Bread Board
1847 (designed), 1865 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Object Type
This wooden breadboard with appropriate decorative carving is an example of Victorian ingenuity in reviving old designs to facilitate a domestic task.
Trading
Cole's memoirs, Fifty Years of Public Life (1884), explain all the frustrations of attempting to interest manufacturers in this design, which is by John Bell (1811-1895). Such a task was obviously made easier if the same manufacturer made both board and bread knife, so Cole showed Bell's plaster model to Joseph Rodgers & Son, the cutlery manufacturers of Sheffield. They produced a version which they said would have to retail at the uncommercial price of £4 4s (£4.20). By having another board made in London, Cole demonstrated that the design could be made and retailed for £3 3s (£3.15). The second attempt by Rodgers produced a board that could be sold for £2 2s (£2.10). This example of board and bread knife was bought from Rodgers in 1865 for £1 16s (£1.80) .
Materials
This design was also available in porcelain at various prices, made by Minton & Co., and could also be fitted with an electro-plated rim, made by Benjamin Smith, a London silversmith. Examples of all three types were shown in the Exhibition of Recent British Manufactures organised by Cole at the Royal Society of Arts, London, in 1848.
This wooden breadboard with appropriate decorative carving is an example of Victorian ingenuity in reviving old designs to facilitate a domestic task.
Trading
Cole's memoirs, Fifty Years of Public Life (1884), explain all the frustrations of attempting to interest manufacturers in this design, which is by John Bell (1811-1895). Such a task was obviously made easier if the same manufacturer made both board and bread knife, so Cole showed Bell's plaster model to Joseph Rodgers & Son, the cutlery manufacturers of Sheffield. They produced a version which they said would have to retail at the uncommercial price of £4 4s (£4.20). By having another board made in London, Cole demonstrated that the design could be made and retailed for £3 3s (£3.15). The second attempt by Rodgers produced a board that could be sold for £2 2s (£2.10). This example of board and bread knife was bought from Rodgers in 1865 for £1 16s (£1.80) .
Materials
This design was also available in porcelain at various prices, made by Minton & Co., and could also be fitted with an electro-plated rim, made by Benjamin Smith, a London silversmith. Examples of all three types were shown in the Exhibition of Recent British Manufactures organised by Cole at the Royal Society of Arts, London, in 1848.
Object details
| Category | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Limewood, carved |
| Brief description | Bread board, English, 1865, designed by John Bell and made by Rodgers & Son, Sheffield |
| Physical description | Carved limewood breadboard with decorative carving of wheat. |
| Dimensions |
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| Gallery label |
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| Object history | Designed by John Bell (born in Hepton, Suffolk, 1811, died in London, 1895) for Felix Summerly's Art Manufactures; made in Sheffield, by Joseph Rodgers & Sons |
| Summary | Object Type This wooden breadboard with appropriate decorative carving is an example of Victorian ingenuity in reviving old designs to facilitate a domestic task. Trading Cole's memoirs, Fifty Years of Public Life (1884), explain all the frustrations of attempting to interest manufacturers in this design, which is by John Bell (1811-1895). Such a task was obviously made easier if the same manufacturer made both board and bread knife, so Cole showed Bell's plaster model to Joseph Rodgers & Son, the cutlery manufacturers of Sheffield. They produced a version which they said would have to retail at the uncommercial price of £4 4s (£4.20). By having another board made in London, Cole demonstrated that the design could be made and retailed for £3 3s (£3.15). The second attempt by Rodgers produced a board that could be sold for £2 2s (£2.10). This example of board and bread knife was bought from Rodgers in 1865 for £1 16s (£1.80) . Materials This design was also available in porcelain at various prices, made by Minton & Co., and could also be fitted with an electro-plated rim, made by Benjamin Smith, a London silversmith. Examples of all three types were shown in the Exhibition of Recent British Manufactures organised by Cole at the Royal Society of Arts, London, in 1848. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | 444-1865 |
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| Record created | March 27, 2003 |
| Record URL |
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