Silversmith · Sheffield · Since 2020

Everything here was flat sheet on a Monday.

A one person bench in South Yorkshire, making rings, spoons, small vessels and pendants by hand in short runs, taking a few commissions a year, and bringing old silver back into use.

See the work How a commission runs

A raised silver bowl, a band and a spoon on a dark bench under a lamp

Founded: 2020
Workshop: Sheffield, South Yorkshire
Metals: Sterling 925 and Britannia 958
Bench: One pair of hands

Four collections

Rings, spoons, vessels and pendants

Thirty two pieces in all, each listed with its material, its surface, its actual weighed weight and a price that is not negotiable because there is nothing built into it to negotiate away.

Rings and Bands

Forged and seamed bands in sterling and Britannia silver, sized to the finger rather than to a chart.

8 pieces, from £180

Spoons and Small Tools

Bowls sunk from flat sheet and handles forged from the same piece, made one at a time and finished by hand.

8 pieces, from £95

Vessels and Bowls

Raised and sunk hollowware, worked up from a flat disc of sheet with hammers and stakes.

8 pieces, from £280

Pendants

Small flat and forged forms on hand-made bails, each supplied on a sterling chain.

8 pieces, from £140

At the bench

Made the long way

There are two ways to make a silver bowl. You can spin it over a former in a few minutes, or you can start with a flat disc and drive it down over a stake, course by course, annealing between each one, until the walls stand where you want them. The second takes days. It also compresses the metal instead of stretching it, which is why a raised wall is thicker at the rim than the sheet it began as.

Everything in this workshop is made the second way, or forged, or sunk. Nothing is cast and nothing is bought in and finished. That decision is the reason for the prices, the lead times, and most of what is written in the bench notes.

The surfaces are part of the making rather than applied afterwards. A planished finish is the last stage of forming, not a polish, and there is a note on how to choose between the finishes if you are deciding between two versions of the same piece.

Inside the studio

A stake, a raising hammer and a pair of dividers on a dark bench

Three things I take on

Short runs, a few commissions, and old silver

Short runs

Pieces made in batches of six or fewer, listed with the actual weight, the finish and an honest price. Some are in stock, most are made to your size after you order.

See the work

Commissions

A few each year, taken from a first conversation through to delivery in five stages, with a third down and a written quote before anything is cut.

How it runs

Restoration

Cleaning, re-tipping worn cutlery, taking dents out of vessels and replacing failed hinges. Sensible ranges, and a straight answer when a piece is beyond saving.

What I can fix

Bench notes

Written between jobs

Working notes on annealing, forming, finishes, hallmarks and what handmade work actually costs. No news, no announcements, and nothing written to fill a schedule.