In April this year we were given the unique opportunity and great honour of taking part in the celebration of the 150th birthday of Brandauer, a high precision metal pressings company based in Birmingham’s Newtown district.
Brandauer, which used to be one of the world-famous leaders of the pen trade, is now producing a vast range of components for different industries, from surgical implants to parts for the Large Hadron Collider.
At the start of this project, the former chairman John Berkeley OBE introduced us to this family-owned company, giving a fascinating insight into its history, the world of old Birmingham and the changes in the trade. We felt deeply moved by the fates of the people who created and worked for Brandauer and were impressed by their ethos.
Each of us then received a bag of scrap metal and were challenged to design and create a piece of jewellery, both intricate and innovative, which would also embody our personal reflection on one of the two themes: ‘From Pens to Particle Physics’ and ‘Birmingham- A City in the Making'.
The scrap metals were divided into four categories ( aluminium, silver-plated brass, copper, stainless steel), and we were each limited to use our one given type of components as the only material. Though limited in material choice, we did not find it restricting and during the four week project, used the materials in the most unexpeted ways to come up with highly individual responses to the brief.
The design sheets as well as the finished pieces reflected the multitude of our styles and approaches; using a variety of techniques, some of us treated the metal gently, some of us aged it or "destroyed" it, all composed brand new and visually exciting pieces with a considered concept behind each of them.
At the end of May, they were judged by John Berkeley and wife Michele, who decided on five main winners in each category: Sanna Heino and Peter Clark (joint winners, aluminium), Harriet Knight (copper), Natalie Lee (brass) and Bow Sangthong (stainless steel).
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| Sanna Heino |
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| Peter Clark |
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| Harriet Knight |
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| Natalie Lee |
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| Bow Sangthong |
Photos by Sally Collins
Credit was also given to the runners-up: Hayley Beckley, Amy Buzzard, Wai Yan Kevin Chan, Zhi Lu (Lulu) Cheng, Annaliese Foster, Chloe Hill, Youdi Lou, Man (Isabella) Liu, Francesca Onumah, Jason Sher, Jess Taylor, Abbie Williams, Jun Xie.
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| Hayley Beckley |
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| Amy Buzzard |
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Photos by Sally Collins
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Jun Xie
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Photos by Sally Collins
Their pieces were granted a place in a public exhibition at the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery - a well deserved but still rare pleasure for the (then) first year students!
Equally rewarding were the words of John Berkeley, who said:
" Brandauer (...) won medals at many of the great international exhibitions of the Victorian age for the design and craftsmanship of its pens. How appropriate that, 150 years later, we should be helping to stimulate a new generation of craftsmen and women to create award-winning designs in metal. Many of the creations are quite stunning and the city can be very proud that it attracts so many talented young people to its world-class School of Jewellery.”
The exhibition was launched on 11th October, marking the opening of the museum's anticipated History Galleries. The winners and the runners up together with the course director, Zoe Robertson, and our tutor, Sally Collins, were invited to attend a private view that evening.
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Photos by: Sanna and Minna Heino, Jason Sher
Zoe commented:
"This grand opening of the museums highly anticipated History Galleries is such a prestigious evening, it’s so exciting to celebrate our student’s achievement in such a beautiful setting. I feel extremely proud of them and all involved in the project...”
All we can say in return is thank you to all who gave us such a great opportunity and that this is only a beginning of the good things to come!
The exhibition is now open to everyone and will run until Sunday 27th January 2013.
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