Miroslav Smíšek (2 February 1925 – 19 May 2013) was a Czechoslovakian-born New Zealand

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 ...

Biography

Smíšek was born in the

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...

region of

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

in 1925. After spending most of

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 ...

in labour camps due to his efforts in the anti-Nazi resistance movement, he fled Europe in 1948 after the Czech coup. He emigrated first to Australia, and then to New Zealand in 1951, and became a naturalised New Zealand citizen in 1955. He worked for the

Crown Lynn Crown Lynn was a New Zealand ceramics manufacturer that operated under various names between 1854 and 1989. Early history The pottery's origins started with an 1854 land purchase at Hobsonville, near Auckland, by Rice Owen Clark. He had arriv ...

pottery 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 ...

where he created the "Bohemia Ware" line in manganese slip glaze, before moving to Nelson in 1952. There he worked at the Nelson Brick and Pipe Company, where he learned the technique of salt glazing. He left in 1957 and became New Zealand's first full-time studio potter. He also taught pottery at the Nelson Technical School (at the time part of

Nelson College Nelson College is the oldest state secondary school in New Zealand. It is an all-boys school in the City of Nelson that teaches from years 9 to 13. In addition, it runs a private preparatory school for year 7 and 8 boys. The school also has ...

) and night classes at

Waimea College Waimea College is a co-educational secondary school in Richmond, Tasman District, New Zealand. With a growing roll of 1500+ students from year groups 9–13, Waimea College is equipped with a park-like campus and numerous facilities. History Wa ...

. In 1962 he went to Japan and studied at

Kyoto University , mottoeng = Freedom of academic culture , established = , type = National university, Public (National) , endowment = ¥ 316 billion (2.4 1000000000 (number), billion USD) , faculty = 3,480 (Teaching Staff) , administrative_staff ...

. In 1963 he went to St Ives in England and studied under

Bernard Leach Bernard Howell Leach (5 January 1887 – 6 May 1979), was a British studio potter and art teacher. He is regarded as the "Father of British studio pottery". Biography Early years (Japan) Leach was born in Hong Kong. His mother Eleanor (née ...

. In 1968 he moved to the

Kapiti Coast The Kapiti Coast District is a local government district of the Wellington Region in the lower North Island of New Zealand, 50 km north of Wellington City. The district is named after Kapiti Island, a prominent island offshore. The pop ...

, where he established three potteries. Potter Pamella Annsouth became his partner in 1979 and remained with him until his death. He worked extensively for ''

The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an epic high-fantasy novel by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, intended to be Earth at some time in the distant past, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's boo ...

'' film trilogy, making about 700 earthenware items for the three films. Frequently he had to make two or three of each piece in different sizes to allow them to be used by the hobbits, humans and giants. In the 1990 Queen's Birthday Honours, Smíšek was appointed an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

, for services to pottery. He received the Gratis Agit award from the Czech government in 2011 for promoting the Czech Republic overseas. Smíšek died 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 ...

in 2013. At the time of his death, a

retrospective exhibition A retrospective (from Latin ''retrospectare'', "look back"), generally, is a look back at events that took place, or works that were produced, in the past. As a noun, ''retrospective'' has specific meanings in medicine, software development, popu ...

"60 Years 60 Pots" was touring New Zealand. A number of his pieces are held in 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 ...

. In 2020-2021 the two beehive kilns that Smíšek had built and used for some 40 years were directly in the path of the new Peka Peka to Otaki (PP2Ō) Expressway. Waka Kotahi the New Zealand Transport Agency agreed to preserve the kilns and carefully moved them to a nearby location. The move and refurbishment has been documented by local artist Elisabeth Vullings. The Mirek Smisek Arts Trust is now developing plans to build an arts centre centred on the relocated kilns.

Further sources

* Jenny Pattrick, Neil Rowe
Mirek Smisek: Strength and Freedom
New Zealand Crafts 18, Spring 1986

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smisek, Mirek 1925 births 2013 deaths Czechoslovak emigrants to Australia Australian emigrants to New Zealand New Zealand potters New Zealand Officers of the Order of the British Empire Nelson College faculty Naturalised citizens of New Zealand