The David Usborne Collection

The David Usborne Collection was acquired by David Usborne over a period of 30 years. Usborne previously taught at the Central School of Art and Design (now UAL Central Saint Martins), and donated the majority of his idiosyncratic collection to UAL’s Archives & Special Collections Centre in 2015.

The collection contains over 500 objects, apparatus and instruments which represent a range of disciplines and geographies. Together the collection can broadly be described as a collection of useful tools, dating from the twentieth century.

Usborne has a magpie approach to collecting. He is drawn to objects where the function is not always decipherable. Some objects have a surreal quality or anthropomorphic form, while others are individual components of larger structures or systems. The collection was published in Objectivity: a Designer’s Book of Curious Tools, 2010, which is available from UAL Libraries.

The David Usborne Collection is stored at UAL’s Archives & Special Collections Centre at London College of Communication, Elephant & Castle.

Access is by appointment only. To book an appointment to view the collection, please contact archive-enquiries@arts.ac.uk The collection is open to UAL students, researchers and the wider public. For further information about the collection, please contact Jacqueline Winston-Silk j.winstonsilk@arts.ac.uk.

Collection photography © Celine Marchbank