British Silver Week 2011

July 28, 2011 - PRLog -- The last three hundred years has seen some of the finest, most spectacular working silversmiths in the UK and the teaching of this remarkable skill has produced an incredibly talented group of modern silversmiths.

Often viewed as the great, underrated craft, it seems only now people are finally starting to appreciate the craftsmanship as works of art, occasionally beautiful sculptures but also pieces with highly practical uses. British silver week is a five-day event, comprising a selection of themed exhibitions featuring more than 100 of Britain’s finest contemporary silversmiths.

Having reached its fourth year, British silver week started in Munich at the Inhorgenta trade fair followed by the UK launch at the Pangolin London fine art gallery in May this year. This was then swiftly followed by the selling exhibitions across the UK starting on the 6th June before rounding up in Edinburgh throughout July.

The 5-day festival at the Pangolin highlighted the depth and breadth of UK contemporary silversmithing. The stunning collection of silver sculptures on show was nothing short of extraordinary.

Of all the metals used in casting and sculpture creation, none is quite as rare or special as silver. Bronze, steel, iron and even gold are much more common. Soft, lustrous with a mirror bright shine, silver is the whitest and most reflective of all the precious metals.

After day one’s collection of work, day two of the festival of silver, the ‘Masters Day’ featured twenty of the UK’s finest artist-silversmiths demonstrating their traditional skills. The dedication required to this art form has barely changed in the hundreds of years gone by but artists such as Malcolm Appleby are pushing silversmith-works to brand new limits.

Day three focused entirely on decorative silver (http://www.bryandouglas.co.uk/control/inventory.htm) in the forms of engravings and enamel before day four moved on to feature the rising stars, a collection by 24 of Britain’s up-and-coming brand new silversmiths. Many of these creators are from Bishopsland in Berkshire, the finishing academy for many of the best contemporary silversmiths and jewellers.

The final day consisted of ‘Collections & Commissioning’ a host of contemporary silver collections (http://www.bryandouglas.co.uk/control/inventory.htm) including the Pearson collection, one of Britain’s largest post-war silver collections. The success and popularity of the exhibition truly shows that Britain has an exceptional dedication to this art form; some of the pieces are well and truly magnificent to behold.

If you are an avid silver collector of either modern or traditional pieces, visit Bryan Douglas (http://www.bryandouglas.co.uk/index.htm) and browse their inventory of beautiful items.

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An established antique silver dealer and a member of LAPADA (the Association of Art & Antiques Dealers). We welcome you to our site and our extensive range of silverware which can be purchased online and comes with free insured delivery. We specialise in English, Scottish and Irish silverware from the Georgian, Victorian and early 20th Century, this includes British antique silver, old silverware, modern sterling silver, silver plate and old Sheffield Plate. Based in the world famous London Silver Vaults, we welcome visitors in person to browse our complete inventory of antique silver and are happy to provide a professional silverware appraisal service to our customers for insurance purposes. All appraisal work is charged at current LAPADA rates.