Small is beautiful

Shortly after the dinosaurs were wiped out, the older Nethertons packed their flared Wrangler jeans and headed off to university. One of us would study product design, while the other read business administration. Years later our worlds collided and here we are, sharing our knowledge and talents to build Netherton Foundry.

One of the business course texts was the recently published Small Is Beautiful: A Study of Economics As If People Mattered, a collection of essays by German-born British economist E.F.Schumacher. The title "Small Is Beautiful" came from a principle espoused by Schumacher's teacher Leopold Kohr, who maintained that small, appropriate technologies offer a superior alternative to the mainstream ethos of "bigger is better". Meanwhile, over on the creative side, the philosophy of Dieter Rams was impacting the underlying framework of future Netherton designs. Rams’ unobtrusive approach and belief in "less, but better" design has influenced the practice of design, as well as 20th century aesthetics and culture. He is quoted as stating that "Indifference towards people and the reality in which they live is actually the one and only cardinal sin in design."

These ideas resonate even more now than they were back then. And they lie at the heart of all that we do. We are not mass producers, each item we make passes through the hands of our small team, each adding their own skill into the mix. There are human hands and human voices within the workshop walls.

And to neatly illustrate a combination of these two strands, I can think of no better example than our range of small pans. Small is indeed beautiful, but it can be extremely useful too. We can think of all manner of reasons for having some smaller pans in your kitchen; you may be cooking for just one or two people, perhaps you like entertaining and putting an array of different and delicious dishes on the table; perfect for introducing children to the joys of cooking; smaller portions, less waste; small pans fit compact storage spaces better than large pans; they are undoubtedly and unquestionably the cutest pans you will ever own. So, they will suit small households, small portions, small children and small cupboards!

So which pans can you choose from if you are thinking small?