Little Mesters Sculpture; a tribute to generations of Sheffield cutlers (2023)

This short film shows how a new ‘Little Mester’ sculpture by Yorkshire scrap metal artist, Jason Heppenstall, was developed and installed at Kelham Island Museum, as part of our National Lottery Heritage Funded ‘Sheffield Treasures’ project. The sculpture was created between October 2022 and March 2023, and it is now on permanent display in The Hawley Gallery at Kelham Island Museum Sheffield.
The project, which is aimed at showcasing and celebrating 200 years of excellence in cutlery making in Sheffield, is led by volunteers from the independent Ken Hawley Collection Trust, which is based at Kelham Island Museum.
The remarkable, life-sized sculpture, depicts the figure of a self-employed craftsman, known as a ‘Little Mester’, at work at his bench, all made from scrap steel, tools and reclaimed wood. The sculpture is not based on any one in particular, but is a tribute to the generations of ‘Little Mesters’ who made the city famous for knives and cutlery from the 1700 and 1800s.
Jason Heppenstall explaining how it was made said “I’m absolutely chuffed to bits with the final result which has taken two months to complete. The trousers are made from Sheffield spanners, the boots from re-forged blacksmiths tongues and his waistcoat is made from a number of large files or rasps, which used to be common in Sheffield. His shirt, head and hands are all from scrap mild steel and his apron is my old workbench. He’s working at an old vice which came from the Hawley Collection and the bench is made from reclaimed timber".
Jason is now a celebrated artist and his works have been sold to collectors and institutions in France, Spain, the USA and several in London. His best-known works in this region, are the ‘Salmon of Steel’ at Sheffield’s main Railway Station and ‘Allen the Peregrine Falcon’ at the University of Sheffield.
His sculpture is complemented by work from local students at the University Technical College Sheffield who were also involved in the project. They have made tools to add to the sculpture. These tools represent an interactive element where tokens, designed and made by the students, represent all that is good about Sheffield build up to form various bench tools.
The total number of tokens is 2023 representing one for every year of the calendar shadowing the Year Knife one of the Hawley Collection Exhibition knives that has over 2000 blades. This celebrated its bi -centenary last year and was the original inspiration for the project.
The short video was put together by James Elliott, a student at King Edward VII School, Sheffield
To find out more about the Hawley Collection and to donate, visit our website: www.hawleytoolcollection.com/
See also our sister website at hawleysheffieldknives.com/

[@ianrosie4431]

Congratulations to all involved. A fitting tribute.

[@jayroland9481]

Spoiled by the music.

[@KenHawleyCollectionTrust]

Jay it was prepared by a student to engage young people. Do what I do when I don’t like the soundtrack - turn it off. Thanks for the comment nevertheless