Beschreibung:

Adrian Gerald Benney (1930-2008). A Elizabeth II silver gilt and enamelled table jewellery casket, the lid with two bands of white enamel and a central stripe of blue striated enamel, with piano hinge, the sides having textured bark finish and the interior lined with antelope skin, stamped GERALD BENNEY, LONDON to the plain foot enclosing a textured base, London 1972. 6.6cm H, 20.5cm W, 10.5cm D, 50.5oz all in. Gerald Benney was born in 1930 in Hull to artistic parents. He went to Brighton College of Art 1946-8 (his father was Principal) where he trained as a silversmith in the workshop of Dunstan Pruden at Ditchling. After military service he attended the Royal College of Art 1950-53 and was later Professor of Silversmithing and Jewellery from 1974 to 1983. In 1953 he secured a workshop from the retiring owner Mr. S W Ide, the best gold-plater in London, at Whitfield Place off Tottenham Court Road. In 1958 he was made a Freeman of the Goldsmith's Company. 1964 elected a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths. In 1969 he moved his London studio to Falcon Wharf, Bankside and by 1973 was at warehouses in Bear Lane, Southwark. With the increase in VAT on luxury goods in 1974 he had to let most of his 19 staff go and moved everything to Beenham House, his home in Berkshire, where he stayed until 1998. From 1957-1969 Benney was Consultant Designer to Viners of Sheffield. In 1971 he became a Royal Designer for Industry. He had one man exhibitions at Goldsmith's Hall in 1973, enamels in 1994 and in 2005. From 1974-1980 he received 4 Royal Warrants of appointment. He was appointed Professor at the Royal College of Art from 1974-1983. In 1993 his son Simon opened the showroom Benney in Walton Street. Benney stated "My philosophy as such is to project and involve my own personal design theme without too much reference to others in the field."