These images from the Nelson Photo News show Mirek Smisek, assisted by his wife Nona, making pots at his studio in Nelson, and teaching amateur Nelson potters. The photographs were taken in 1960, nine years after Smisek's arrival from Czechoslovakia via Australia. At the time it was claimed that he was the only potter in New Zealand working full-time and earning his living making pots. Smisek helped establish Nelson's reputation for pottery and other crafts, and soon after he was joined there by potters like Harry and May Davis and Jack and Peggy Laird.
Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi
Nelson Provincial Museum, Nelson Photo News Collection
Reference: Nelson Photo News (2), pp. 60-61
Permission must be sought from Nelson Provincial Museum before any re-use of this image.