Espresso cup

Classification(s):
Pottery
Date: 1963
Designer: Robert Minkin (English, 1928 - 2012)
Organisation: Wedgwood (English, founded 1759)
Dimensions:
55 × 70 mm (5.5 × 7 cm)
Medium: Black basalt
Object number: P593B
Place of Production:England
Title:Ravenstone
DescriptionEspresso cup designed by Robert Minkin for Wedgwood in 1963. Manufactured in England. The espresso cup is made from slip cast black basalt and glazed in a 'Ravenstone' matt glaze. The surface is matt, the interior is glazed.

The factory mark is impressed on the base: “Wedgwood Made in England” and “64”

Individual pieces from the Ravenstone coffee set are represented in the collection: coffee pot (P590K), milk jug (P591H) an espresso cup and saucer (P593C) and another saucer (P252B).








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The Scheme was operational until 1976 when the collections were withdrawn from circulation.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.

Notes
Trained at the Wimbledon College of Art and the Royal College of Art, Robert Minkin joined Wedgwood as Chief Designer in 1955, by 1979 he had become Design Director. Minkin designed a number of distinctive tableware patterns during the 1950's. He is renowned for his black basalt cylindrical coffee set in Ravenstone matt glaze.