Medieval guild for Goldsmith Trade
The Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths, also known as the Goldsmiths’ Company, is one of London’s Great Twelve Livery Companies. It is correctly known as The Wardens and Commonalty of the Mystery of Goldsmiths of the City of London. The Company’s headquarters are located in the City of London’s Goldsmiths’ Hall.
The Company, which dates back to the 12th century, was granted a Royal Charter in 1327 and is ranked fifth among City Livery Companies in terms of seniority. Justitia Virtutum Regina is the motto, which means “Justice is Queen of Virtues” in Latin.
History
The Company was founded in the Middle Ages as a guild for goldsmiths. The term hallmarking comes from Goldsmiths’ Hall, where precious metals were officially inspected and marked.
On the former Perryn estate near Acton, on open land west of London, twenty almshouses were built in 1812. The almshouses were erected on land that John Perryn had left to the Company in 1657.
The Goldsmiths’ Company established the Goldsmiths’ Technical and Recreational Institute in 1891, which later became Goldsmiths, University of London.
The Company is still one of the few Livery Companies with a formal role in its old trade today.
The Goldsmiths’ Company oversees the Assay Office, where precious metals artifacts are evaluated for purity and then marked with an official symbol if they pass. The Goldsmiths’ Company is also in charge of examining the legality of British currency at the Trial of the Pyx.
Goldsmiths’ Centre
In Clerkenwell, the Goldsmiths’ Centre opened in 2012 as a location for workshops, exhibitions, events, and education, including apprentice training.
Current activities
The Goldsmiths’ Company stated in July 2017 that it would donate £10 million to the upcoming Museum of London as a founding partner. It also announced a £250,000 donation to the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Galleries at Westminster Abbey, which opened in 2018.
The Goldsmiths’ Company supported two extensive educational programs, including funds for Imperial College London’s science effort in elementary schools and the National Theatre’s streaming recordings for elementary schools.
Sources
Byars, M., & Riley, T. (2004). The design encyclopedia. Laurence King Publishing.
Wikipedia contributors. (2021, April 24). APA style. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 11:39, May 28, 2021, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=APA_style&oldid=1019644967
More Design History
-
Formes Utiles – French Organisation and Exhibitions
In 1949, Formes Utiles became an independent association of UAM (Union des Artistes Modernes) through the influence of René Herbst and Charlotte Perriand and its first exhibition held at Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris. Its theoretician was architect André Hermant.Read More →
-
Silver and twentieth-century design
The impact of silver metal technology has driven the development of modern furnishings throughout the 20th century. The transformation of a chair into a sculptural statement, for example. Interior metal objects have not always been at the forefront of modern design within a multi-function. With the emphasis on warmth and comfort in the home, the scope for a wide range of metal products for this domain is not there.Read More →
-
William Caxton (1422 – 1491) Father of English Printing
William Caxton learned about the mystery of printing in the Low Countries, and it was in Bruges that he translated a French work, ” The Tales of Troy, ” through his printing press.Read More →
-
Hermann Gretsch (1895 – 1950) designer for Arzberg
Hermann Gretsch was a German architect, engineer and product designer. In the 1930s, Gretsch worked for the Porzellanfabrik Arzberg.Read More →
-
Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths
The Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths, also known as the Goldsmiths’ Company, is one of London’s Great Twelve Livery Companies. It is correctly known as The Wardens and Commonalty of the Mystery of Goldsmiths of the City of London. The Company’s headquarters are located in the City of London’s Goldsmiths’ Hall. Read More →
-
Aldus Manuitius (1449 – 1515) – pioneer of printing
The type in which this sentence is written is called “italic”. Aldus Manutius the man who invented it died almost 500 years ago and his type is still in use. Today publishing a manuscript is almost instantaneous, a new best seller can be placed on Amazon and I can buy a copy minutes later. To look at the books which came off the Venitian presses of Aldus Manutius is a strange experience.Read More →
-
The 40s and 50s – On the Road with Design
The exaggerated style was an essential look. The gleaming chrome fins conveyed speed. A car that was higher in the front than the back did the same. The quality of the car’s face — two headlamps for the eyes, a grill for the nose, and a fender for the mouth – was frequently highlighted. This gave the vehicle the appearance of a devoted companion with a distinct personality.Read More →
-
Paris and Art in 1950s – influence on design
Paris, newly liberated from the German occupation, sprung to life during the 1950s as a centre for all modes of artistic endeavour, most notably in fine art, literature, and music. Its association with romantic literary figures such as Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, and Roland Barthes made the city incredibly appealing to every serious-minded man or woman. Read More →
-
The Schloss Blühnbach castle in Austria
Schloss Blühnbach is a hunting castle in the Austrian Alps dated from the 17th century. It was extended in 1911 by Archduke Francis Ferdinand; it also includes his art and antiques.Read More →
-
Taylorism was a search for industrial efficiency
His 1911 book Principles of Scientific Management outlined these concepts, and they have influenced various aspects of design, including labour-saving kitchens and more ergonomic household equipment. These included the writings of fellow American Christine Frederick, who published Scientific Management in the Home in 1915, and Lillian Gilbreth’s assessments of domestic efficiency for the Brooklyn Gas Company in 1930, which looked at the kitchen as a location of industrial production. Read More →
-
A Century of Progress International Exposition – Chicago 1933 – 1934
An exhibition summary noted that the nation, “then still mired in the malaise of the Great Depression, could glimpse a happier not-too-distant future, all driven by innovation in science and technology.” Fair visitors saw the new wonders in rail travel, cars, architecture, and robots that smoke cigarettes. The Fair “emphasised technology and progress, a utopia, or perfect world, founded on democracy and manufacturing.”Read More →
-
Vorticism British Art Movement – 1914 – 1918
Vorticist painting merged cubist reality fragmentation with hard-edged imagery taken from machines and urban environments. It was essentially a British version of futurism, albeit with ideological distinctions. Lewis was a staunch opponent of the futurists. Lawrence Atkinson, Jessica Dismorr, Cuthbert Hamilton, William Roberts, Helen Saunders, Edward Wadsworth, and the sculptors’ Sir Jacob Epstein and Henri Gaudier-Brzeska were among the group’s other members. Read More →
-
Pre-Raphaelites Brotherhood – British Artists Group
The Pre-Raphaelites were a group of British artists. Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Edward Burne-Jones led the Pre-Raphaelite brotherhood from 1848. Read More →
-
The Wit and Humour of the Gibigiana Table Lamp
Castiglioni’s approach to design is characterised by wit and humour, which is portrayed here by a shape that resembles an animal or bird. The Gibigiana is a table light that may be adjusted. It includes a dimmer and produces reflected light. Read More →
-
During the 1920s Jaegar clothes not just fashion but function & lifestyle
During the twentieth century, a movement arose that advocated for clothing to be worn as part of a sensible, healthy lifestyle rather than only for fashion. These concepts sprang from the work of nineteenth-century fashion reformers, in the same way, that English writer Edward Carpenter popularised the open-toed leather sandal for men. Read More →
-
“Just in time” design concept
Just in time” design concept, this practice became an increasingly important aspect of economic manufacturing and distribution. The ability to link sales data from retail outlets and checkout terminals with centralised corporate manufacturing and distribution systems ‘just in time’ eliminated the need for manufacturer-retailers like Benetton, an Italian clothing company, to keep large amounts of stock on hand (thus wasting valuable space).Read More →
-
Japan Advertising Artists Club (JAAC) pioneer of Japanese Graphic Design
In the 1960s, the JAAC’s philosophy came under fire for being overly reliant on exhibitions as a platform for innovative ideas. Furthermore, during the turbulent 1960s, a perceived emphasis on aesthetics at the expense of social significance, combined with allegations of elitism, led to the organisation’s disbandment in 1970.Read More →
-
Linoleum created as an inexpensive floor covering
Frederick Walton invented linoleum in Britain in 1860. Walton coated flax cloth with a combination of gum, cork dust, resin and linseed oil in search of a cheap floor covering. An amalgamation of the Latin Linum (‘flax’) and oleum (‘oil’) formed the word linoleum.Read More →
-
Surrealism – Art & Design Term
Surrealism was one of the most influential and disruptive trends of the twentieth century, flourishing especially in the 1920s and 1930s and offering a radical contrast to Cubism’s rational and formal features. It emphasised the positive rather than the nihilistic, unlike Dada, from which it derived in many aspects. Surrealism aimed to gain access to the subconscious mind and convert this stream of thought into art.Read More →
-
ISOTYPE – International System of Typographic Picture Education
ISOTYPE was created as a mechanism of communicating statistics using graphic symbols. It was an essential part of Otto Neurath’s (1882–1945) worldwide graphic language, which he created in Vienna following World War I. Originally known as the Vienna Method of Pictorial Statistics, ISOTYPE was created to make complex statistical information about housing, health, education, and other vital priorities more understandable to the general public in the difficult economic and political circumstances of 1920s Vienna by presenting the data in a visually appealing format. Read More →
-
Baroque – Art Term
The Catholic Counter-Reformation is closely related with Baroque, which peaked in Rome around 1630–1680. Despite its origins in Rome, the Baroque style influenced people all around Europe. Its rapid pace, striking realism (giving spectators the feeling that they were watching an actual event), and direct emotional appeal were perfectly suited to announcing the Catholic Church’s renewed vitality. Read More →
-
Ideal Home Exhibition (est. 1908) Aspirational British Design
The Daily Mail newspaper sponsored the Ideal Home Exhibition (from 1908). These shows provide an insight into popular taste and aspiration across all facets of domestic design and organisation in Britain.Read More →
-
The Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne 1937
From 25 May to 25 November 1937, the Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne (International Art and Technology Exhibition in Modern Life) was held in Paris, France. Both the Palais de Chaillot, which houses the Musée de l’Homme and the Palais de Tokyo, which houses the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, were built for this exhibition, which was officially approved by the Bureau International des Expositions.Read More →
-
Design History – 40s & 50s the age of the Graphic Designer
The 1940s and 1950s the age of the Graphic Designer. Designers, illustrators, and artists used their talents to disseminate information.Read More →
-
“International Style” Architecture of the Modern Movement
Alfred H. Barr Jr. coined the term in 1931 in conjunction with Philip Johnson and Henry-Russell Hitchcock’s 1932 “Modern Architecture: International Exhibition” (along with the accompanying book International Style: Architecture Since 1922) at the New York Museum of Modern Art, where Barr was director.Read More →
-
What was the Society of Industrial Artists in Britain?
The origins of the CSD lay in the creation in 1930 of the Society of Industrial Artists (SIA) in Britain, when the public debate was concerned with the nature and definition of both the designer and the design profession. Read More →
-
British Studio Ceramics a Short History
In Britain, the backlash against the highly ornamented machine-made ceramics that were fashionable in the late 1800s gathered steam. Art potteries were founded by a group of creative craftspeople who William Morris inspired.Read More →
-
Fashion and Freedom during the 70s and 80s
The 1970s and 1980s were a decade of extremes in fashion. In other creative sectors, as people pushed the boundaries of freedom of speech, styles altered regularly.Read More →
-
Olivetti Design Standard-bearer
Olivetti is an Italian office machinery and furniture firm, located in Ivrea, Northern Italy. ForRead More →
-
Mid-Century Modernism – Fresh Optimism in Design
Designers were motivated by a fresh optimism after WWII and the new materials, production techniques, and colours arriving in unique shapes. In more inexpensive and easily mass-produced designs, a more relaxed, fleshed-out style of Modernism began to develop.Read More →
-
Gothenburg, Sweden Exhibition (1923)
The Gothenburg Tercentennial Jubilee Exhibition (Swedish Jubileumsutställningen I Göteborg) was a world fair held in Gothenburg, Sweden in 1923, marking the 300th anniversary of the city’s establishment. The fair, which opened on 8 May, lasted until 30 September.Read More →
-
Neue Sachlichkeit – Design Term
Neue Sachlichkeit was a term coined in 1923 by Gustav Hartlaub, director of the Kunsthalle, Mannheim, as the title of an exhibition he organised to demonstrate the progress of post-war painting in Germany.Read More →
-
Architecture the 1920s & 1930s – the birth of Modernism
Architecture the 1920s & 1930s – the birth of Modernism. The architects of the post-World War 1 years aimed for simplicity above all else.Read More →
-
Fashion Design from 1900 to 1920 – Focus on Freedom
Fashion Design from 1900 to 1920 – Focus on Freedom. Newfound political independence came newfound fashion freedom. READ MORERead More →
-
Mission Furniture – Design Dictionary Term
Mission Furniture – Design Dictionary Term. The early twentieth-century American furniture design style. American Arts and CraftsRead More →
-
Anchor Blocks – 19th Century construction toy
Anchor Blocks were a German system of building blocks that were popular as a children’s construction toy in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, notably in Europe. Dr F. Ad. Richter in Rudolstadt, Germany, began developing and manufacturing the system in 1879. The concept was based on the FROEBEL block system, which significantly impacted Frank Lloyd WRIGHT’s design philosophy.Read More →
-
Jugendstil an artistic style
Jugendstil, an artistic style that originated around the mid-1890s in Germany and persisted throughout the first decade of the 20th century. READ MORRead More →
-
Neon Lighting – Dictionary – Design Term
Neon Lighting. Semiflexible, hollow tubes of clear acrylic with small bulbs inside that can be connected to light up all at once or sequentially to produce a “chasing” effect. It’s also known as disco lighting, and it’s given homeowners new illumination alternatives. Lights designers consider neon lighting to be an art form.Read More →
-
Arabesque form of artistic decoration
The arabesque is a form of artistic decoration consisting of “surface decorations based on rhythmic linear patterns of scrolling and interlacing foliage, tendrils” or simple lines, often combined with other elements.Read More →
-
Aestheticism 19th-century art movement
Aestheticism describes the European art movement of the late 19th century. It is centred on the doctrine that art exists alone for the sake of its beauty and that it does not have to serve any political, didactic or another purpose. Aestheticism is diametrically opposite to the moralist belief, the belief that moralism (and everything else) should be the handmaiden of art instead of art (and everything else) being the handmaiden of morality.Read More →
-
Humble history of the pencil
I am feeling nostalgic for the humble pencil. There is a comfort and warm familiarity whenever I pick one up (rarely these days). Pencils are inexpensive, portable, simple to operate and the marks that they make are easy to erase. Unlike other writing tools, they do not run out of ink or skip.Read More →
-
The Chevron pattern – a Popular motif for Designers
The word chevron comes from the French word chevron, which means rafter or gable. Although there is no definition to prevent freedom in its shape, the chevron’s angle is most commonly between 60 and 70 degrees. Read More →
You may also be interested in
Georg Arthur Jensen silverware designer and manufacturer – Encyclopedia of Design
Georg Arthur Jensen was a Danish metalworker. He was born in Faavad. He was apprenticed as a goldsmith. cl895-1901, he studied sculpture, Det Kongelige Danske Kunstakademi, Copenhagen. He served his apprenticeship in Copenhagen for a time under Holm, becoming a journeyman in 1884.
Edward Spenser (1872 – 1938) British metalworker, silversmith, and jeweller – Encyclopedia of Design
Edward Spenser (1872 – 1938) was a British metalworker, silversmith, and jeweller. He was professionally active in London. Spencer was a junior designer at the Artificers’ Guild. When Montague Fordham took over the Guild in 1903, Spenser became chief designer. He designed silver objects with applied shagreen, mother-of-pearl, wood, coconut, and ivory.
Carlo Guiliano Italian Goldsmith and Jeweller – Encyclopedia of Design
Carlo Guiliano was an Italian jeweller and goldsmith who was born in Naples and worked in London. In 1860, Guiliano settled in London and worked for Harry Emanuel. He collaborated with Castellani Italian Jewellers on at least one piece of jewellery. In the archaeological or Etruscan style, he was a talented jeweller.
Lucien Falize (1838 – 1897) French goldsmith and jeweller – Encyclopedia of Design
Lucien Falize (1838- 1897) was French goldsmith and jeweller. He was active in Paris and son of Alexis Falize, father of Andre Falize. When his father retired in 1876, Lucien assumed directorship of the family business. He attempted to expand the business by showing at 1878 Paris ‘Exposition Universelle’ and becoming partners with Germain Bapst.
Dame Mary Quant (1934 – ) British Fashion Designer – Encyclopedia of Design
Mary Quant, a pivotal figure in British fashion design, studied art and design at Goldsmiths College of Art from 1952 to 1955 while also taking evening classes in clothing construction and cutting. In 1955, in Knightsbridge, London, she established her first shop Bazaar on King’s Road, followed by the second shop Terence Conran designed in Knightsbridge.
Comments are closed, but trackbacks and pingbacks are open.