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David Guy Barnabas Kindersley
MBE Mbe may refer to:
* Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo
* Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria
* Mbe language, a language of Nigeria
* Mbe' language, language of Cameroon
* ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language
Molal ...
(11 June 1915 – 2 February 1995) was a British stone
letter-carver and
typeface
A typeface (or font family) is the design of lettering that can include variations in size, weight (e.g. bold), slope (e.g. italic), width (e.g. condensed), and so on. Each of these variations of the typeface is a font.
There are list of type ...
designer, and the founder of the Kindersley Workshop (later the Cardozo Kindersley Workshop). His carved plaques and inscriptions in stone and slate can be seen on many churches and public buildings in the United Kingdom. Kindersley was a designer of the Octavian font for
Monotype Imaging
Monotype Imaging Holdings Inc., founded as Lanston Monotype Machine Company in 1887 in Philadelphia by Tolbert Lanston, is an American (historically Anglo-American) company that specializes in digital typesetting and typeface design for use with ...
in 1961, and he and his third wife
Lida Lopes Cardozo designed the main gates for the
British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...
.
Early life
![Bentalls01](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2d/Bentalls01.JPG)
Kindersley was born at
Codicote
Codicote is a large village, and civil parish about south of Hitchin in Hertfordshire, England. It has timber-framed and chequered brick houses, of special interest being the 18th-century Pond House and the half-timbered Taverners Place (forme ...
near
Hitchin
Hitchin () is a market town and unparished area in the North Hertfordshire Districts of England, district in Hertfordshire, England, with an estimated population of 35,842.
History
Hitchin is first noted as the central place of the Hicce peopl ...
, the son of Major
Guy Molesworth Kindersley
Guy Molesworth Kindersley (28 February 1876 – 30 November 1956) was a Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom who represented Hitchin, Hertfordshire.
Kindersley was the son of Edward Nassau Molesworth Kindersley and his wife Ada Goo ...
(a stockbroker and
MP) and the grandson on his mother's side of the
Arts and Crafts
A handicraft, sometimes more precisely expressed as artisanal handicraft or handmade, is any of a wide variety of types of work where useful and decorative objects are made completely by one’s hand or by using only simple, non-automated re ...
potter
Sir Edmund Elton. He was educated at
St Cyprian's School
St Cyprian's School was an English preparatory school for boys, which operated in the early 20th century in Eastbourne, East Sussex. Like other preparatory schools, its purpose was to train pupils to do well enough in the examinations (usuall ...
,
Eastbourne
Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. Eastbourne is immediately east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the la ...
, where "he had a wonderful time", becoming head boy,
[Montague Shaw, ''David Kindersley: His work and workshop'', Cardozo Kindersley Editions, 1989, p. 9.] and the sharpness of his eye was shown by his outstanding skill at shooting.
He claimed that "aiming at the centre has always been an inherent quality with him".
His elder brother, Hallam, died at
Westminster School
(God Gives the Increase)
, established = Earliest records date from the 14th century, refounded in 1560
, type = Public school Independent day and boarding school
, religion = Church of England
, head_label = Hea ...
whilst Kindersley was still at St Cyprian's. Kindersley went on to
Marlborough College
Marlborough College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Independent school (United Kingdom), independent boarding school) for pupils aged 13 to 18 in Marlborough, Wiltshire, England. Founded in 1843 for the sons of Church ...
, but left after three years because of
rheumatoid arthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a long-term autoimmune disorder that primarily affects joints. It typically results in warm, swollen, and painful joints. Pain and stiffness often worsen following rest. Most commonly, the wrist and hands are involv ...
.
After recovery, Kindersley was sent to Paris to learn French and study sculpture at the Academie St Julian and then with the Iduni brothers in London. He read the books of
Eric Gill
Arthur Eric Rowton Gill, (22 February 1882 – 17 November 1940) was an English sculptor, letter cutter, typeface designer, and printmaker. Although the ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' describes Gill as ″the greatest artist-cra ...
, and decided to become a stone-cutter. He became an apprentice to Gill in his workshop at Pigotts
High Wycombe
High Wycombe, often referred to as Wycombe ( ), is a market town in Buckinghamshire, England. Lying in the valley of the River Wye surrounded by the Chiltern Hills, it is west-northwest of Charing Cross in London, south-southeast of Ayl ...
in December 1934, with the support of his father who, liking to do things the proper way, insisted on paying an apprenticeship indemnity. He worked on important commissions, including Bentall's store in
Kingston upon Thames
Kingston upon Thames (hyphenated until 1965, colloquially known as Kingston) is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, southwest London, England. It is situated on the River Thames and southwest of Charing Cross. It is notable as ...
,
St John's College, Oxford
St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded as a men's college in 1555, it has been coeducational since 1979.Communication from Michael Riordan, college archivist Its founder, Sir Thomas White, intended to pro ...
and Dorset House.
Independent activity
Kindersley left Gill's workshop in 1936 and set up his own workshop on the
River Arun
The River Arun () is a river in the English county of West Sussex. At long, it is the longest river entirely in Sussex and one of the longest starting in Sussex after the River Medway, River Wey and River Mole. From the series of small stream ...
, where he still worked on commission for Gill. He married his first wife, Christina Sharpe, at the beginning of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
and ran ''The Smith's Arms'', a tiny pub (reputed to be the smallest in England) with her in
Godmanstone
Godmanstone (or Godmanston) is a village and civil parish in the county of Dorset in southern England, situated approximately north of the county town Dorchester. Its name means ''Godman's Farm'' and it is sited by the River Cerne amongst chal ...
,
Dorset
Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...
.
As a
conscientious objector
A conscientious objector (often shortened to conchie) is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, or religion. The term has also been extended to object ...
he refused to be put in a position where he would have to kill, although he applied (and was rejected) for the
Home Guard
Home guard is a title given to various military organizations at various times, with the implication of an emergency or reserve force raised for local defense.
The term "home guard" was first officially used in the American Civil War, starting wi ...
. On the death of Eric Gill in 1940, Kindersley spent time sorting out the affairs of Gill's workshop at Pigotts.
Cambridge workshops
In 1945, Kindersley moved to
Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and North ...
and set up his first fully-fledged letter-cutting workshop at Dales Barn in the village of
Barton. During this time, Kindersley developed his work and methods as he broke away from Gill, in his decorative embellishments of cutting, in his growing predilection for lettering on slate and the combination of lettering with heraldry. Nevertheless, in the organisation of the workshop there was still a sense of dynastic inheritance. At this time he also started teaching calligraphy at Cambridge Art School, having initially gone to enrol for the course. He had a major commission carving relief maps for the American War Cemetery and also became a consultant for film titles through his cousin
Sir Arthur Elton who was in charge of film making at
Shell Oil
Shell plc is a British multinational oil and gas company headquartered in London, England. Shell is a public limited company with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and secondary listings on Euronext Amsterdam and the New Yor ...
.
Kindersley was preoccupied in the 1950s and 1960s by the survival of the workshop culture in a post-war climate of industrial expansion. He was a leading figure in the Designer Craftsman Society and the
Crafts Council
The Crafts Council is the national development agency for contemporary craft in the United Kingdom, and is funded by Arts Council England.
History
The Crafts Advisory Committee was formed in 1971 to advise the Minister for the Arts, David Eccles ...
of Great Britain.
He became Chairman of the Crafts Council for a while, but stepped down because of concerns about underfunding.
Kindersley invented a system for the accurate spacing of letters, which has not seen wide adoption. Kindersley's work in this area formed the basis of an artist's project by his former assistant the calligrapher Owen Williams called ''Testing David''. In 1952 he submitted a design, ''MoT Serif'', to the British
Ministry of Transport
A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government age ...
, which required new lettering to use on United Kingdom road signs. Although the
Road Research Laboratory
TRL Limited, trading as TRL (formerly Transport Research Laboratory) is an independent private company offering a transport consultancy and research service to the public and private sector. Originally established in 1933 by the UK Government a ...
found Kindersley's design slightly more legible, the all-capitals design with serifs was passed over in favour of the lowercase
sans-serif
In typography and lettering, a sans-serif, sans serif, gothic, or simply sans letterform is one that does not have extending features called "serifs" at the end of strokes. Sans-serif typefaces tend to have less stroke width variation than seri ...
font
Transport
Transport (in British English), or transportation (in American English), is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land (rail and road), water, cable, pipeline, an ...
, designed by
Jock Kinneir
Richard "Jock" Kinneir (11 February 1917 – 23 August 1994) was a British typographer and graphic designer who, with his colleague Margaret Calvert, designed many of the road signs used throughout the United Kingdom, Crown Dependencies, and ...
and
Margaret Calvert
Margaret Vivienne Calvert (born 1936) is a British typographer and graphic designer who, with colleague Jock Kinneir, designed many of the road signs used throughout the United Kingdom, Crown Dependencies, and British Overseas Territories, as we ...
, for aesthetic reasons.
Many of the street signs in the UK including streets in
Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
, use Kindersley fonts. Among his apprentices of this period was his son
Richard Kindersley
Richard Kindersley is a British typeface designer, stone letter carver and sculptor.
Career
Kindersley studied lettering and sculpture at Cambridge School of Art and in the workshop of his father David Kindersley
David Guy Barnabas Kind ...
, who has continued the lettering tradition from his own workshop in London since 1970.
In 1967 Kindersley moved the workshop from Barton to the 14th-century
Chesterton Tower
Chesterton Tower is a Grade I listed medieval tower located in Chapel Street, Chesterton, Cambridge. The two-storey 14th-century tower is the former residence of Italian procurators of the abbot of Vercelli in Italy. It stands in the former vi ...
in Cambridge in 1967 and then, ten years later, to the converted infants' school in Victoria Road where his widow Lida continues to run the workshop and take on apprentices.
[Shaw, ''David Kindersley: His work and workshop'' (1989), pp. 22, 27.]
Kindersley was not formally religious, but had a strongly contemplative side. He had an essentially spiritual view of the workshop and his ideas of wholeness as the integration of home and work was a development of Gill's "cell of good living in the chaos of our world". Kindersley was deeply influenced by the writings of the Russian philosopher
P. D. Ouspensky and for a time a member of the Walker Group, an Ouspenskyist self-help discussion group in London.
His book ''Graphic Sayings'' also shows plates bearing sayings of the
Sufi
Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, ...
mystics
A mystic is a person who practices mysticism, or a reference to a mystery, mystic craft, first hand-experience or the occult.
Mystic may also refer to:
Places United States
* Mistick, an old name for parts of Malden and Medford, Massachusetts
* ...
from the works of the writer
Idries Shah
Idries Shah (; hi, इदरीस शाह, ps, ادريس شاه, ur, ; 16 June 1924 – 23 November 1996), also known as Idris Shah, né Sayed Idries el- Hashimi (Arabic: سيد إدريس هاشمي) and by the pen name Arko ...
.
In January 2000 a memorial plaque designed by Kindersley's widow Lida was unveiled at
Addenbrooke's Hospital
Addenbrooke's Hospital is an internationally renowned large teaching hospital and research centre in Cambridge, England, with strong affiliations to the University of Cambridge. Addenbrooke's Hospital is based on the Cambridge Biomedical Campu ...
, joining more than 20 other plaques and inscriptions created by the Cardozo Kindersley Workshop. The first plaque had commemorated the opening of the new hospital in 1962.
Kindersley's children by his first marriage include
Peter Kindersley, co-founder of
Dorling Kindersley
Dorling Kindersley Limited (branded as DK) is a British multinational publishing company specialising in illustrated reference books for adults and children in 63 languages.
It is part of Penguin Random House, a subsidiary of German media co ...
publishers.
Kindersley's children with his last wife,
Lida Lopes Cardozo Kindersley, include
Hallam Jacob Cardozo Kindersley.
Publications
*David Kindersley (1971). ''Graphic Sayings''. Cambridge: Kindersley & Skelton. No ISBN.
[The book shows plates bearing Sufi sayings from the works of the writer ]Idries Shah
Idries Shah (; hi, इदरीस शाह, ps, ادريس شاه, ur, ; 16 June 1924 – 23 November 1996), also known as Idris Shah, né Sayed Idries el- Hashimi (Arabic: سيد إدريس هاشمي) and by the pen name Arko ...
.
*David Kindersley (1976). ''Optical letter spacing for new printing systems'' Lund Humphries, 2nd Edition.
*David Kindersley and Lida Lopes Cardozo (1981). ''Letters Slate Cut: workshop practice and the making of letters''. London: Lund Humphries. .
See also
*
Eric Gill
Arthur Eric Rowton Gill, (22 February 1882 – 17 November 1940) was an English sculptor, letter cutter, typeface designer, and printmaker. Although the ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' describes Gill as ″the greatest artist-cra ...
*
Lida Lopes Cardozo Kindersley
References
Further reading
*Lottie Hoare, "Kindersley, David Guy Barnabas (1915–1995)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', 2004
*Montague Shaw, ''David Kindersley: His work and workshop'', Cardozo Kindersley Editions, 1989
*Fiona MacCarthy, ''ABC: David Kindersley''. Cambridge: Kettle's Yard Gallery (2000).
*G. W. O. Addleshaw, "Architects, Sculptors, Painters, Craftsmen 1660–1960 Whose Work is to be Seen in York Minster", ''Architectural History'', Vol. 10 (1967).
External links
Cardozo Kindersley Workshop official websiteRichard Kindersley Studio official websiteBBC Feature, 2006
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kindersley, David
1915 births
1995 deaths
British typographers and type designers
Stone carvers
People educated at Marlborough College
People educated at St Cyprian's School
British graphic designers
British conscientious objectors
British letter cutters
20th-century British sculptors
British male sculptors
People from Codicote
Members of the Order of the British Empire
People from South Cambridgeshire District
David
David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...
20th-century British male artists