Tag Archive | Arts and Crafts

A William Morris alphabet

I have a tiny brooch for sale in my Etsy shop—it’s a sterling silver letter ‘C’ in a lovely ornate script, decorated with foliage and flowers. It is unmarked and I didn’t know much about it. I described it as best I could and listed it. I didn’t know who the designer or the maker was, and I hadn’t seen anything like it before.

Vintage tiny William Morris design sterling silver brooch forming a letter ‘C’, and made by Ortak in the 1970s. For sale in my Etsy shop. Click for details. (NOW SOLD).

A few weeks later I heard from Rowena, a lovely lady on Etsy, pointing out it was a letter ‘C’ (I had photographed it on its side and not realised it was a letter!), and that she thought it might be by Ortak, the jewellery firm based on the Orkney Isles off the northern tip of mainland Scotland. I have two other pieces by Ortak, so was familiar with the company’s story.

Just today I have heard from another seller on Etsy, a lovely lady called Suzanne, who tells me it is definitely by Ortak. She has a sister brooch, a ‘B’ to my ‘C’.

Suzanne’s Ortak silver ‘B’, for sale in her Etsy shop. Click for details. (NOW SOLD).

Suzanne knew who had made it, because it came in its box, marked ‘Ortak, Scotland’. A spot of google-fu was in order, now that I knew it was by Ortak for sure.

Up popped an old eBay listing for a letter ‘P’, with its Ortak box—and the information that the design is based on one by William Morris.

Ortak sterling silver brooch, letter ‘P’, sold on eBay.

I was a very happy bunny at this news. William Morris is one of the founders of the Arts and Crafts movement, and a designer of beautiful textiles, tiles, stained glass, furniture, book design and calligraphy—you name it, he probably designed it.

A bit more truffling produced a letter ‘A’:

Ortak silver letter ‘A’. Photo by CAtaway on flickr.

and I’m sure if I carried on I would have found still more. Morris’s skill at calligraphy is well known, and his illuminated manuscripts and book illustrations are gorgeous and wonderful. And here are some letters designed by Morris that might have been part of the inspiration for the brooch series above:

Letters designed by William Morris.

So a wonderful learning lesson has been had by me today. I love it! Thanks Rowena, and thanks Suzanne!

2018 UPDATE: a few more of these brooches have come out of the woodwork and I wrote a blog post illustrating them all.

Arts and Crafts pewter

Jul2

Pewter is a silvery metal alloy, a favourite metal of Arts and Crafts metalworkers and jewellers. I have learned from Wikipedia that it is ‘traditionally 85—99% tin, with the remainder consisting of copper, antimony, bismuth and sometimes, less commonly today, lead. Silver is also sometimes used.’ It tarnishes to a dullish grey, and this patinated appearance is often favoured by collectors. If desired, it can be polished to a high silvery shine.

Archibald Knox (designer): Tudric pewter vase with enamelled medallions, for Liberty & Co. Photo by charlesjsharp.

Archibald Knox (designer): Arts and Crafts ‘Tudric’ pewter vase with enamelled medallions, for Liberty & Co. Photo by charlesjsharp.

I have a few pewter objects in my Etsy shop at the moment: three date from the Arts and Crafts period, ie roughly from the 1890s into the early 1900s. and one is very modern, made in the Orkney Islands in the far north of Scotland, but based on a design similar to those of Charles Rennie Mackintosh, one of the most famous Arts and Crafts architects and artists. Originating in the UK, the Arts and Crafts movement put great stead on traditional workmanship, on authenticity and on hand-crafted wares, and on affordable materials—all of which pewter suited perfectly, having been the main metal used for household wares for everyday people for centuries in the UK.

The first piece I listed in my Etsy shop was a shallow Arts and Crafts pewter dish with a flowing fleur-de-lys design. The upper part of the dish is in pewter and it is formed over a white metal base. It would look great as a table centrepiece filled with nuts or tangerines or big bunches of purple grapes—whatever you fancy, really.

Shallow Arts and Crafts pewter dish with fleur-de-lys decoration. For sale in my Etsy shop. (NOW SOLD).

The second is also an Arts and Crafts piece – it originally would have been a cigarette box but would serve as a lovely jewellery or trinket box today. The pewter has the hand-hammered finish that is so typical of Arts and Crafts work. It has been polished by a previous owner so has more of a silvery shine than the other pewter pieces I have.

Arts adn Crafts hammered pewter jewellery box / cigarette box / trinket box. For sale at my Etsy shop.

Arts and Crafts hand-hammered pewter jewellery box / cigarette box / trinket box. For sale at my Etsy shop. (NOW SOLD).

The third piece is also a hand-hammered item – a hip flask cunningly shaped to fit the curve of your buttock as it is carried in a back pocket. (I always think it was a bit of that insane Victorian prudery that caused it to be called a hip flask, when a bottom flask would have been a much more appropriate name!) It is marked ‘English pewter’, and originally carried 4 oz of whatever liquid you wanted to fill it with. The piece has had a life, as witnessed by the dints in the soft metal, but I think this is part of its charm. I love a piece that can tell a tale.

Hand-hammered English pewter hip flask, Arts and Crafts period. For sale in my Etsy shop. (NOW SOLD).

The last pewter piece I have is a modern brooch, in the Arts and Crafts style of famed architect and artist Charles Rennie Mackintosh. It is made by the Ortak company, based in the Orkney Islands off the far north coast of Scotland.

Ortak pewter brooch, in the style of Charles Rennie Mackintosh, and featuring a Glasgow Rose. For sale in my Etsy shop. (NOW SOLD).

It features the famous Glasgow Rose, a stylised rose flower made famous by the artists of the Glasgow School of Art, where Mackintosh trained. After going into administration last year, the Ortak company has been bought by new owners and will be relaunched, with manufacturing resuming in Orkney.

She sells sea shells

Jun9

I love learning new things. I had a prospective customer contact me recently about an Art Deco abalone and mother of pearl brooch for sale in my Etsy shop. She mentioned it would pair nicely with her maireener necklaces in the same colours. I’d never come across the word maireener before, so scurried off to google for a quick search, and learned it is a type of sea shell found only in Australia, is also known as the rainbow kelp shell, and has been used by Tasmanian Aboriginal peoples in their jewellery for millennia. Aunty Dulcie Greeno is an Aboriginal woman living in Launceston in Tasmania, and she continues the tradition, making beautiful necklaces which she sells. She travels twice a year to the Furneaux Islands, where she was born, to collect the shells.

A maireener (rainbow kelp shell) necklace by Aunt Dulcie.

A maireener (rainbow kelp shell) necklace by Aunty Dulcie Greeno. Simply gorgeous!

I find shell jewellery so attractive, and I’m guessing other people do too as it accounts for a good proportion of my sales so far. I have already sold a stunning Arts and Crafts abalone brooch attributed to Scottish jeweller Mary Thew, and a small abalone and silver brooch with a triangular motif. I have a couple more still for sale—my favourite of all my pieces is an Art Nouveau abalone and silver brooch, and I also have the funky Art Deco brooch mentioned above, and a Mexican abalone and silver pendant and chain.

There’s something about the iridescent peacock colours of abalone I find absolutely irresistible—the opals of the sea! Or as my prospective customer so eloquently put it: ‘Excellent elegant mermaid wear’.

Arts and Crafts abalone and silver brooch, attributed to Scottish jeweller Mary Thew (NOW SOLD).

Detail of the abalone plaque

Silver and abalone brooch (NOW SOLD).

Stunning Art Nouveau abalone and silver brooch, for sale at Inglenookery. (NOW SOLD).

Art Deco abalone and mother of pearl brooch, for sale at Inglenookery. (NOW SOLD).

Vintage Mexican sterling silver and abalone pendant and chain, for sale at Inglenookery. (NOW SOLD).

Bernard Instone: Arts and Crafts jeweller

May27

Bernard Instone (1891—1987) is a highly regarded and very collectable jeweller, designer and silversmith of the later British Arts and Crafts movement. I am delighted and very fortunate to have a rare Bernard Instone ring for sale in my Etsy shop.

Instone was born in Kings Norton in Birmingham, and his artistic talent was apparent from a very early age. He was only twelve years old when he won a scholarship to the Birmingham School of Jewellery at Vittoria Street, part of the Birmingham School of Art, where he studied under renowned Arts and Crafts jeweller Arthur Gaskin and learned silversmithing from 1904—1912.

Bernard Instone turquoise crescent brooch, late English Arts and Crafts jewellery. For sale in my Etsy shop, Inglenookery: click on photo for details.

Carnelian, sterling silver and 9 carat gold pendant by Bernard Instone. For sale in my Etsy shop, Inglenookery: click on photo for details.

Bernard Instone. Arts and Crafts brooch. Silver, amethyst and citrine. Diameter: 4.1 cm (1.6 in). English, c. 1930. Sold by Tadema Gallery. Note the hand-tooled narrow silver leaves, so characteristic of his work.

After leaving the School, Instone worked for a while for another renowned jeweller and craftsman, John Paul Cooper, in his Westerham studio, and then studied in Berlin under Emil Lettre, Kaiser Wilhelm II’s Court goldsmith. In October 1913 he was back in England, and began part-time teaching at Vittoria Street. As well as making pieces for the Gaskins and Bernard Cuzner and other teachers at the school, he also made his first commissions at this time. In 1920 he set up his own jewellers and silversmith works—Langstone Silver Works—in Digbeth in Birmingham. The company worked from there until 1954 when it moved to Lode Lane in Solihull.

Silver and moonstone earrings by Bernard Instone, sold by Tadema Gallery.

Silver and moonstone earrings by Bernard Instone c. 1930, sold by Tadema Gallery.

As well as making his own designs, Instone produced jewellery for other jewellers, such as Sibyl Dunlop: a family website about Instone records “he visited [Dunlop] every Friday at her shop in Kensington, supplying her with made up designs already marked up with the SD mark ready for the retail market and [in the] 1940s Liberty became a customer after 25 years of trying to sell to them.” His two sons came to work in the business, and Instone retired in 1963 to the Cotswolds, where he died in 1987.

Instone was strongly inspired by nature, and floral themes occur in most of his pieces. His jewellery can be roughly divided into two types: that with enamel, and that without.

Citrine and silver necklace by Bernard Instone. For sale at Tadema Gallery.

His finest and showiest pieces belong to the latter category: fantastic brooches, rings, necklaces, bracelets, dress clips and earrings with semi-precious stones and sometimes pearls in intricate silver mounts, often with detailed hand-tooled foliage and scrolls. One of his trademark designs are long, fine handmade silver leaves with hand-tooled veins. His favourite stones to use were citrines and amethysts.

Silver, amethyst and peridot bracelet by Bernard Instone. Sold by Van Den Bosch.

The enamel pieces commonly have a floral theme, with leaves and multicoloured flowers often in sugary pastel colours, all picked out in enamel and sometime embellished with marcasites.

Bernard Instone enamel brooch. For sale in my Etsy shop: click on photo for details. (NOW SOLD).

Another Bernard Instone enamel brooch in a different colourway. For sale in my Etsy shop: click on link for details.

Enamel floral brooch by Bernard Instone, in the collections of the V&A Museum.

Instone sometimes signed his work ‘BI’ and ‘SILVER’, but just as often did not sign his work at all. His style is so distinctive it is easy to spot an Instone once you have got your eye in, though! (I recently saw a fabulous Instone silver and amethyst crescent brooch on eBay which was described by the seller as Victorian. It positively screams Instone! Sadly my pockets weren’t deep enough to buy it.)

Instone’s pieces were very popular during his lifetime and have become increasingly collectable. His work is held in the collections of the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, and is sold by London galleries such as Van Den Bosch and Tadema Gallery: the Instone jewellery in the archive sections of their websites is well worth a look.

I am so happy to be able to offer a rare Bernard Instone moonstone and silver ring in my Etsy shop. A near-identical ring was sold by Tadema Gallery (photos here, scroll down a bit and here, in high resolution). The ring has Instone’s famous handmade silver leaves on either side of the stone. It dates from c. 1930.