Pewter Stool (M88)

Catalogue Record

Collection

Maker

Max Lamb

Title

Pewter Stool

Made in

Cornwall

Date

2006

Description

Triangular pewter seat with three legs.

Materials and techniques

Material: Pewter (92% tin, 6% antimony, 2% copper)
Source: Carn Metals, Pendeem, Cornwall TR19 7TF
Tools: Kitchen knife, round steel rod, ruler, spirit level, gas camping stove, 2 x steel saucepans
Technique: 'Sand casting' using the natural sand found on Porthluny Beach in Cornwall. Molten pewter poured into a sand mould sculptured directly into the beach by hand, and once cooled the sand was dug away to reveal a pewter stool.

Dimensions

width:  42cm
depth:  38cm
height:  40cm
: 

Object number

M88

Category

  • Pewter Stool, Max Lamb, 2008, Crafts Council Collection: M88. Photo: Todd-White Art Photography.

Maker's statement

My 'Pewter Stool' was the first project I made as part of a collection of furniture called 'Exercises in Seating' completed during the final year of my MA at the Royal College of Art in 2006. 'Exercises in Seating' was a turning point in my approach to industrial design and formed the foundation of my practice as a designer, maker and craftsman. My 'Exercises in Seating' is an ongoing project - possibly forever - in which the emphasis is more on my research and engagement with a process than the product of the exercise itself. I don't claim to make the perfect sand-cast pewter stool, my work is more about offering an example, or making a suggestion. My approach to designing and making objects is very much process driven, intuitive, perhaps even unorthodox, but not in an intentional or contrived way. I work within my means, using materials and processes that are accssible to me or making them accessible by manipulating the process, turning a usually rigid, highly controlled and standardised process into one that is almost out-of-control.