Waddesdon Working with the Royal College of Art

RCA STUDENTS DESIGN THE THIRD EXCLUSIVE RANGE OF PRODUCTS FOR WADDESDON

Waddesdon Manor, in Buckinghamshire has commissioned, for the third year running, the Royal College of Art (RCA) to create a range of products to be sold in its shop and website.

In November postgraduate students from the RCA’s School of Applied Art, which includes Ceramics and Glass; Goldsmithing, Silversmithing, Metalwork and Jewellery visited Waddesdon, and were invited to create contemporary designs for souvenirs inspired, in some way, by the property.

Rosey Blackmore, Head of Merchandising and Buying at Waddesdon and formerly at the Tate, said:

"This is a contemporary project; students were encouraged to look at the Ingo Maurer chandelier in the House as a wonderful example of a contemporary piece of design that responds to historic surroundings."

A panel of judges from the RCA and Waddesdon selected five overall designs - a book shaped vase, elegant votives, ceramic and glass bottle stoppers and laser-cut postcards.

Professor Martin Smith, Head of Applied Art at the RCA added:

“The collaboration was a great challenge for RCA Applied Art students to think about how they could create work that could be made for commercial purposes and appeal to Waddesdon's visitors but also be in keeping with the historic legacy of the House."

All of the products will be available to buy exclusively in Waddesdon’s shop or on the website: www.waddesdon.org.uk from 27th October 2010.

ENDS

Vicky Darby or Anna Ellershaw, Waddesdon Press Office on

01296 653231/259, e: and Sue Bradburn, RCA Media Relations Officer on 020 7590 4114, e:

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NOTES TO EDITORS

· Waddesdon Manor was built by Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild from 1877 to display his outstanding collection of art treasures and to entertain the fashionable world. It combines the highest quality 18th-century French decorative arts with magnificent English portraits and Dutch Old Master paintings with one of the finest Victorian gardens in Britain, famous for its parterre and ornate working Aviary. It was bequeathed to the National Trust in 1957 and is now managed by a family charitable trust under the chairmanship of Lord Rothschild.

Today, the Manor continues its great tradition of entertainment and hospitality with a range of events celebrating food and wine, and opportunities to explore its history, collections and gardens through changing exhibitions and study days. The Ingo Maurer chandelier is made of broken modern porcelain it was commissioned in 2003 for the Blue Dining Room.

www.waddesdon.org.uk

· The Royal College of Art is the world’s only wholly postgraduate university of art and design, specialising in teaching and research and offering the degrees of MA, MPhil and PhD across the disciplines of fine art, applied art, design, communications and humanities. There are over 900 masters and doctoral students and more than a hundred professionals interacting with them – including scholars, leading art and design practitioners, along with specialists, advisors and distinguished visitors.