We’re thrilled to share some exciting news, McGlashen Pottery is back in action! Under the care of passionate new owners, Coral and Josh. This beloved + iconic ceramics studio is set to continue its legacy with fresh energy and enthusiasm.
You have taken the baton from Royce and Trudi, and are committed to continuing their wonderful legacy in pottery. What formed your decision to take over their longstanding (50 + years) business?
It took about nine months of due diligence and negotiation, checking all the tax invoice books and doing the modelling required for the bank but unwavering support from our family and friends along with Royce & Trudi’s enormous generosity made the prospect of owning a piece of New Zealand Pottery history a reality.
After several working visits with Royce over the past year, leaving the McGlashen factory to return home...
Josh, You originally dropped by the pottery studio, to find a gift and ended up meeting Royce, who explained that he was looking for the right people to purchase the business. The rest as they say, is history. How did this fateful day come about?
Josh was on a business trip last year in Nelson and decided to call in to buy some pottery for Coral, who had recently started teaching classes at a small studio in Christchurch called Pottery Capital.
Long story short, Josh got talking to Royce and the opportunity to step into a New Zealand made manufacturing business based in art and science was too good not to investigate. Essentially Josh said...
Your background is a little different to ceramics, though Coral, you are passionate about pottery, and you were teaching classes in ceramics in Christchurch. Are you loving full immersion in the ceramics business?
Coral is a Civil Engineer with Honours and one of New Zealand’s water industry experts – so, practical and creative engineering for Coral is a great fit with clay, especially factory operations and managing our production line, and designing new shapes. It helps that Coral had been teaching wheel forming lessons at a local Christchurch studio prior to heading into the purchase but also, we’ve had to re-learn everything the...
McGlashen Pottery seeks inspiration from our coastal surrounds and the shells you find scattered along the shoreline. What drew you to working with these coastal silhouettes and shapes?
Easy, we both grew up close to the ocean. We are the friends in the friend groups that believe in New Zealand as a true paradise on earth; we can travel around the world for holidays, but we wouldn’t want to live anywhere but here in Aotearoa. I think that’s what made it easy for us to consider a New Zealand manufacturing business, especially this one because it was so...
Are you both beach lovers, and if so, do you have a favourite beach somewhere in Aotearoa, and why?
Josh: Tata Beach in Golden Bay, the almost pure quartz sand, the water is always cold and deep in summer and the view is amazing. My favourite beach of all-time for sure.
Coral: West Coast beaches, for the incredible sunsets and the wild rugged waves.
Are you both beach lovers, and if so, do you have a favourite beach somewhere in Aotearoa, and why?
Josh: Tata Beach in Golden Bay, the almost pure quartz sand, the water is always cold and deep in summer and the view is amazing. My favourite beach of all-time for sure.
Coral: West Coast beaches, for the incredible sunsets and the wild rugged waves.
Where do you seek out inspiration when you are creating?
Josh is a big reference library guy, he sees stuff he likes and personalises it. Coral has a more structured engineering-based design method and designs much like Royce, letting form and function stem from need and ergonomic considerations. We try to let the decoration and impressionistic details come naturally onto a functional ware. Nature is the biggest driver, flora & fauna.
Where do you seek out inspiration when you are creating?
Josh is a big reference library guy, he sees stuff he likes and personalises it. Coral has a more structured engineering-based design method and designs much like Royce, letting form and function stem from need and ergonomic considerations. We try to let the decoration and impressionistic details come naturally onto a functional ware. Nature is the biggest driver, flora & fauna.
and lastly, what are three things that would describe your approach to pottery?
Coral: Colour, shape, and curiosity. Matching shape and function with colour is my ultimate approach to art, and clay is the same: how to make everyday use of ceramics both a special experience and a comfortable one.
Josh: Colour. Variety. Learning to love repetition (repeat what works is a magic framework). Classically distracted and busy minded people, I think we both love the stimulation of creating every day, but it's really...
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We’re thrilled to share some exciting news! McGlashen Pottery is back in action! Under the care of passionate new owners, Coral and Josh. This beloved + iconic ceramics studio is set to continue its legacy with fresh energy and enthusiasm.
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