For such a young country, New Zealand is home to a wide range of architectural styles.
Issue information
One architectural style dominated construction in the 1930s - Art Deco. Popular between 1925 and 1950, the style symbolised the early 20th century's fascination with speed, power, technology and progress.
The rise of Art Deco was in part brought about by the disastrous Napier earthquake of 1931, which reduced most of the town to rubble. Rebuilt, literally from the ground up, Napier became the home of some of the most beautiful and famous Art Deco buildings in the Southern Hemisphere. The town's reputation is now so well established that in February 1999, Napier hosted the Fifth World Congress on Art Deco.
Art Deco style reaches well beyond Napier as is evident in this four stamp issue. Classic and diverse examples of Art Deco architecture from around New Zealand are shown: the Civic Theatre in Auckland (40c); the Masonic Hotel in Napier ($1.00); the Medical and Dental Chambers in Gastings ($1.50); and the Buller County Chambers in Westport (1.80).
Product Listing for Art Deco Buildings
| Image | Title | Description | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
Single Stamp |
Single 40c 'Civic Theatre, Auckland' gummed stamp. The Civic Theatre is the only movie palace in New Zealand built on the scale of the huge fantasy cinemas of which every respectable American city could boast at least one. The Civic was conceived and constructed before the Depression began, when the boom of the 1920s was at its height. However, two months before the opening, Black Friday on Wall Street changed the world and although this would not have been apparent at the gala opening on 20 December 1929. |
$0.40 |
 |
Single Stamp |
Single $1.00 'Masonic Hotel, Napier' gummed stamp. Napier’s massive earthquake in 1931 was a disaster for the city and the province of Hawke’s Bay. By good fortune this happened when the Art Deco style was new to New Zealand and approaching the height of its popularity overseas. The new Napier arose when architects were seeking a new style for a new century and buildings were beginning to take on a new look, but ornament was not yet dead. |
$1.00 |
 |
Single Stamp |
Single $1.50 'Medical and Dental Chambers; Hastings' gummed stamp. Hastings did not suffer as badly as Napier in the 1931 earthquake, because it was further from the epicentre, had fewer large masonry buildings and did not lose its water supply as completely as Napier, enabling the fires which broke out to be contained. But many buildings were lost, and most of the facades. As a result, Hastings too looked, by 1933, like a brand new, modern city, built like Napier in the styles fashionable at the time - Stripped Classical, Spanish Mission and Art Deco. |
$1.50 |
 |
Single Stamp |
Single $1.80 'Buller County Chambers, Westport' gummed stamp. People in other countries are often surprised that Art Deco reached isolated New Zealand. It certainly did reach New Zealand - even its more isolated parts. Westport boasts two important Art Deco buildings – the Westport Borough Council building and the former Buller County Council building (illustrated on the stamp). |
$1.80 |
 |
First Day Cover | First day cover with stamps affixed. Cancelled on the first day of issue. | $5.20 |
Masonic Hotel in Napier - $1.00
Napier’s massive earthquake in 1931 was a disaster for the city and the province of Hawke’s Bay. By good fortune this happened when the Art Deco style was new to New Zealand and approaching the height of its popularity overseas. The new Napier arose when architects were seeking a new style for a new century and buildings were beginning to take on a new look, but ornament was not yet dead.
Technical information
| Date of issue: | 10 February 1999 |
|---|---|
| Number of stamps: | Four |
| Denominations and designs: | 40c Civic Theatre, Auckland; $1.00 Masonic Hotel, Napier; $1.50 Medical and Dental Chambers, Hastings; $1.80 Buller County Chambers, Westport |
| Stamps and first day cover designed by: | Donna McKenna, Wellington, New Zealand |
| Printer and process: | Southern Colour Print, New Zealand by lithography |
| Stamp size and format: | 28mm x 44mm (vertical) |
| Paper type: | 103gsm gummed red phosphor coated stamp paper |
| Perforation gauge: | 14 |
| Number of stamps per sheet: | 50 |
| Cost of unadressed first day cover: | $5.20 |
| Special blocks: | Plate/imprint, positional or value blocks could be obtained by purchasing at least six stamps. Colour blocks ('traffic lights') were included in plate blocks. Barcode blocks were available in both A and B formats. |
| Period of sale: | These stamps remained on sale until 10 February 2000. |
