out as a clay drainage pipe.

Clark fired his own drain pipes from local clay to drain the sodden land. The first pipes were pretty rough but by the 1860s he had a thriving business and was supplying to local land owners. By 1906 he had diversified and was manufacturing salt glazed garden pots, urns, storage jars and bricks. In the 1920s, Clark joined forces with several other potteries in Auckland and Wellington and formed the Amalgamated Brick and Pipe Company.

By 1928 the factory, in New Lynn, was producing one million bricks a month, but with the onset of the Depression production declined and there were staff cuts.

Managing director Thomas Edwin Clark's son, Tom, was taken out of school at 14 to work in the family business. At 20 he began experimenting with different clays to produce more specialised products. He saw a need for acid resistant tiles for the local dairy factories and abattoirs. He joined forces with a young and enthusiastic son of another brick works family. Between them Ray and Tom perfected a technique called dry pressing producing a porcelain tile that was labour intensive but suitable.

The 1940s bought electricity to New Zealand homes. Within a short time they were making porcelain parts for hot cylinders, stoves, radios and insulators for electric fences. The late 1930s produced the first household ware with the first of the new homewares being exported to England in 1939. With the onset of war, production was increased. Products that were shipped for the American troops were under strict American specifications. They were tough and designed to withstand harsh treatment and shipping. Crown Lynn produced tens of thousands of mugs and bowls for the American Army.

Around this time, the factory started producing cups and saucers for the New Zealand Government for supply into the railways, armed forces and hospitals.

Crown Lynn went from strength to strength after this period. Homewares became finer and more intricate with a variety of glazes being used and some pieces requiring hand finishing. Crown Lynn produced vases, bowls, dinner sets, ornaments, jugs, teapots, cookware and, in their heyday in the early 1970s, the factory employed over 500 people and produced millions of items each year. They became a household name with the majority of households using Crown Lynn everyday. Each decade saw new ranges and designs. I most remember the chunky earthy designs of the 70s and some of the finer pieces that we grew up with.

The company never lost sight of the fact that people liked traditional patterns and the Willow pattern was one of the patterns they produced.

By the 1980s, the company was in decline. The market began to flood with overseas china. By the late 1980s, the factory was shut down in stages and in 1993 the brand name and machinery was sold to GBH Porcelain in Malaysia.

Crown Lynn has long been a collectable brand and you can still find the odd, reasonably priced piece in second hand shops. On viewing the collection at Wellington's City Gallery I was amazed at how many pieces I had seen over the years and I never realised were made by Crown Lynn. I loved the exhibition, it bought back many memories and it was lovely to see such an iconic New Zealand brand that played a huge part in our lives in the 1900s, displayed in one place.

If you have any questions about issues discussed or product supply give me a call on 0276023298 or

drop me a line on terry@terrylobb.com www.terrylobb.com (website under construction)