Currently indexing

Serving dish

Classification(s):
Plastic
Date: c.1951 - 1976
Dimensions:
56 × 284 mm (5.6 × 28.4 cm)
Medium: Plastic (melamine formaldehyde, tradename Melmex)
Object number: G378H
Place of Production:England
Title:Melaware
DescriptionMelmex 'Melaware’ serving dish in cream, manufactured by Ranton & Company. The serving dish has a white interior. Manufacturers mark to base.

Melmex is the trade name of the material melamine formaldehyde, a type of plastic. Ranton & Company produced the ‘Melaware’ tableware range.

ProvenanceThis object was originally acquired for the Inner London Education Authority’s (ILEA) ‘Circulating Design Scheme’ collection.

The collection was instigated by the London Country Council (later the Greater London Council) and the Council of Industrial Design (COID). The collection’s original purpose was concerned with the teaching and dissemination of modern, ‘good design’.

The collection was established in 1951/52 as the ‘Experiment in Design Appreciation’, later renamed the ‘Circulating Design Scheme’.

The Circulating Design Scheme lent boxed showcases to London schools. The showcases contained handling objects, material samples and interpretation on a specific subject.

COID withdrew its involvement in the Scheme in 1957. After which time, it was managed exclusively by the London County Council from 1957-1963.

After the administrative restructuring of London authorities, the Scheme was jointly managed by the Greater London Council and the Inner London Education Authority (ILEA) from 1963 – 1976.

The Scheme was operational until 1976 when the collections were withdrawn from circulation. ILEA was abolished in the late 1980s and the collection was donated to Camberwell College of Arts in 1989/90.

ILEA was responsible for secondary and tertiary education in the inner London boroughs, this included Camberwell.