Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Silver, Room 68, The Whiteley Galleries

Tree

Tree
1969 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Gerald Benney started his own workshop on graduating from the RCA in 1955 and by 1957 was already appointed as a consultant designer to Viners of Sheffield, a major producer of base metal hollow ware and flat ware which at its zenith, in the late 1960s, employed over a thousand workers. Benney relies on strong geometric forms which in the 1950s incorporated an increasing use of attenuated shapes and showed some degree of Scandinavian influence. From the early 1960s, there was a return to a more formal, geometric and symmetrical element in his work which has usually been enriched by a textured surface and occasionally, deep, lustrous enamel. His enamel work developed from the experience passed on to him by Berger Beigersen, the master enameller from the now extinct firm of Burch Korrodi of Zurich. He first discovered the appeal of the textured surface in 1956 as a result of a workshop accident and since the 1960s, it has become very much a trademark of his work. It is interesting to compare a Martini jug and six tankards designed by Benney and produced in pewter by Viners in 1958 which also uses a soft textured decoration as its main decorative element, thus illustrating that the craft of silversmithing had a direct and interdependent relationship with his activities as an industrial designer. The value of this relationship has been strongly stressed by his contemporary, Robert Welch who has equally successfully worked in both disciplines throughout his career and recently wrote in his book Hand and Machine (London 1985) “that each area can enrich each other to very important degree.”


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleTree (generic title)
Materials and techniques
18 carat gold, set with carved emeralds and cabochon-cut rubies on a nephrite jade base.
Brief description
Tree sculpture, 18 carat gold set with emeralds and rubies on a nephrite jade base, London no hallmarks, 1969, made by Gerald Benney, CBE, RDI
Physical description
In the form of a stylised tree, the carved emeralds resembling leaves, the surface of the gold lightly textured to imitate bark, the base encircled with rubies and the circular base is of nephrite jade.
Dimensions
  • Height: 25cm
  • Width: 20.1cm
  • Of base diameter: 10.8cm
Marks and inscriptions
No marks
Gallery label
  • Tree 18 carat gold, set with emerald and rubies on a nephrite jade base Gerald Benney London, 1969 Lent by a private collection Museum no. LOAN:MET ANON.2-1978 Gerald Benney was one of the most influential silversmiths of the twentieth century and was the first British craftsperson to hold four Royal Warrants at the same time. Benney developed a wide network of private patrons and also worked as consultant designer for the Sheffield metalworkers, Viners. He made Tree as a private commission, stamping his patron’s name around the base. (12.12.2023)
Credit line
Lent by a private collection
Object history
Goldsmiths' Hall Exhibition RF.2004/1017
Summary
Gerald Benney started his own workshop on graduating from the RCA in 1955 and by 1957 was already appointed as a consultant designer to Viners of Sheffield, a major producer of base metal hollow ware and flat ware which at its zenith, in the late 1960s, employed over a thousand workers. Benney relies on strong geometric forms which in the 1950s incorporated an increasing use of attenuated shapes and showed some degree of Scandinavian influence. From the early 1960s, there was a return to a more formal, geometric and symmetrical element in his work which has usually been enriched by a textured surface and occasionally, deep, lustrous enamel. His enamel work developed from the experience passed on to him by Berger Beigersen, the master enameller from the now extinct firm of Burch Korrodi of Zurich. He first discovered the appeal of the textured surface in 1956 as a result of a workshop accident and since the 1960s, it has become very much a trademark of his work. It is interesting to compare a Martini jug and six tankards designed by Benney and produced in pewter by Viners in 1958 which also uses a soft textured decoration as its main decorative element, thus illustrating that the craft of silversmithing had a direct and interdependent relationship with his activities as an industrial designer. The value of this relationship has been strongly stressed by his contemporary, Robert Welch who has equally successfully worked in both disciplines throughout his career and recently wrote in his book Hand and Machine (London 1985) “that each area can enrich each other to very important degree.”
Collection
Accession number
LOAN:MET ANON.2-1978

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Record createdFebruary 1, 2005
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