John Crichton (designer)

John Crichton
Born	(1917-07-17)17 July 1917 Bombay, India
Died	7 January 1993(1993-01-07) (aged 70) Auckland, New Zealand
Education	Birmingham College of Art
Known for	Furniture design, interior design, war photography

John Crichton (7 July 1917 – 7 January 1993) was a New Zealand furniture and interior designer.

Early life

Crichton was born in Bombay in 1917 and moved to England as a child.^[1] He studied at Birmingham College of Art. During World War II, he served as an official war photographer with the rank of Captain in the Royal Warwickshire Regiment, 1939–1945, assigned to the Fourteenth Army in Burma.

Design

He moved to New Zealand in 1949, establishing John Crichton Limited, a business and shop located on Kitchener Street in Auckland. He offered interior design services and designed and sold furniture.^[2][3][4] Examples of his work were published in Decorative Art: The Studio Yearbook.^[5][6][7] According to Douglas Lloyd Jenkins, Crichton "can lay claim to being the father of the modern New Zealand interior…" showing New Zealanders "how to blend a fascination with the materials and textures of the Pacific with the international vision of modern design."^[8]

He was a founder of the New Zealand Society of Industrial Designers (NZSID) in 1959,^[9] elected to membership soon after the Society's incorporation in 1960, and served on its council to 1966.^[10]

Crichton died in New Zealand on 7 January 1993,^[11] and was buried at Purewa Cemetery, Auckland.^[12][13]

Collections

Examples of is work are held in the collections of Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.^[14]

References

1. "John Crichton". Mr. Bigglesworthy. Retrieved 27 December 2014.
2. Sharawag (1953). "Here and There: Another Good Shop". Design Review. Vol. 5, no. 2, May–June. p. 31.
3. "Ideal Home Exhibition of Contemporary Furniture and Furnishings. McKenzie & Willis Ltd". The Press. Vol. 90, no. 27517. 26 November 1954. p. 9.
4. "The base of this lamp was turned in heart rimu to the design of John Crichton by an Auckland firm. The shade is white straw cloth". The Press. Vol. 97, no. 28529. 7 March 1958. p. 19.
5. Holme, Rathbone; Frost, Kathleen M., eds. (1955). Decorative Art: The Studio Year Book of Furnishing and Decoration 1955–56. Vol. 45. London: The Studio. pp. 127, 131.
6. Holme, Rathbone; Frost, Kathleen M., eds. (1957). Decorative Art: The Studio Year Book of Furnishing and Decoration 1957–58. Vol. 47. London: The Studio.
7. Davis, Terence, ed. (1960). Decorative Art: The Studio Yearbook 1960–61. Vol. 50. New York; London: Studio Books; The Viking Press. pp. 103, 160.
8. Jenkins, Douglas Lloyd (2006). 40 Legends of New Zealand Design. Auckland: Godwit. pp. 37–39. ISBN 1869621204.
9. Parsons, Peter (1 October 1965). "The Postwar Development of Industrial Design in New Zealand". New Zealand Manufacturer. Vol. 18, no. ID65. New Zealand Manufacturers’ Federation (Inc.).
10. New Zealand Society of Industrial Designers, Inc. (1967), Minutes of the Annual General Meeting he1d at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, 29th March 1967 at the ELam School of Fine Arts, Wynyard St., Auckland
11. Olsen, Justine. "Pioneering Pan-Pacific Design". Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. Retrieved 27 December 2014.
12. "Burial details". Purewa Cemetery & Crematorium. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 14 January 2016.
13. "John Crichton". Find a Grave. Retrieved 24 February 2022.
14. "Object: Lounge Chair". Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. Retrieved 27 December 2014.