Metalwork Collection: The Cutting Edge

Sheffield’s designated metalwork collection is famous for locally designed and crafted objects.

Many are unaware that the cutlery collection alone contains over 10,000 objects. Cutlery is a term, or a name given to an item with a cutting edge, anything that cuts. This can include objects such as an adze, a razor blade, a saw, a pair of gardening shears, a scythe, a sickle, a pair of scissors, a sword, a pocket, or a table knife.

The display incorporated objects from Sheffield Museums Industry and metalwork collections. It showed the diversity and development of the cutting edge, objects that are functional, decorative, collectable items that show incredible design, craft, and skill, as well as industrial cutting-edge tools, showcasing technological advancements and innovations developed in the city today.

Sheffield Museums Trust works in partnership with Design Lab Nation part of the V&A’s National Schools Programme, which aims to inspire the next generation of designers, makers and innovators and expand the reach of the V&A collections. The programme brings together secondary schools in partnership with regional museum, designers, industries, and the V&A to engage students and support teachers through in-depth design projects.