The Fitzwilliam Museum holds stunning examples of jewellery and metalwork from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This exceptional period of design covers the neo-Gothic and historicist designs of the 1850s and 1860s, the ground-breaking work of British Arts & Crafts designers, the sinuous curves infl uenced by the European Art Nouveau movement and the structural modernity of the 1930s. The mid-late nineteenth century fashion for historicism is represented by some of the fi nest jewellers of the time including Alessandro Castellani, the Giuliano family and John Brogden, as well as a spectacular decanter by William Burges. There are important pieces of jewellery and silver by the most famous of Arts & Crafts designers, including C.R. Ashbee, Henry Wilson, Gilbert Marks and John Paul Cooper, as well as unique jewellery designed by the artist Charles Ricketts, which holds a special place in the history of queer art in Britain, having been designed for his friends, the couple Katharine Bradley and Edith Cooper, known collectively as Michael Field. Modernist silver is well-represented by leaders of the fi eld, Omar Ramsden and Harry G. Murphy. This beautifully illustrated volume reproduces over 50 of the Museum's most important pieces from this period, many previously unpublished, with comparative illustrations of the original designs. Importantly, the book is arranged chronologically by designer with biographies, a description of their work and how it changed over time, as well as commentary about the specifi c works in the Museum's collection. The resulting book therefore brings together for the fi rst time the Museum's exceptionally fi ne holdings of jewellery and metalwork from this highly popular and fruitful period of design.
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