Latest News
THE BIRMINGHAM ASSAY OFFICE CELEBRATES HISTORIC SILVER AT
THE PEN ROOM - Added 13.05.08
The Birmingham Assay Office is pleased to be working in partnership with the Pen Room on the exhibition A Celebration of Silver. The exhibition provides a rare opportunity to see pieces from The Birmingham Assay Office Silver Collection, and it opens at the Pen Room on May 1st and will run until June 30th. The Birmingham Assay Office Silver Collection houses many fine examples of Birmingham Silver, and on display in A Celebration of Silver are significant objects from the Collection that are typical of Birmingham manufacturers and that showcase the enormous wealth of talent possessed by the cityfs silversmiths through history. An important factor in the development of silver manufacture in Birmingham, the Exhibition also tells the story of The Birmingham Assay Office which is closely linked to the story of Birmingham silver.
Visitors to the exhibition will be able to see pieces from The Birmingham Assay Office Silver Collection, made by well-known Birmingham silversmiths. A snuff box and a card case by Nathaniel Mills are on display, alongside candlesticks by A. Edward Jones. Pieces by Elkington, Mason and Co. are included, and last but not least, work by Matthew Boulton. Boulton is especially significant as it was largely due to his efforts that The Birmingham Assay Office was established in 1773.
The Pen Room is at 60 Frederick Street in the Jewellery Quarter, and it is open Monday to Saturday 11.00 till 4.00, Sunday 1.00 till 4.00. Entry to visitors is free.
Taperstick with match holder - Elkington, Mason & Co, Birmingham, 1844
Made from Britannia silver and parcel gilt, on the underside the taperstick bears the relief device Elkington & Co. Electro Dep. with a crown, a monogram and the registered design mark for August 1844. It is a hollow electrotype, based on a Roman lamp, and was designed by Benjamin Schlick. The design is similar to an engraving in Piranesifs Vasi, Cadelabric(1798)
The taperstick has featured in The Silversmiths of Birmingham and Their Marks by Kenneth Crisp Jones (1981) and in Victorian Electroplate by Shirley Bury (1971).
Pair of Tapersticks - Boulton and Fothergill, Birmingham, 1776
Matthew Boulton inherited his fatherfs business at Snow Hill in the 1750s, but he was determined to expand his range. A highly ambitious man, by the early 1760s, he had started work on the Soho Manufactory, located just outside Birmingham, at Handsworth.
Silver was a major part of production at Soho, and these tapersticks demonstrate the skill of the team that Boulton gathered together at the manufactory. They are based on a design by James Wyatt, a well-known architect of the late 18th century.
<< Back to Latest News Previous Releases >>
|
