Linda Barnes & Gordon Hamme have collaborated on writing the life story of the world class enameller Phil Barnes. Barnes had always intended to publish an account of life in the workshop not only as a personal history but as an important social history of the jewellery trade. The text includes his written record and information transcribed from a series of interviews he recorded with Gordon for his PhD. Phil Barnes began his enamelling career in 1967, at the age of fifteen, following in his father’s footsteps. He completed his apprenticeship with his father’s company in 1971, winning the coveted Jaques Cartier “Craftsman of the Year” Memorial Award in the same year. He went on to become a working partner in the business and later set up his own workshop in Clapham, London following his father’s retirement in 1983. The book is a record of Phil Barnes’ working life and career, a master in the art of engraving and enamelling, which is richly illustrated [Read More]

Irish silver, for long renowned among collectors and connoisseurs, is increasingly being considered as an aspect of the material world of the past. Its making, acquisition and use tells much about past attitudes and behaviour. At the same time, careful examination of surviving articles not only adds to appreciation of the design and craftsmanship but also to Ireland’s participation in international fashions.This volume, with new research by established and emerging scholars from Ireland and the UK, advances the study across a broad range of themes.The contributions examine the circumstances in which silver objects were made, sold, valued and dispersed in Georgian Ireland. It considers specialized branches of the trade including the production of freedom boxes and jewellery, the sourcing of metals and materials, the value of inventories as evidence and regional patterns and preferences. This book builds on recent literature on the history of silver, second-hand markets, guilds and luxury goods, to recover and reconsider Ireland’s silversmithing. Alison FitzGerald is Associate Professor in History at [Read More]

By the time of his death, Henry VIII had amassed one of the most spectacular collections of gold and silver of any British monarch. But nearly all of these holdings were destroyed over the following century, and no more than a handful have survived to modern times. This book makes use of the wealth of surviving documentation to explore this lost collection and the light it sheds on the monarchy. For full details please follow this link. This scholarly and lavishly illustrated book is available at £45 or $80. But please consult the publisher’s website for special offers.

ISBN 978-87-90975-31-9. Publisher contact adh.vhs@gmail.com. 640 pages divided into two volumes covered with beautiful photographs of all 400 objects and delivered in a hard cassette. £80 plus postage. The book covers an essential part of Niels Arthur Andersen’s private silver collection with particular emphasis on the provenance of each object.  A group of four Danish scientists have written about each of their areas of expertise in silver.  All articles have been translated into English.

Birmingham City University. £5 e-book. This publication critically explores the revival of British fine metalwork by designer-makers since roughly the 1970s. It demonstrates many strengths: the increase in that period in the number of practitioners, the creative use of a wider range of metals, the supplementing of traditional techniques with newer ones, design innovation and a wide range of products, with much emphasis on art objects; all of that, taken together, has transformed the craft. This success has been underpinned by a number of supports: government initiatives, assay offices, livery companies, professional associations, exhibitions and education, though there are increasing concerns about the availability of funding for craft teaching. That, and pressures created by periods of economic difficulty, offer challenges to a craft which is expensive, and raise anxieties about the future. But over the period covered by the book, Britain has re-established fine metalwork and has earned itself a strong international reputation. The book is substantial, scholarly and attractive. It contains roughly 70,000 [Read More]

ISBN 9781872212098. 36th Edition. £25.00 for the special edition and £15.00 for the standard edition (plus £3.00 postage and packing per book). Discounts are available on orders over 100 copies. A donation from the sale of each book will go to Mary Parsons Charity for retired silversmiths. This new edition marks the 245th anniversary of the Sheffield Assay Office. This unique little pocket-sized reference book is of great value, providing you with the marks of origin on English, Scottish and Irish silver, gold, platinum and palladium, and on foreign imported silver and gold plate. There are updates on the amendments to the Hallmarking Act 1973. It also includes details of further marks that appear on precious metals until 2023. To obtain a copy, please ring 01142 318152, Click to Email, or write to the Editor and Publisher, Sheffield Assay Office, Guardians’ Hall, Beulah Road, Hillsborough, S6 2AN.

Hardback, 297 x 210 mm, 88 pages, ISBN 978-0-646-99639-4.  £45 (Silver Society members £ 35), Air Mail postage ex Australia £25.  Available from jolyonwjames@gmail.com From the records of the Sydney Hall Mark Co and the Commonwealth of Australia Hall Mark Co, 1923 to 1928. It is not widely known that Australia had a hallmarking system. Reference is briefly made in J.P. de Castro’s work: The Law and practice of Hallmarking Gold and Silver wares and in a few specialised texts on Australian jewellery. Now published, for the first time, is the archival material giving the background to the operations and workings, of Australia’s short-lived hallmarking system, and the marks used by the gold and silversmiths. The archive consists of 43 registration forms, some loose correspondence, and 20 silver plates on which are stamped the maker’s marks. The correspondence is very illuminating. It includes a formal letter to the Commonwealth statistician outlining the Company’s background, formation, name change and marking system. A lengthy letter from [Read More]

 Yale University Press, 2018.  £40.  ISBN 978-0300232998. A beautifully illustrated look at how Georg Jensen pushed the boundaries of modern domestic design.  In 1904 Danish silversmith Georg Jensen (1866-1935) founded one of the world’s most celebrated design companies.

ISBN 9781848222915, 160pp, hardback, £30.00 The book reveals a great untold story of enterprise and innovation based on the relationship between the Victoria and Albert Museum and Elkington & Co. Elkington played a crucial role in shaping and building the V&A’s permanent collection from its foundations in 1852 until the First World War . The great success of their relationship cemented both the museum’s status as a leading cultural institution and the Elkington & Co makers’ mark as one of the world’s first truly multinational designer brands.

ISBN 9780950548869, 106pp, full colour, hardback, €25.00 available from Four Courts Press, 7 Malpas Street, Dublin 8, Ireland. info@fourcourtspress. The history of Dublin’s goldsmiths is described in this important book, which charts the history of the Dublin Company of Goldsmiths from the Middle Ages to the present. It demonstrates the close link between the guild and the city and shows howthe Company adapted to changing circumstances to maintain relevance in the modern era. Granted a royal charter by CharlesI in 1637, the Company is the only survivor of the Dublin trade guilds. It has however a much longer and earlier history as the Goldsmiths’ guild took part in the late 15th century Corpus Christi pageant and goldsmiths are recorded in Dublin backto the late 12th century. The Company was involved in civic government and several of its members were elected asLord Mayor of Dublin. Perhaps its greatest achievement was, through the Assay Office, guaranteeing the purity and probityof Dublin gold and silver, which is [Read More]