Mirek Smíšek

Miroslav Smíšek (2 February 1925 – 19 May 2013) was a New Zealand potter. After fleeing the Czech coup and eventually arriving in New Zealand, he started work for Crown Lynn and later established his own pottery. His two pottery kilns in Te Horo are scheduled as a category 2 historic place by Heritage New Zealand.

Biography Smíšek was born in Malá Dobrá (today an integral part of Velká Dobrá) in Czechoslovakia on 2 February 1925. He then moved with his family to Česká Lípa and then to Lysá nad Labem. He also studied in Nymburk. After spending most of World War II in labour camps due to his efforts in the anti-Nazi resistance movement, he fled Europe after the Czech coup. He emigrated first to Canberra, Australia in 1948 He then got married and moved to Auckland, New Zealand in 1951,

He worked for the Crown Lynn pottery in Auckland where he created the "Bohemia Ware" line in manganese slip glaze, before moving to Nelson in 1952. In 1962 he went to Japan and studied at Kyoto University. In 1963 he went to St Ives in England and studied under Bernard Leach. He purchased a property in Te Horo to establish a pottery work.

He worked extensively for The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, making about 700 earthenware items for the three films.

Smíšek's work was exhibited by the Victoria and Albert Museum, London in 1972. He received the Gratis Agit award from the Czech government in 2011 for promoting the Czech Republic overseas. The kilns are high internally, are located on a circular concrete base, have an opening with a voussoir. A brick flue connected the two at one point. This dismantling resulted in the kilns no longer being functional. The Mirek Smisek Arts Trust is now developing plans to build an arts centre centred on the relocated kilns.

Legacy Smíšek died in Wellington in 2013. The exhibition was held by Te Whare o Rehua Sarjeant Gallery from 18 February to 1 April 2012, and it displayed curator Gary Freemantle's choice of Smíšek's works over time as his skills in glazing and design changed. A number of his pieces are held in the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. Much of his practice was compiled and written about by Stan Jenkins between 1978 and 1982 in Mirek Smisek: Potter.