Page 172 - Constructing Craft

Harry (1910 – 1986) and May Davis (1914 – 1995). Exponents of
craft as a rural enterprise. Photo: New Zealand Potter.

The Davises were, to some extent, the heirs to the largely socialist, but sometimes
conflicting, aspirations of John Ruskin, William Morris and Robert Ashbee. Harry’s

comments reflected their concerns that craft in the urban environment had become

too corrupted by class issues relating to status and craft education that was
becoming increasingly institutionalised and formalised. In New Zealand however,

this message became muddled, much to Harry’s chagrin, and emerged as anti-
machinery, anti-urban and, to some extent, opposed to art in any form.

The Rural Model in New Zealand

The meaning of the term ‘British craft’ was revealed to New Zealanders through an
exhibition organised by the British Council that opened in Wellington in 1948. The

wholesomeness of craft and the rural environment were emphasised by Stewart
Maclennan in his review of the exhibition in the New Zealand Design Review.

Constructing Craft