I have updated my write-up on how to photograph silver. In particular I ma now recommending using a Macro lens. the updated version can be found at this link

I have added further detail and images to his biography that can be seen at this link.

I have just listed a rare early flagon by William Henry Creswick and written up a short biography on him. William Henry was part of the remarkable Creswick family of sculptors and metalworkers that embraced his father, Benjamin, one of the leading Victorian sculptors, through to his sister-in-law Nora, the famous Edinburgh arts and crafts silversmith. See this link

My recent lecture on Arts amd Crafts silver and Christopher Dresser is now online and viewable for £5 at themfollowing link

I have been invited by the Victorian Society to speak on arts and crafts silver. My lecture “Victorian arts and crafts silver: Innovation and influence” will be similar to the one I gave to the Silver Society a few months ago that is hosted on my website. This new lecture will, however, give particular focus to the Victorian period and include my thoughts on Christopher Dresser’s contribution to this early metalwork. If you wish to see the lecture, full details can be found at this link. It is on Tuesday 18th May at 7.00pm. There is a small fee to view the lecture that goes wholly to the Society to fund its activities.

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Just my second newsletter of the year. This covers my forthcoming lecture to the Victorian Society plus a number of new listings. Click on this link to read.

Very excited to just find this reference to the first Liberty May 1899 Cymric exhibition. From “The Gentlewomen” 20th May 1899. I have been lucky enough to handle some of Knox’s earliest Cymric silverwork dating from this exhibition. Typically lacking in his notable modernist Celtic style, it nevertheless is highly radical for its time, with hints of his more dramatic work to come. See these links to explore such pieces.

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An excellent lecture on the Spittle’s influence on Gustav Stickley given at the 2016 American national arts and crafts conference is now online at this link. To see a rare work in silver by the Stickley’s for sale at the Peartree Collection click on this link.

For those that missed it, on yesterday’s British Antiques Roadshow (Sunday 21 Feb) were two wonderful arts and crafts necklaces. One identified as John Paul Cooper (I think maybe Henry Wilson) and one by HG Murphy (interestingly with very Nossiter like leaves). Click on link to view the full TV clip.

A new photo from the archives of Harry Peach, of Leicester School of Art and Dryad, provides further evidence linking a special tea caddy in the Collection (now sold) to the Leicester School of Art. More information can be found at this link.