Norman’s work is in your pocket
Eye, Suffolk. Norman Sillman who worked for the Royal Mint designing coins
MILLIONS of people from Costa Rica to Cardiff look at and use the art of a man from Eye every single day.
Rather than art galleries, though, you’ll find Norman Sillman’s designs in wallets, leisure centre lockers and down the back of sofas.
In fact, dip your hand in your pocket right now, and pull out a £1 coin – chances are, it’s Mr Sillman’s design.
The sculptor has produced more than 200 coins for 33 countries, with Vietnam, Uruguay, Zambia, Qatar, Outer Mongolia and Tonga among those which use his designs.
Mr Sillman also designed four of the most recent £1 coins in circulation in the UK.
When asked whether he is proud to have designed one of the most viewed artworks in the UK, Mr Sillman stated: “It is just a part of what one does; although I suppose you could say it was a dream job, as it combined a number of my interests.”
Mr Sillman was born in London in 1921, and enrolled at Blackheath School of Art at 14: “I just liked art when I took it up, seeing the things I saw,” he said.
He was called up for national service when the Second World War broke out, but was wounded in Italy in November 1943.
He married Gillian in 1945, and became a sculptor in London after completing his studies.
One of the 90-year-old’s earliest jobs was with model soldier company Britains Petite, and with them, he designed the well-respected Trojan Warriors set - a line now housed in a Singaporean museum.
Mr Sillman received his first commission for a coin from the Royal Mint in 1956 for Bermuda, and didn’t look back thereafter for the next 40 years.
“More often than not the countries wanted you to have the ideas, and that was fine by me, because my interests are art, anthropology and history,” he said.
It’s not just coins that Mr Sillman has designed either: he has made medals too, and sculpted the ones presented to the bigwigs behind the 1969 moon landing.
He also produced a 16-foot piece called Power in Trust in 1961, which still stands on the bank of the River Trent by the Staythorpe Power Station in Nottingham.
The piece is a landmark that helps celebrate a career which has seen Mr Sillman meet members of Royal families from across the globe.
“I’ve met Prince Philip about five times,” he said. “I thought he was a very intelligent man.
“I also met the head of the Bank of England several times, and some presidents and prime ministers from other countries.”
Despite designing the 1986 British Commonwealth Games’ £2 coin and commemorative medals for the Queen’s Silver Jubilee in 1977 and the marriage of Charles and Diana in 1981, Mr Sillman is best known in the UK for his £1 coin designs.
He designed the Celtic cross with a pimpernel flower for Northern Ireland (1996), the three lions passant for England (1997), and the Welsh dragon and Scottish lion coins (1995 and 1994 respectively).
They each took Mr Sillman about four days to design, although he had to be careful with the former due to the delicate political and religious situation in Ireland.
After working as a fine art lecturer later in his career, Mr Sillman and his wife moved to Eye in 1983 to be nearer their daughter, Caroline, who was the headmistress at Bacton School.
Mr Sillman, who served on the town council from 1991 until 1999, has two grandchildren, one of whom is now a sculptor himself.
More recently, the nonagenarian has produced calligraphy for local civic certificates, and was honoured last month by Mid Suffolk District Council for his work in the community.
Now, however, Mr Sillman finds it difficult to work due to the injuries he sustained in the war.
And, he is not impressed by those artists who are working and in the supposed prime of their careers.
He said: “Art is changing so much now, and probably for the worse.
“It’s all so gimmicky – things like an unmade bed with knickers on it.”
With that in mind, if Tracey Emin needs any inspiration in future, she might be better off raiding her piggy bank rather than the underwear drawer.
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Wednesday 23 May 2012
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