Jeweller and designer Vicki Ambery-Smith’s stand, at any show, has been on my ‘must linger’ list since first pausing to admire her exquisite architecture-inspired creations, at the Goldsmiths’ Fair several years ago.
Oxford Ring, 2009, silver with yellow and red gold accents, 23x44x22mm deep
I was therefore delighted to be given a review copy of her book, Jewellery & Silverware – Inspired by Architecture, at the fair last autumn.
Vicki’s jewellery designs are decidedly modern, with a conceptual approach that sparks both delight and desire. In this beautifully presented hardback book, she shares many of the triumphs, as well as intricate challenges, that have graced her workbench during her 40+ year career.
Penguin Pool Sketch
Penguin Pool brooch, 2002, silver with frosted perspex, 46x29x16mm deep
Her refined works interpret people’s homes, work places, neighbourhoods and on occasion, whole cities. She has also magicked up diminutive depictions of iconic constructions such as Berthold Lubetkins’ Penguin Pool at the London Zoo; the Sydney Opera House, by Jørn Utzon and Peter Hall; and Frank Gehry’s Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao.
Sydney Opera House ring sketches
Sydney Opera House ring, 2011, silver with yellow gold, 24x47x12mm deep
These miniature treasures are pared down versions of architectural gems, cleverly distilled to a vital essence. Carefully chosen and distinctive visual cues elicit instant recognition and enchantment. Thus, many pieces also carry precious memories for wearers, as they often do for Vicki too.
Etretat
“I was asked to design and make a ring inspired by the cliff tops of the north coast of France. What madness! I thought. Etretat is where my customer’s girlfriend came from and this was to be a surprise birthday present. The commune has a dramatic coastline admired by Henri Matisse and Caude Monet, amongst others. It was immediately obvious to me that the cliffs should be made of silver but how to represent the grass? Should the church be included or not? These were the questions I grappled with.
Etretat Ring on bench
I decided to dispense with the church because it was an extra distraction from the coastline. Then in a lightbulb moment I struck on the idea of using sea glass (green glass that has been tumbled in the waves for years) for the grass. To make sure glass could be carved I experimented with a piece that I found on a beach in Cornwall. It wasn’t French glass, but from the same stretch of sea.
Etretat Ring, 2018, silver with green sea glass, 19x38x12mm deep
My client was delighted and couldn’t wait to present it, but he held out till her birthday when they were soon to be in Etretat. He called me the next day to say the ring was such a success it had become an engagement ring. That made my day!”
Large Venice Ring, 2009, silver with red and yellow gold with a touch of gold green enamel, 75x43x23mm deep
Vicki’s book delves into this rich narrative energy in her creations. It also explores her brilliant ability, and methodology, in translating architectural and engineering concepts, many of which are extremely complex, into small scale jewels and sculptural objects.
Villa Savoye, Poissy, Le Corbusier, 1928
Every element, visual, practical and aesthetic, is pre-planned in minute detail. “I work this out on paper, taking every angle into account and by doing so I’m also mindful of how this design will be constructed. A lot of preparation goes on at this stage before I launch into precious metals.”
Villa Savoye box, 2016, silver with yellow gold plate inside, 80x80x38mm deep
Vicki shares each phase in the development of many of her unique visionary pieces. We learn how buildings, bridges, towers and finer detailing can be elegantly captured. Some of her rings extend from a single finger across the hand, encapsulating multiple compositional features into a cohesive whole.
Detail showing the gilded drawer of the Villa Savoye box, 2016
These enticing abstracted ‘portraits’ are transportive, instantly recognisable in terms of location, and at the same time bearing Vicki’s unique signature style. For this compelling artist and silversmith, the edit is as critical as the making, as she explains, “I might distort, flatten or stretch the dimensions to get the look I’m after – to make it look right.”
Istanbul Ring, 2011, silver, oxidised silver with red gold, 25x47x26mm deep
Her pieces need to function from every angle. “Somehow – perhaps intuitively – I know when I have the ‘right’ design drawing in front of me. Size is also crucial – too big and a brooch would be unwearable or ungainly, too small and its significance is overlooked,” adds Vicki.
Roofs and other architectural details are fashioned from silver and might be coloured with red or yellow gold, verdigris, enamel or more unusual materials, such as anodised niobium and titanium.
St Peter’s brooch, 1980, silver, gold and perspex, inspired by designs for the church of St. Peter’s in Montorio, Rome by Donato Bramante, 25.5×3.5×1.9cm, acquired by the V&A following an exhibition at the Crafts Council Gallery in 1982
Vicki engages our curiosity with various back stories. Some stem from her passion for integrating elements of surprise. She might play with internal as well as external spaces, revealing different sections of a given building, blending interiors, different façades or key decorative components.
Her sense of humour is also evident, notably with the duck house cufflinks, prompted by 2009’s “… entertaining news scandal about Members of Parliament and their expenses claims.”
Duck House cufflinks, 2009, silver with gold enamel, 14x24x8mm deep
Through the pages of Jewellery & Silverware, we travel the world, via landmark buildings on every scale and across multiple eras – from old pigeonniers to contemporary beehives; from chapels, churches, mosques and synagogues to town houses, famed villas and skyscrapers; and from market town with supermarket to the occasional landscape.
Shard Brooch, 2013, silver with gold set in the top, 22x12x11mm deep
Vicki charts her student days and early inspiration, progressing through a multitude of diverse private and public commissions. Among the most prestigious, alongside pieces for London’s V&A, Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts and several other such institutions, she has enjoyed commissions for every Prix Pictet’s trophy since the award’s inception.
House in Knightsbridge box, 2014, silver with gold plated interior, 49x90x38mm deep
The book’s pages are dedicated to sumptuous rings, engaging stickpins, elegant brooches, inspired pendants, cufflinks and earrings, sometimes in collections, such as those created for The Shard. There are precious silver boxes too.
In the final chapters the author briefly covers CAD design, however her output actually lies, almost entirely, in the old-school sphere of hand crafting. This encompasses pencil or brush and paper, card modelling, painstaking research through trial and error, as well as studied observation, in real life and through books (Banister Fletcher is particularly referenced), followed by copious hours at the workbench, trusted tools in hand.
Knightsbridge House box on the bench
Vicki is remarkably generous, sharing all aspects of her work and process in words, as well as in a particularly rich variety of illustrations. We have annotated sketches, visuals for clients, detailed line drawings, watercolours, maquettes and plans, and supporting photographs of locations. The best images document jewellery and sculptural pieces, at various stages of making, and completed. The photographs are mostly her own.
Four Pendant Earrings, 2014, cast silver with coloured acetate or yellow gold, 13x22x3mm deep
Delving into her book has introduced me to a multitude of previously unknown works and whole new spectrum of design knowledge. Jewellery & Silverware is beautifully written, in an approachable tone. It will appeal to those with a general or specific interest in silver, jewels, architecture and design. It would also make a welcome addition to those working in silver or goldsmithing and associated fields, enlightening and extending various craft practices.
Three beehive stickpins, 2010, silver and red gold, 21x30x8mm deep
The book’s foreword, by Dr Olivia Horsfall Turner, Senior Curator of Designs at the V&A and Lead Curator for the V&A+RIBA Architecture Partnership, and a preface by Eric Turner, former curator, Department of Sculpture, Metalwork, Ceramics and Glass at London’s V&A, add further insightful reflections relating to the oeuvre of this outstandingly talented and highly collectable artist.
Vicki Ambery-Smith at her bench, photographed by Paul Read
Jewellery & Silverware – Inspired by Architecture
Hardback ISBN: 9781914414657, published 2022 by Unicorn
For more information visit Vicki Ambery-Smith’s website.
Review text and book cover image © Emma Boden, 2023, all other photography © Vicki Ambery-Smith, except portrait image by Paul Read.
Water Theme Prix Pictet Trophy, 2008, silver on enamel base, 80x80x65mm, based on the Palais de Tokyo, where Kofi Annan presented the award to the Canadian photographer Benoit Aquin