Luke Adams Pottery was a decorative ceramics manufacturer in

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 / ...

, New Zealand. It was set up in 1881 by Luke Adams, an emigrant from England. The business closed in the 1965 and was the longest-operating pottery in New Zealand.

History

Luke Adams (1838–1918) migrated to

from England with his family in 1873. A trained potter, he initially accepted a position with a

brickworks A brickworks, also known as a brick factory, is a factory for the manufacturing of bricks, from clay or shale. Usually a brickworks is located on a clay bedrock (the most common material from which bricks are made), often with a quarry for cl ...

in Christchurch but, by 1875, he had moved to another company and returned to making domestic ware. In 1881 this company closed their pottery making section and Adams invested in setting up his own business. He purchased the surplus moulds and plant and, with the help of his eldest three sons, he set up Luke Adams Pottery Limited. After several moves the company and the Adams family settled on a site in Colombo Street, Sydenham, Christchurch, where the company was to remain until the business was sold in 1965. The Luke Adams Pottery created a tradition of domestic colonial pottery and applied artistic design to its products. The company entered products in various exhibitions and shows. Most notably the pottery won awards at the

Melbourne International Exhibition (1880) The Melbourne International Exhibition is the eighth World's fair officially recognised by the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) and the first official World's Fair in the Southern Hemisphere. Preparations After being granted self-go ...

, Australia and the

Colonial and Indian Exhibition The Colonial and Indian Exhibition of 1886 was held in South Kensington in London with the objective to (in the words of the then Prince of Wales) "stimulate commerce and strengthen the bonds of union now existing in every portion of her Majes ...

, London of 1886. One of the more unusual products created by Luke Adams Pottery were Kiddibricks. One of the sons of the family, Percival Adams, worked on created a brick pressing machine and constructed a working model. The small bricks this created were fired and sold as a children's toy. This was highly successful and the bricks were much in demand from local families. The manufacture of Kiddibricks became automated in 1958 and the machinery was sold as part of the plan with the rest of business in 1965. Shortly afterwards the Kiddibrick machinery was purchased back and was stored for some years until it was purchased from the Adams family estate and brought back into service until 1999. Pottery from Luke Adams is now highly collectable in New Zealand and also appears in the collection of the

Auckland War Memorial Museum The Auckland War Memorial Museum Tāmaki Paenga Hira (or simply the Auckland Museum) is one of New Zealand's most important museums and war memorials. Its collections concentrate on New Zealand history (and especially the history of the Aucklan ...

and

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

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External links

Items of Luke Adams Pottery from the collection of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
Defunct manufacturing companies of New Zealand Ceramics manufacturers of New Zealand New Zealand design