Designers and Jewellery 1850-1940: Jewellery and Metalwork from the Fitzwilliam Museum

Paperback / softback

Main Details

Title Designers and Jewellery 1850-1940: Jewellery and Metalwork from the Fitzwilliam Museum
Authors and Contributors      By (author) Helen Ritchie
Physical Properties
Format:Paperback / softback
Pages:176
Dimensions(mm): Height 248,Width 197
Category/GenreArt and design styles - c 1800 to c 1900
Art and design styles - from c 1900 to now
Precious metal and precious stones: artworks and design
Exhibition catalogues and specific collections
Jewellery
Gold and silver
ISBN/Barcode 9781781300671
ClassificationsDewey:739.07442659
Audience
General

Publishing Details

Publisher Philip Wilson Publishers Ltd
Imprint Philip Wilson Publishers Ltd
Publication Date 30 July 2018
Publication Country United Kingdom

Description

The Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge, holds stunning examples of jewellery and metalwork from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This exceptional period of design covers the neo-Gothic and historicist designs of the mid- to late nineteenth century, the groundbreaking work of British Arts & Crafts designers, sinuous curves influenced by the European Art Nouveau movement and the structural modernity of the 1930s. The collection contains jewellery by some of the finest historicist designers, including the Castellani and Giuliano families and John Brogden, as well as a spectacular decanter by William Burges. There are important pieces of jewellery and silver by the most famous of Arts & Crafts designers, including C.R. Ashbee, Henry Wilson, Gilbert Marks and John Paul Cooper. Unique pieces designed by the artist Charles Ricketts hold a special place in the history of queer art in Britain, having been designed for his friends Katherine Bradley and Edith Cooper, a couple known collectively as Michael Field. Modernist silver is represented by leaders of the field Omar Ramsden and H.G. Murphy. This beautifully illustrated volume reproduces 70 of the Museum's most important pieces from this period, many previously unpublished, with comparative illustrations of some of the original designs. Importantly, the book is arranged chronologically by designer and includes biographies, a description of their work and how it changed over time, as well as commentary about the specific works in the Museum's collection. The resulting book therefore brings together for the first time the Fitzwilliam's exceptionally fine holdings of jewellery and metalwork from this highly popular and fruitful period of design.

Author Biography

Helen Ritchie is a Research Assistant in the Department of Applied Arts at the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, where she is responsible for researching, interpreting and curating the Museum's modern Applied Arts. After studying at Trinity Hall, University of Cambridge and the University of the Arts London, Helen worked with applied arts at the Royal Collection Trust, Christie's, Harrogate Museums, and the British Museum. She is the author of A Passionate Collector: Mrs Hull Grundy and Jewellery from the Harrogate Collection (2014).