| Reference Number | 2012.103/C/1/13 |
| Level | File |
| Extent | 29 items |
| Title | Photographs of Annan's Mural for the Fleet Building, London |
| Date | 1960-1961 |
| Description | Twenty-nine black and white photographs of Annan's ceramic panels created for the General Post Office at their Fleet Building headquarters. Each panel shows a different aspect of telecommunications with equipment typical of the period The file includes twelve photographs of Annan working on the panels at her home in Downshire Hill, London and show the tiles spread out on the floor of her studio and various other rooms in the house (/1-12). These photographs were taken for various articles and featured quite widely in the press. The file also contains eight photographs of the finished panels, including a long view of all the panels in situ (/13-20); and photographs of the official unveiling of the panels by the Lord Mayor of London, Sir N. Waley-Cohen, on 11 April 1961 (/21-29). One photograph is annotated on the reverse 'Fleet Building (G.P.O) Ceramic panels by Dorothy Annan' (/21). All of the photographs are marked with copyright stamps for various agencies and organisations, including 'The Times', the Ministry of Works and the General Post Office. |
| Notes | Annan was commissioned by the Ministry of Works to design a ceramic mural comprising of nine panels for the Farringdon Street elevation of the Fleet Building in London. The Building, designed by Eric Bedford, was built to house the Central Telegraph Office and was the largest to be built for the Post office since the war. Annan was offered £300 per panel, plus the cost of materials and firing. Annan used photographs of telecommunications equipment supplied by the Post Office as inspiration for the panels. Although the tiles were manufactured by Hathernware Ltd, she hand-scored each wet clay tile to her design at their Loughborough pottery and then decorated, glazed and re-fired them in her studio kiln. On the closure of the Telegraph Office, The Fleet Building was bought by an American Bank and was at risk of demolition. However in 2011 English Heritage gave the panels Grade II listed status and in 2013 they were relocated to an elevated walkway on the Barbican Estate. |
| Related Material | See 2012.103/A/9 for a notebook containing experimental test recipes for different coloured glazes for the tiles of the Fleet Building mural; 2012.103/D/3 for a copy of the architects plan showing the Farringdon Street elevation of the Fleet Building and the proposed position of the tiled panels; and 2012.103/G/1/6 for Annan's correspondence related to the commission. |