The Culture of Cutlery
- Date
- 22 Apr 2026 - 24 Jun 2026 · Mon - Fri, 9am - 6pm
- Price
- Free admission
- Venue
- The Goldsmiths’ Centre, London EC1M 5AD
- Programme type
- Exhibitions and Showcases
The exhibition The Culture of Cutlery explores examples of European knives, forks and spoons designed for dining, dating from 1425 to the present day. It seeks to celebrate the extraordinary diversity of these forms and inspire innovations of the future. Drawing from the collections of the London Cutlers’ Company and the Goldsmiths’ Company, and a range of modern and contemporary makers and businesses, it highlights the materials, techniques and cultural shifts that have informed the design and evolution of these tools of consumption.
From the Cutlers’ Company Collection, a selection of over thirty pieces has been selected from their extensive collection begun in 1934. Included in that are several examples by London cutler Ephraim How, well known for his exquisite craftsmanship, who became master of the Cutlers’ Company in 1706. These will be shown with five award winning cutlery sets from the Company’s Contemporary Cutlery Competition, founded in 2021.
Across the exhibition we have examples of cutlery and flatware from a broad spectrum of sources, including hand-forged pieces from the likes of Louis Osman, Rauni Higson, Simone ten Hompel and Rebecca de Quin; production ware from stalwarts of the British design scene in the mid-century period David Mellor and Robert Welch, and those bridging the gap in between such as contemporary producers Richard Fox and Grant Macdonald.
A designer of cutlery takes agreed forms – handles, a blade, prongs or tines and a bowl – and shapes them for comfort, beauty, taste, texture, balance, impact, experience and more. Research has proven that the particularities of the design can influence the experience of the food consumed. Whether eating quickly over a keyboard at lunchtime or savouring a meal during a fine dining experience, we will each know whether the cutlery is comfortable, and meal enhancing or not, and so through history the form has been the site of great experimentation. Join us to explore this journey, from the personalised cutlery of the medieval period that travelled with its owner, to the boundary pushing winning entries of the Contemporary Cutlery Design Competition, established by the Cutlers’ Company in 2020.
Associated Events
The Culture of Cutlery: exhibition catalogue
The catalogue features colour imagery of a selection of exhibits and the following essay contributions:
- Cutlery on the Move, Rachel Church
- Cutlery and Flatware: Shaping by hand, the move to mechanisation and mass production, Emma Paragreen
- Cutlery Advertising: A pictorial history, Erin Sleeper
- Old Dogs and New Tricks: The Cutlers’ Company Contemporary Cutlery Design Competition, Dr Frances Parton
- Spoons and Symbols: A conversation with Simone ten Hompel with Charlotte Dew and Gregory Parsons, edited by Jane Audas
- Cutlery as Still Life, Charlotte Dew
- A Selected Bibliography, The Goldsmiths' Company Library and Archive
