Ceramics

Ceramic History

Through my work as a teacher of young children and of young adults in the 1940's, I came to realise the tremendous potential of humble clay, as a medium of child development and of artistic expression.

We knew little about the techniques of handling clay, the chemistry of glazes, or the control of kilns, but the challenges fired our imaginations, and sparked the dedication and ingenuity of our small band of enthusiastic creators.

During the 1940's Dr C E Beeby the then Director of Education, began a training scheme for Primary School teachers, followed up by itinerant art specialists, who were trained to help teachers introduce visual arts and crafts into their schools. Later many Post Primary schools acquired kilns and knowledge and experience was widely disseminated.

The indigenous Maori people of New Zealand, at the time of British colonisation, had not discovered clay as a medium for their arts. It was not until after World War II that housewives and returned servicemen felt the need to do something more than the daily routine of housework, or the demands of the office. There was little reference material in the way of books or magazines. The New Zealand Society of Potters was founded in 1957 and VOL 1 No 1 of the POTTER magazine was published in August 1958. Many overseas books and magazines began to appear in New Zealand and Adult Education and Polytechnic classes began to be established in ceramics.

When Bernard Leach arrived from England in 1961, he helped us greatly to understand more about what we were doing. In 1964 Kawai Takeichi, came from Japan, and in the following year Hamada Shoji spent some time with us demonstrating and teaching. Over the years between then and now, many potters have travelled, and visited and worked with potters in Australia, Fiji, Japan, Europe, Africa and Indonesia, and with the knowledge and skill acquired have become world leaders in the ceramic field.

Craft shops have sprung up all over New Zealand, and even Art Galleries included craft exhibitions in their schedules. In my view there is no difference in the art of painting, and the three-dimensional arts using wood, glass, metal, clay or any other materials for artistic expression.

Doreen Blumhardt
Ceramic Artist
11 September 1998

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