About Maggie

This author has not yet filled in any details.
So far Maggie has created 66 blog entries.

Silver Studies, the Journal of the Silver Society, No 39 (2023) Out Now!

  £35.00 Click here to buy now.   No 39 -2023 BRUCE JONES The de Lamerie Family Finances Explained EMMA BASHFORTH, WELDA LAJEAN CHAFFIN and JESSICA COLLINS Female Apprentices, Freewomen and Mistresses of the Goldsmiths’ Company 1578-1800 WILLIAM IRVINE FORTESCUE The Ledgers of John Rollo, Edinburgh Goldsmith of the Eighteenth Century FRANCES PARTON Commissioning the Cross of Wales DORA THORNTON A Footnote to the Coronation KAROLINA STEFANSKI A Vermeil Tureen and Cover LUKE SCHRAGER The Westminster Magistrates’ Spoons SEBASTIAN BOHR The Mysterious Goldsmith with the mark F S over S JULIAN SINGER Milne & Campbell: Goldsmiths of Glasgow JOHN HAWKINS Of Cannons and Coquilla Nuts, Cups and Siamese Kings TIMOTHY KENT ‘Decent Communion Cups’ -A National Campaign GALE GLYNN A Trinity of Recoveries CHARISSA BREMER-DAVID The Silver Society Study Trip to Lisbon THE SILVER SOCIETY PRIZE FOR SILVERSMITHING 2023 BOOK REVIEWS Peter Fuhring, The French Silverware in the Calouste Gulbenkian Collection Vanessa Brett, Knick-Knackery. The Deards Family & Their Luxury Shops 7 685-7 785 [Read More]

Silver Studies, the Journal of the Silver Society, No 39 (2023) Out Now!2024-06-18T09:32:47+01:00

Knick-knackery: The Deards’ family and their luxury shops (1685-1785)

An invaluable reference work for those interested in the luxury trades, the history of shopping and collecting and more broadly in the social history of the Stuart and Georgian eras. The book combines deep scholarship with an accessible and engaging style and a richness of photographic content appropriate to the subject. More details can be found at this link where the book can also be bought. https://www.vanessabrett.co.uk/

Knick-knackery: The Deards’ family and their luxury shops (1685-1785)2024-06-18T15:08:51+01:00

The Silver Society Prize for Silversmithing 2022

Silver Society Prize THE SILVER SOCIETY PRIZE  FOR SILVERSMITHING 2022   WE ARE VERY PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE THAT THE WINNER IS CAIYANG YIN for his SCREAM BOX The Scream Box, made in fine silver and sterling silver and marked for 2022, is the first piece of silverware, as opposed to jewellery, that Caiyang has made. The cover of the handmade box involved chasing and repoussé work.   The judges said: we were very impressed with Caiyang’s silver Scream Box, it is a very contemporary design and it has great originality. The square silver box decorated with a man’s emotional face, has a highly sculptural aesthetic and demonstrates a unique style.  To make a square box is one of the most basic silversmithing skills, but it is challenging to achieve, requiring great accuracy and control. Caiyang’s box is very professionally made and extremely well finished.  The box can be seen in this video https://youtu.be/vxPH8faCj0Q and other examples of Caiyang’s work can be seen on his website [Read More]

The Silver Society Prize for Silversmithing 20222023-02-13T19:58:57+00:00

The Silver Society Prize for Silversmithing 2021

In 2021 we were, once again required, to run the Silver Society Prize for Silversmithing virtually and it has been decided that we will continue to use this method as it enables more craftspeople, including those from overseas, to submit entries.  Once again we had a good number of entrants, whose submissions were of a very high standard, original, very varied and intriguing.  The parameters of the Prize were slightly changed so that, rather than being open only to silversmiths under thirty-five, we could include those who were older than this but still in their first five years of working as a practicing silversmith.  This enabled entrants who have come late to the craft to apply.   Rauni Higson and Clive Burr very kindly agreed to judge the Prize and they settled on Rebecca Oldfield at the winner with her Iris Wall Sconce. They felt she was a worth winner because   Rebecca’s presentation was detailed, clear, and impressively professional.  The research and development that went [Read More]

The Silver Society Prize for Silversmithing 20212023-02-13T19:56:07+00:00

The Silver Society Prize for Silversmithing 2020

Initially, because Goldsmiths North 2020 was cancelled due to Covid, the committee of the Silver Society was not sure that it was going to be able to award its annual Silversmithing Prize given to the best young silversmith exhibiting at the show but, after discussion, the decision was made to run the competition virtually.  Entrants were asked to make their submission online either as a video or a portfolio of a specially made, or a pre-existing piece of silver.  We asked that the submission should include images of the piece, a description of its manufacture and the hallmarks as well as design drawings and a commentary on the sources of inspiration.  The award was made at the end of 2020: too late for it to be announced in the Silver Society Journal for that year.   In the end twenty-four entries of a very high standard were submitted and, because the competition was run virtually, we had entries from Europe and the United States as well [Read More]

The Silver Society Prize for Silversmithing 20202023-02-13T19:55:24+00:00

Touchstone, Trade & Transgression – By Robert Grice

This hardback informative reference book is for those interested in fraud relating to silverware and precious metals, and tells the story of the enforcement of hallmarking legislation. The story of hallmarking is told from a unique perspective, through historical facts, literature, poetry, prose, film, and song. The book is comprised of: 628 pages. 149 photographs. a schedule of historical milestones regarding hallmarking. detailed coverage of some specific prosecution cases. a comprehensive index of more than 600 court cases. The book is £35 and the link to their website is https://www.hswalsh.com/product/touchstone-trade-and-transgression-by-robert-grice-tb1700

Touchstone, Trade & Transgression – By Robert Grice2023-02-08T10:36:03+00:00

New website launched

The Silver Society has been working on a new website since the middle of last year and we are delighted to have now launched it from February. We hope you like it. Do please contact us if you have any comments or suggestions. The intention is that this new site will be easier to use and better convey the authority and status of the Society. The new site also now hosts the archive of all the Silver Society Journals up to 2019. These have been digitised and are in a searchable database which we think will be a major resource for all those researching silver in the future. We plan to further develop and enrich the site during 2023.

New website launched2023-02-08T13:20:41+00:00

The Silver Society Prize For Silversmithing 2022

We are very please to announce the winner is CAIYANG YIN for his Scream Box The Scream Box, made in fine silver and sterling silver and marked for 2022, is the first piece of silverware, as opposed to jewellery, that Caiyang has made. The cover of the handmade box involved chasing and repoussé work. Scream Box by Caiyang Yin The judges said: we were very impressed with Caiyang’s silver Scream Box, it is a very contemporary design and it has great originality. The square silver box decorated with a man’s emotional face, has a highly sculptural aesthetic and demonstrates a unique style. To make a square box is one of the most basic silversmithing skills, but it is challenging to achieve, requiring great accuracy and control. Caiyang’s box is very professionally made and extremely well finished. The box can be seen in this video https://youtu.be/vxPH8faCj0Q and other examples of Caiyang’s work can be seen on his website https://www.ycyjewel.com/ Caiyang, who trained in the design [Read More]

The Silver Society Prize For Silversmithing 20222024-06-12T12:47:16+01:00

Silver Society Visit To Mount Stuart, Isle Of Bute

6 October 2022 Despite complications caused by rail strikes, a small group made it to Mount Stuart, the extraordinary house designed for the 3rd Marquess of Bute by Robert Rowand Anderson, the interiors of which were in fact never completed after the death of the Marquess. The morning was taken up with a tour of the house, with its views across the Clyde although somewhat shrouded in rain clouds, with its myriad interior details such as the door furniture, light fittings and tapestries, as well as a fine display of Scottish eighteenth-century silver in the dining room. The interiors were enhanced at a later date by carefully considered additions to some of the decorative schemes made by 6th Marquess of Bute. Cover of Lord Bute’s water bottle, London, 1880, by Jess Barkentin and Carl Krall, silver-gilt and enamel In the afternoon we were given a tour by Jessica Insley, Curator of the collections, of the small but remarkable exhibition Fantasy to Fabrication, 19th [Read More]

Silver Society Visit To Mount Stuart, Isle Of Bute2024-09-25T11:37:33+01:00

Visit to the silver collection of the a London Company – 24 October 2022

The visit was attended by seventeen members. On arrival at the Hall we were greeted by the Beadle, who gave us an introduction to the history of the Company and some of its treasures. Following the Civil War and the Fire of London which destroyed the first Hall, the Company embarked on a policy of replacing silver which had been sequestered during the Civil War and those pieces destroyed in the fire by purchasing silver and encouraging their members to donate plate to the Company. We were able to handle a large number of wonderful 18th and 19th century objects.  A modern highlight included a most unusual silver fair ground centre piece with eight horses which turns on a smooth axis, commissioned in 1989 by the Master from Sarah Silver.

Visit to the silver collection of the a London Company – 24 October 20222024-09-25T11:32:42+01:00
Go to Top