The Enamel Panels

The Enamel Panels at Cloister Walk in St Katherine’s Dock form a large-scale installation comprising 15 monumental sets of enamelled panels, each approximately 3.5 metres high, by Dale Devereux Barker, a renowned British painter, printmaker and enameller.

The installation has been specifically designed with the history of St Katarine Docks in mind. The panels feature abstract and semi-figurative motifs — such as fish, vases and fruit — which allude to the goods that were once unloaded at the docks. Devereux Barker created the installation by fusing coloured glass onto a steel surface at high temperatures (around 760 °C), creating a permanent, glass-like finish.

The project was realised in 1997 and 1998 during the large-scale redevelopment of the docklands area on the Thames. It was commissioned, funded and carried out by the property developer Taylor Woodrow Properties and the international law firm Clifford Chance, who sought to introduce a contemporary cultural element to the historic public space of Cloister’s Walk.