ANTIQUES 077
Service SILVER
All that glisters is not gold – some of it is in fact silver – and here in the UK we have a long history of silver craftsmanship dating back many centuries
Jennie Buist Brown © Silver Speaks
have turned my attention to the fantastic crop of contemporary silversmiths here in the UK whose work, like the silver makers of old, is now beginning to command high prices. It seems that people are beginning to buy luxury handmade silver items not just to put in a display cabinet but to use in interior decorating, and the traditional skills and heritage of silversmithing are now being used in a different way adopting new technology such as laser cutting and digital design to create wonderful objects for the home. Last September Bonhams’ Decorative Art and Design sale auctioned a number of contemporary silver items which had been especially commissioned for a Victoria and Albert exhibition called Silver Speaks: From Idea to Object, which marked the 20th anniversary of the Contemporary British Silversmiths and showcased the very best of British silver design and craft. Writing in the introduction to the catalogue for the V&A exhibition, Rauni Higson, previous Chair of Contemporary British Silversmiths
A
ntique silver objects still sell very well at auction and continue to be highly sought-after by collectors. However, although I love antique silver, this month I
and herself a distinguished silversmith who is part of this sale, said: “Britain leads the world in the fi eld, and these specially commissioned works demonstrate the exceptional level of creativity and skill in British silversmithing today.”
Twist on tradition
Animus, a sculptured centrepiece by Kevin Grey, which was estimated at £58,000- £62,000, eventually sold in the Bonhams auction for £72,500. In the work Kevin, three-times holder of the prestigious Goldsmiths’ Company Crafts and Design Council award, used cutting edge technology
BRITISH
SILVERSMITHING IS IN VERY SAFE HANDS INDEED
to explore the idea of a continuous revolving thought. He works directly with the material, making no preliminary drawings, but hand- forming strips of silver, laser welding them together and confronting complex technical issues as they arise. Kevin is now based in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter but for 20 years he worked in the automotive industry before, in 2007, enrolling at the Birmingham School of Jewellery. Infl uenced by Scandinavian design, he makes bowls, vessels and sculptures. Visit www.
kevingrey.co.uk Another
contemporary silversmith whose work is worth looking
out for is Clive Burr, who runs a busy workshop in London’s Clerkenwell. Clive has worked as a silversmith for the past 38 years since graduating from the Royal College of Art and has made bowls, clocks, boxes, candlesticks and cups for prestigious clients like the royal family, Liberty & Co, Viners and Thomas Goode. Visit
www.cliveburr.co.uk
Treasures of the future
Other artists to look out for are Nan Nan Liu, originally from China, who now works in London and creates wonderful, wearable jewellery, which refl ects her fascination with the shapes and repetitive patterns in nature (
www.nannanliu. com).
Search too
for the works of Angela Cork, Miriam Hanid and Abigail Brown – three women who are at the forefront of contemporary British silver design. Works by all of these artists are collector’s pieces and sure to become the treasures of the future and demonstrate that British silversmithing is in very safe hands indeed.
• To read more about Britain’s thriving silver making industry, and to view the works of many of the contemporary artists, visit
www.silverspeaks.co.uk
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