Crown Lynn Potteries Limited was a New Zealand ceramics manufacturer based in New Lynn, Auckland. Operating under various names between 1929 and 1989, it grew from the Amalgamated Brick and Pipe Company (Ambrico) into the largest producer of domestic pottery in the Southern Hemisphere. At its height the factory employed over 650 staff, produced up to 17 million pieces annually, and exported to Australia, the Pacific Islands, Asia, North America and beyond.
Crown Lynn became known for supplying robust utilitarian ware during the Second World War, including crockery for the New Zealand Railways Department and Allied forces, before expanding into household and decorative tableware. Designers such as Dave Jenkin, Frank Carpay, Mirek Smisek and Ernest Shufflebotham introduced new styles and techniques, and the discovery of high-quality halloysite clay at Matauri Bay enabled the company to compete with imported brands.
Although the factory closed in 1989 amid growing competition from imported tableware and changes in the New Zealand economy, Crown Lynn remains an enduring design icon. Its products are represented in major museum collections, and its legacy is preserved at Te Toi Uku – Crown Lynn & Clayworks Museum in New Lynn.
Early history
The pottery's origins started with an 1854 land purchase at Hobsonville, near Auckland, by Rice Owen Clark. He had arrived in New Zealand thirteen years before and had previously worked as a school teacher in Wellington and as a clerk in Auckland. To drain his land, he made his own pipes by wrapping logs with clay and firing them with charcoal.