The Rag and Bone Man

Published for Hoffmann & Campe for BAUHAUS passt!

Photographs by Olivier Hess • olivierhess.com

For Paul Firbank, rummaging through scrap yards, flea markets and secondhand shops, is pure passion. Such is his sharp eye for high tech components and "interesting" pieces of metal, that visitors to his workshop in Margate can't fail to be amazed at the wealth of treasures he has unearthed over time. There are aircraft engines. Pieces of Rolls Royce-jet engines from the 1920s. Stacks of fire alarms. Valves and cylinder heads of motorcycles and other discarded machine parts. Ancient jacks, oil- and beer barrels. Sheet metal in different sizes. The gigantic front wheel of a Boeing 747. "I bought 23 of those, when the regional airport closed down in 2014", he comments proudly.

As the brain adjusts, a range of reconstructed pieces come into focus. A Lycoming R-680-cylinder radial engine is now a chandelier. Fire alarms and racing car components have become hanging lamps. The frame of a coffee table is made of Landrover brake discs and camshafts. Wall clocks were once upon a time the window frames and hull of a discontinued Airbus. These bespoke pieces are contemporary classics: the products of great inventiveness, solid craftsmanship and sound understanding of technology. And they are testament to the sort of passion that does not give a thought as to how commercially successful any of this might be.

"Industrial Chic at it's Authentic Best", commented the Financial Times. "Orderly chaos" is how Paul Firbank calls the assorted jumble in his workshop. "Its 167 square metres are just big enough to be a playground for one person", he says, smiling. "For me, all this is like a big Lego construction set". Before he asks his guest to sit down he wipes off a green leather sofa. :If you touch anything in here, you will look like a chimney sweep in no time". He settles on a beam trolley on which he has erected a connecting rod and a vintage tractor seat. "To make this was very simple. It didn't take long at all.

Paul Firbank was born in 1987 and grew up in East London. Just like the objects he works on, his autobiography reads like a continuous reinvention. "I have tried a lot of things throughout the years", he confirms. After his school days he lasted just six months at an art academy in Buckinghamshire. "Academic life isn't really me", he comments wryly. Nor was training to become a plumber. Sometimes overlapping, this was followed by courses in welding, WIG-welding of aluminium, plastering, mechanical engineering, training to be a tattooist. He points to the tattoos on his right arm. "These are Tikis", he explains. "Polynesian semi-gods who symbolise protection". The only constant in his life proved to be his love for motorbikes which he retrofitted constantly. "That is how I discovered the pleasure I get out of working with metal. And how much I love looking for spare parts in markets and scrap metal yards".

In 2006 Paul Firbank met his wife, the artist Lizzie Gosling, and through her contacts he started to produce a range of aluminium picture frames for prestigious galleries and a number of famous artists, Damien Hirst among them. Together with Lizzie he also developed the idea to design lamps from scrap metal. He launched them at "Tent London 2011" as part of the London Design Festival, under his firm's name "The Rag and Bone Man". "You are on to something", Lizzie said when his 30 lamps sold out in two days.

Lizzie was right. Their success at Tent London brought a growing list of new customers, among them the celebrated chefs Fergus Henderson and Nuno Mendes who commissioned Paul Firbank with the design of lamps and bar stools. The Singapore entrepreneur Loh Lik Peng, owner of the boutique hotel group "Unlisted Collection", kept him busy for an entire year. Other clients included the beverage company "Monster Energy" and the motorcycle event company "Motocross World" for which he designed trophies.

In 2014 Paul Firbank and Lizzie Gossling upended their lives in London and moved to Margate. They have never looked back. "This town is like a rough diamond to me", says Firbank. "First of all, it is wonderful to live by the sea. Then, the secondhand shops here are out of this world". Nowadays, he adds, he doesn't have much time for rummaging. Instead, he directly targets components for his commissions while his wife looks after the marketing side of the flourishing business. "We are the ideal partnership", says Firbank, smiling broadly. "It just works beautifully",

How did the firm get its name "The Rag and Bone Man"? "Don't confuse it with the Blues- and Soul Singer of the same name", answers Firbank. "Well, dealing with scrap is the oldest trade in the world; the Romans melted their bronze statues to make new knives, bowls and weapons". In 1588 Elizabeth I granted street boys the privilege to collect scraps of fabric to make them into paper. "And that", concludes Firbank, "is how Rang and Bone Men came to be. They went from street to street to gather old textiles and later metal scraps and all kinds of junk, selling them on to merchants".

The trade declined during the second half of the 20th century but has increased in popularity again in recent years. "Only logical, since it is the answer to our growing problem with waste:, is Paul Firbank's view on this."For example, steel can be recycled without loss of quality. To me, it is also important to preserve age-old techniques - to re-energise them and contribute to sustainable living". He points to one of his his many treasures - the jet engine of a de Havilland Goblin from the 1940s. "It is so well constructed, like the engine of a spaceship. Why would one dispose of such a masterpiece". He shakes his head in disbelief. "This engine began in the head of a designer who then transferred it to paper, before we had computers. Sadly, this creativity has largely been lost".

He leads to another corner of his workshop - to a fairground carousel from the 1920s,with seats shaped like bananas. What is he planning to do with this? "Probably nothing. Is is simply a beautiful object".