Museum and the Factory

This book reveals a great untold storyof enterprise and innovation based onthe relationship between the Victoria and Albert Museum, and Elkington & Co.,therenowned industrial art and design manufacturer of the 19th-century. The Birmingham-based company pioneered and patented the industrial art of electro-metallurgy tocreateoriginal artworks, perfect replicas, and mass-reproduced luxury consumer goods thatused electricity to 'grow' metal into shape at amolecular level. Thistechnological revolutioncreated a profound legacy, which continues to influence the way modern material culture looks and operates today. Elkington's syntheses of science and art into industrial manufacturing processes revolutionized the design and production, replication and reproduction of precious metalwork, metal sculpture, and ornamental art metalwork. Elkington & Co. gained huge public acclaim at the Great Exhibition of 1851.They subsequently produced artworks and luxury goods,includingworld-renowned sports trophies like the Wimbledon Singles Trophies, as well as luxury dining services for great steamships and railways, including tablewarethat sank with the Titanic. Elkington played a crucial role in shaping and building the V&A's permanent collection from its foundation in 1852 (following the Great Exhibition) until the First World War.The V&A's collections in turn had a profound influence on Elkington's output.The great success of their relationship cemented both the museum's status as a leading cultural institution, and the E&Co 'makers-mark' asone ofthe world's first truly multinational designerbrands. Elkington's electrical alchemy helped sparkthe electrical revolution that founded the modern world.