Visual Arts

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Is it a massive metal recreation of a piece of pottery sporting an impression of the largest fingerprint in the world? Go on. Take a wild guess...

The Shard is a massive sculpture created by Peterborough-based specialist metal working company, Midas Technologies, and it's just been delivered to the Potteries of Stoke-on-Trent where it will take pride of place in the redeveloped area of Tunstall.

Shard in Tunstall (artist's impression)

So, what exactly is The Shard, apart from jolly big? (It's the size of two double-decker buses!) Well, the brainchild of renowned sculptor, Robert Erskine, this shiny, bright jumbo sculpture is based on a piece of broken pottery - yep, that's a 'shard' - which was recovered from the remains of the Wedgewood pottery factory in Stoke.

What makes this particular piece of broken pot so special that it warrants being turned into a 25ft x 23ft, six tonne work of public art and carted halfway across the country?

Well, art is often in the eye of the beholder, but The Shard's recipient town has a rich heritage when it comes to the pottery industry, so what better way to celebrate that, than with a giant replica shard? And this particular piece of pottery came complete with a fingerprint which is believed to be hundreds of years old. It is this fingerprint which makes The Shard such a stunning piece of sculpture.

Lowering the Shard in Peterborough

Midas's engineers enlarged the pottery fragment by 250 times to make this work of stainless steel art. The fingerprint was scanned, enlarged and sent to a computer-controlled laser cutting machine. It's now believed to be the largest fingerprint in the world constructed from stainless steel or anything else, for that matter.

In reply to criticism aimed at both the sculpture and Midas Technologies, the artist Robert Erskine wrote in the Peterborough Evening Telegraph: "My sculpture pushes the standard boundaries of metal manipulation practice, and Midas craftsmen are experts in this field in understanding my ideas."

Engineers at Midas are no strangers to creating public works of art in steel and have collaborated with Erskine in the past, working on elements of the London Eye. And yes, they're really quite good at making really big things in metal. And The Shard bears testament to their skill and creativity.

Artist's impression of the fingerprint

The Shard - which was designed in two pieces and had to be constructed in Midas's courtyard as it was too tall for their factory - made its way from Peterborough to its new home outside Tunstall's retail park in Stoke accompanied by a police escort - it's so large that it took up two lanes of the A14 and M6 on its slow journey to The Potteries.

And now it's taking its place as a permanent reminder of Stoke's historic pottery industry. Let's hope it lasts as long as the original shard which was its inspiration!