Kiwi Icon: A simple cup and saucer

Who doesn’t remember Crown Lynn pottery?
It was in every home in the country in its heyday. And we are willing to bet a lot of homes still have some.
Of all the patterns that Crown Lynn made, the most recognisable is a simple white cup and saucer with a blue logo on it. The famed New Zealand Railways cup, in which tea was served on the trains.
Crown Lynn was started by Rice Owen Clark (we’ve previously written about him and his bigamy trial) in 1854 when he bought land at Hobsonville and started making pipes.
It moved to New Lynn in 1925 and under Tom Clark - a great grandson - began making a large number of other things. In 1941, he built a kiln and the next year began making tableware.
As it happened the war meant only essential goods could be imported and that did not include things like plates and cups.
Under a directive from the Ministry of Supply, the factory began making coffee mugs and plates for American forces in New Zealand and in one year made 1.5 million. But they had a flaw - the handles broke off too easily.
As production increased though, so did the quality and Crown Lynn gained a reputation for sturdy reliable products
It was then that Crown Lynn was contracted by the New Zealand Railways to create tableware, leading to the iconic cup and saucer.
After the war the company began experimenting with glazes and encouraging employees to think of designs.
One of the new designers was Frank Carpay from the Netherlands who had studied industrial design and met (and impressed) Pablo Picasso. He started his own commercial pottery business but after it failed he wrote to the then mayor of Auckland John Allum asking for the name of a pottery company he could apply to.
Allum passed the letter on to Tom Clark who was recruiting.
Carpay arrived in New Zealand in 1953 and began working on one off designs. However they were not commercially popular and he lost his job in 1956.
He continued to live in New Zealand and began exhibiting paintings, gave demonstrations of pottery and did commissions, teaching at Howick District High School. He began developing screen printing techniques and working in fabric design and printing.
His designs incorporated Maori designs, including rock drawings. Later he branched out into beach towels and beach wear but the business failed.
Franciscus Hubertus Johannes Carpay was born on July 13, 1917, and died on September 12, 1985 and is buried in Waikumete Cemetery.​