Forged Necklace and Pendant, 2004
Textured Earrings, Aleatoric Series, 2018
Textured Striptwist Necklace, Aleatoric Series, 2017
Gold & Platinum Earrings, 2019
‘In Love with Blue’ Pendant Necklace, Journey Through Glass Series, 2007
Set of 8 Rings, 2018
Set of 7 Rings, 2018
‘I’m passionate about the amount of energy and power that springs from the ancient craft of engraving. Works of art should be made for everyone to enjoy. Engraving is central to my design and art; it is from engraving that my other skills have evolved.’ Malcolm Appleby
Malcolm Appleby was born in 1946. He studied at Central School of Art, Sir John Cass and the Royal College of Art in London before establishing his studio in Scotland in 1969. A silversmith and metal engraver, known for his imaginative use of line and form, he considers gold ‘just another lovely material to work with.’
The Scottish Gallery has been associated with Malcolm Appleby since the 1970s; the many facets of his work have brought joy to many, each piece sold marking the beginning of a journey of discovery around this senior artist. The Gallery honoured Malcolm Appleby’s seventieth birthday in January 2016, which marked over fifty years of a creative tour de force. Appleby has dedicated his artistic practice primarily to engraving and pushing the boundaries of metalwork; constant experimentation has made him a master of his craft and in 2014 he received an MBE for his outstanding contribution to the arts.
Public Collections include:
The Victoria & Albert Museum, London; The Goldsmiths’ Company, London; British Museum, London; Royal Armouries, Tower of London; Ashmolean Museum, Oxford; Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums; The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge; National Museums Scotland, Edinburgh; and Perth Museum & Art Gallery
Malcolm’s silversmithing collection can be viewed here.
Elizabeth Jane Campbell graduated from Edinburgh College of Art in 2013, and then spent a year as Artist in Residence at Glasgow School of Art before establishing her own studio in Edinburgh. Elizabeth’s award winning jewellery has been exhibited across the UK and abroad – most recently in Milan, Munich and America.
‘My recent work explores the connection between colour and shape – taking inspiration from colour theory, colour connotations and visual literacy. Using vitreous enamel enables me to achieve fantastic colours which I contrast with simple oxidised silver settings. The surface finish of the enamel is really important, as a gloss or matt finish can really change the quality of the enamel colour. Each piece is hand finished to highlight the vibrancy of the colour.’
Permanent collections include:
The National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh; The Goldsmiths’ Company, London
Elizabeth was the subject of a solo exhibition in March 2020 – Colour Connections. Read our blog for an insight into her studio and the inspiration behind her work.
As a jeweller I aim to explore the sensuality of the body through the tactility of materials. My work is fuelled by a deeply rooted interest in textiles, both in terms of borrowed techniques and the range of visual references. More recently plant forms have inspired new ways of construction and a wider use of colour through the use of semi-precious stones.
Susan Cross graduated from Middlesex Polytechnic University in 1986, setting up her first studio in London before relocating to Edinburgh in 1989. Susan has been a part-time lecturer in the Jewellery & Silversmithing department at Edinburgh College of Art since this time and in 2008 was awarded a Readership following her success in the Jerwood Applied Arts Award for Jewellery in 2007. Alongside her teaching she has continued to develop her work exhibiting both nationally and internationally. Susan has also been invited to initiate projects and workshops in Finland, India, New Zealand & South Korea and awarded a travel bursary by the Scottish Arts Council to study Japanese textiles.
Public Collections include:
V&A Museum, London; V&A Museum, Dundee; National Museums Scotland, Edinburgh; Crafts Council, London; The Goldsmiths’ Company, London; Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery; Edinburgh Royal Infirmary; Alice & Louis Koch Collection, Switzerland; Spencer Museum of Art, USA; Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts, USA.
Patrick Davison studied at the Glasgow School of Art and Alchimia Contemporary Jewellery School in Florence. He has worked for several goldsmiths and at the Royal College of Art. Patrick is a member of the Contemporary British Silversmiths and has won several awards including Best New Design at Goldsmiths Fair 2016. Patrick has been working as a jeweller and silversmith since graduating and has spent time exploring and researching mixed metal techniques.
‘I hope to encourage students by introducing new techniques to then find their own approach to it. I like to investigate different ways that metal is used and manipulated but also constructed, investigating or representing the physical building of materials.’
The unique landscape of the Orkney Islands provides inspiration for Grace Girvan’s work. She enjoys beach combing and uses the objects that she unearths on her expeditions in her work, combining found objects such as pebbles, driftwood and shell with precious metal and enamel. Her work is evocative of her inspiration, through a restrained colour palette of soft greys, blues, greens and browns she conveys the washed out, sun bleached colours of the sea and shore.
Public Collections include:
Aberdeen Art Gallery and Museums, Aberdeen
Dorothy Hogg studied at both Glasgow School of Art and the Royal College of Art and was Head of Jewellery & Silversmithing at Edinburgh College of Art from 1985 until 2007.
In 2001 she was awarded an MBE for services to jewellery and silversmithing and in 2005 won the Brilliantly Birmingham Jewellery Award; awarded to the jeweller who has made the greatest contribution to the world of designer-maker jewellery. Dorothy Hogg passed away on the 4th April 2022. She was one of The Scottish Gallery’s favourite contemporary jewellers and will be greatly missed.
Public Collections include: National Museums Scotland, Edinburgh; Aberdeen Art Gallery and Museums; Victoria & Albert Museum, London; Museum of Arts and Design, New York; Goldsmiths’ Company London; Crafts Council, London; Birmingham Art Gallery and Museum; Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art; Musee Des Beaux Arts, Montreal, Canada.
Ruth has been designing and making playful, sculptural jewellery since 2015. Her eponymous jewellery collection is made by hand using recycled silver and gold and is inspired by both the subtle details within fabrics as well as the intricate constructions within textile machinery. Ruth finely twists wire using an old-fashioned hand drill which is then cut and wrapped around frames to create tactile, refined forms – like dangling architecture.
Her collection comprises of clean, elegant structures that stand on their own as well as showcasing her signature twisted-wire details. These are bold yet classic designs that transcend seasons and trends. Each piece is handmade by Ruth in her Edinburgh studio.
“Working in silver is inspiring and creative, technical and expressive. Using the traditional techniques of the silversmith as my foundation, I build pieces that explore the relationship between functionality and self-expression. I want my work to be individual in design and concept and give pleasure to the user. There is something magical about silver. When it arrives in the brown paper and card board packaging, which is promptly unwrapped and examined, a voyage of discovery begins. I have never once look at a sheet of silver and thought nothing of it. My mind skips to the possibilities and the ideas that I originally purchased the metal for tend to pale in the face of the endless possibilities that lie before me. Soft and rounded, or crisp with sharp edges and plain bold surfaces! Silver, you will find, can do it all.” – Grant McCaig
I aim to achieve an aesthetic result that obscures the technical rigours of its production. I am preoccupied mainly with the surfaces of precious metals (which I always affect in some way before construction begins) and with form – juxtaposing the play of light, reflection, lustre with characteristic angle, curve and line – inspired by an abstraction of nature and art, and particularly of the human form. I am intrigued, too, by the potential for dialogue between inner and outer planes, with random patterns imprisoned within strictly delineated edges, the inclusion of chance, and the visual tension created by the contrast and harmony of all these factors.
A Lecturer at the Royal College of Art from 1972 until 1994, Mina has made a significant contribution to art education and has provided a great source of inspiration to her students; many of whom have become distinguished jewellers. Winner of the Jerwood Applied Arts Prize for Jewellery in 2000 for ‘consistent innovation and a significant contribution to contemporary jewellery… for subverting and taking precious metal techniques to the extreme’, Mina also received an OBE for services to Art in 2012. In 2011, the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths honoured her career with the retrospective exhibition, Dialogues in Gold, which brought together a selection of her work spanning almost her entire career to date. It included pieces that are still regarded as seminal today; ground-breaking pieces for contemporary practice in precious metal. This was followed by Touching Gold, an exhibition which toured the UK.
Jacqueline Mina’s technical brilliance, allied with her strong artistic curiosity has resulted in a range of sensuous, understated work, which has a rare aesthetic presence in the field of contemporary gold jewellery. Her superb technical accomplishment in manipulating precious metals is combined with a fine, painterly eye. Sources of inspiration include the Venetian Palazzo Fortuny with its textile drapes; featuring devoré velvet with their etched patterns.
Public collections include: National Museums Scotland, Edinburgh; V&A Museum, London; Cooper–Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, New York; Crafts Council, London; The Goldsmiths’ Company, London; Leeds Museums and Galleries.
Wendy Ramshaw, CBE, RDI, was an international champion of modern jewellery. Her signature ringsets are represented in over 70 public collections worldwide. Ramshaw’s work also encompassed designs for textiles, screens, gateways and sculpture. The Scottish Gallery has exhibited some of her most ambitious ideas through exhibitions such as Picasso’s Ladies (1989), Rooms of Dreams (2002), Prospero’s Table (2004) and A Journey Through Glass (2007). Exhibitions such as Room of Dreams, which was designed and created as a theatrical stage set for the jewellery, have become embedded not only in Ramshaw’s spectacular career but also illustrate the commitment by The Gallery to truly original ideas.
Public Collections include:
Victoria & Albert Museum, London; National Museums Scotland, Edinburgh; The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, USA; National Gallery of Western Australia, Canberra; British Museum, London; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; and The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto.
In August 2023 we presented Wendy Ramshaw – The Early Years as part of our Festival Presentation – Wonder Women. You can discover more about Wendy Ramshaw’s life and work in her words in our special blog series here.
Misun Won graduated with a masters degree in 2008 from Edinburgh College of Art. Originally from Korea, her work is associated with the delicacy of highly refined handcraft from the East. Her extensive experience of living and working in both Britain and Korea has given her a broader cultural outlook. It has enabled her to position herself in what she calls “neutral territory” and to examine both cultures with “fresh eyes”. Influences from both countries can be seen in her work: a major inspiration is Korean patchwork, but this highly traditional form is interpreted through Western fractal geometry; creating dynamic structures for her collection.
Misun received a commendation at Goldsmiths’ Fair 2019 for her latest collection.