The Metals Division of ICI, Witton, Birmingham, 1950 : cold rolling of copper and copper alloy strip, artwork by Ruth Hurle
From the marvellous 1950s book on ICI's Kynoch based metals division and even the book was printed and published on site by their own lovely Kynoch Press. I like artwork of industrial and manufacturing processes and at the time such commissions were more common than now. ICI got Ruth Hurle to illustrate this book showing typical processes undertaken at the Lion Works and this shows cold rolling of copper and alloys, very much 'up the street' of the many subsidiaries of the extensive and multi-site Metals Division.
I can find little about Ruth Hurle. She appears as a Second Wolrd War official war artist but there appears to be no trace of her before and what little trail there is appears to vanish after 1954. It's a finely executed composition this, giving a great impression of the context, the rolling mills and the employees at work.
The Metals Division of ICI, Witton, Birmingham, 1950 : cold rolling of copper and copper alloy strip, artwork by Ruth Hurle
From the marvellous 1950s book on ICI's Kynoch based metals division and even the book was printed and published on site by their own lovely Kynoch Press. I like artwork of industrial and manufacturing processes and at the time such commissions were more common than now. ICI got Ruth Hurle to illustrate this book showing typical processes undertaken at the Lion Works and this shows cold rolling of copper and alloys, very much 'up the street' of the many subsidiaries of the extensive and multi-site Metals Division.
I can find little about Ruth Hurle. She appears as a Second Wolrd War official war artist but there appears to be no trace of her before and what little trail there is appears to vanish after 1954. It's a finely executed composition this, giving a great impression of the context, the rolling mills and the employees at work.