Stewart Pottery Ltd

Yes Mumof1 I would say that the Cadbury piece you have was from Stewart Pottery .

I still have not got a clear picture of the relationship between Royal Oak and Kermiko.
Stewart Salisbury says Kermiko was set up by Barry Sluiters...

My history of NZ commercial pottery (other than Crown Lynn) ends with Gail (Lambert) Henry's first book as I do not the follow up, so I am left hanging with Royal Oak.

I have seen Royal Oak-stickered tableware on trademe and the op-shops and Kermiko-stickered in both as well, but most in the op-shops that has no stickers.

Generally I'm looking at a simple cup or jug with an upward pointing handle in various glaze combinations, including what I take to be "Lava Glaze". Some have no decoration beyond the glaze. Some have small hand-painted flowers and some large flowers, usually in browns but sometimes in blue. Some have flower transfers. The bottoms either have an obvious mould-line or a shallow hollow. There are also variations in the tea, coffee, sugar, and milo corked canisters. Some have casual hand-written labeling, a some are more precisely dome.

Without stickers I am unable (yet) to distinguish Royal Oak from Kermiko.

When did Royal Oak cease operations?

Did Barry Sluiters have a relationship with Royal Oak before setting up Kermiko?

Was there any overlap with Stewart Potteries?

Re-reading above I see Barry has added to this thread, and could be the man with the answers.

Royal Oak Potteries, Stewart Potteries and Kermiko are all individual potteries Jeremy. There is no mixing or mingling of wares. I have some info on when Royal Oak were producing somewhere, and I will look it out when I get a chance, but these three would have all been producing in a similar time frame.

The histories of Auckland potteries show many interactions between different potteries, much of it tied to Crown Lynn, whether, for example, through Crown Lynn providing bisques for Owen Salisbury, Crown Lynn staff leaving to form their own potteries, or Crown Lynn acquiring Titian, who at an earlier time provided ware for Salisbury.

I understand that Stewart Salisbury is Owen Salisbury's son.
I understand that Kermiko is a separate pottery from both Royal Oak and Stewart Pottery.

Stewart has given us the dates of his involvement with Stewart pottery, and provided catalogs of their work.

What I do not know yet is when Royal Oak ceased to be, or when Kormiko came into being, and thus whether there operating dates overlapped.

I have noted some similarity in their work and wondered whether there were as yet unstated connections between Royal Oak and Kermiko, or whether the two companies were just both working in the style of the time.

Over the past few weeks I have picked up unlabeled pieces from the op-shops and was unsure of the maker, but am now pretty sure they are all Royal Oak because they are very similar to marked Royal Oak pieces, and because today I bought a pair of Kermiko mugs (matching an adjacent stickered Kermiko jug) and now am able to note distinctions in their work. I should now be able to make similar distinctions with storage jars etc.

I see from Stewart's contributions that Stewart Potteries was providing wares for Haddo D'Audney's shop in Royal Oak. I'm curious to know also when their association and that arrangement started. (The newspaper clipping is undated.)

I suppose it would also be useful to know what other commercial potteries were operating in Auckland in the 60s, 70s, and 80s.

I checked out old telephone directories a few years ago just to get the sort of info that you are after Jeremy. Hopefully I will find time tomorrow to look through the notes I took and find some answers for you.

Stewart Potteries are listed in old telephone directories from 1980 - 1997. I only looked up the directories to 1997.

Kermiko Potteries are listed from 1984 - 1991 then are listed as Kermiko Stoneware Ltd from 1991 - 1997. There could be more listings but I ran out of time.

Royal Oak first shows up in 1976 but not all of the old telephone directories were there. The last listing was 1997 but there could be more as I ran out of time.

Royal Oak is very distinctive with it's brown or blue simple flower decoration. Personally I find this ware inferior to the Stewart and Kermiko Pottery, but as there is so much to be found in Op Shops they must have made and sold mountains of it, which says it must have been successful.

The best way to research these Potteries is to find them in Op Shops and 2nd Hand Shops to get an idea of the glazes and finishes and weight for size. Each is different and it doesn't take long to become familiar with them. All of New Zealand's pottery history can be found in the Op Shop cycle of pottery life.

Thanks Ev.
It is amazing that these smaller potteries were able to set up when Crown Lynn was going strong,
to survive the Douglas years and outlive Crown Lynn, finding a niche I guess between the giant and the studio potters.

As I wrote elsewhere, I was initially reluctant to buy the Royal Oak because so many pieces in the op-shops were chipped that I saw it as an inevitablity. I have bought a few small pieces and find that despite its condition being quite grotty in the shops it does clean up nicely.

The directories have only taken you back to 1976 for Royal Oak but from stickers on painted ware we know that Salisbury was using the name from much earlier. From Gail Henry we know that Salisbury started firing his own wares in 1967, long before Kermiko or Stewart Potteries.

I know nothing of the clay composition (at all but more to the point) in the wares of the various ca1980 potteries, but I see very little difference when I compare the bases of Royal Oak and Kermiko. Also, I note that the heavier, glassier over-glaze does have a tendency to craze in both brands.

So, I wonder if it is perhaps just that some of the Royal Oak pottery has had such a longer life that it reaches us now in such poor condition.

As luck would have it I found a Kermiko Stoneware Ltd pate dish today. It has a very distinctive decal on it that is often seen. Kermiko is my most favourite out of the three potteries, even if it doesn't have a base ring as the superior Crown Lynn had on most of it's wares. Royal Oak is not at all one of my favourites, but I don't see any chips on pieces that I come across either. I will post a pic at some stage.

https://servimg.com/view/20508583/2

Hi Tom, is the link attached the mug you're after?

Tom Bradford wrote:Hi guys.

Google brought me here.

My wife has a Drinking Mug from the Stewart Potteries Original Earthenware Colonial Range in which she had been having her morning breakfast milky coffee every day for the last 15+ years.  

Unfortunately it was dropped a few days ago and now has a hairline crack vertically from top to bottom.  The crack is only just visible but unfortunately the vessel now leaks hot coffee.

As my wife loves this mug for its size, texture, heat-retaining qualities and general appearance she's a little upset at this.  So your expert guidance would be appreciated.

1) Is it possible/safe to repair the mug for continued use?  
2) If so how?  Can I do it myself or is it an expert job?  Will send it anywhere in NZ.
3) If it's a gonner is it possible to replace it with something very similar?   Probably on-line.   She hasn't been able to find a suitable replacement our local town, Blenheim.  Any offers or suggestions appreciated.

Hi there Michelle G
My commiserations re the breakage.
I suggest that you join one or two of the facebook NZ pottery buy and sell groups, and post a pic of the mug you are looking for.
It is not THAT common but there are a few around, so you should be able to get a nice undamaged replacement.
There is a group called NZ Commercial Pottery buy and sell.
Then you will be able to glue this casualty together with a good supoerglue and use it as a pen pot.
All the best

Ev wrote:Stewart Pottery used a distinctive transfer on their wares, which was mostly earthenware/unglazed.
The other day I saw a highly glazed earthenware cannister with the same transfer, but it said Kermiko Potteries ...?
It was too expensive I thought, but I will be looking out for more of this ware, as there seems to be a strong connection to Stewart Pottery!

Hi Kermiko brought out Stewart Potteries.