CORONATION MUGS & NOEL

Noel’s not sure where or when she acquired the mugs. They were produced by Wedgwood for the coronation of Elizabeth II in 1953. Ravilious’s original illustration commemorated Edward VIIIs coronation in 1936 and was used twice for subsequent coronations, even after his death when working as an official war artist in ’42. Richard Guyatt, the Royal College of Art’s youngest professor at aged 34, designed the other mug. He was responsible for coining the term ‘graphic design’ in an effort to shake off the derogatory associations of ‘commercial art’ even though ‘no one was quite sure what it meant’.

09 Jan 2011