Monte Carlo
Carving Set
1961 (designed), 1963 (made)
1961 (designed), 1963 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Geoffrey Guy Bellamy: born 1922 died 1997. Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths. He often stamped his pieces with a facsimile signature.
In 1940 when he was 18 he joined the RAF and served until the end of the war flying Lancasters in 405 squadron before moving on to the Pathfinder force where he won the DFC and bar. He lost 2 crews, one while on sick-leave recovering from a flak wound, the other while he was seconded elsewhere, and flew 112 missions.
After the war he studied at the Birmingham College of Art from 1946-1950 and then at the Royal College of Art from 1950-1953 graduating the same year as younger colleagues Gerald Benney and David Mellor. He and Mellor were the first two students to win first class honours in the silver degree course and all of the younger students admired him. Eric Clements was there at the same time and Robert Welch graduated in 1955, all of them being taught by Robert Goodden.
Bellamy started his own one-man workshop in London in a small basement beneath a dry-cleaner's in Cadogan Street making small items, some for the retailer George Tarratt in Leicester. With Ivan Tarratt they formed Bellamy & Tarratt, a production silver company which lasted until 1959. He then did some designs for A E Jones. Bellamy won a Design Centre Award in 1961 for his "Monte Carlo" cutlery, made by George Wolstenholm in Sheffield. Before 1964 he joined the Council of Industrial Design as Industrial Liason Officer for silver and the allied industries, his job being to encourage good designs. (Committees under him at this time rejected industrial designs that Gerald Benney had done for 8 separate companies. Many of these were commercially successful and helped Benney finance his silversmithing).
Bellamy enjoyed teaching and became Head of the Sheffield College of Art and then Principal at Canterbury and Maidstone.
This carving set was given a Design Council Award in 1961.
In 1940 when he was 18 he joined the RAF and served until the end of the war flying Lancasters in 405 squadron before moving on to the Pathfinder force where he won the DFC and bar. He lost 2 crews, one while on sick-leave recovering from a flak wound, the other while he was seconded elsewhere, and flew 112 missions.
After the war he studied at the Birmingham College of Art from 1946-1950 and then at the Royal College of Art from 1950-1953 graduating the same year as younger colleagues Gerald Benney and David Mellor. He and Mellor were the first two students to win first class honours in the silver degree course and all of the younger students admired him. Eric Clements was there at the same time and Robert Welch graduated in 1955, all of them being taught by Robert Goodden.
Bellamy started his own one-man workshop in London in a small basement beneath a dry-cleaner's in Cadogan Street making small items, some for the retailer George Tarratt in Leicester. With Ivan Tarratt they formed Bellamy & Tarratt, a production silver company which lasted until 1959. He then did some designs for A E Jones. Bellamy won a Design Centre Award in 1961 for his "Monte Carlo" cutlery, made by George Wolstenholm in Sheffield. Before 1964 he joined the Council of Industrial Design as Industrial Liason Officer for silver and the allied industries, his job being to encourage good designs. (Committees under him at this time rejected industrial designs that Gerald Benney had done for 8 separate companies. Many of these were commercially successful and helped Benney finance his silversmithing).
Bellamy enjoyed teaching and became Head of the Sheffield College of Art and then Principal at Canterbury and Maidstone.
This carving set was given a Design Council Award in 1961.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Parts | This object consists of 3 parts.
|
| Title | Monte Carlo (manufacturer's title) |
| Materials and techniques | Stainless steel, forged and polished |
| Brief description | Stainless steel, Sheffield, 1961, made by George Wolstenholm Ltd., designed by Geoffrey Bellamy |
| Physical description | Carving set, stainless steel, the knife with a tapered handle swelling at the centre, rounded tip, the blade with a leading edge, dipped, pointed tip and a curved cutting edge. The fork, tapered handle, rounded tip, a moulded tang with a spring loaded guard, terminating in two extended, flared curved prongs. The sharpening steel, handle as before, steel rod, striated surface, elliptical cross section, terminating in a pointed tip. |
| Dimensions |
|
| Style | |
| Production type | Mass produced |
| Marks and inscriptions |
|
| Credit line | Given by the manufacturer |
| Object history | Design Council Award, 1961 |
| Summary | Geoffrey Guy Bellamy: born 1922 died 1997. Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths. He often stamped his pieces with a facsimile signature. In 1940 when he was 18 he joined the RAF and served until the end of the war flying Lancasters in 405 squadron before moving on to the Pathfinder force where he won the DFC and bar. He lost 2 crews, one while on sick-leave recovering from a flak wound, the other while he was seconded elsewhere, and flew 112 missions. After the war he studied at the Birmingham College of Art from 1946-1950 and then at the Royal College of Art from 1950-1953 graduating the same year as younger colleagues Gerald Benney and David Mellor. He and Mellor were the first two students to win first class honours in the silver degree course and all of the younger students admired him. Eric Clements was there at the same time and Robert Welch graduated in 1955, all of them being taught by Robert Goodden. Bellamy started his own one-man workshop in London in a small basement beneath a dry-cleaner's in Cadogan Street making small items, some for the retailer George Tarratt in Leicester. With Ivan Tarratt they formed Bellamy & Tarratt, a production silver company which lasted until 1959. He then did some designs for A E Jones. Bellamy won a Design Centre Award in 1961 for his "Monte Carlo" cutlery, made by George Wolstenholm in Sheffield. Before 1964 he joined the Council of Industrial Design as Industrial Liason Officer for silver and the allied industries, his job being to encourage good designs. (Committees under him at this time rejected industrial designs that Gerald Benney had done for 8 separate companies. Many of these were commercially successful and helped Benney finance his silversmithing). Bellamy enjoyed teaching and became Head of the Sheffield College of Art and then Principal at Canterbury and Maidstone. This carving set was given a Design Council Award in 1961. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | CIRC.420-1963 |
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| Record created | June 1, 2009 |
| Record URL |
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