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Tin LO RES WEB SITE .jpg
Tin WE BITE.jpg
Tin LO RES WEB SITE .jpg

The Tin Can

from £395.00

The tin food can is widely considered one of the most important industrial designs in human history. While it lacks the aesthetic glamour of fashion or architecture, it fundamentally reshaped global geopolitics, urban planning, nutrition, and environmental sustainability. It is a masterpiece of utilitarian design where form perfectly matches an essential human function: survival.

Size:

The tin food can is widely considered one of the most important industrial designs in human history. While it lacks the aesthetic glamour of fashion or architecture, it fundamentally reshaped global geopolitics, urban planning, nutrition, and environmental sustainability. It is a masterpiece of utilitarian design where form perfectly matches an essential human function: survival.

THE ICON:

In 1795 Napoleon Bonaparte offered a massive cash prize to anyone who could invent a way to preserve military rations.

Before the tin can, armies were limited by how far they could march before their food ran out or decayed.

Peter Durand patented the tin-plated iron design in 1810, enabling long-range naval expeditions to all corners of the globe, expanding of the British Empire, and supplying nourishment to the military forces.

The tin can prevented urban starvation and malnutrition during the Industrial Revolution with millions of people packed into cities without access to farmland.

The universal modern can is a highly evolved design. The ribs prevent the can from imploding during high-pressure cooking. The top and bottom rims are designed to interlock, allowing supermarkets to stack them high and safely.

From an environmental perspective, tin-plated steel is one of the most successful sustainable materials with 65% of all cans recycled.

In 1962, artist Andy Warhol cemented its status as a cultural icon of mass production, commercialism, and modern design with his famous Campbell's Soup Cans exhibition.

The Print:

Every ICONICA EDITIONS print is a museum-grade fine art giclée, printed on archival 100% cotton rag paper for unparalleled longevity and a beautifully matte, texture-rich finish. The 12×16-inch prints are presented in a protective white display box, ready to frame. Larger sizes are presented in a tube.

BESPOKE REQUESTS:

All Iconica Edition prints are available in larger sizes, if you would like to discuss a bespoke print size, please complete the form: