Omar Ramsden design archive

Omar Ramsden (1873-1939) was one of the best-known silversmiths and designers of his generation, combining a distinctive Arts and Crafts style with a commercial shrewdness that made his workshop both productive and profitable.

Born in Sheffield, Ramsden came to London with his business partner and friend, Alwyn Carr (1872-1940), shortly after their graduation from Sheffield School of Art in 1897. They established the St Dunstan’s Studio in west London, and the partnership of Ramsden & Carr flourished until the First World War when Carr left to serve in the Artists’ Rifles.

At the end of the war the partnership broke up, and Ramsden continued to work from St Dunstan’s alone. It is from this period that the Ramsden Archive dates. He produced high quality silver which mixed Arts and Crafts style with a large dose of historicism – an approach that his clients found reassuring following the upheaval of the Great War. 

Although the Arts and Crafts movement was key to his style, he seems to have been less interested in its romantic ideas about craft production. Ramsden’s workshop was organised on traditional lines, with clear divisions of labour and the use of subcontractors. He learnt early in his career that his talents lay in designing and organising the work rather than making it himself, and he employed a number of highly skilled craftspeople. It was this business sense and his ability to develop such an appealing house style which led the workshop to be so productive: a large number of pieces still survive to carry the signature ‘OMAR RAMSDEN ME FECIT’. (OMAR RAMSDEN MADE ME, a nod to the Medieval and Renaissance artists who signed their work with this Latin phrase).

The Ramsden Archive includes 19 of Ramsden’s workbooks, alongside five portfolios of working drawings and contemporary record photographs of his work. The material covers the period 1921 to 1939. In his workbooks, Ramsden sketched designs and made a detailed inventory of the materials and processes used to produce them, along with the selling price. Prices were written in code, but this code has now been largely deciphered by a codebreaker, and a key is available which allows researchers to uncover the secrets of Ramsden’s working practices. In addition, the archive holds 34 boxes containing small artefacts from the workshops, including casting patterns, found objects used to provide design inspiration, and engravings. 

The Library & Archive gratefully acknowledges the generosity of silversmith Leslie Durbin (1913-2005), who trained in Omar Ramsden’s workshop, and donated the Ramsden Archive to the Goldsmiths’ Company.

What to expect when using the records

When booking your appointment with the Library & Archive, please let us know you would like to access the Ramsden Archive, and describe what kind of research you are carrying out – for example, if you are trying to identify the design for a particular type of object. 

Several finding aids are available during your visit, including:

indexes of the drawings and photographs;
an alphabetical list of clients mentioned in the workbooks;
and detailed tables of contents for the workbooks themselves, giving the date, page number, order number and Ramsden’s identifying description of the object.

Please note, due to the fragile nature of the archive, you will be supervised when accessing the material.

We look forward to your visit!