"In the late 1930s Tom Clark, barely in his early 20s, began making porcelain tiles and electrical fittings alongside his family's brick and pipe works in New Lynn. By 1970 Crown Lynn was the biggest pottery in the Southern Hemisphere, with 500 staff turning out 15 million pieces of china ... each year ... Then in the 1980s changing economic conditions undermined profitability and the factory was shut down in 1989. "Crown Lynn" is enriched by detailed research, including interviews with the late Sir Tom Clark and many other Crown Lynn staff. It has more than 100 photographs of Crown Lynn products, a comprehensive timeline and an illustrated catalogue of backstamps." -- Back cover.