Design Drawings

The Goldsmiths’ Company has been supporting excellence in design for precious metals since 1925, when it was asked by King George V to help update the trophies awarded at Ascot. The Company responded by organising a design competition, which became the first of many held over the next four decades. Most of the successful competition entries were kept by the Company, and they now form the backbone of our extensive collection of design drawings.

Alongside these, the archives also contain designs for objects commissioned by the Company for its own collection; designs for competitions run by other organisations; designs for institutional plate; portfolios of well-known craftsmen such as H.G. Murphy and Bernard Cuzner; and material from manufacturing or retail firms such as Tessier and E. Podolsky. There are two large collections of drawings and works books relating to Omar Ramsden and the Artificer’s Guild, which are kept separately and classified as special research collections.

The majority of the designs in the archive were produced during the early and mid-twentieth century, and are by British or UK-based craftsmen. Most are presentation drawings for competition, but there are also collections of working designs that were used at the bench. They are available to view by appointment in the Library. Alternatively the designs are part of an ongoing photography project, and many are now available as digital images.

How do i search these?

A paper index is available to search in the Library. This gives an indication of the design brief, the object depicted, and the designer. Some of the designers featured in the archive are:

J.L. Auld, R.G. Baxendale, W.P. Belk, G. Benney, S. Bishop, E. Clements, E.M. Dinkel, L. Durbin, T.R. Glenn, M.E. Gould, R.H. Hill, C. Holliday, C.N. Lawrence, K.W. Lessons, R.A. Massey, K. Mosley, L. Osman, K. Redfern, C.J. Shiner, W.C. Smyth, A.G. Styles and G. Whiles.