Brussels Vase – A Conch Shell

The Brussels Vase – A Conch Shell is available in ivory, black, blue, green and pink.

Measurements/weight:

270mm (L) x 140 mm (H) x 110 mm (W)  (10.6in x 4.3in x 5.5in)

500-550 grams   (17oz-19.5oz)

This was made from 1961 and appears in the log book of Tam Mitchell who created the model.  The Brussels Vase – A Conch Shell was made for Salisbury/Royal Oak, who used Crown Lynn shapes and painted them.  Crown Lynn did not glaze this shape themselves.

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.

Tom Clarke, the Crown Lynn boss, was keen to develop relations with all the competitors, often with a view to absorb these operations, or keep a controlling edge.

He even invested in owning an English factory, as well as an Asian operation in the 1980’s in an effort to compete with the imports that flooded NZ following the lifting of restrictions in 1984. That Crown Lynn employed over 700 people at the peak is a testament to his business sense.

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.

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!

This form can be described as art deco or modernist.

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.