Pottery retrospective

Press, 30 December 1988, Page 5

Pottery retrospective

Canterbury Potters Association Twenty-fifth Anniversary Retrosepctive Exhibition at the Robert McDougall Art Gallery until January 17. Reviewed by Barry Allom. Any confusion about Canterbury Potters’ second twenty-fifth anniversary exhibition within two months will be dispelled on visiting the present show at the McDougall. With the aid of Grant Banbury’s innovative linear design Canterbury Potters’ earlier annual exhibition clearly gave the impression of confidently striding into the future. This exhibition is retrospective. It traces the solid achievements of a pottery group firmly anchored in the tradition of New Zealand’s pottery past. The setting is sombre and sedately McDougall, the pots subdued and solid. The familiar elements are here. There are the treasured contributions such as Doris Holland’s earthenware fish plate (1968), Hazel McCaughan’s simple classic stoneware bowl and Wyn Reed’s moulded dish. Meg Anderson’s four fine small earthenware goblets still look remarkably contemporary after 21

years. There are pots which typefy Canterbury pottery — Aina Apse’s colourful tall faceted bottle, Nola Barron’s early sculptural form and Sally Connolly’s anagama-fired high shouldered slab bottle. There is a small but disappointing collection of teapots. The group of plates and platters is more worthy. No. 44 reflects Warren Tippett’s conservative Canterbury beginnings and outstanding technique. Robert Wagoner’s is an equally conservative heavy stoneware platter. But there is an element of gaiety about Nora Flewellen’s vigorously glazed earthenware plate and in Ann Davie’s superb reductionfired stoneware plate the glaze and form perfectly complement each other. There are a few modern pieces — Gaynor Thacker’s simple, derivative but highly accomplished raku vase and Mary Forrest’s colourful abstract plaque. There are two serious omissions. Lawrence Ewing has been a major figure in Canterbury pottery. While his large stoneware bottle is typical there is no teapot from one of New Zealand’s finest teapot makers. Another local potter

who has had a big presence in national ceramics is David Brokenshire. There is'not even one of his fine porcelain forms. Yet there are two pieces from Denys Hadfield. The broad sweep of porcellaneous stoneware called Peninsula Hillscape has an esoteric quality of volcanic Canterbury about it. But the awkward Cathedral Pot could have been left out. One of the most interesting exhibits is Michael Trumic’s group of three stoneware bottles. Though he has long since fled these parts, as a teacher, Michael Trumic was an important early influence on Canterbury potters. These pots with their simple forms and subtle glaze come close to the essence of local ceramics and certainly are classic pieces of the Canterbury Potters’ past. This exhibition gives a sense of history, of time past and time present being contained in time future. Many of these pots have stood the test of time. David Brokenshire’s large sculpture dates from 1962. It bears remarkable resemblance to his work shown recently at the Cave Rock Gallery showing just how easily the potter’s craft can transcend 25 years.