RON BROWNSON ESTATE AUCTION 1 Tuesday, 4 November 2025 / 10:00 am start
Ten Chinese 'Goldfields pottery’ and later vessels,
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Lot Details
c.1875 – 1930. Includes stoneware spouted jars, a pan, shouldered and open jars. Some pieces are typical of 'Goldfields' others may be of a later date. Neville Ritchie observes: 'Squat, bulbous food jars have not been found in archaeological sites in New Zealand, but specimens have been reported from two sites in the United States .... Both sites were occupied well into the 20th century. These vessels appear to be a successor to the shouldered food jars described above and probably came on to the market around 1930. They have a smooth 'modern-looking' lustrous brown glaze.' Chinese goldmining activity in New Zealand largely ceased around 1900. Given the absence of archaeological evidence of the use of this type of vessel at New Zealand goldfield sites, they cannot properly be described as 'Goldfields pottery'. See: Neville A Ritchie, Archaeology and history of the Chinese in southern New Zealand during the 19thC : a study of acculturation, adaptation, and change (Unpublished PhD thesis, University of Otago, 1986), pp. 238-242.
