Not currently on display at the V&A

Coffee Pot

1960 - 1975 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Eric Clements was born in 1925. He studied at the Birmingham College of Art and the Royal College of Art (1949-1953). In 1968 he was awarded a Ford Foundation E.S.U. Fellowship to the U.S.A.

Shortly after graduating he won two competitions sposored by the Goldsmiths' Company; the first in 1954 for the Coronation plate for Southend and the second in 1956 for a jewel for the Mayor of Bolton. He has executed a number of ceremonial commissions throughout his career, for example a coffee set from H.M. The Queen for the Queen of Denmark (1957), and the sword of office for the Chief of the Air Staff, R.A.F. (1959). He was a consultant designer for mappin and Webb Ltd. and other industrial concerns, as well as becoming head of the Industrial Design School at the Birmingham College of Art. He died on the 22 November 2019, aged 94.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Parts
This object consists of 2 parts.

  • Coffee Pot
  • Cover
Materials and techniques
Electroplated nickel silver with ebonised, wooden details
Brief description
Coffee pot with lid, from a tea service, electroplated nickel silver with wooden details, Sheffield, made by Mappin & Webb, designed by Eric Clements, 1960
Physical description
The body of compressed, bulbous form but in other respects similar to the hot water with the exception of the spout which is slightly wasited, has an undulating rim with an everted lower edge and flares towards the junction with the belly of the vessel.
Dimensions
  • Height: 14.3cm
  • Length: 22.5cm
Production typeMass produced
Marks and inscriptions
  • Mappin and Webb, London and Sheffield
  • Mappin plate
  • The letter U within a shield
  • W29945, regd. 898140(1/2/3)
  • Designed by Eric Clements (facsimile signature)
Summary
Eric Clements was born in 1925. He studied at the Birmingham College of Art and the Royal College of Art (1949-1953). In 1968 he was awarded a Ford Foundation E.S.U. Fellowship to the U.S.A.

Shortly after graduating he won two competitions sposored by the Goldsmiths' Company; the first in 1954 for the Coronation plate for Southend and the second in 1956 for a jewel for the Mayor of Bolton. He has executed a number of ceremonial commissions throughout his career, for example a coffee set from H.M. The Queen for the Queen of Denmark (1957), and the sword of office for the Chief of the Air Staff, R.A.F. (1959). He was a consultant designer for mappin and Webb Ltd. and other industrial concerns, as well as becoming head of the Industrial Design School at the Birmingham College of Art. He died on the 22 November 2019, aged 94.
Associated objects
Bibliographic references
  • Martin Ellis ed. Eric Clements: Silver & Design 1950-2000, Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, 2001. pp.66-67. ill. ISBN: 0 7093 0239 8
  • Graham Hughes, Modern Silver Throughout the World, London, Syudio Vista 1967, p.226. pls.373-7, 379 ISBN: 0289370191
Collection
Accession number
M.18A-1988

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Record createdJune 24, 2009
Record URL
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