Jack Laird (potter)

For the American television producer, writer, director and actor, see Jack Laird.
Jack Laird
OBE
Born Jack Denis Laird
(1920-08-29)29 August 1920
Watford, Hertfordshire, England
Died 7 August 2009(2009-08-07) (aged 88)
New Zealand
Alma mater Chelsea School of Art
University of London
Known for Pottery
Spouse(s) Peggy Marjorie Biggerstaff (m. 1943)

Jack Denis Laird OBE (29 August 1920 – 7 August 2009) was a New Zealand potter.

Early life

Laird was born in Watford, Hertfordshire, England, on 29 August 1920.[1] He married Peggy Marjorie Biggerstaff in 1943. Following World War II, he studied illustration and graphic design at the Chelsea School of Art on an ex-serviceman's scholarship, and began to specialize in pottery while undertaking postgraduate study at the University of London. In 1953, Laird moved to Jersey where he taught art at a grammar school. In 1959, he emigrated to New Zealand to teach extramurally, based in Palmerston North, at Victoria University of Wellington.[2] He became a naturalised New Zealand citizen in 1975.[1]

Pottery in Nelson

In 1964, the Lairds established Waimea Pottery in Richmond, New Zealand, near Nelson. There, Laird trained a generation of Nelson potters, including Royce McGlashen, Darryl Robertson, John and Anne Crawford, and Laird's son Paul.[2] At its peak Waimea Pottery employed 17 potters.[3] Later, Laird designed tableware for Temuka Pottery.[2]

In the 1984 New Year Honours, Laird was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, for services to pottery.[4]

Laird died suddenly in 2009.[2]

References

  1. 1 2 "New Zealand, naturalisations, 1843–1981". Ancestry.com Operations. 2010. Retrieved 13 February 2016. (subscription required (help)).
  2. 1 2 3 4 Gibbs, Peter (22 August 2009). "Master craftsman of the clay". Nelson Mail. Retrieved 28 February 2013.
  3. ↑ "Nelson pottery". The Prow. Nelson Public Libraries. 2009. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
  4. ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 49584. p. 33. 30 December 1983. Retrieved 10 February 2013.
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