About this objectMedium sized ashtray in the shape of a Maori carved head. An indentation for the cigarette is in the tongue. It has a shiny brown glaze over top and bottom with a green glaze in the dish of the ashtray.
Crown Lynn moved in the late 1940s to capture some of the growing market for souvenirs as New Zealand became more popular as a tourist destination. Wharetana Ware was launched, and a range of artware shapes including ashtrays, plates and trinket boxes were produced as souvenirs with designs influenced by the long tradition of Maori wood carvings.
The original designs were modelled by Harry Hargreaves who using a sharp knife, 'carved' the designs into leather-hard clay. Slipcasting moulds were then made and the products mass produced and finished in gloss browns sometimes contrasting with pounamu-like green glazes.