As the V&A’s Assistant Curator of Metalwork, my typical day might involve handling finely crafted silver objects (making sure to always wear nitrile gloves to prevent fingerprints!), measuring and photographing objects in store, putting objects on display, and cataloguing the collections on our database. I see and touch beautiful objects in their finished form, but I’ve never worked practically with metal. I’ve always wanted to learn the processes of making to get to this ‘end point’.
This all changed a couple of months ago when I was the lucky recipient of funding, via the V&A Early Career Development Fund, to go on a Silversmithing course at Central Saint Martins in London. The atmosphere of Saint Martins was literally a world away from the ordered stores of the museum – busy, loud, I was soon wielding a blowtorch, a piercing saw and a dozen other tools which were completely alien to me. Immersed in the workshops normally occupied by BA jewellery design students, I learnt not be so precious when handling metal in this environment, though I admit it took me a while to adjust not to wearing my nitrile gloves!
The course was run by the silversmith Linda Robertson, who covered all the basic techniques including shaping the silver, soldering, sawing, filing and finishing. The aim, for me, was to gain a practical knowledge of silversmithing techniques and increase my understanding of the materials, tools and processes a silversmith uses. As a visual learner I could better grasp processes through practical learning.
I was assigned a workbench and a set of tools, although I didn’t get on very well with my piercing saw – the blades are very fine, and I snapped quite a lot during the course (luckily, they had stocked up in advance). Linda demonstrated each step of the making process, and we’d gather round as she was soldering or filing, amazed at how effortless she made it look, when we all had aching arms from sawing, or cramp in our hands from gripping the silver too tightly!
Over four days, I turned a completely flat piece of sterling silver into a D-shaped lidded silver box. Within 10 minutes of starting on the first day I was already cutting my silver and shaping the metal. I started off with two flat pieces of sterling silver, one was curved into a D shape and soldered onto a square piece of silver. The base and lid of the box were then soldered on to this. Sawing the lid was the most difficult part and took the longest. After this I made a bezel, a thin D-shaped strip of metal, that was soldered inside the box, to ensure the lid fitted snugly. I then had to saw off the square edges, file them down and remove all the scratches and scuffs.
On the last day, I got in early, worked through lunch and stayed until the last possible moment as I was so desperate to have a finished box!
Here’s a few key things I learnt about silversmithing along the way:
Silver is soft: to make the distinct curved shape of the box I simply bent the silver over a metal pole, without the need for any pliers.
Silversmiths are patient people: it took me over an hour to saw the lid off the box and I went through six saw blades on the lid alone.
Silver can take some bashing: when my box became dented, or misshaped, the silver could be pushed back into shape using the wooden peg on my bench.
Soldering is like glue: to join the components of my box together I melted pallions (or small pieces of silver) on a joint. I ran a flame alongside the join and the solder melted, acting like a glue.
Precision is key: at each step of the process I checked everything lined up and was level. At one point the tutor had to use an industrial sanding machine to level my box…
Finishing can take as long as making: after all sides of the box were soldered together, I still needed to file down all the edges, solder lines and the box’s surface using emery paper.
By the end of my course, I was truly astonished at how much work goes into turning a flat piece of silver into a three-dimensional form. I not only gained a wealth of practical knowledge and new appreciation for silversmithing. The course has altered the way I look at the museum’s metalwork collection. Now I always inspect solder lines, and question how the objects were made (and wonder how long they took to make!)
For now, my box has pride of place on my mantelpiece, and was the perfect receptacle to hold wedding rings when I got married. A huge thank you again to course leader Linda and the Early Career Development Fund.
If you fancy trying your hand at this course, head over to UAL’s website.
And here are some other courses run by organisations which have links with the V&A:
Jewellery & Silversmithing Workshops | Bishopsland Educational Trust
Discover training courses in jewellery making and silversmithing The Goldsmiths’ Centre
Skills Training Programme | Contemporary British Silversmiths
