Festival of Britain mug

This mug was produced by Wedgwood as a commemorative souvenir to mark the 1951 Festival of Britain, held on London's South Bank. The Festival showcased the best in modern British design and manufacture, incorporating work by leading designers such as Lucienne and Robin Day. The design of this mug, by the ceramicist Norman Makinson, has a modernist graphic quality in keeping with the spirit and aesthetic of the Festival. The festival looked forward in hope and optimism, but also, since it marked the centenary of the Great Exhibition of 1851, celebrated the past. Makinson's striking design drew from the structures that came to represent both events – the Skylon, and the floating, innovative feel of Crystal Palace's iron structure, the scene of the Great Exhibition. Makinson was born in staffordshire, and joined the Wedgwood factory as an apprentice in 1936. After studying industrial design in evening classes he moved to the design department. After the war, he studied ceramics at Royal College of Art from 1946-49, rejoining Wdgwood that year. In 1953 he was appointed lecturer at Glasgow College of Art and taught ceramics there unitl 1956. For the next twenty-five years he taught at what became North Wales College of Art, and from 1979 worked from his ceramic studio at his home in Denbigh. His ceramic sculptures display an interest in ancient Assyrian and Egyptian art.