ABSTRACT
Garden gnomes are a dominant, and iconic, component of the suburban garden statuary in many parts of the world, including England, North America, Australia and New Zealand. This chapter addresses the lacuna by examining their introduction and cultural significance in New Zealand. Garden gnomes owe their existence in New Zealand to British colonization, and are freely available for sale in garden stores and via the internet. Especially evident from the 1980s has been the growth in New Zealand of a popular culture around gnomes that has parallels with international trends, yet with important local characteristics. The chapter outlines key differences in the history and role of garden gnomes in New Zealand and England. In contrast to England, garden gnomes only appear in the documentary record in the 1930s as elite objects, by which time in Britain the statuary was becoming more popular among non-elite consumers.
