The importance of collectors in supporting contemporary craft and emerging makers has been critical in fostering new talent and encouraging new makers, especially in financially stringent times, and the current collection of works presented within our Autumn 2024 MODERN MADE: Modern, Post-War & Contemporary Art, Design, Craft and Studio Ceramics auction (lots 80 - 138) is a testament to one person’s passion for craft and, in particular, silversmithing.
CONTEMPORARY CRAFT
Collecting Contemporary Craft: Selected Works From “A Private Aficionado”
16 October 2024
Philip Smith
The collection was built and shared with the owner's family over their lifetime and embraces a multitude of celebrated crafts men and women and emerging makers, acquired over a forty-year period, throughout which the collector avidly visited exhibitions, shops and art fairs across the United Kingdom.
Many of the pieces were bought from important centres for craft including the Craft Council Shop at the V&A, the Bishoplands Educational Trust, Chelsea Craft Fair, Electrum, Goldsmiths Fair and most recently Collect in London.
Silver Lots Within the Collection
SINEW BUD VASE AND SINEW BOWL, c.2012 + fees
KEVIN GREY (BRITISH 1967-) §
SINEW BUD VASE AND SINEW BOWL, c.2012
£1,500 - £2,000 + fees
SAMUEL WATERHOUSE (BRITISH 1992-) §
'GREEN GOLD KEUM BOO' BOWL, 2017
£600 - £800 + fees
GRAHAM STEWART (BRITISH 1955-2020) §
FOOTED BOWL, 1993
£600 - £800 + fees
CHIEN-WEI CHANG (TAIWANESE 1971-)
TWO CONTAINERS FOR SPIRITS BOWLS, 2005
£800 - £1,200 + fees
MARTIN KEANE (BRITISH CONTEMPORARY) §
YIN YANG CARAFE, 2015
£2,000 - £3,000 + fees
FRED RICH (BRITISH 1954-) §
'ANGEL'S KISS' BEAKER
The panoply of makers’ work represented attests to a lifetime of collecting contemporary silver, with a notable focus on early-career works, and the exceptional range of creations produced by a generation of craft makers, including Fred Rich, Kevin Grey, Martin Keane, Sarah Denny, Adi Toch, Graham Stewart, Chien-Wei Chang, Jessica Jue, Sidsel Dorph-Jensen, Michael Lloyd, Ndidi Ekubia, Samuel Waterhouse, Adrian Hope, Angela Cork, Brett Payne, Julie Chamberlain, Tara Coomber and Wally Gilbert.
The collector also actively commissioned work directly from makers and often became firm friends with many of the craft people they supported. They believed that the point of commissioning was this direct contact with the silversmith. To talk over the drawings or models, offer opinions and be part of the creative process allowed the patron to put a little of oneself into the work, resulting in successful commissions that delighted both the maker and client.
Further Highlights Within the Collection
£1,000 - £1,500 + fees
STUDIO DRIFT (LONNEKE GORDJIN & RALPH NAUTA) FOR CARPENTERS WORKSHOP GALLERY §
FRAGILE FUTURE 3.8, 2010
£1,000 - £1,500 + fees
MARK WOODS (BRITISH 1961-) §
RING, 2008
£800 - £1,200 + fees
JIM PARTRIDGE (BRITISH 1953-) & LIZ WALMSLEY (BRITISH 1952-) §
SPRUNG HALLSTAND
£2,000 - £3,000 + fees
WENDY RAMSHAW C.B.E. R.D.I. (BRITISH 1939-2018) §
CHAIN OF TEARS FOR 'WEEPING WOMAN' NECKLACE, 1998
£600 - £800 + fees
NICOLA TASSIE (BRITISH 1960-) §
WEB, 2015
£700 - £900 + fees
DAVID IAN SMITH (BRITISH CONTEMPORARY) §
CABINET ON STAND
Although the current collection is heavily focussed around makers in silver, the collector was passionate about all areas of contemporary craft and good design – in ceramic, glass, textile and wood – and bought works by Jim Partridge, Wendy Ramshaw, Neil Wilkin, Julian Stair, Rupert Spira, Mark Woods, Anna Gordon, Tadek Beutlich and Jennie Moncur, to name just a few.
As well as supporting makers by acquiring and commissioning work, the aficionado supported and was a huge advocate of the wider craft community, which included – but was not limited to – sponsoring notable awards within the field. The current collection is a testament to the importance of private patronage in allowing craft to gain wider significance. The collector would have been delighted to see the recent growing appreciation of craft beyond its historic boundaries and the emergence of a younger collecting sphere which is critical for its future.
