David Mellor (cutler)
Encyclopedia
David Mellor, CBE
, FCSD
, RDI
, (5 October 1930 – 7 May 2009) was one of the best-known designers in Britain. Born in Sheffield
, he specialised in metalwork and especially cutlery
, to such an extent that he was often referred to as "the cutlery king". He also produced many other designs throughout his career, including the designs for bus shelters and the traffic light system in use across the United Kingdom. Sir Terence Conran has described him as 'Britain's greatest post-war product designer'.
, receiving an intensive training in craft skills. He made his first piece of metalwork – a sweet dish – at this early age.
He studied at the Royal College of Art
in London
from 1950. Mellor’s first cutlery, "Pride", designed while he was still a student, is still in production and included in many international collections. Mellor also studied at the British School at Rome
.
ware. He was at the centre of the renaissance of handmade silver in Britain in the 1960s, designing for new universities and churches as well as for private clients. His most important work in silver was a complete new collection of modern silver tableware
commissioned by the government for British embassies in a drive to give Britain a more forward-looking image.
. His "Symbol" cutlery, manufactured from 1963 at Walker & Hall’s purpose-built modern factory at Bolsover
in Derbyshire
, was the first high-quality stainless steel cutlery to be produced in quantity in the UK. Mellor was subsequently commissioned by the government to redesign standard issue cutlery for canteens, hospitals, prisons and the railways, reducing the traditional 11-piece place set to five pieces and cutting production costs enormously.
Mellor’s work for the Midlands
engineering firm Abacus in the design of street lighting, bus shelters, public seating and litter bins made considerable impact on the street scene: around 140,000 of his bus shelters having been installed since they were first produced in 1959. In 1965 he was commissioned by the Department of the Environment
to redesign the national traffic light
system as part of a total overhaul of traffic signage. Mellor’s redesigned traffic lights are still in use.
his own cutlery designs. To house his factory
he renovated a large historic mansion, Broom Hall
, in central Sheffield. The building was then derelict. The machines were moved into the extensive Georgian
wing. The conversion of the building received a European Architectural Heritage Award. As well as introducing new concepts in cutlery he rethought the traditional methods of production. Workers in the Sheffield cutlery industry had up to then specialised in a single operation, but he introduced a new system whereby his cutlery makers rotate from task to task, increasing job satisfaction through a sense of involvement in the project as a whole.
In 1990, Mellor finally realised a long-held ambition by commissioning a new purpose-built cutlery factory from his friend the architect Sir Michael Hopkins. This factory, known as The Round Building, was built on the circular foundations of the redundant village gas works at Hathersage
in the Peak District National Park, 12 miles from Sheffield. The building has received numerous architectural and environmental awards.
The wisdom of his early decision to concentrate on manufacturing cutlery for a relatively small, high-level design-oriented market is clear now that the industry in Sheffield has been decimated by competition from imported low-cost cutlery.
, London, in 1969 and immediately set international standards for retailing design. It was followed by shops in James Street, Covent Garden
; King Street, Manchester
; and 22 Shad Thames
, Butlers Wharf, London. A Country Shop was opened in Hathersage, alongside the Round Building factory. The David Mellor shops are the largest outlets for David Mellor cutlery and own-brand tableware and kitchenware
.
Committee of Inquiry into standards of design in Consumer Goods in Britain. He has been Chairman of the Crafts Council
and a trustee of the Victoria & Albert Museum. He was awarded honorary doctorates from the University of Sheffield
, De Montfort University
, Sheffield Hallam University
, Loughborough University
and the Royal College of Art
. In 1981 he was appointed OBE, and CBE
in 2001.
A large-scale retrospective exhibition "David Mellor Master Metalworker" was held at the Design Museum
, London, in 1996. The recent opening of the permanent David Mellor Design Museum, in a new Hopkins building alongside the cutlery factory at Hathersage, allows the public to view his 50-year career.
, a biographer and cultural historian
. They have two children, Corin
(born 1966), product and interior designer, who is Creative Director of David Mellor Design; and Clare (born 1970), a graphic designer with her own London practice.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/sheffield/hi/people_and_places/arts_and_culture/newsid_8283000/8283568.stm
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
, FCSD
Chartered Society of Designers
The Chartered Society of Designers , headquartered in London, England, is the professional body for designers. It is the world's only Royal chartered body of professional designers...
, RDI
Royal Designers for Industry
Royal Designer for Industry is a distinction established by the British Royal Society of Arts in 1936, to encourage a high standard of industrial design and enhance the status of designers. It is awarded to people who have achieved "sustained excellence in aesthetic and efficient design for...
, (5 October 1930 – 7 May 2009) was one of the best-known designers in Britain. Born in Sheffield
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
, he specialised in metalwork and especially cutlery
Cutlery
Cutlery refers to any hand implement used in preparing, serving, and especially eating food in the Western world. It is more usually known as silverware or flatware in the United States, where cutlery can have the more specific meaning of knives and other cutting instruments. This is probably the...
, to such an extent that he was often referred to as "the cutlery king". He also produced many other designs throughout his career, including the designs for bus shelters and the traffic light system in use across the United Kingdom. Sir Terence Conran has described him as 'Britain's greatest post-war product designer'.
Early life and training
Mellor was born in Sheffield, where his father was a toolmaker for the Sheffield Twist Drill Company. From the age of eleven, Mellor attended the Junior Art Department of Sheffield College of ArtSheffield Hallam University
Sheffield Hallam University is a higher education institution in South Yorkshire, England, based on two sites in Sheffield. City Campus is located in the city centre, close to Sheffield railway station, and Collegiate Crescent Campus is about two miles away, adjacent to Ecclesall Road in...
, receiving an intensive training in craft skills. He made his first piece of metalwork – a sweet dish – at this early age.
He studied at the Royal College of Art
Royal College of Art
The Royal College of Art is an art school located in London, United Kingdom. It is the world’s only wholly postgraduate university of art and design, offering the degrees of Master of Arts , Master of Philosophy and Doctor of Philosophy...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
from 1950. Mellor’s first cutlery, "Pride", designed while he was still a student, is still in production and included in many international collections. Mellor also studied at the British School at Rome
British School at Rome
The British School at Rome was established in 1901 and granted a Royal Charter in 1912 as an educational institute in the fields of archaeology, literature, music, and history of Rome and Italy of every period, and for the study of the fine arts and architecture...
.
Silversmithing
Returning to Sheffield, Mellor set up a silversmithing workshop-studio making one-off pieces of specially commissioned silverSilver
Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
ware. He was at the centre of the renaissance of handmade silver in Britain in the 1960s, designing for new universities and churches as well as for private clients. His most important work in silver was a complete new collection of modern silver tableware
Tableware
Tableware is the dishes or dishware , dinnerware , or china used for setting a table, serving food, and for dining. Tableware can be meant to include flatware and glassware...
commissioned by the government for British embassies in a drive to give Britain a more forward-looking image.
Industrial design
Alongside silversmithing Mellor was stimulated by the relatively new design potential of stainless steelStainless steel
In metallurgy, stainless steel, also known as inox steel or inox from French "inoxydable", is defined as a steel alloy with a minimum of 10.5 or 11% chromium content by mass....
. His "Symbol" cutlery, manufactured from 1963 at Walker & Hall’s purpose-built modern factory at Bolsover
Bolsover
Bolsover is a town near Chesterfield, Derbyshire, England. It is 145 miles from London, 18 miles from Sheffield, 26 miles from Nottingham and 54 miles from Manchester. It is the main town in the Bolsover district.The civil parish for the town is called...
in Derbyshire
Derbyshire
Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx...
, was the first high-quality stainless steel cutlery to be produced in quantity in the UK. Mellor was subsequently commissioned by the government to redesign standard issue cutlery for canteens, hospitals, prisons and the railways, reducing the traditional 11-piece place set to five pieces and cutting production costs enormously.
Mellor’s work for the Midlands
English Midlands
The Midlands, or the English Midlands, is the traditional name for the area comprising central England that broadly corresponds to the early medieval Kingdom of Mercia. It borders Southern England, Northern England, East Anglia and Wales. Its largest city is Birmingham, and it was an important...
engineering firm Abacus in the design of street lighting, bus shelters, public seating and litter bins made considerable impact on the street scene: around 140,000 of his bus shelters having been installed since they were first produced in 1959. In 1965 he was commissioned by the Department of the Environment
Secretary of State for the Environment
The Secretary of State for the Environment was a UK cabinet position, responsible for the Department of the Environment . This was created by Edward Heath as a combination of the Ministry of Housing and Local Government, the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Public Building and Works on 15...
to redesign the national traffic light
Traffic light
Traffic lights, which may also be known as stoplights, traffic lamps, traffic signals, signal lights, robots or semaphore, are signalling devices positioned at road intersections, pedestrian crossings and other locations to control competing flows of traffic...
system as part of a total overhaul of traffic signage. Mellor’s redesigned traffic lights are still in use.
Manufacturing
In 1973 Mellor made the decision to begin manufacturingManufacturing
Manufacturing is the use of machines, tools and labor to produce goods for use or sale. The term may refer to a range of human activity, from handicraft to high tech, but is most commonly applied to industrial production, in which raw materials are transformed into finished goods on a large scale...
his own cutlery designs. To house his factory
Factory
A factory or manufacturing plant is an industrial building where laborers manufacture goods or supervise machines processing one product into another. Most modern factories have large warehouses or warehouse-like facilities that contain heavy equipment used for assembly line production...
he renovated a large historic mansion, Broom Hall
Broom Hall
Broom Hall is a historic house in the City of Sheffield, England that gives its name to the surrounding Broomhall district of the city. The earliest part of the house is timber-framed; it has been tree-ring dated to c1498, and was built by the de Wickersley family, whose ancestral home was at...
, in central Sheffield. The building was then derelict. The machines were moved into the extensive Georgian
Georgian architecture
Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1720 and 1840. It is eponymous for the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I of Great Britain, George II of Great Britain, George III of the United...
wing. The conversion of the building received a European Architectural Heritage Award. As well as introducing new concepts in cutlery he rethought the traditional methods of production. Workers in the Sheffield cutlery industry had up to then specialised in a single operation, but he introduced a new system whereby his cutlery makers rotate from task to task, increasing job satisfaction through a sense of involvement in the project as a whole.
In 1990, Mellor finally realised a long-held ambition by commissioning a new purpose-built cutlery factory from his friend the architect Sir Michael Hopkins. This factory, known as The Round Building, was built on the circular foundations of the redundant village gas works at Hathersage
Hathersage
Hathersage is a village in the Derbyshire Peak District, in England. It lies on the north bank of the River Derwent, approximately 10 miles west of Sheffield...
in the Peak District National Park, 12 miles from Sheffield. The building has received numerous architectural and environmental awards.
The wisdom of his early decision to concentrate on manufacturing cutlery for a relatively small, high-level design-oriented market is clear now that the industry in Sheffield has been decimated by competition from imported low-cost cutlery.
Retailing
The first David Mellor shop opened at 4 Sloane SquareSloane Square
Sloane Square is a small hard-landscaped square on the boundaries of the fashionable London districts of Knightsbridge, Belgravia and Chelsea, located southwest of Charing Cross, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. The square is part of the Hans Town area designed in 1771 by Henry...
, London, in 1969 and immediately set international standards for retailing design. It was followed by shops in James Street, Covent Garden
Covent Garden
Covent Garden is a district in London on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St. Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit and vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist site, and the Royal Opera House, which is also known as...
; King Street, Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
; and 22 Shad Thames
Shad Thames
Shad Thames is an historic riverside street next to Tower Bridge in Bermondsey, London, England, and is also an informal name for the surrounding area...
, Butlers Wharf, London. A Country Shop was opened in Hathersage, alongside the Round Building factory. The David Mellor shops are the largest outlets for David Mellor cutlery and own-brand tableware and kitchenware
Kitchenware
Kitchenware include utensils, appliances, dishes, cookware, and so on for use in the kitchen.-See also:*Cookware and bakeware*Dishware*Drinkware*List of eating utensils*List of food preparation utensils*List of Japanese cooking utensils...
.
Public work and honours
Mellor was the youngest Royal Designer for Industry, elected in 1962 at the age of 32. In the early 1980s he chaired the wide-ranging Design CouncilDesign Council
The Design Council is a United Kingdom non-departmental public body incorporated by Royal Charter and registered as a charity.Registered charity number 272099.- In the beginning :The Design Council started in 1944 as the Council of Industrial Design...
Committee of Inquiry into standards of design in Consumer Goods in Britain. He has been Chairman of the Crafts Council
Crafts Council
The Crafts Council was established in the United Kingdom in 1971 as the national agency for crafts and was granted a Royal Charter in 1982. The Crafts Council’s vision is to position the UK as the global centre for the making, seeing and collecting of contemporary craft...
and a trustee of the Victoria & Albert Museum. He was awarded honorary doctorates from the University of Sheffield
University of Sheffield
The University of Sheffield is a research university based in the city of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England. It is one of the original 'red brick' universities and is a member of the Russell Group of leading research intensive universities...
, De Montfort University
De Montfort University
De Montfort University is a public research and teaching university situated in the medieval Old Town of Leicester, England, adjacent to the River Soar and the Leicester Castle Gardens...
, Sheffield Hallam University
Sheffield Hallam University
Sheffield Hallam University is a higher education institution in South Yorkshire, England, based on two sites in Sheffield. City Campus is located in the city centre, close to Sheffield railway station, and Collegiate Crescent Campus is about two miles away, adjacent to Ecclesall Road in...
, Loughborough University
Loughborough University
Loughborough University is a research based campus university located in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, in the East Midlands of England...
and the Royal College of Art
Royal College of Art
The Royal College of Art is an art school located in London, United Kingdom. It is the world’s only wholly postgraduate university of art and design, offering the degrees of Master of Arts , Master of Philosophy and Doctor of Philosophy...
. In 1981 he was appointed OBE, and CBE
CBE
CBE and C.B.E. are abbreviations for "Commander of the Order of the British Empire", a grade in the Order of the British Empire.Other uses include:* Chemical and Biochemical Engineering...
in 2001.
A large-scale retrospective exhibition "David Mellor Master Metalworker" was held at the Design Museum
Design Museum
Design Museum is a museum by the River Thames near Tower Bridge in central London, England. The museum covers product, industrial, graphic, fashion and architectural design. It was founded in 1989 and claims to be the first museum of modern design...
, London, in 1996. The recent opening of the permanent David Mellor Design Museum, in a new Hopkins building alongside the cutlery factory at Hathersage, allows the public to view his 50-year career.
Family
Mellor was married to Fiona MacCarthyFiona MacCarthy
Fiona MacCarthy OBE is a British biographer and cultural historian best known for her studies of 19th and 20th century arts, crafts and design....
, a biographer and cultural historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
. They have two children, Corin
Corin Mellor
Corin Mellor is a designer specializing in furniture and metalwork. Son of the famous cutlery designer David Mellor he succeeded his father on his retirement in 2002 as Creative Director of the family owned manufacturing and retailing company David Mellor Design.-Early life and training:Corin...
(born 1966), product and interior designer, who is Creative Director of David Mellor Design; and Clare (born 1970), a graphic designer with her own London practice.
External links
http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/sheffield/hi/people_and_places/arts_and_culture/newsid_8283000/8283700.stmhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/local/sheffield/hi/people_and_places/arts_and_culture/newsid_8283000/8283568.stm
- David Mellor Design
- David Mellor - Daily Telegraph obituary
- Obituary in The Guardian
- Obituary in The Independent