Judith Eleanor Jane Cowan (née Peter, 18 September 1915 – 12 January 2010), generally known as Juliet Peter, was a New Zealand artist, potter, and printmaker. Her husband

Roy Cowan James Robson "Roy" Cowan (5 January 1918 – 17 July 2006) was a New Zealand potter, illustrator, and printmaker. His wife Juliet Peter was also a New Zealand potter, printmaker, and sculptor. Early life Roy Cowan, the son of New Zealand writ ...

was also a well-known New Zealand potter, printmaker and illustrator.

Early life

Peter was born at

Anama Anama may refer to: Places * Anama, New Zealand, a sparsely populated locality in the Canterbury region of the South Island * Anama, South Australia, a locality and historic pastoral run in the Mid North region * Anamã, a municipality in the Br ...

in rural

Mid Canterbury Mid Canterbury (also spelt Mid-Canterbury and mid-Canterbury) is a traditional, semi-official subregion of New Zealand's Canterbury Region extending inland from the Pacific coast to the Southern Alps. It is one of four traditional sub-regions of C ...

in 1915, and growing up on a farm there she did not receive a formal education. Her mother was Violet Peter (1875–1926), the eldest child of the surveyor, photographer, explorer, farmer, and entomologist

Edward Sealy Edward Percy Sealy (23 August 1839 – 30 October 1903), also referred to as Edwin Sealy, was a New Zealand surveyor, photographer, explorer, farmer, and entomologist. Born into a wealthy English family, Edward and his elder brother Henry Sealy, H ...

(1839–1903) from

Timaru Timaru (; mi, Te Tihi-o-Maru) is a port city in the southern Canterbury Region of New Zealand, located southwest of Christchurch and about northeast of Dunedin on the eastern Pacific coast of the South Island. The Timaru urban area is home to ...

. Her father was Charles James Peter (born 1867; died in Pape'ete, Tahiti, 5 April 1928), a son of

William Spence Peter William Spence Peter (1818 – 23 May 1891) was a pioneer pastoralist of South Australia and New Zealand, and a member of the New Zealand Legislative Council from 1868 to 1891. Early life and arrival in Australia Peter was born in Perthshire, Sco ...

(1818–1891) who lived at Anama and served as a member of the Legislative Council. During the 1920s, Peter's life was disrupted by the death of her mother and illness of her father; which led to the selling of the family farm and relocation of her family to England. Peter returned to New Zealand with her sister after her family faced financial strain in the 1930s, and attended the

Canterbury College School of Art The Ilam School of Fine Arts at the University of Canterbury was founded in 1882 as the Canterbury College School of Art. The school became a full department of the university in the 1950s, and was the first department to move to the suburban Ilam ...

at the suggestion of an aunt. While Peter was attending, the School of Arts had a focus on the 19th century, which did not appeal to her, and she found the library to be old and out-dated. In contrast Peter described the

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

art scene as "lively", and said that a travelling Canadian exhibition organised by

Arthur Lismer Arthur Lismer, LL. D. (27 June 1885 – 23 March 1969) was an English-Canadian painter, member of the Group of Seven and educator. He is known primarily as a landscape painter and for his paintings of ships in dazzle camouflage. Early life ...

"provided an absolute window into another way of doing things" and "had a profound influence on us all, on everybody." In 1947 she started working for the Department of Education in their School Publication branch as an illustrator. In 1952 she married potter

Career

From 1945 till 1951 Peter was based in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

producing work while working as an illustrator. During this time she showed works at the Architectural Centre Gallery, Centre Gallery 2, Centre Gallery 3, and the

Helen Hitchings Helen Hitchings (17 June 1920 – 4 July 2002) was a New Zealand art dealer, best known for the short-lived but influential eponymous dealer gallery she opened in Wellington in 1949. Gallery of Helen Hitchings At age 28 Hitchings opened New Z ...

Gallery. Cowan and Peter moved to London in 1951, where she first studied at the

Central School of Arts and Crafts The Central School of Art and Design was a public school of fine and applied arts in London, England. It offered foundation and degree level courses. It was established in 1896 by the London County Council as the Central School of Arts and Cr ...

but then moved to the

Hammersmith School of Art West London College, legally known as the Ealing, Hammersmith and West London College is a large further and higher education college in West London, England, formed in 2002 by the merger between Ealing Tertiary College and Hammersmith and West ...

. This is where Peter was first introduced to Lithography and Pottery which she says "completely changed our whole approach to the arts". Owing to Cowan's commitments to contracts with School Publications they returned to Wellington, setting up a studio. In 1968, along with her friend, painter

Rita Angus Rita Angus (12 March 1908 – 25 January 1970), a New Zealand painter, has a reputation - along with Colin McCahon and Toss Woollaston - as one of the leading figures in twentieth-century New Zealand art. She worked primarily in oil and water c ...

, Peter made a series of works recording her protest over the razing of the

Bolton Street Cemetery Bolton Street Memorial Park, formerly known as Bolton Street Cemetery, is the oldest cemetery in Wellington, New Zealand. Dating back to 1840, many notable people are buried here. Situated in the suburb of Thorndon, New Zealand, Thorndon, the Well ...

to extend Wellington's urban motorway. Peter wrote of the visits she and Angus made:

‘Conversation was kept to a minimum, we did not wish to attract attention to ourselves. But from time to time, a low voice would call, “Juliet, come and see …” and together we would examine a curious inscription, or a pattern of lichen on stone.

‘The summer of 1969 favoured our work. Sundays were usually fine, continuing into autumn. As the Engines of Destruction advanced up the cemetery, so we retreated.’

In 1999 Peter was included in ''The Eighties Show'' at

The Dowse Art Museum The Dowse Art Museum is a municipal art gallery in Lower Hutt, New Zealand. Opening in 1971 in the Lower Hutt CBD, The Dowse occupies a stand-alone building adjacent to other municipal facilities. The building was completely remodelled in 2 ...

, an exhibition of artists who were still active in their eighties, including

Doreen Blumhardt Dame Vera Doreen Blumhardt (7 March 1914 – 17 October 2009) was a New Zealand potter, ceramicist and arts educator. Early life Vera Dorren Blumhardt was born on 7 March 1914 in Huanui in the North of New Zealand. Her parents were German- ...

John Drawbridge John Boys Drawbridge (27 December 1930 – 24 July 2005) was a New Zealand artist, muralist and printmaker. He was famous for his murals in public places: for the foyer of New Zealand House in London in the 1960s, the Beehive in the 1970s, and ...

, Roy Cowan and

Avis Higgs Avis Winifred Higgs (21 September 1918 – 14 October 2016) was a New Zealand textile designer and painter. Education Higgs was born in 1918 in Wellington into a family of artists. Both her great grandfather and her grandfather were highly re ...

. Peter also exhibited at the

New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts The New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts (also referred to as the Wellington Art Society) was founded in Wellington in July 1882 as The Fine Arts Association of New Zealand. Founding artists included painters William Beetham (first president of the Ass ...

, the Canterbury Society of Arts, The Group, and the Auckland Society of Arts. She died in Wellington in 2010, and her ashes were buried at

Mākara Mākara is a locality located at the western edge of Wellington, New Zealand, close to the shore of the Tasman Sea. The suburb is named after the Mākara Stream (''mā'' is Māori for white, ''kara'' is a kind of greywacke stone). The Wellington ...

Cemetery. Her work was shown alongside Roy Cowan's in 2014 at

in ''A Modest Modernism: Roy Cowan and Juliet Peter''.

Recognition

In the 2000 Queen's Birthday Honours, Peter was appointed a

Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant (document), royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Monarchy of New Zealand, Queen of New Zealand, "for those ...

, for services to the arts.

Collections

Peter's work is held in the collections of the

Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetu The Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū, commonly known as the Christchurch Art Gallery, is the public art gallery of the city of Christchurch, New Zealand. It has its own substantial art collection and also presents a programme of New ...

, and the

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

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Peter, Juliet 1915 births 2010 deaths 20th-century New Zealand women artists 21st-century New Zealand women artists People from Mid Canterbury Ilam School of Fine Arts alumni Alumni of the Central School of Art and Design New Zealand potters New Zealand printmakers Companions of the New Zealand Order of Merit Burials at Makara Cemetery Women potters Women printmakers New Zealand ceramicists New Zealand women ceramicists People associated with The Group (New Zealand art)