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The Tunshall Shard
Plans have been unveiled to erect a gigantic statue on the former site of Wedgewood Potteries in Stoke-on-Trent. The massive sculpture will weigh five tonnes and is being created locally in Staffordshire by a company based in Peterborough. The "Tunshall Shard" will cost £50,000 and stand 25 feet high, and will be constructed of stainless steel. The idea is for the Tunshall Shard to stand as a gateway to a new retail development in Jasper Square, Tunstall, and it is hoped that it will eventually be on show to thousands of people every day.
The Tunshall Shard is an inspiring piece that has been designed by Robert Erskine, a world renowned artist. The concept is based around the idea of a broken shard of pottery that was discovered in an old underground oven when the Wedgewood site was undergoing a refurbishment. This piece of pottery has inspired imaginations as it clearly shows a fingerprint that is believed to date back hundreds of years; the Tunshall Shard will share this feature. The Managing Director of Midas Technologies (the company creating the shard) Mark Lock stated "it is brilliant for us to get a contract like this. It is worth £50,000 to us. It
shows we are leading the field in our area of manufacturing by making
something that many people might not believe was possible."
The Tunshall Shard will be crafted using a mix of traditional engineering and modern laser techniques, Mark Lock goes on to say that "one of the peculiarities of the shard was that a fingerprint
could be seen on it. We have carefully been able to reproduce that
fingerprint on the sculpture. The sculpture is 300 times larger than the shard it is based upon.". Once the sculpture is complete a major operation will be undertaken as it is removed from the factory in two halves and then assembled before being lifted onto a low loader to be transported by road to Stoke-on-Trent.
The commissioners of the piece are Dransfield Properties of Barnsley, Amanda Holmes said "We have delivered works of public art
on a number of our developments and we are delighted with Robert
Erskine's concept of The Shard which reflects Tunstall's rich heritage. We are very much looking forward to seeing it in pride of place in Jasper Square later this year."
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