The Mastermind Trophy

1972 - CT60. The world famous BBC Mastermind Trophy designed by Denis Mann in 1972 and engraved by him since then.

Denis Mann wrote "The Mastermind bowl was the first piece of glassware I designed that was actually produced so is very dear to me. Usually we made the drawings and passed them over to Paul Niwa who made a wooden mould, if that looked O.K. the communication with the actual mouldmakers was left to the glass blowing side. That did not always turn out as expected so for this one I took care of all the commucation myself."

Back in the eary seventies David Gulland and Denis Mann decided that Caithness Glass should have a few new shapes, primarily for copper wheel engraving. Among them Denis Mann designed the one used for the Mastermind trophies. It was meant to be used for general engraving use but the very first use made of it was when Denis Mann produced the very first Mastermind Trophy.

The example shown is an early design. Each year the engraving design is varied in some way. Also showing the 1974 design.

The late Bill Wright who devised the Mastermind programme stemming from interrogation he had himself undergone during the war. On a visit to Caithness Glass he saw wheel engraving and decided it was exactly what he wanted for a trophy; he had in fact been looking for something different that was not made of silver. The bowl design itself proved to be very popular and CG made many thousands of them. They decided to make smaller versions and it was also used cut-down in size and with colour additions.

n.b. ERRATA In the book "Scotland's Glass - 400 Years of Glassmaking, 1610-2010" by Shiona Airlie and Brian Blench. There is an error in the text and caption on page 57 regarding the Mastermind trophy. Colin Terris had no part in the design or execution of the Mastermind Trophy.