John Crichton (7 July 1917 – 7 January 1993) was a

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

furniture and interior designer.

Early life

Crichton was born in

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

in 1917 and moved to England as a child. He studied at

Birmingham College of Art The Birmingham School of Art was a municipal art school based in the centre of Birmingham, England. Although the organisation was absorbed by Birmingham Polytechnic in 1971 and is now part of Birmingham City University's Faculty of Arts, Design a ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he served as an official

war photographer ''War Photographer'' is a documentary by Christian Frei about the photographer James Nachtwey. As well as telling the story of an iconic man in the field of war photography, the film addresses the broader scope of ideas common to all those inv ...

with the rank of Captain in the

Royal Warwickshire Regiment The Royal Warwickshire Regiment, previously titled the 6th Regiment of Foot, was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in continuous existence for 283 years. The regiment saw service in many conflicts and wars, including the Second Boer War ...

, 1939–1945, assigned to the Fourteenth Army in Burma.

Design

He moved to New Zealand in 1949, establishing John Crichton Limited, a business and shop located on Kitchener Street 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 ...

. He offered interior design services and designed and sold furniture. According to Douglas Lloyd Jenkins, Crichton "can lay claim to being the father of the modern New Zealand interior…" showing New Zealanders "how to blend a fascination with the materials and textures of the Pacific with the international vision of modern design." He was a founder of the

New Zealand Society of Industrial Designers The New Zealand Society of Industrial Designers, known as NZSID, formed in 1959, was a professional body for designers in New Zealand. Its membership was multi-disciplinary, representing designers in all branches of design for industry— inter ...

(NZSID) in 1959, elected to membership soon after the Society's incorporation in 1960, and served on its council to 1966. Crichton died in New Zealand on 7 January 1993, and he was buried at Purewa Cemetery, Auckland.

Collections

Examples of is work are held in the collections of

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is New Zealand's national museum and is located in Wellington. ''Te Papa Tongarewa'' translates literally to "container of treasures" or in full "container of treasured things and people that spring fr ...

References

1917 births 1993 deaths British people in colonial India Alumni of the Birmingham School of Art Royal Warwickshire Fusiliers officers War photographers British emigrants to New Zealand New Zealand furniture designers New Zealand industrial designers New Zealand interior designers New Zealand photographers People from Auckland Burials at Purewa Cemetery Photographers from Auckland {{NewZealand-artist-stub