George Boyd (1825–1886) was an early

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studio

potter A potter is someone who makes pottery. Potter may also refer to: Places United States *Potter, originally a section on the Alaska Railroad, currently a neighborhood of Anchorage, Alaska, US * Potter, Arkansas *Potter, Nebraska * Potters, New Je ...

. Boyd trained as a potter in

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before immigrating to New Zealand. In 1851 he settled in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

. Nine years later he set up his own business, the Newton Pottery. Although mainly producing functional items, he also earned a reputation for ornamental wares. In 1885 he exhibited a range of his products at the

New Zealand Industrial Exhibition The New Zealand Industrial Exhibition was an industrial exhibition held in a large Industrial Exhibition Building in Wellington, between Lambton Quay and Stout Street in 1885. Organised by Julius Vogel it was intended to display New Zealand's indu ...

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. The judges commended Boyd's 'most attractive show of pottery' saying his work proved there could be 'a real art-feeling in the manufacture of cheap and common goods'. Following the exhibition, he gave a selection of his 'artistic wares' to the Colonial Museum, a predecessor of the

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. When he died in 1886, his will ordered the

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s to close down the Newton Pottery, sell the machinery, and destroy the moulds. Examples of his work are now rare and highly sought after. His wife Helen died in 1898.

References

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa collection item description accessed 22.07.2008

External links

Information on George Boyd in the collection of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boyd, George 1825 births 1886 deaths 19th-century New Zealand male artists New Zealand potters Irish emigrants to New Zealand Burials at Waikumete Cemetery