Ranfurly

Ranfurly Vase

$108.00

A great piece to have in the home.

Very convenient for storing keys, and other essentials, by the front door.

This form can be described as art deco or modernist.

Interesting is the employment of Ernest Shufflebotham, from Wedgewood Pottery, whose ‘Hand Potted” range made at Crown Lynn was directly influenced by Kieth Murray, a New Zealand designer who had worked at Wedgewood!

Challenged by the conservative tastes of the majority public, in those days, the advanced work of Crown Lynn’s designers such as Mirek Smisek, Frank Carpey, and Deniel Steenstra, these artists worked on a huge range or pieces, often toning down their best efforts to reach a marketable standard.

Today this form is a natural setting in a post modern environment, providing sharp lines of elegance, and simplicity in overall presentation.

The range of finishes range from the best known Ivory Matt glaze that most of the  original pieces were produced, to a selection of pastel tones.

More of a decorative piece than a functional vase.

This was part of the Studio Ceramics range of Crown Lynn work, an Auckland producer that employed many people trained in the original Crown Lynn factory.

Crown Lynn Kiwi, makes the Next Generation of the forms produced originally at Crown Lynn, then by Catherine Anselmi Ceramics, later by Studio Ceramics and since 2017 by Stepa.nz (Stepahead Ceramics) a companion label Crownlynn.kiwi.

View the other amazing Crown Lynn or Legacy Range here

Information provided by Te Toi Uku

All sizes/weights are approximate due to firing variations.

Sizes (cm): 22 (L) x 14 (W) x 13 (H)- Sizes (in):  8.6 (L) x 5.5 (W) x 5.1 (H)

Weight: 0.83 Kg (29.3 oz)

HISTORY

Ranfurly Vase – Crown Lynn

Ranfurly Vase – This is Crown Lynn shape 135 ‘Single shell’ vase. Based on its shape number it would have first been made in the late 1940s. In 1964 all items still in production were given 4-digit numbers so it became Shape 2049. This shape was also produced by Studio Ceramics as well as Stepahead.

This Nautilus Shell is a classic form that was produced in Europe prior to Crown Lynn; first copying the English ceramics, to go on to being the largest ceramic factory in the Southern Hemisphere, with a factory in England!

This Shell form survived decades of production, possibly the Pasifika style suited out South Seas semi- Tropical Islands.

As Crown Lynn struggled against the New Zealand public’s perception that the best ceramics were from England, The designers worked to styles that were popular with European fashion.

This is shape can be seen in several similar variation produced by English factories during the 1920.s-1950’s. Tom Clarke, the creator of Crown Lynn was keen to make shapes in New Zealand, that competed with the English imports, from the earliest days of the factory’s move into decorative ceramics.

Check out our other Crown Lynn products here

[Appears in 2008.1.2839]

Information provided by Te Toi Uku

YOUR STORIES

The Golden Age of Crown Lynn Pottery

A decade of crowning ceramics Described as classic kiwiana, Crown Lynn pottery was a popular household feature in the 1960s. From its 1920s origins as brick and pipe manufacturers, the company expanded into the domestic market. Successful Government lobbying to place...

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