David Brokenshire

{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2015}}

{{Use New Zealand English|date=February 2015}}

{{Infobox artist

| name = David Brokenshire

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| birth_name = David Serpell Brokenshire

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1925|04|28|df=y}}

| birth_place = Thames, New Zealand

| death_date = {{Death date and age|2014|04|26|1925|04|28|df=y}}

| death_place = Christchurch, New Zealand

| spouse = {{marriage|Noeline Gourley|1954}}

| field = Architecture, pottery

| training = Auckland University College

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David Serpell Brokenshire (28 April 1925 – 26 April 2014) was a New Zealand architect and potter.{{cite book|last1=Blumhardt|first1=Doreen|title=Craft New Zealand: The art of the craftsman|date=1981|publisher=A.H. & A.W. Reed|location=Auckland|isbn=0589013432|page=281|url=http://nlnzcat.natlib.govt.nz/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=467995|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://archive.today/20141130205447/http://nlnzcat.natlib.govt.nz/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=467995|archivedate=30 November 2014|df=dmy-all}}

Early life and family

Born in Thames on 28 April 1925, Brokenshire was the son of Albert Thomas Brokenshire, a plumber, and Elvira Margaret Brokenshire (née Serpell).{{cite news | title=Creativity at artist's core | date=28 June 2014 | work=The Press | page=14 | first=Mike | last=Crean}}{{cite news | url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH19250502.2.2.2 | title=Births | date=2 May 1925 | work= The New Zealand Herald | accessdate=30 September 2017 | page=1}} He was educated at Thames High School,{{cite journal |editor-last=Taylor |editor-first=Alister |editor-link=Alister Taylor |title=New Zealand Who's Who Aotearoa 2001 |journal=New Zealand Who's Who, Aotearoa |year=2001 |publisher=Alister Taylor Publishers |location=Auckland |issn=1172-9813 |page=170}} and entered the RNZAF in 1943,{{cite book|last1=Cape|first1=Peter|title=Artists and Craftsmen in New Zealand|date=1969|publisher=Collins|location=Auckland, London|pages=15–20|url=http://nlnzcat.natlib.govt.nz/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=82048|access-date=3 December 2014|archive-url=https://archive.today/20141130205439/http://nlnzcat.natlib.govt.nz/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=82048|archive-date=30 November 2014|url-status=dead}} and saw active service in the Pacific, attaining the rank of flying officer in 1945.{{cite web |url=http://search.ancestry.com.au/cgi-bin/sse.dll?MS_AdvCB=1&rank=1&new=1&MSAV=2&msT=1&gss=angs-g&gsfn=david+serpell&gsfn_x=XO&gsln=brokenshire&gsln_x=NN&cpxt=0&catBucket=rstp&uidh=xd8&cp=14&pcat=ROOT_CATEGORY&h=78105&recoff=5+6+7&db=NZWWIIApptPromTransResig&indiv=1&ml_rpos=8 |title=New Zealand, World War II appointments, promotions, transfers and resignations, 1939–1945 |year=2014 |website= |publisher=Ancestry.com | url-access=subscription |accessdate=7 February 2015}} In 1954 he married Noeline Gourley, an athlete who had represented New Zealand in the 80 m hurdles at the 1950 British Empire Games.{{cite book |editor-last=Taylor |editor-first=Alister |title=New Zealand Who's Who Aotearoa 1992 |year=1992 |publisher=New Zealand Who's Who Aotearoa |location=Auckland |page=36}} The couple went on to have three children.

Architecture

File:NZL-mtcook-heritage-hotel-2.jpgIn 1946, he began studying architecture at the Auckland University College School of Architecture, graduating in 1951. He worked briefly for the Christchurch City Council before working with Dunedin firm Miller, White and Dunn on buildings at the University of Otago. He then moved to Christchurch-based architects Hall and Mackenzie, where he worked on the new Hermitage Hotel at Mount Cook Village, notably designing its octagonal restaurant, and various buildings for the new Ilam campus of the University of Canterbury, including the registry.

Pottery

He started working with pottery in 1951, alongside his wife Noeline, and became a full-time potter in 1979.{{cite web|last1=Elliot|first1=Moyra|title=Obituary - David Brokenshire|url=https://conetenanddescending.wordpress.com/2014/05/04/obituary-david-brokenshire/|website=Cone Ten and Descending|date=4 May 2014|accessdate=3 December 2014}} He began potting by throwing on a wheel but following a workshop with Patricia Perrin in the early 1960s, who was teaching a hammer and anvil technique using large-scale coils, Brokenshire began making work through hand building.{{cite book|last1=Elliott|first1=Moyra|last2=Skinner|first2=Damian|title=Conetendown : studio pottery in New Zealand, 1945-1980|date=2009|publisher=David Bateman Ltd|location=Auckland|isbn=9781869537319|url=http://natlib.govt.nz/records/20618537}}{{Rp|139}} Hand building suited Brokenshire's architectural background, enabling him to build a piece steadily to whatever scale he desired.{{Rp|139}} Brokenshire also incorporated Māori motifs into his work, including modelling some pieces on Māori anchor stones.{{Rp|135, 139}}

His work is held in the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa,{{cite web|title=Untitled [David Brokenshire, leaf-shaped pot]|url=http://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/object/1231380|website=Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa|accessdate=3 December 2014}} the Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetu,{{cite web|last1=Milburn|first1=Felicity|title=David Brokenshire 1925–2014|url=http://christchurchartgallery.org.nz/blog/bunker-notes/2014/05/01/david-brokenshire/|website=Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetu|accessdate=3 December 2014}} and the International Museum of Ceramics in Faenza, Italy.

Brokenshire served as vice president of the New Zealand Society of Potters, and was an art critic for The Press newspaper in Christchurch from 1980 to 1984.

References

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