In 2014, glassware artist Carly Mann was commissioned by Eastleigh Borough Council to design and make a new Ceremonial Mace for the new Mayor of Eastleigh in collaboration with Prysmian Group.
The body is formed in brass by the talented team at Prysmian, then plated in gold and silver. The glass panels in the mace head are painted and gilded by the artist.
The Mayor of Eastleigh for the 2015/2016 Municipal Year is Councillor Jane Welsh. The Deputy Mayor of Eastleigh is Councillor Des Scott. The ceremony took place on 14th May this year.
I asked Carly some questions about the new, modern, beautiful Ceremonial Mace.
Janet: Carly, How do you feel about becoming part of Eastleigh’s heritage having designed and made the new mace?
Carly: I feel privileged to be part of this moment in history. Revisiting the photographs of the previous maces really put into perspective the importance of what I have been involved in creating.
Janet: What was it like to work on such a significant project for the history of Eastleigh?
Carly: It was a first for me working on a big scale collaborative art project. As Prysmian Group is such a large company, it was initially quite overwhelming but soon became very enjoyable to work with such an enthusiastic team.
Carly: I met with Chris Smith from Eastleigh Borough Council to discuss what he had in mind for the mace. It was very much geared towards being contemporary and worked and designed by local Eastleigh artist’s and companies.
Since Prysmian created the previous mace in the 1930s it seemed logical to ask them again. I sketched up some initial ideas and met with both Chris and Prysmian on many occasions to move the project forward.
I have used the 2 previous Eastleigh crests and designed a new 2015 Prysmian Crest that I have painted onto glass, fired in a kiln and then each piece has been gilded in 22k gold leaf.
Janet: What problems did you encounter?
Carly: As with a project of this kind there is inevitably going to be problems along the way. Certain design features particularly with the mace head had to be adjusted many times. It was a learning process and turning a few sketches into a beautiful physical object took some time.
Janet: What lessons have you learned from the project?
Carly: I have really enjoyed the challenge of the mace and particularly working on a collaborative project with people with such varying skills. We together have made an important input into a part of Eastleigh’s history.
New Mayoral chain uses scrap from Southampton Airport
The mayor also received a new commemorative chain, which features brass from an old pot, spitfire badge stamps and actual lighting strips from Southampton Airport.
The new mayoral chain was created by recycling artists, husband and wife team Simon and Elaine Burnell.
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The new ace is really good. I note there is no longer a crown featured. Pleased to see the original coat of arms is retained.
Not sure about the chain. There seem to be two lines of thought. One is to recycle the most rubbishy of objects or materials and another to use only rubbish which once had some importance or provenance, such as the piece of Spitfire. For a chain of office, it would be good to follow the latter idea.
I met Carly on Saturday in her exhibition at The Sorting Office (The Sorting Office Eastleigh: Summer Open Studios 2015). Carly had ‘borrowed’ the mace from the mayor so I had a close-up view of the mace – it is a very beautiful, polished piece of artwork.
The Sorting Office Creative Open Day: Chandler’s Ford Library 14th Feb 2015
The Sorting Office Little Black Book 2014
Inspiring Artists from the Sorting Office Studios Eastleigh
The Sorting Office: Summer Open Studios: 13 -14 June 2015
Review: The Phantom of the Opera by Centrestage Production Youth Theatre
The new ace is really good. I note there is no longer a crown featured. Pleased to see the original coat of arms is retained.
Not sure about the chain. There seem to be two lines of thought. One is to recycle the most rubbishy of objects or materials and another to use only rubbish which once had some importance or provenance, such as the piece of Spitfire. For a chain of office, it would be good to follow the latter idea.
I met Carly on Saturday in her exhibition at The Sorting Office (The Sorting Office Eastleigh: Summer Open Studios 2015). Carly had ‘borrowed’ the mace from the mayor so I had a close-up view of the mace – it is a very beautiful, polished piece of artwork.