The Interior Design Guild was an Auckland-based organisation that was devoted to promoting applied designs and was a motivating force which sought to further develop Aotearoa New Zealand design. Sponsored by the Guild, The Studio Ceramics Dinner Service Show included 17 Auckland-based artists who had the unique opportunity to create original hand-applied design or screen-print transfers of existing ceramic forms.
Since the turn of the century, within the arts and crafts movements there has been a tradition of famed artists, architects and designers who have turned their hands to the decorative arts, such as Vanessa Bell, Picasso, Clarice Cliff and Keith Murray. Through their designs they captured the spirit of the times, and likewise The Studio Ceramics Dinner Service Show aimed to do the same, presenting a degree of innovation and continuity with earlier works of the artists. Not only did it function as a collaboration between commercial and artistic expertise but was also a response to a significant issue of the time which involved the Crown Lynn company.
Crown Lynn Company was recognised for its classic ‘kiwiana’ style of pottery and was a popular household feature in the 1960s. After successful government lobbying, the company moved its manufacturing premises to Southeast Asia and was met with harsh criticism from the public. This led to a resurgence of small studio companies filling this gap in the market. With renewed skill and under economic pressure they were able to also successfully mass-produce hand-decorated tableware.
Press
→ Art for dinner, Howick & Pakuranga Times, 27-09-1993
→ Art on a plate, Eastern Courier, 01-10-1993
→ Menu of creative work, New Zealand Herald, 1993
→ Surprises at the bottom of meal, Sunday Star, 03-10-1993
→ Tactile plates, Style, no. 8, Summer 1993-1994
→ The Studio Ceramics Dinner Service Show, New Zealand Potter, no. 3, 1993
Download
→ The Studio Ceramics Dinner Service Show, 1993, exhibition card