Two remarkable potters find their final resting place

Friend Terry Hynes with the memorial he created at Rose Villa.

In 2022, Dannevirke, New Zealand, and the world lost two remarkable ceramicists/potters who passed away after 57 years of living and working in New Zealand, all of them in the Tararua. And 52 of those years were spent in Dannevirke where they settled in one of the town’s most famous villas – Rose Villa on Rawhiti St.

Ann Verdcourt and John Lawrence began life in England where their earliest memories were of The Blitz in World War II which influenced their works along with other historical events and ceramic techniques for the next ninety years of ceramic creativity.

They attended renowned art training schools in England and met when Ann joined the staff of the Luton School of Art where John was head of department. They married in 1959 and with two children emigrated to New Zealand in 1965 where John had a job teaching at Tararua College in Pahiatua.

As well as teaching they augmented their living by creating ceramic domestic ware – a very popular alternative to Crown Lynn crockery and ran classes and evening classes at Training College (where they met Terry Hynes who befriended and cared for them until their passing).

In 1972 they moved to Dannevirke and took up residence at Rose Villa creating their studio, John teaching at Dannevirke High School before both began focusing on their ceramic art careers.

John with a work photographed in 2005.

With the decline in interest in local domestic ware in the 1990s they turned to one-off hand-modelled pieces and their separate reputations quickly expanded beyond Dannevirke and New Zealand with invitations to display their work in renowned galleries.

John said he turned to making ceramics from paper clay in 1994, developing techniques like colouring to feature themes of interest like migration and conservation but also taking inspiration from his past like Aesop’s Fables which he studied in the bomb shelters.

Ann said her creativity developed without working drawings. She commented, “I like to be surprised as the work builds, that way I keep it fresh.”

She added, “Despite clay being seen by some as an inferior medium … 50 years of using it has not dulled my enthusiasm for it”.

She studied many different ceramicists which influenced her style and her art still fetches high prices online today.

The couple has their works displayed in collections like The Dowse Art Museum, Te Papa, Te Manawa, and numerous other galleries around New Zealand.

With their passing long-time friend Terry Hynes decided a memorial was in order. With the kind permission of the new owners of Rose Villa Michelle and Hamish McIntyre together with the agreement of the Lawrence children Matthew and Kathryn, a special site in its garden was chosen, the memorial was made from a Totara post, decorated with some of John’s tiles was placed and their ashes mixed together in one of John’s pots buried beneath.

“After all,” says Terry, “for over 50 years it was their turangawaewae.”