Cone Ten Down
Studio Pottery In New Zealand 1945 -1980

David Bateman Ltd.

This beautifully written and photographed book is a tribute to New Zealand pottery and potters at the height of their craft through the 1960s and 1970s.
Veteran potter, curator and writer, Moyra Elliott is joined by curator and art historian, Dr Damian Skinner and renowned photographer, Haru Sameshima to produce Cone Ten Down; a book destined to become an art lovers classic.
In the halcyon days of the ‘60s and 70s, everyone was a potter – or if they weren’t, they certainly knew one. Craft shops were plentiful and the pots produced were earthy in colour in texture, domestic in scale and intended for use. Potters embraced the rural lifestyle, and the weekend drive to the country became an opportunity for urban dwellers to purchase their own small symbol of the alternative lifestyle.
All these small brown pots are now highly collectable and sought-after in op shops, second hand stores and, increasingly, at auction.
Cone Ten Down tells the story of how this movement came to flourish in New Zealand.
It also examines the working context of some of the lead potters of the movement including Olive Jones, Patricia Perrin, Len Castle, Helen Mason, Barry Brickell, Roy Cowan, Juliet Peter, Warren Tippett, John Parker and Bronwynne Cornish.
With more than 100 photographs commissioned for the book, Cone Ten Down is a must-have companion to all New Zealand art and ceramic admirers and collectors.
Moyra Elliott. With more than 30 years experience in the ceramics field, Moyra Elliott brings together writing a background as a maker, an educator at tertiary level, a public gallery curator and seven years as Director for the Fletcher Challenge Awards. She continues to work in the field as a contributor to a variety of journals and magazines, as consultant for institutions and as speaker at conferences.

Dr Damian Skinner is an art historian and curator based in Gisborne. He is interested in twentieth century New Zealand art and craft, and he has worked with a number of galleries and museums around the country. His most recent books are The Carver and the Artist: Maori Art in the Twentieth Century (AUP) and Alan Prest on: Between Tides (Godwit).

Cone Ten Down by Moyra Elliott and Damian Skinner with photographs by Haru Sameshima is a large format paperback with flaps priced at $49.99 published in August 2009.