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A good John Sidney Reeve silver bowl with short wire work Guild of Handicraft style handles. The bowl decorated with a repousse frieze of stylized leaves.  The body nicely hand hammered and planished. finish.

John Sidney Reeve was born in 1875 in Bewdley near Kidderminster. His father was the local grocer and postmaster.  Reeve studied locally and became an art teacher at Bewdley School. In around 1902 he joined the Guild of Handicraft in nearby Chipping Campden where he was a silversmith, specialising in chasing.  By 1907 he is listed as being employed by Leicester School of Art, which under Harry Peach and Benjamin Fletcher had a strong arts and crafts ethos, complemented after 1910 with the emergence of Dryad Metalworks under William Pick, which had close ties to the art school. Reeve headed Leicester’s metalwork department until around 1934.

After 1934 it seems he semi-retired to Westington, on the outskirts of Chipping Campden.  He is thought to have continued to do some work in his retirement with the Hart’s at the Guild of Handicraft and seems to have also taught (perhaps helped out) for a period at the Campden School of Arts and Crafts.   He died in 1943 in Chipping Campden.  His hallmarked work, which may include some output by his students, is typically similar in style to the Guild’s work as well as Bernard Cuzner’s,  and the Birmingham School more generally.

In 1930 Reeve published “Wrought pewter work” by the Dryad Press which was an introduction to the silversmith’s art.

Condition of the bowl is excellent, though the makers mark is poorly struck.  A very good gauge.

Maker: John Sydney Reeve

Designer: John Sydney Reeve

Date: 1924

Marks: JSR, Birmingham, z

Material: Sterling silver

Condition: Excellent

Size: Max diameter 14.5 cm, 6.25 cm high

Weight:  165 grams,  5.8oz