Vicki Ambery-Smith’s distinctive style of silversmithing reflects her passion for architecture. Using techniques of manipulation and trompe l’oeil to get her desired effect, each piece is an interpretation of a particular building.

A new monograph on her work Jewellery & Silverware : Inspired by Architecture was launched late last year and you can pre-order your copy here. Vicki will be hosting a special online event to discuss her body of work and the book on Wednesday 8 February 5pm.

Vicki specialises in celebratory and commemorative pieces which capture the client’s love and affection for a building of special significance. Growing up in Oxford initially inspired her and she studied jewellery design at the famous Hornsey College of Art.

Vicki Ambery-Smith

Photography by Paul Read

Born: 1955

Place of Birth: Leeds, England

Vicki Ambery-Smith creates delicate and ornate small-scale jewellery and boxes inspired by real and imaginary buildings. Especially attracted to the structural clarity and minimal ornament of Romanesque and Renaissance architecture, she also uses forms reminiscent of the modernist structures of Mies van der Rohe and Frank Lloyd Wright.

As all her jewellery is designed to be worn, and worn comfortably, the three-dimensional architectural structures on which she bases her work must be adapted rather than merely replicated in miniature, with the effect of distancing them further from their original referent. In this way, attention is drawn to the form of the pieces, and their intricate detail and definition. Far more than a representation of a building, each becomes an exquisite study of shape, surface, light and space as Vicki explores the language of architecture herself.

Inspired by Architecture

Vicki Ambery-Smith

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