DESIGNER BRITISH SILVER: Slipcased Edition

'From Studios Established 1930-1985' is the sub-title of this thorough exploration of the designer-silversmiths behind the post-war British silver revival. Covering a complete generation of craftsmen and women and featuring one-to-one interviews, 50 leading figures are covered in-depth alphabetically from Malcolm Appleby to John Willmin, with detailed insight about their lives and works. The book also reveals the forces behind the post-war Renaissance that made Britain a centre of excellence for designer makers in silver. A beautiful honeypot based on a conventional straw hive made for a royal wedding, a Saracen (Filigree) cup courtesy of The Goldsmiths' Company with 364 painstakingly soldered pieces of cut and contoured tube, the clean lines and shine of Keith Tyssen's designs like a teapot, pieces without a maker's mark including those of Alex George Styles and his Trophy for the Rugby Football Union, vases and jugs, bowls and a toast rack with a cockerel on top, 'medieval' cups and futuristic cutlery, David Mellor's Pride tea service, Grant McDonald's Court cup which if you look carefully has the Virgin with a Mary Quant 1960s haircut, 'Living with Silver' 1997 candlesticks with highly polished geometric forms in colour for candlelight or an abstract flower in amethyst and silver by Anthony Hawksley among hundreds of beautifully photographed examples throughout this treasure trove of a tome. With a section on where to view examples and a listing of 230 designer-silversmith and engravers of the era together with their potted biographies, and additional listings of designers, craftsmen, silver manufacturers and engravers. Slipcased hardback, 560 large and glamorous pages 25.6 x 31.6 x 5.8cm. An Antique Collectors' Club 2015 first edition.