In memory of Mark Cleverley - Crown Lynn designer

 

More sad times in the Crown Lynn world - in May 2022 we lost Mark Cleverley, one of Crown Lynn’s outstanding designers, and indeed a New Zealand design icon.

 Along with fellow designer Dave Jenkin, Mark Cleverley was a mainstay of Crown Lynn design. He worked there for ten years, helping  to move the pottery to the forefront of industrial design in New Zealand. David Jenkin hired Mark Cleverley in 1968 as Development designer. Mark was a professional, already known to Crown Lynn because he had won two design competitions and entered others. His officially described role was to look at world trends and create designs in keeping with overseas tastes but with New Zealand style.

 

Above Mark Cleverley and David Jenkin at work (Image from 'Mark Cleverley Designer' by Jonty Valentine) 

 Mark brought a new precision to Crown Lynn design.  His approach was mathematical and technical. He worked by measurements, and he used instruments. He believed in perfect symmetry.

 He stayed at Crown Lynn until early 1980, leaving soon after Dave Jenkin retired. Mark continued to work in design until the 1990s, and also taught a new generation of polytech students. During his entire career Mark worked in many different fields including stamps, buildings, graphics and packaging as well as ceramics.

 Mark Cleverley was kind and generous with his time and knowledge, to me and to other researchers.  I have no background in design or in ceramics, and Mark went out of his way to make sure I got my facts right.  He added immensely to my understanding of design.  He helped me to see that the shape and the decoration of an object need to be harmonious.   There is no point in creating an elegant cup unless the handle looks like it is part of the same form.  And the decoration must look ‘right’ on the shape it is created for.  There is a difference between a rose transfer plonked onto a plate and a pattern – eg his famous Echo – which has been specifically created to fit that plate.  Ceramics are three-dimensional.   You draw your design on paper, then it has to be formatted to conform with the curves of a cup or bowl.  Then there were the practical issues – how to make a teapot with a lid that didn’t fall off, and a spout that poured cleanly?

 Technically, there must be compatibility between the style of design and the materials and processes in the factory.  There was no point in creating a beautiful shape if it could not be mass-produced in the factory machinery.  

 Echo

Mark’s most well-known design is Echo which was released in 1969 and was still on sale in 1979. This was produced on the Murray Curvex machine but pushed the technology to the limits, printing the flowers first in black on the white bisque, with the semi-opaque red added later, and a black line on the rim was rolled on by hand.  Amusingly Crown Lynn publicity described  Echo as influenced by the flower-power hippie culture, drawn with ‘reckless abandon.’

 

Palm Springs

This pattern was a winning entry by Mark Cleverley in the design competition of 1963.  His entry was depicted in shades of grey, but the final version was in shades of brown.  Palm Springs was used by American Dorothy Thorpe for one of her ball-handled ranges. The picture above is is a version of the Dorothy Thorpe range with an 'ear' handle rather than the ball handle.  Along with the Pine pattern, Palm Springs sold well in New Zealand, on standard Crown Lynn dinnerware shapes.

 Juliana  

Today, Juliana is one of Mark’s most sought-after designs. At the time it didn’t sell well in New Zealand and was thought to be too avant-garde for our tastes. This is on the Forma shape, which was jointly designed by Mark and David Jenkin.  Mark also designed the fluted Apollo dinnerware range, which was sold mainly in white. 

 The Luke Adams coffee set

This coffee set was selected to be part of an exhibition held at the Design Centre in London in 1969, celebrating “examples of this country’s achievements in industrial design.” Designed by Mark Cleverley and Dave Jenkin for Crown Lynn, it was made at the Crown Lynn-owned  Luke Adams pottery in Christchurch. Image from a Crown Lynn publication

 Expo 70 ware

In 1970 the New Zealand Meat Board had a large pavilion at Expo 70 which was held in Osaka, Japan. Mark and Dave Jenkin designed a set of dinnerware for the Geyser restaurant there.  As well as these ‘geyser’ plates, there were various lidded serving pots in a deep green.

Mark Cleverley leaves a rich legacy of design, in other fields besides Crown Lynn.  The book Mark Cleverley Designer by Jonty Valentine, gives a good overview of his work.  It is published by Objectspace gallery/David Bateman.  

My condolences to Mark's family, he will be sorely missed. 

And my usual end note:  I do my very best to ensure that my information is correct, but if you see any errors or omissions, please let me know. 

Sources:

My book Crown Lynn a New Zealand Icon, and unpublished interviews with Mark Cleverley and others

Mark Cleverley Designer by Jonty Valentine, published by Objectspace gallery/David Bateman