Early yellow Crown Lynn: rare and under-rated

Before I get going, a quick clarification. In the recent book about Mark Cleverley, author Jonty Valentine speculates that I might be writing yet another Crown Lynn book.  It's true that I wanted to record another interview with Mark, which I have since done, but that interview was never intended to be the basis of a book.

Anyway. Onto another bit of lovely Crown Lynn history.  This post is to introduce you to some of the early yellow ware made by Crown Lynn (then known as Ambrico) in the late1930s and through the 1940s.

In our recorded interviews when I was writing my first book, Tom Clark told me the story behind this yellow ware.  In the very early days, when he and his very small team were working out how to make household ware instead of bricks and pipes, they used a yellowish clay body which was all that was available at that time. They were not satisfied with this, and a huge amount of work went into developing a clay body that would fire to a pure clean white.  If you look at the later Crown Lynn dinnerware you see that they achieved that. Apollo for example is finished with a clear glaze over the plain white clay body.

 

Tom and his team eventually found the vast white clay deposit near  Matauri Bay in Northland, which became the mainstay of their production right through until the factory closed in 1989.  The Matauri Bay clay mine is now owned by overseas interests.

Pottery clay is complex - often many different ingredients are mixed together to form a white, solid, durable product once it is fired in a kiln. A mix that looks white while it is wet can turn yellow - or worse a muddy grey - when it is fired. Or impurities may show up. Many of the early products were marred by speckles of black iron pyrites. The first whitish clay body was developed around 1948.

This jug is a classic Crown Lynn shape - and it's a muddy colour rather than a clear yellow. The base is unmarked. Height 9 cm, width 9 cm.

 

Because it is not as sought after as the later dinnerware - and because some sellers don't realise what it is - you may still be lucky enough to pick up the odd piece of this yellow Ambrico ware. Much of this early product is unmarked. Other pieces have the simple 'Made in NZ' backstamp.  This cup is a nice shade of yellow, again that's from the clay body. It is finished in a clear glaze. Note the 'block' handle, which is joined to the cup from top to bottom.  This style of handle stuck to the cup better than the later 'ear' shape which was joined only at both ends.  Again the base is unmarked, with a grainy finish which is quite common with this early ware. This cup is 7.5 cm high and 8 cm across the top.

 

Below is the lovely early 'Paris' design dinnerware with its distinctive ridges. You could write a book about this ware alone, if only someone was still alive to tell us about it... So far as I can work out, Paris ware was made first with hand-jiggers, then during the 1939-45 war it was made with a complex machine built in-house, which was never completely successful. I believe the same style was made later using machines imported from England. You see Paris ware in the early yellow clay and also in the later whiter clay. The saucer  is 15 cm across, cup height 7 cm, width across the top 8 cm.

This cup and saucer have different variations on the Made in NZ backstamp, indicating they are not a matched pair, but they would have been made around the same time.

This is one of my prized pieces - a very old yellow kitchen mixing bowl.  Height 11 cm, width across the top 25.5.  It is in surprisingly good condition, considering the amount of use it was no doubt subjected to.

And in a similar style, here is a chamber pot, made for the days when we had outside toilets.  I once saw one of these advertised as 'a sort of a bowl with a handle'. Love it!   Height 11 cm, width across the top 23 cm.

The base of the chamber pot is completely unmarked, but the pot is a distinctive Ambrico shape.

Here's another old-fashioned item, a shaving mug.  This is a particularly early version. It is 8 cm high.

Later shaving mugs are in this shape. You can see that by this time they had developed a whiter clay body.  This example is 8 cm high. You often see this shape decorated with transfers or - occasionally - hand painted.  Those styles of decoration were not in use until the very late 1940s.

At a quick scan, this post may seem to lack colour, but please think about the huge amount of trial and error, and pure effort, that went into making Crown Lynn (then known as Ambrico) in those early days.  One of the reasons Crown Lynn is so respected today is because it kept getting better and better - Tom Clark never allowed his team to stand still.  Even after the Matauri Bay clay deposit was discovered, the search for good clay continued.  Tom's wife Patricia told me that on their honeymoon he would stop the car and jump out and dig a piece of clay out of the bank... and put it in his mouth.  Good clay is smooth - and tasting it is a quick and easy way of testing for grit.

More soon
Take care
ValM

Two important Auckland events - Mark Cleverley designer

Mark Cleverley was a very influential designer who worked at Crown Lynn through the 1970s.  In Auckland there are two events showcasing him and his work:

• A talk by Mark at the Going West books and readers Festival on Saturday 13 September
• An exhibition at the Objectspace gallery in Ponsonby which runs until 11 October

 

The Going West Festival

The Going West Festival talk is a must see - it will feature Mark Cleverley talking about his work, especially his time at Crown Lynn. I will also be on stage, along with Jonty Valentine who did much of the research for the exhibition at Objectspace.  I am anticipating that most of the hour-long session will be Mark telling us about his time at Crown Lynn - what he designed, why he designed it, where his inspiration came from, etc etc. There is a $15 entry fee; $12 concession. The session is chaired by Objectspace director Philip Clarke.
Venue: Titirangi War Memorial Hall, 500 Titirangi Road, Titirangi, Auckland
Time: 9.00 am on Saturday 13 Sept 2014
Here is the full website for the Going West Festival - a wonderful weekend to be had! Friday 12 Sept-Sunday 14.

The exhibition
The Mark Cleverley: Objectspace Master of Craft exhibition covers Marks entire career - as well as Crown Lynn, he designed for many other media including packaging and stamps.  It is well worth a visit - and don't leave it too long, it closes on 11 October. To accompany the exhibition a book written by Jonty Valentine and  Sherry Blankenship has just been published by Bateman. Here is a nice review on Design Assembly which features gorgeous pics from the book!
Venue: Objectspace, 8 Ponsonby Rd, not far from the intersection with Great North Rd and Karangahape Rd.
Closes 11 October 2014

Mark Cleverley worked at Crown Lynn through the 1970s, after coming to their notice through consistent successful entries in the annual design competition.  Mark is a very accomplished designer who has received a number of prestigious awards. He taught at Wellington Polytechnic and Victoria University after leaving Crown Lynn.

Here are some pics from the exhibition, courtesy Ev Williams.  Below we see three experimental designs at the rear, with golden Sundowner, Purple Myrtle and Ellerslie hotel ware in the foreground.

Here is the classy ware made for Bellamy's restaurant at the Beehive. Truly elegant in rich browns with a slight purplish iridescence when the light is right.These examples came from Parliamentary Services.

Lastly, here are two popular patterns Mark is proud of - Palm Springs on the left and Ponui on the right.

And here, for a wee treat, are my pics of some of my favourite designs by Mark Cleverley.
This is Ponui:

Juliana (rare in New Zealand)

My precious Bellamy's plate.  To my knowledge this ware was never released on the open market so I am very glad I stumbled upon one years ago in an op shop.

Lovely cool elegant Apollo.  This shape used to be very easy to come by, but now its not often found in the shops - I guess people have realised what a pleasure it is to use.

More soon
See you at Going West at 9.00 am on Saturday 13 September!
ValM

Buyer beware!

I've had a few days home with the flu - which gave me time to wander my way through all the Crown Lynn listings on TradeMe... and I was pretty appalled by what I found. 

A novice collector in particular could very easily be caught out by some listings which are advertised as Crown Lynn when they patently are not. 

'Crown Lynn???' does not mean Crown Lynn.  Nor does 'In the style of Crown Lynn' or 'Might be Crown Lynn' or 'It is not marked but I have no doubt that it was made by Crown Lynn' or other such assertions.

Generally, I have to believe that the seller is acting with integrity, but there are a few cases where I wonder. There are a couple of traders who are notorious for advertising items as 'Crown Lynn' - usually  with a few question marks, and using that same heading for countless re-listings no matter how often they are told that they are wrong.   Unfortunately I can't name that trader but I would love to!

Crown Lynn is very complex, and as we all know it's not always easy to establish what is and what is not Crown Lynn.  Without blowing my own trumpet, (much!) my Crown Lynn Collector's Handbook is a very useful guide. 

First let's deal with what is Crown Lynn. Many CL items are unmarked, and many others bear marks which appear to have no relation to Crown Lynn.  I have given three common examples below.

This lovely duo is marked 'Symphony British'.

This gorgeous honey glaze beer stein carries the very common Crown Lynn four-digit shape number and 'Made in New Zealand' in capitals. (I love the way honey glaze comes up so beautifully in photos. How can I ever have been derisive about this ware - but indeed I was)

And this handkerchief dish from the 1940s has only a three-digit shape number, as was common practice at that time.

You will also come across dinnerware marked with 'Genuine Ironstone' or 'Contemporary Ceramics' - or a slew of other brands all used by Crown Lynn.

So where can we get into trouble and buy what is not Crown Lynn?  There are two very common pitfalls - Hobby Ceramics and the Crown Lynn replicas made by Studio Ceramics. 

A while ago there was a white 'Crown Lynn' shell on TradeMe which gave me buyer's envy - mine is rather garish and I would have much preferred the white.  Then, after it had sold, I realised that Studio Ceramics makes a white version and that's probably what was on TradeMe... but saying that, I can't guarantee that CL never made a white shell! 

Studio Ceramics has in no way attempted to mis-represent what they make, and you often see items listed 'Crown Lynn replica' and the like, which is perfectly acceptable.  For the record, here is the link to the Studio Ceramics Retro Lynn range currently in production.  I believe that the replicas are now backstamped Studio Ceramics but that may not always have been the case in the past.

Then we have Hobby Ceramics.  This was hugely popular in the 1980s/1990s - you went to a class and were given a bisque ware 'blank' which you painted with supplied glazes in your own design. Your work was then fired and you took it home.  Some Crown Lynn shapes found their way into Hobby Ceramics classes.  This dish for example is almost exactly the same as the lovely version decorated by Frank Carpay below... but it is Hobby Ceramics.

 

Besides the quality of the artwork, the clue is on the base. In the pic below you can see the familiar Crown Lynn shape number 2142, but there is also a scratched mark - the initials of the person who hand-painted it. In addition most Hobby Ceramics items look amateurish - ceramic decoration is a skilled occupation that you can't learn in a single class.  Hobby Ceramic glazes are also quite distinctive - the pale speckly effect above was quite popular. 

Experienced buyers are aware of the pitfalls of Hobby Ceramics, so if you see something that seems to be rather special but no-one else is bidding, perhaps you need to reconsider. You can pretty much guarantee that other collectors will have seen the listing and decided there's something odd about it.

 

Yet another common pitfall is to see other NZ manufacturers' works listed as Crown Lynn - for example 'Clay Craft/Crown Lynn.'   Clay Craft had nothing to do with Crown Lynn. It was a totally separate company, making completely different ware - lovely and collectable in its own right, but not Crown Lynn.  The same applies to many other NZ manufacturers, eg Orzel, Temuka etc.

 

However Titian and Luke Adams are both associated with Crown Lynn, and I will tackle their stories another time. Both were taken over by Crown Lynn, so some of their output can be attributed to Crown Lynn and some cannot. The honey glaze beer stein above is very typical of the type of ware made at the Titian factory after the takeover. 

 

In summary, it is buyer beware out there. Although recent legislation has given online buyers more protection, I don't like your chances of getting your money back if you buy something that proves not to be authentic. I can't emphasise enough, if an item seems too good to be true it probably is. If it's as rare and valuable as the seller implies, then others will be bidding. If not, it is either not authentic or overpriced. Or both.

 

There are not a lot of misleading entries, but enough to cause concern.

 

Lastly - life is full of surprises!  Recently the New Zealand Pottery site had some discussion about Crown Lynn made in Mexico.  Huh??? Mexico???? In all my years researching and collecting, I had never come across this connection, but now we have a backstamped item to prove it - it appears that Crown Lynn commissioned some work from the Lofisa factory in Mexico.  As you will see from the discussion on this link, there is still a lot to be discovered about this Mexican connection.

 

More soon

ValM

 

 

 

 

Classic "English" - Wentworth Ware and Fancy Fayre

Just imagine their pride when Tom Clark and his team managed to make this gorgeous thing:

For years they strove to create a white clay body, and struggled with primitive largely self-taught decorating and firing techniques - in isolation because of the war.  Then, in 1948 it all came together, importantly with the help of experts recruited from England.  What whoops of joy there must have been when these little compotes first came out of the kiln looking like this.  And this:

My lovely bright yellow specimen is a recent acquisition - a lucky $10 find in a Kaihohe second-hand shop.  These dishes would both have been made in the 1950s. They are the same shape and size, height 4.5 cm, length 16, width 13.   The gold decoration was another development introduced by the newly recruited English decorators in the late 1940s.  The yellow and gold version is unmarked apart from a number impressed in the base.  The hand-coloured one carries the Wentworth Ware backstamp.

In the photo above you can also see the shape number, 125, which looks as though it was pressed into the soft clay after it came out of the mould. In almost every case, Crown Lynn gave each new shape a number, which makes it easier to identify Crown Lynn products even when they don't have a backstamp. 
And Wentworth Ware.. .where did that brand come from? In the 1950s many New Zealanders were a bit snobby... they preferred to buy china made in England, which was often referred to as 'home' even by people who were born in NZ.  My grandmother, for example, would never have had Crown Lynn in her home. Tom Clark once publicly described NZ housewives as snobs, which created a rather unpleasant backlash.
This pink grape leaf is another in the Wentworth Ware series. I am a bit disappointed in this photo, the pink is brighter in real life. 

The base is unmarked apart from a shape number, 147, which looks as though it has been scratched into the soft clay when it first came out of the mould.

Yet another in the Wentworth Ware series is this gorgeous bright yellow dish, about the size you might use to serve a few yummy little chocolates after dinner. I am having a love affair with this yellow glaze. It is so very very bright and cheery.

The dish is shape number 410.

Alongside Wentworth Ware, Crown Lynn made Fancy Fayre salad ware, a blatant copy of the lettuce leaf styled ware being made by Carlton and others in England. This jug featured in my first book. It is 14 cm tall.

This is the backstamp. You can also see the shape number, 409-1.  The number 1 denotes the size. The next size up would have been 409-2.

This is my treasured salad dressing jug. I found the jug years ago, and only recently bought its matching little plate on TradeMe. The jug is 9 cm high and 17 cm end-to-end. The saucer is 17 cm long.

The jug has the Fancy Fayre backstamp, the saucer has a shape number only. This set is hand-coloured in pastel shades, much softer than the bright milk jug above.  Here is the saucer shape number, and also a little red mark which must have been applied by the decorator for some reason. Quite often you find marks of this sort on the base of Crown Lynn ware, most probably because they were testing a new material or process - or simply because someone wanted to clearly identify their work for some reason.

That's all for now. Keep warm!
More soon
ValM

 

A gorgeous retro caravan, Autumn Splendour and the Beach Hop

A couple of weeks ago my friends Annie and Simon Dawn took their lovely caravan  Louisa Ann - built by Annie's dad in 1962 - to the Whangamata Beach Hop.  Annie and her niece Julie Jones served up high tea on my Crown Lynn Autumn Splendour.  And this is what the table looked like:

Lots of people just love Autumn Splendour but I am not such a fan, it was too much of a cliché during my 'formative years'.  But my daughter is young enough to appreciate it so she has first dibs on my set.
Anyway, I digress. Here are Annie and Julie with the Louisa Ann, in their matching retro dresses they made from an authentic 1960s pattern.

The Louisa Ann is one of only about 12 distinctive Everson's Deluxe Caravans, Annie's dad Ern really only made them for family and friends. Several are still on the road, including one at the beach hop which belongs to another branch of the family. Inside the Louisa Ann is bit less plush than modern caravans - there are lots of rivets and the sturdy aircraft aluminium is exposed, but it's very cosy and Annie and Simon have been all over NZ in her for months at a time. The original Formica is still in great shape - here is the all-important swan and my books on display.

From all reports the girls had an excellent day, and I am so happy and proud that my Crown Lynn was used in such a great way.  Go Annie and Julie!

I do love to see Crown Lynn being used and enjoyed, and for that reason I can't resist adding this pic of my Book Club supper setting - I didn't have time to dig out matching trios so we had mix 'n match, which worked just as well if not better.

More soon

Keep warm

ValM

DANIEL STEENSTRA - hand potter

For years I have been meaning to do a post about Daniel Steenstra but I keep putting it off because I don't know enough. So I have finally decided to put down what I do know - we can always add to it later! I would very much appreciate any comments/corrections/further information on this post.. it has got a few assumptions, and more than a few gaps!

Meanwhile, here is a picture of Daniel Steenstra at work. It is taken from a large newspaper advertisement  - undated, but almost certainly 1960s. He was demonstrating his craft at the Crown Lynn shop in the Milne and Choyce department store in Queen Street, Auckland.

This is a vase which I am confident that Steenstra made and decorated. It was hand potted, then coloured slip was dabbed on to create a mottled effect. The horizontal lines are hand-incised grooves. He also made plant pots and lidded kitchen jars in the same style.

Another picture from the newspaper advertisement shows the types of vases Steenstra was making at the time. Imagine if you had all those on a shelf today...   The planter  in the top right hand corner is decorated in the same pattern as the vase above.

This link on the New Zealand Pottery site will take you through to a very interesting range of examples of work believed to be by Daniel Steenstra. (except that nothing in my records would indicate that he made the dogs shown in one post.)

 

Daniel Steenstra began work at Crown Lynn in 1953, and worked there for about 20 years. Occasionally during downturns he was put off, and had to find work elsewhere.  In the end, as Crown Lynn became more mechanised, his skills became less and less relevant and he moved to Beach Artware, a much smaller pottery.  He died in 2000 before I began my Crown Lynn research but in 2004-2005 I spoke to his wife Wendy and his son Dominicus, and also to Israe Paraone, who  worked closely with him in the 1970s.  

 

For many years I have struggled with a basic conflict over Daniel Steenstra. Some people told me he decorated his own work; others said his vases were painted by Crown Lynn hand decorators such as Frank Carpay, Doris Bird and Eileen Machin. Happily, I think I am now a bit clearer about this question. One clue is in my interview notes with Israe Paraone, who  told me that Steenstra did paint his own work, and described his technique (see below).  My interview notes from Eileen Machin tell me that some Steenstra pots were hand painted by Eileen and her colleagues, while others - described as 'outdoor pots' were slip banded by Daniel on the wheel.

 

So my educated guess is that Steenstra decorated vases and planters in the style of my vase above, and that he also occasionally decorated other items, but most of his vases were hand painted by other people.

 

Everyone who spoke about Steenstra told me that he was incredibly skilled with his hands. Israe Paraone told me that he could roll a cigarette one-handed, in his pocket. 'He would roll my cigarettes for the day – and look at you and grin.'  (EDIT - I did have a reference here to Steenstra's hands being damaged in the war, but his family says that is not true so I have removed it.)

 

Israe described Steenstra's decorating technique like this: ' Danny would … mix up all the slip and glazes that go together in the weirdest way, use part of a torn old jumper, (as a paintbrush) and he would have two fish swimming underwater in the weirdest way...He was a very humorous, very talented, very funny guy. He had a quiet pride, he didn’t need the acclaim.'

 

Israe and Dominicus both told me that Daniel Steenstra helped the design team by making one-off samples as they were developing new shapes, and Israe said he also understood machinery and was a powerful innovator in how some of the processes at Crown Lynn evolved.

 

Both Crown Lynn founder Sir Tom Clark, and long-term finance manager and later GM Colin Leitch told me that Steenstra made lots and lots of very small items.  Many were decorated in white, said Colin. This little treasure, no more than 6 cm tall, was found by John Shears - thanks John for the photos.  

Steenstra's  skills were such that he could hand-pot a jar and lid, and the lid would fit perfectly without measuring; this is a highly technical skill. Sir Tom told me that Steenstra was 'the sharpest smartest thrower you ever saw in your life. Just throwing. One piece after the other, boom boom boom ....he was a very hard worker. Did a tremendous job.'  However Sir Tom told me he fell out with Dan Steenstra over money - he wanted more pay than Tom was prepared to give.

It is generally believed that these larger green vases with white dots were also made and decorated by Dan Steenstra, though I have not yet seen any documentation to confirm this. (photo thanks to Geoffrey and Brenda Clark). I have read that there were eight different vase shapes in this style.

Lastly, I have a handful of other small vases which I believe were made by Daniel Steenstra though once again I have no proof.  Somewhere I have a note that he made little 'baroque' vases - but for the life of me I can't find that note now when I need it! At any rate, here are my small vases, the largest is only 8 cm tall. This is not the first time these vases have appeared on this site.. forgive me, but I do love them!

So. I hope that as time goes by we can put together more and more pieces of the Daniel Steenstra puzzle. He is one of the many unsung heroes of Crown Lynn.

NOTE... After I posted this, Ev from the New Zealand Pottery site gave me a link to the Auckland Museum Library site, which has some photos of Daniel Steenstra at work.  It's a bit tricky - click on the link below, then click on the listing for Crown Lynn, then you  will see eight pages of listings of photos etc. The pics of Steenstra are on pages 7 and 8.
http://muse.aucklandmuseum.com/databases/librarycatalogue/P5206.detail

But now it's stopped raining (finally) and I am going to see what's left in our vege garden after a week of rain and wind and rain and wind...

Take care
ValM