Design Drawings

At the heart of the Goldsmiths’ Company’s mission is its connection with craftspeople and its support for excellence in design. The Library & Archive hold hundreds of design drawings which span over a century of design in silver and jewellery, and which are used for educational purposes. The type of material varies, from rough sketches through to fully worked up presentation drawings intended for clients or competitions. These drawings span the Company’s own initiatives to support goldsmiths, silversmiths and jewellers, and donations to the Archive by individuals wanting to share artistic and technical work for the benefit of future craftspeople and researchers. 

20th century 

The Company began a series of design competitions in 1925, when it was asked by King George V to help update the trophies awarded at Ascot. Successive competitions were run over the following decades to assist other organisations wishing to commission a significant piece.  Many of the competition entries were preserved by the Company. They now form the core of our collection of 20th century design drawings. 

Another significant group of 20th century drawings includes designs for some of the objects commissioned by the Company for its own collection. Amongst these can be found work by well-known craftspeople such as H. G. Murphy, Bernard Cuzner, Louis Osman and Keith Redfern.

Collections produced by individual goldsmiths and goldsmithing firms and later acquired by the Archive provide additional insights into 20th century work. For those researching the Arts and Crafts movement, there are large collections of designs by Omar Ramsden, and the Artificers’ Guild; and for Art Deco enthusiasts, we hold the Podolsky Archive and a small number of designs by Paul Brandt.

21st century

The collection of the Goldsmiths’ Company Library & Archive holds significant numbers of design drawings for 21st century craftspeople. Most of these designs have been acquired since 2010 and many are related to pieces in the Company’s collection, augmented by generous bequests and donations by craftspeople and their estates. These collections are constantly evolving, so please do get in touch if there is a specific jeweller or silversmith you are interested in.

Recent gifts to the Library & Archive include collections of work by makers such as the engraver Malcolm Appleby, the enameller Phil Barnes and the jeweller Dorothy Hogg. The Dorothy Hogg bequest contains a series of notebooks which allows researchers to trace the development of her design ideas.

How to access these resources

Please make an appointment to visit the Library, specifying the designer you are interested in researching, or the type of material you would like to view (e.g. Arts and Crafts).

There is a paper index for some of the 20th century design drawings. For later designs, please discuss your research with staff who will be able to look up materials for you.

Design drawings are kept in the Archive so will be brought to the reading room on request.

Please note, handling of design drawings is supervised.

We look forward to your visit!