The ''Co-op Mosaic'' is a mural in

Kingston upon Hull Kingston upon Hull, usually abbreviated to Hull, is a port city and unitary authority in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Estuary, inland from the North Sea and south-east ...

, England, designed by the artist

Alan Boyson Alan Boyson, RCA (1930 – 19 August 2018) was an English muralist and sculptor, who worked chiefly in glass, ceramic and concrete. Boyson studied at Manchester Regional School of Art from 1950 to 1954, and at the Royal College of Art from 1954 ...

. Commissioned by the Hull and East Riding Co-operative Society for the exterior of the end of their new store, the mural is sited at the junction of Jameson Street and King Edward Street, now a mainly pedestrianised area created for the City of Culture 2017. The building was erected by 1963. Depicting three stylised trawlers, it commemorates Hull's fishing fleet. The mural is made from 4,224 panels, each square and each containing 225 tesserae – cubes of Italian glass – using 1,061,775 in all. The panels are fixed to a curved concrete screen attached to the wall. The mural was manufactured to Boyson's design by Richards Tiles Ltd, subsequently part of Johnsons Tiles Ltd. It was constructed by A. Andrews & Sons Marbles and Tiles. Included in the mural is the Latin text ' ('prosperity through industry'). It also includes the letters in the ships' masts. These appear fortuitously and not through deliberate design. After the Co-operative Society vacated the building in 1969, it was occupied by BHS from 1970 to 2016. In May 2007 the mural was locally listed by

Hull City Council (Kingston upon) Hull City Council is the governing body for the unitary authority and city of Kingston upon Hull. It was created in 1972 as the successor to the Corporation of (Kingston upon) Hull, which was also known as Hull Corporation and fou ...

, who described it as a "superb example of modern public art". The council subsequently pledged to retain the mural when the site is developed. In November 2016 a proposal by

Hull Civic Society Hull may refer to: Structures * Chassis, of an armored fighting vehicle * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a ship * Submarine hull Mathematics * Affine hull, in a ...

to give the mural statutory protection at a national level was rejected. The society announced its intention to appeal against the decision. The mural was placed on the National Heritage List for England on 21 November 2019 at

Grade II In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

Fish mural

An additional mural by Boyson, inside the store on the fourth floor, was rediscovered during refurbishment in 2011. Depicting a shoal of fish, it is more than long and is made from ceramic tiles, marble and stone. Located outside the former Skyline Ballroom (later Romeo and Juliet's nightclub), it had been hidden behind a false wall. The building's then owners, Manor Property Group, announced plans to feature it in their designs for the building's decor. It was made as part of the same commission as the exterior mural.

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{{Commons category, Co-op Mosaic, Hull
Blog post with images

Fish mural image
Murals in England Public art in England 1963 in art Kingston upon Hull Trawlers Ships in art Glass works of art Grade II listed buildings in the East Riding of Yorkshire

Fish mural

See also

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