An Ivor Novello Award

An Ivor Novello Award Statuette

As each recipient of an Ivor Novello Award will know, the treasured solid bronze statuette they’re clutching is highly original, although few know about its origins and how it’s made. Named after Welsh composer and actor Ivor Novello, it rewards British and Irish talents in songwriting and musical composition. First presented by the Songwriters Guild of Great Britain at a televised ceremony held at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London in 1956, the statuette in its original form is still presented at the Academy’s two award ceremonies, The Ivors and The Ivors Composer Awards.

The finely crafted statuette – created in 1955 by Hazel Underwood, a spirited student at St Martin’s School of Art, London – distils the awards’ values of creativity and craftsmanship. The mysterious female figure singing from a songbook is Euterpe, Greek muse of singing and lyric poetry. Its expressive, textured surface may have been inspired by the work of Elizabeth Frink, who taught sculpture at St Martin’s School of Art.

Underwood oversaw production of the statuettes for a few years. At one point, they were made by metal foundry Corvic, which was taken over by Mike Wilson in 1974; he renamed it Meltcharm Ltd in 1984. Today, they’re cast at specialist foundry Investacast in Ilfracombe, and have been hand-finished by Mike since 1975. Their brass name plates have been engraved by the same engraver since then, too.

The statuettes were sand-cast at the time. In 2005, the Academy asked Mike to revert to the original investment casting (or lost-wax casting) process. To facilitate this, Mike met Underwood through a mutual contact. The exacting sculptor wasn’t happy with the surface detailing of the sand-cast statuette she was originally shown, but she gave the nod for one lent by Sir John Dankworth (presented to him in 1957) to be used as a master pattern.

At his workshop in Gloucestershire, Mike now gives each statuette its antique bronze finish and attaches the wooden base and engraved brass name plate to it. Each completed statuette weighs 5lb, 3oz. ‘I usually commission around 60 statuettes each year,’ he says. ‘The number can vary, as sometimes several collaborating songwriters are joint-winners. Outside the Academy, only the engraver and me know the winners’ names.’

He is proud of the fact that the statuettes are cast and hand-finished in the UK: ‘In their acceptance speeches, winners often say they value their Ivor Novello Award above all others. Each one is unique and its weight enhances its quality.’

DOMINIC LUTYENS