Ian Firth
Date of birth
1931
Date of death
2002
Biography
Ian Firth (1931- 2002) was born in Auckland, where, at the age of 11 he was first introduced to clay. A student of some of New Zealand’s first studio potters including Olive Jones and Briar Gardiner he soon began creating and firing his own pottery. Firth studied at Elam School of Fine Arts in the late 1940’s and later formed the North Shore Society of Potters, New Zealand’s first pottery club, which in 1961 the club became Auckland Studio Potters Inc. Firth developed the idea of a major sponsored exhibition and competition for ceramics which later became the Fletcher Challenge Ceramic Awards which ran for over 20 years. Firth continued to contribute significantly to the New Zealand ceramics community until his death in 2002.