Page 215 - Constructing Craft

operation and often they needed potters to assist with their production. Mirek

Smίšek, for instance, worked at Crown Lynn, initially as a clay mixer and later as a
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designer and thrower. In 1952 he left to establish himself in Nelson as one of New
Zealand’s first professional studio potters, suggesting that studio pottery was
economically viable from about that date.

Business Partnerships

The employment of studio potters as designers for industry continued for many
years. For example, as noted earlier, in 1972 Jack Laird was commissioned to

design tableware for manufacturers such as Temuka Potteries and between 1989

and 1994 Royce McGlashen, a former employee of Laird, undertook the same role.
The McGlashen-Temuka partnership shows how a more sophisticated relationship

evolved between industry and studio craftspeople as the movement matured. Tom
Devlin, the General Manager at Temuka Potteries between 1976 and 1996,

oversaw the transition from a mass-producer of heavy brown glazed ware towards a
range of highly coloured and decorated pottery. Devlin believed that McGlashen

was pivotal in achieving that transition for Temuka. He also believed it was

necessary to change designers such as McGlashen because their designs were
idiosyncratic and Temuka’s pottery would become identified with one designer’s

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style. Coincidentally, McGlashen’s partner, Trudi McGlashen, also believed that a
potential conflict of interest was developing because their business was moving
towards a more production-oriented workshop looking to supplying restaurants – the
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same market that Temuka operated in. In a sense, a studio pottery was becoming
more mass-production orientated while a mass-production pottery was employing

the individually-produced approach that studio potters valued.

Constructing Craft