The Goldsmiths’ Company has generously offered a room for our AGM, to be held on Friday 1 July. By a stroke of luck attending will provide a great opportunity to see ‘Mindful of Silver’ on show until 16 July. Hector Millar invited Julie Chamberlain to curate the exhibition which shows ‘the journey of a silver vessel’. Arrive early and enjoy this wonderful exhibition, which includes work by several of our members. Read more…
Twenty members managed to clear their diaries to attend an away day in April in the picturesque area of Ironbridge: Read more…
by Rebecca de Quin
On 21st September 2010 the V&A threw open the doors of the Sackler Centre art room to the public, to view silversmiths in action. The drop-in event, entitled ‘Whizz, Bang!’ was one of the many events hosted by the V&A for the London Design Festival.
Contemporary British Silversmiths chairman Mary Ann Simmons and Christopher English, director of the Silver Trust (pictured) worked in Collaboration with the V&A to install a collection of silver work representing both organisations in showcases in the Sackler Centre. The demonstration day was conceived as a complementary event and was subsequently organised and run by Contemporary British Silversmith members Pete Musson, Max Warren and Rebecca de Quinn. The aim was to expand public understanding of silversmithing practice, and in so doing, add to the experience of viewing the fabulous collections of Contemporary British Silversmiths work and that from the Silver Trust’s Downing Street Collection. Tools and equipment were generously lent by Prof. Hans Stofer from the department of Goldsmithing, Silversmithing, Metalwork and Jewellery at the Royal College of Art, a stone’s throw away from the V&A, and transported by us from the forth floor of the college to Brompton Road. This was no mean feat as the kit included three tree trunks, bench tops, gas bottles and several extremely heavy stakes. Bullion was supplied by Argex, who then took it back as scrap after the event.
We set up three stations in the art room to demonstrate raising a bowl, forging a spoon and scoring a box, and ran a loop of the images from the Contemporary British Silversmiths website on a large plasma screen. During the day we received approximately one hundred and fifty visitors, many of whom had a go at raising, forging or both. The interest was terrific and we were able to make the whole experience really meaningful for our audience by referring to the pieces on display in relation to the practical process on view. It was great to hear positive comments from folks who had struck some hammer blows and were then shown a raised or forged piece in the showcases.
We all agreed it was a really worthwhile event and that Contemporary British Silversmiths could consider doing this again perhaps at another venue to coincide with a display of work. It really does bring the silver alive for people when they see how it’s done and in terms of marketing, anything that showcases skill and craftsmanship is a very good thing.
Everyday in the workshop silversmiths sit surrounded by the tools of their trade. Each tool is particular to its user, familiar in its weight and feel, some tools do a specific job some are multi functional, but which one does the silversmith reach for time and again and would dare to call it a favourite?
By Martin Keane, introduction by Mary Ann Simmons
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Martin Keane was our Design in Silver Award 2009 recipient and proved himself more than worthy of the judge’s choice. He is moving from strength to strength showing a dedication that is sometimes breathtaking in its speed. He has had a busy year at Bishopsland where he is about to complete his study. He opted to use his award to make a piece of work and in spite of two very hectic schedules Martin and Howard Fenn managed to find time to be student and instructor for a work experience placement that Martin says has dramatically enhanced his skills. Read more…
By Shona Marsh
New Designers, the annual graduate degree show, provides the opportunity of viewing, under one roof, the budding applied artist; the talent, the trends and, more importantly the state of the many applied arts courses from around the UK. Shona Marsh offers her view on this year’s exhibition noting that silversmithing seems to be coming under particular pressure. Read more…
By Clare Ransom
A few weeks ago, I paid a visit to the library at Goldsmiths’ Hall in London. During my degree course I had heard about the library as a place for research and a source of images and resources. Although I have often visited the Assay Office round the back of the building, and been to various events in the Hall, I hadn’t actually crossed the threshold of the library until an invitation to pop in was given during Goldsmiths’ Fair last autumn. However this visit was cut short before I’d really begun when, embarrassingly, my mobile phone disturbed the peace and I had to make a speedy exit – the perils of leaving one’s stand unattended!
A month or two later I arranged to make a proper visit. I was travelling up to London with some Hallmarking to do and had some time to spare. Eleni Bide showed me round.
By Phil Jordan
Contemporary British Silversmith Award
I recently completed a short 3-day course with Ndidi Ekubia at her workshop in Cockpit Arts, Deptford. The course was paid for by the award from the Contemporary British Silversmiths that I won at New Designers 2008. This money also allowed me to receive some silver with which to work whilst on the course.
In 2007 members of the association undertook a review of the structure and potential of our organisation. Through a series of ‘away days’ we worked with designer and consultant Tory Dunn, spoke with PR expert David McDonough, commissioned a Business Strategy Plan with Alex Murdin and invited Rupert Hambro to become our Patron.
By Shona Marsh
Taking place on the 3rd to 6th July, New Designers showcased recent graduates from the country’s jewellery and silversmithing courses.
On first impressions the overwhelming ratio of jewellers to silversmiths is, as always, a little disappointing but once I started mingling amongst the show cases I was more than happy with the quality and imagination of the silversmiths that were there. Not only was the work interesting but the graduates were approachable, friendly and quite vocal about their work, and this will stand them in good stead in the future. Read more…
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