You don’t have to work at Sarum Hydraulics to appreciate innovative design when you see it. As our recent visit to the V&A’s seminal tribute to late designer Alexander McQueen proves, exquisite design comes in many shapes and forms. Sarum Hydraulics experiences the intricate complexity of couture design at Savage Beauty.

 

A Cabinet of Curiosities is a strange and peculiar thing. As great fans of the Woolley and Wallis Auction House in Salisbury, at Sarum Hydraulics we are fascinated by antiques and when we recently spotted a Cabinet of Curiosities come up for sale, our attention was piqued. Adored by morbid Victorians, these Wunderkammers, or “Rooms of Wonder” were infamous for housing some of the world’s weirdest and most wonderful objects.

 

For a decidedly modern take on a Victorian classic, try the centrepiece of the Alexander McQueen Exhibition “Savage Beauty”, currently at the V&A Museum in London. This fantastic space, which borrows its layout from Wunderkammers of yore and is aptly named “Cabinet of Curiosities” hosts a visually overwhelming display of McQueen’s life work, beautifully composed and eerily lit. The V&A have curated the exhibition perfectly, and its starkness showcases McQueen’s extensive catalogue in a dreamlike state of suspended reality. Unsurprisingly, it has proven to be one of the museum’s most popular exhibitions to date and due to unprecedented demand for viewings the V&A has extended opening hours to 24 hours a day, seven days a week ahead of the exhibition closure on August 2nd.

 

 

At Sarum Hydraulics, we are not surprised at the installation’s success. What an incredible idea to display and do justice to such an extensive canvas of his work, and we truly believe McQueen would be proud of the stunning result. The exhibition certainly deserves its blockbuster status, but if you want to see it, do hurry as it closes this Sunday.

 

 

 

The exhibition left us wondering what we at Sarum Hydraulics would put in our own Cabinet of Hydraulic Curiosities.  If beautiful design and masterful execution is in order, we can think of plenty of hydraulics that fit the bill.

First off has to be the Bieri miniature piston pump. These beautifully made Swiss pumps run to 700 bar and some are truly minute. They really are lovely work, and so impressive for something so tiny.

Paladon’s offshore control system would also receive a spot in our hydraulic cabinet. Paladon’s offering is a true masterpiece of control engineering and we are inclined to believe that it can be improved only by the addition of a Micropac Stainless Hand Pump to the system.

Another spot is reserved for the must-have kit for any state of the art super yacht; Hydromar’s hydraulic super-yacht deck crane. Marine hydraulics at their best, and really rather slick.

And last but by no means least is our own masterpiece, a Micropac MW Series 316 Stainless Hand Pump. Designed and executed for reliability in extreme environments, no cabinet of hydraulic curiosities (or indeed hydraulic power system) would be complete without it.

Beautifully designed and superbly executed, Alexander McQueen showed the world true craftsmanship and engineering in his exquisite couture. From his Cabinet of Curiosities to our own hydraulic Wunderkammer, Sarum Hydraulics knows precision and beauty when we see it.