It is with sadness that we farewell the distinguished New Zealand potter Mirek Smisek, who passed away last week. Mirek’s life was dedicated to his craft. He began working with clay in Sydney, after having left his devastated homeland, Czechoslovakia, at the end of World War II. Mirek consolidated his passion forRead more
I am currently working on a fashion exhibition entitled New Zealand in Vogue, the content and layout of which is inspired by Vogue New Zealand, which graced magazine stands between 1957 and 1968. Each case is inspired by a Vogue headline. One of my favourites is ‘Unbeatable All-Blacks’ – aRead more
Empire Games are held in Auckland, 4-11 February 1950 The cup above was produced by Crown Lynn as a souvenir of the Auckland games, which 590 athletes from 12 nations attended. New Zealand came third in the medal tally with 54 medals: 10 gold, 22 silver and 22 bronze. GoldsRead more
When I first moved to Wellington I used to walk around the bays of the Mirimar Peninsula. My favourite bay was Worser Bay. I liked its name (worser than what?) but primarily I liked it because of a modest, single story house. The house was ordinary in everyway except forRead more
This weekend the City Gallery, Wellington opens Crown Lynn: Crockery of Distinction, a celebration of New Zealand’s most iconic home ware producers. Drawing on public and private collections, the exhibition ‘considers the company’s vital role in a history of home-grown creativity, international influence and innovative design, and the nature ofRead more
