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Author: Benjamin

The Royal Society of Chemistry

January 12, 2019
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Burlington House, housing The Royal Academy, was constructed, in its current guise, as a building for six “Learned Societies” (given what has been there – a slight understatement!).

Since 1874, Burlington House has been home to:

  • Society of Antiquaries
  • Royal Academy of Arts
  • Linnean Society
  • Geological Society
  • Royal Astronomical Society
  • Royal Society of Chemistry (formerly The Chemical Society)

Together, the societies contribute to the cultural, historic, natural and scientific cultural environments.

The organisations are exploiting their close proximity to work together on breaking down the barriers between the arts and sciences, improving cross-fertilisation and communication between the disciplines.

A quote from ‘A Brief History of Burlington House’ explains how the building itself contributes in some way:

 The playwright and architect Sir John Vanbrugh (1664-1726) famously wrote that such multi-layered historic buildings have the power to “create lively and pleasing reflections on the remarkable things which have been transacted in them, or the extraordinary occasions of erecting them”. Vanbrugh was suggesting that the experience of visiting historic buildings fires the imagination and conjures up a wealth of new ideas about their builders and occupants. Similarly, through looking at, and understanding, a building such as Burlington House and the diverse organisations that have taken residence there, one can begin to appreciate the motivations and circumstances of those who left their mark upon it.

So you can imagine, shortly after we created our Periodic Table, both as a work of art and a starting point for our companies vision, and were subsequently asked by The Royal Society of Chemistry to donate one to them, we were understandably humbled but excited. So Higgs & Crick have been able to in some small way leave our mark on Burlington House, but it will never be the same amount that it has made upon us. The most incredible totem to design, science and art in one location in the worlds greatest city!

UPDATE: 

We have recently donated a second Periodic Table to the RSC for their offices in Cambridge. We proudly installed in in 2019 and look forward to other collaborations with this fine British institution.

If you find yourself at Burlington House do stop in at the Royal Society of Chemistry to take a look at our Periodic Table. They also have an excellent digital version which can be found on their site: http://www.rsc.org.

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Glass Cutter

June 13, 2017

Glass cutting takes plenty of patience and time, and it requires years of experience. Robert Thompson chirpily tells us he’s been doing it for 30 years. He started as one of a number of apprentices in the factory that creates Higgs & Crick’s mouth-blown crystal and now there are only two of them left. In fact there is now only a handful of experienced glass cutters in the country. We are visiting the workshop, based in Cumbria, to instigate the designs of our new collection, and also to get to know a bit more about the people behind the glass.

Rob takes us on a brief tour of his cutting rooms, one of the many areas each glass passes though in its multi-stage journey from sand and crushed crystal to finished, cut glass. The room is adorned with an array of cutting wheels, each used to create a minuscule difference in depth, definition and shape of every cut. When he first started, there were 2 suites of glasses with 4 designs, and now there are hundreds of potential suites possible and over 150 cutting design combinations.

We are shown a number of prototypes and the blueprints of every design, stored safely, so that each one can be replicated any time in the future. After a brief introduction to the different machines used, Rob reminds us exactly what is involved in creating the distinctive cut patterns in each crystal glass.

Every single element of the cutting is done by hand. The designs are marked up on each glass with ink, but this is just a guideline, most of the cutting is done by eye, which is why years of practice and experience are vital in order to be able to produce the intricate patterns without mistake, and to repeat exactly the same design on every glass; bearing in mind a mistake, however small, is permanent and renders many days of work in creating each glass, wasted.

Each cut has to be the same length, the same depth and the same angle. A minute amount of pressure, or unsteady hand movement, and the lines won’t meet up. The glass will have to be discarded.

Rob reiterates how cutting is more art than mass production. Each glass requires various wheels and different processes to create the designs, not to mention the time taken to avoid mistakes. A skilled cutter could cut only 30 glasses a day, and fewer if the patterns are very intricate. Some would take an hour per glass – maintaining the level of uniformity in the work requires huge amounts of concentration and strain on the hands, and these are limiting factors in the numbers able to be cut a day.

Sitting down at one of the machines Rob takes one of our whisky tumblers and starts the cutting process. The spinning wheel grinds a groove, and he slowly turns the glass with the steadiest of hands. As the glass makes its full turn, the line meets up exactly. It is mesmerising to watch, and the final cut is utterly uniform in depth and angle – the join is nowhere to be seen. He then starts the crossing, diamond pattern. Each line initially made at a 45 degree angle, and then reversed, crossing all previous lines. Again, each one as uniform as the next. The blue ink lines offer only the most basic of guidelines, most of the work is judged completely by eye. The final result is stunning. Despite having seen him cut the glass, it seems impossible to believe that it’s been done by hand. And when he carefully rinses the glass down, cleans it off with a cloth and holds it up to the light, you sense how much pride he has in each glass he has helped to create.

Cambridge

August 13, 2016

Much of the research into our current and future pieces was carried out by spending time hunting round Cambridge University (we get our inspiration from some of the furniture used by the great minds of the past – tracking down the furniture used by them is no easy task). William, having studied there for his PG Dip Ed, had insider information which was used to maximum effect. One of our offices is situated only 15 miles South in Saffron Walden, and the workshops we use for our Periodic Table and R&D are also based locally.

Live In The Heart of Venice Beach

June 15, 2016

Higgs & Crick was proud to supply furniture and glassware for a gorgeous, boutique hideaway nr Venice Beach, Los Angeles. Nestled between the beach & shops of Abbot Kinney Blvd, is a newly renovated Studio which is available to stay in via AirBnB. It boasts it’s own private yard with outdoor eating area and barbecue. The studio, which includes a Queen size bed, TV/Wifi, kitchen, dining area, washer/dryer, hardwood floors, is suited to 1 or 2 guests and offers discounts for longer stays.

We were asked a few months ago to help deck out the studio flat with some furniture, but it became clear that the standard of accommodation also called for some lead crystal glassware to enjoy a tipple from, before disappearing off to Venice, Santa Monica or up into the Hollywood Hills

Book from £124 per night. Details available from the AirBnB website at: https://www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/571452 Quote: HIGGSANDCRICK

As Time Out Los Angeles states “While Venice’s claim to fame may be its beach culture from Dogtown to the Boardwalk, the ‘hood’s most stylish block, Abbot Kinney, has some of the city’s best boutiques, galleries, restaurants and bars. Accessorize in your best beachside casual and hop on your cruiser. Here’s your LA city guide and to Abbot Kinney’s best places to shop, eat & drink and play”. GQ goes so far as to call it “The Coolest Block in America”! And shows the photos to prove it. Either way, having spent many times visiting the shops, restaurants and bars around the area, we can attest to what a great place it is – and Emily’s Studio is an ideal place from which to see it.

Abbot Kinney, Venice, CA

March 5, 2016

Over Christmas we were lucky enough to spend some time researching for our US launch.

IMG_5260Abbot Kinney, just off Venice Beach, LA, has a real mix of independent boutique shops and cafes, though they are slowly but surely being priced out of the market as rentsIMG_5263 soar. Its still worth a visit to get a feel for the movement of trends, as most of the retail owners have their ears firmly to the ground. Whilst we will be launching our first products in Seattle in 2015/16, it’s still worth going to LA for a few days if you are on the West coast. If you’ve not been before make sure you get some insider information about where to go and what to do – LA can seem like a charmless, sprawling mass if you don’t know where you’re going, and an amazing vibrant and fun city if you do!

Continue Reading

Leather Workshop

March 4, 2016

Designing the next range of leather wallets, folios and aide memoirs meant another visit to our leather workshops in the Midlands. We were able to make some minor adjustments to the structure of the pieces, as well as incorporate our new darker range, complete with exclusive dark falling birds fabric design.

Our dark range are slightly larger in size, incorporating an extra card pocket on each side as well as some extra width to accommodate larger banknotes.

Our workshops

January 20, 2016

Here are some images from the workshops that create some of our products. They are all based in and around England and are run by seriously experienced craftsmen and women.





















Chair delivery to the USA Finishing a US order

November 13, 2015

One of the final stages of the Chomsky Chair involves the upholstery. The latest order to be shipped to the United States is bound for Los Angeles and the client’s chosen leather has just been picked and cut. The button drawing is completed and after a final oil and polish, the chair is packed for its long journey west.











Our chair upholsterer

The bert chair in brown leather

Packing the reading chair for the USA

Packing the Russell Reading chair

Chair delivery to the USA

Colour

November 4, 2015

All our ranges can be ordered in any colour. Please contact us for further information.





Tree of life in Taschen

November 13, 2014

 

The new Taschen book: Understanding the World

We were very flattered but not surprised when Taschen approached us to see if they could include a version of our Tree of Life print in their new stunning coffee table book, Understanding the World. The image is one depicting the evolutionary tree starting 200 million years ago (humans are shown as a mere speck on the right side of the tree!). We helped them format the image so it could be used as one of the select diagrams to be included as a fold out poster. Taschen certainly did it justice and I am sure you will agree that whilst it is beautiful, the best way to appreciate this artwork is in a frame and on your wall.

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Some of the other amazing diagrams and illustrations from this stunning book are shown here. To get more info visit: http://www.taschen.com/pages/en/catalogue/design/all/03411/facts.understanding_the_world_the_atlas_of_infographics.htm

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