Transparency - Display of cup and saucer and plate in Egmont pattern on rocks, May 1974, Te Toi Uku
Courtney Johnston, Tumu Whakarae | Chief Executive, Te Papa
This Crown Lynn pattern is called “Egmont”. My family were dairy farmers, just outside New Plymouth, and I grew up under the maunga “Mt Egmont”, which during my own lifetime has returned to its original name, Taranaki.*
My father’s parents were given a set of Egmont as a wedding gift. They lived on a farm down the road from us, so we were there often as kids: this is the crockery that was on the table with the roast mutton.
When my grandmother passed I inherited the dinner set. I didn’t get it out until I myself got married again in 2018, and suddenly had three step-kids and many more people to seat on the regular at the dinner table. I love that decades on this is my everyday crockery, a bit of continuity with my childhood and the place I grew up.
*“For generations Taranaki Māori battled for official restoration of the mountain’s Māori name. In 1986 the New Zealand Geographic Board approved the name change, and the next year it was announced both Taranaki and Egmont would be the official names for the mountain. In January 2020, the name Mount Egmont was removed and the mountain will retain only its Māori name Taranaki Maunga. Egmont National Park has also been renamed to Te Papakura o Taranaki.” www.taranakimounga.nz