Text to accompany a personal & important object for an exhibition organised by Jonathan Olivares, Marco Velardi and Jasper Morrison, first shown at the Kaleidoscope Project Space, Milan.

Hi Jasper,
Here's the thing;
It's a panel beater's (or planishing?) hammer I inherited from my Uncle, Peter. I'm guessing he had it as a young man, most likely from his days as an apprentice with a shipbuilders called Harland and Wolff in Woolwich. He worked there for seven years from the age of fourteen, which would suggest the hammer is around 75 years old now.
It has a steel head, which I think is made by drop forging, and the handle is either hickory or ash. Its dimensions are approximately 250 x 150 x 40mm.
I have always regarded hand tools in the highest esteem; they so often seem like perfect and beautiful objects, especially older ones. I think the reason they are like this is down to the fact that their forms haven't really been designed, more that they've evolved, through use, process and ergonomics. Essentially it is closer to how things are in nature, which explains their inherent beauty, longevity and rightness.

(2014)