Noah's ark
Classification(s):
Wood
Date: c.1951 - 1976
Maker: Susan Wynter (born 1920)
Dimensions:
185 × 380 mm (18.5 × 38 cm)
Medium: Wood
Object number: W466H
DescriptionNoah’s Ark toy set, made of wood, designed and made by Susan Wynter. The ark comes with its original box, which bears its original sticker “Susan Wynter”. The ark has a blue roof compartment and a footbridge which both open outwards by a dowel joint. The ark has a painted dove perched on the roof. The arks contents include pairs of varnished animals: camels, giraffes, hedgehogs, lions, elephants and rhinos. There are also two figures: Noah and his wife.
The ark has a label at one end “Susan Wynter” and the C.O.I.D Design Centre sticker on the footbridge “as selected for the Design Centre, London”.
There are 2 ILEA number references on the box, one handwritten on the box “W466H” and one on a sticker “W466D”. The object is identified by the former.
The ark has a label at one end “Susan Wynter” and the C.O.I.D Design Centre sticker on the footbridge “as selected for the Design Centre, London”.
There are 2 ILEA number references on the box, one handwritten on the box “W466H” and one on a sticker “W466D”. The object is identified by the former.
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The Scheme was operational until 1976 when the collections were withdrawn from circulation.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.
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.
NotesThe Inner London Education Authority’s (I.L.E.A) Circulating Design Scheme began in 1951 in the aftermath of the Festival of Britain’s huge success. Operating in its earliest guise as the ‘Experiment in Design Appreciation’, the Circulating Design Scheme (as it was later called) was intended to form a canon of ‘good taste’. During its first 5 years of operation, the Scheme was jointly managed in a partnership between the Council of Industrial Design (C.O.I.D) and the London County Council (L.C.C). However, it can be argued that the experiment; the idea for sets of exhibits illustrating the principles of good design, can be traced further back to the Council’s own inception.