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Well established Whakatane business, Thorden Glass, played an integral role in producing the final headstone that was created for Sir Howard Morrison.
Case Studies
MORRISON HEADSTONE CREATED IN WHAKATANE
18 Nov, 2010
Well established Whakatane business, Thorden Glass, played an integral role in producing the final headstone that was created for Sir Howard Morrison.
Renowned for its custom glass services, Thorden Glass worked closely with young Maori sculptor, Joe Kemp to come up with a workable design that was able to be reproduced and finished to the specifications required.
“It’s not something we do every day” explains Thor Christensen, creative director at Thorden Glass. “But because of who [Howard Morrison] is, I felt honoured to be part of this project and a privilege to be part of this history for such a New Zealand icon.”
The final headstone was carved from 135mm thick New Zealand basalt stone using a water-jet cutter then hand polished to give a fine finish. Kemp’s design consisted of three separate sections with the top section being joined with two pounamu pedestals accentuating the exquisite koro mounted on top, this was then fitted and mounted to the solid stone base.
While such a project is a bit out of the ordinary for Thorden Glass, Christensen has a special interest in designing and making headstones as a one-off or in special circumstances.
Putting heart and soul into the headstone, both Kemp and Christensen were very happy and proud of the final result that they were able to offer to the Morrison family. The headstone was unveiled at a special ceremony in Rotorua on the anniversary of Howard Morrison’s death on 24th September.
We would also like to take this opportunity to thank the Morrison family for allowing us to be part of this iconic moment in New Zealand History of such a great man.
Thank you from the team at Thorden Glass.
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CASE STUDIES
Well established Whakatane business, Thorden Glass, played an integral role in producing the final headstone that was created for Sir Howard...