Putti-Cuvette, 2018

Unique object made by Additive Layer Manufacturing from a high quality nylon material with a soft mineral coating

This work was exhibited at:
Michael Eden: Form & Transform
Waddesdon Manor, Aylesbury

Height 20cm (7 7/8")
Width 28cm (11")
Depth 15cm (5 7/8")

ME203

Price on request

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More about Putti-Cuvette, 2018

I was attracted to the Waddesdon cuvette-mahon, made by the Sèvres Manufactory, because of its vigorous, flowing Rococo swirls. As a response to its exuberance, I decided to enhance the Rococo theme by taking a common motif of the Rococo and Baroque, a putti (or cherub), and making it become the complete pierced structure. To go about this I selected a number of typical putti images, and simplified them in Photoshop. These images were then imported into Rhino 3D CAD software and converted into 3-dimensional outlines that were then used to pierce the 3D scan of the Waddesdon Manor cuvette. The creation of Putti-Cuvette was only made possible by the use of new technology, in particular 3D scanning and 3D printing. The original Waddesdon Sèvres cuvette was scanned and the data used as the basis of the design. After the intense and time consuming development of the design the data was then checked and sliced into thousands of 0.08mm layers by specialist software and the piece was 3D printed, slowly building each layer of material, in this particular case, nylon, until the piece was complete. Since earliest times, craft has evolved, with innovation and the development of new tools enabling makers to create objects and artworks that were previously impossible or extremely difficult. This is certainly the case with 3D printing, as it allows me to produce objects that I could not previously create on the potter’s wheel. However, I firmly believe that all tools have their place and 3D printing does not replace them. As artists and makers, we simply have some new tools to choose from and can develop the craft skills required to fully exploit them.

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