Um... derivative or a copy??

The more we find out about Crown Lynn, the more copies come to light - both shapes and patterns.  Here are two tulip cups - iconic Crown Lynn one would have thought, but the dark green one is actually made by Meakin in England. They are almost exactly the same size and shape.

Without more research I can't be sure which shape came first, but it's likely that Crown Lynn copied Meakin. 

Then take a look at these two plates: This is Crown Lynn Fiesta Ware.

 

 

This is Meakin. (Meakin photos courtesy of Suzanne Hilegeholt)

 

 And then we have our much-loved Mogambo coffee can... an identical pattern appears on this Pyrex mug, made before the Cook and Serve range was introduced.

And that was not the only copied pattern in the Cook & Serve range. Here is a Swedish Rorstrand coffee can:

The same pattern was used by Crown Lynn on Cook & Serve condiment sets (below), coffee cans and cookware. (Examples thanks to Jeremy Ashford)

And what about this lovely little Crown Lynn jug: 

Here is an identical shape, again by the English firm J&G Meakin.

The list goes on... our Fleurette is a copy of the English Belle Fiore.  I don't have a photo but click here to see images of Belle Fiore on EBay. Here's a Crown Lynn Fleurette duo - it's hard to tell the difference.

There's a famous photo of the Queen visiting Crown Lynn in 1963, watching the hand decorators working on Fleurette - I wonder if she was aware that it was a brazen knock-off of an English product. Tom Clark is on her left.

Of course some Crown Lynn ware has similar decorations to overseas-made ware. This is because many of the decorative transfers were bought on the open market, so you see (for example) this Crown Lynn Bamboo cake plate has the same decoration (in a different colour) as an English-made plate I found in the Browns Bay hospice shop a couple of weeks ago.

 

And the decorations on the Crown Lynn fruit plates (marked Covent Garden) are also found on a range of other plates including this pink Old Foley plate by James Kent Ltd, Staffordshire, England.

 

 

 

 

 I could go on, and on, and on... but I won't! Our iconic Crown Lynn swan is believed to be a copy of an English one, and I have seen an English version of the McCallum whisky jug, in three sizes, on TradeMe.  I think in the good old days there was not the same intense possessiveness about intellectual property as there is now, when manufacturers don't hesitate to take court action when their work is copied.

 

I would love to hear of other copies/duplicates that you are aware of, this is an interesting aspect of NZ pottery research.

 

More soon

ValM

 

Cool collections

Just recently I have had the pleasure of viewing several wonderful collections - I love seeing what other enthusiasts find interesting - and also what they randomly find!
First up, here is a selection of lovely pale green 'whiteware' items.  A very few of the items that usually appear in white were glazed in pastels, most often green. These exotic little shapes, a wishing well, rocking chair, little cart etc, are very hard to find and I do respect these collectors for hunting them down (and for generously sending me these photos.)

These are quite special collectors - Geoffrey Clark and his wife Brenda. Geoffrey is the son of Sir Tom Clark, founder of Crown Lynn. He worked at the factory for many years. He then trained in technical aspects of ceramics at Stoke on Trent in England as a Crown Lynn cadet and returned to Crown Lynn.  Recently when I spoke at Napier Library for a fundraising event, Geoffrey and Brenda brought along their green collection and Geoffrey enriched the discussion with the combination of his historical perspective and his technical knowledge. 
They also have several lovely very early animal figurines - this elephant:

A very cute lively little dog:

And a rabbit.

These were made in the very early experimental days at Crown Lynn, when it was still known as the Specials Department. Figurines of this type are not easy to come by - but recently friends of mine picked up two elephants at a Whangarei charity shop - one was damaged and sold for $1, the next was perfect and cost a whole $2! Amazing.

But getting back to Geoffrey and Brenda.  This very lovely vase is probably from the 1960s. The pattern is attributed to Daniel Steenstra, though I have no solid confirmation of that. It is hand potted.

Once again, I deeply regret not buying one of these when I was writing my first book - they cost a few hundred then and I never quite managed to click that 'buy now.' This is what the base looks like.

 Also important are these two vases, both made by Mirek Smisek when he worked at Crown Lynn for 18 months from 1950. They are decorated by the technique known as sgraffito - the hand potted vases were dipped in a dark brown glaze then a sharp metal pencil-like tool was used to trace patterns through the brown, exposing the pale body beneath.

 

Smisek marked his Crown Lynn work with the words 'Bohemia Hand Made' - it is very collectible and not easy to find these days.

 At the Crown Lynn exhibition a few years back, there was a display of at least 20 of these lovely vases, all different designs. (if I find my photo I will add it to this post, but just now I can't, despite a good solid search. The joys of computer files...)

Coming next - I have some very interesting pics from another couple of collections.

Take care

ValM

 

 

Another road trip... more stuff!

Last week we went to Napier and back via Gisborne and the Waioeka Gorge. It was lovely to be back on the road in our bus. This is the most interesting thing we found - a very unusual Titianware jug from the days when it was owned by Crown Lynn. It has an unusual pattern or maybe a logo on the side - no idea what it is. I was certain we had a new shape for the NZ Pottery website but no, it's already there! On this page of the treasure trove of shapes on this site.

This is what the base looks like. Number 1351. The jug is 13 cm tall.

And how's this for a hard-luck story... we popped into a junk shop up a side street and there among other odd bits and pieces was a maroon monkey egg cup. Unpriced. So I picked it up and ever-so-casually sauntered up to the counter. "There's no price on this" I said. Hoping for the $2 bargain of the century. "Ah," said the man. "A nice piece of Crown Lynn. That's going to auction." Ah well, win some, lose some. I didn't take a pic - but this is the link to the NZ Pottery selection of egg cups. Well worth a look.

Next boohoo story was this shop in Gisborne - closed on Monday, closed on Tuesday. Oddly enough George didn't want to wait around to see if it opened on Wednesday. In the front window there were some bulldog eggcups - nice colours:

And also this little marvel. A wahine toby jug from the Titian factory before Crown Lynn bought them out. No doubt the shop wanted an arm and a leg for it but I would have liked to see it in the flesh.

There was also a lovely Pania of the Reef - maker unknown but almost certainly NZ. Ah well... if you're ever in Gisborne take a look at A1 Mart - it's on the main street at the top end of  town.  You never know, it might be open.

(Incidentally that's a small Crown Lynn swan on the left of the pic, not the elusive middle sized version - one of which went for over $2000 on TradeMe the other day.)

On the plus side I did find this lovely lovely vase - 1940s Crown Lynn,  $2 at the Sallies shop, spotted at the last minute. An enchanting mix of deep maroon and bright blue. They must have my book at that shop because all the Crown Lynn dinnerware was stacked together and not cheap - $15 and more per plate.

This is the base of the vase. Fraction numbers indicating they were testing the glaze.

We found three very cool charity shops up a side road in Te Puke. On the left as you're heading north. There were lots of treasures including a nice lineup of pink mugs, which I left there. I have enough! One has a chip, but it's great to see them with their saucers.

There was one thing I couldn't resist - a Catherine Anselmi "Railway cup". After Crown Lynn closed Anselmi asked Hemara Hemara, an expert modeller, to help  her make moulds in the Crown Lynn railway cup shape. So occasionally you see these odd, brightly coloured cups, with both a Crown Lynn mark and the Catheirine Anselmi mark on the base.  This one cost me $1. They're not easy to find so I'm happy! Anselmi cup on the left, alongside the railway cup for comparison. The Anselmi cup is slightly larger and has a simple handle, without the grooves. 

 This is the base of the green cup.

Anselmi must have made up her own Crown Lynn stamp, or else got hold of one that came from the factory. You see a number of other items with the double stamp - eg here is a vase from the NZ Pottery site.

One last thought - now Crown Lynn is so popular and no longer at bargain prices, it might be time to look at other NZ potteries. This lovely Temuka fruit bowl is about 35-40 cm across and in immaculate condition. And only six dollars! The base had an odd little number instead of the usual Temuka mark. I left it behind, with regret. (No I don't have a disorder... truly!)

More soon.
Happy hunting
ValM

Pretty in Pink...

A while ago I was sent this photo.

Then it turned out this was only part of the pink collection. Here's some more!

All this quite took my breath away - and I hope the collector has it well insured. This pink glaze was not easy to apply evenly, and consequently there is not much pink Crown Lynn ware around. Ernie Cooper, who began at Crown Lynn in the early 1960s and rose to the position of chief chemist then factory manager told me this: "Interestingly the pink colour was made from one of the Blythe Colour works glaze stains (I even remember the number stain 8005) consisting of Chrome/Tin which suffered from an unusual firing fault called white spot. If there was any organic contaminant in the glaze before firing it would cause localised reduction in the glazing kiln resulting in a very noticeable white spot about 3-5 mm in diameter. By the way these cups were dipped in glaze rather than being sprayed, a very interesting and locally produced dipping system was used for this purpose."

 All this made me start thinking about the lack of pink in my collection. Here's my solitary cup and saucer set, which is spoken for - Pete, it's still here waiting for you!

It is possible that as well as the technical difficulties, pink simply wasn't as fashionable as some other colours.  Judging by the amount of chocolate brown, teal blue and olive green colourglaze ware around, there is little doubt that they were the front runners at the time.  Anyway, for the record, here's the rest of my pink collection. A kitchen bowl, backstamped Aero British:

And my mostly-pink dessert bowl, backstamped Tudor.

 

That's about it for me. Unlike some, I definitely can't claim the title of Pink Princess.

More next time
Happy collecting!
ValM