This piece is part of the Royal College of Art Visiting Artists Collection. Every year from 1987 to 2006, while David Watkins was Professor of Goldsmithing, Silversmithing, Metalwork and Jewellery at the RCA, he invited four jewellers and silversmiths from outside Britain to give a week-long masterclass. The artists brought diverse skills, aesthetics and approaches. The first call on their time was to interact closely with the students. In addition, although concentrating on their teaching and working in an unfamiliar studio, each artist generously made an object for the RCA's collection. The Royal College of Art Visiting Artists Collection, now transferred to the V&A, is a major document of international contemporary jewellery, a tribute both to the artists and to the vibrancy of the RCA as a teaching institution.

In the 1980s jewellers explored a rich variety of effects with enamels. They were seeking a fresh approach to colour but preferred to work with traditional rather than new materials and create a unique technique and style.

Jamie Bennett broke with all tradition and removed the visible metal supports usually found in enamelling. This gave his enamelled compositions a painterly effect. He developed this new technique when making the 'Priori' series, as seen here. Bennett applied rough, granular enamel to give a softened outline and subtle surface patterning to his abstract three-dimensional forms.

He studied at the State University of New York at New Paltz. He originally trained as a painter and turned later to metalwork to create more sculptural forms. Through his novel application of enamels Bennett has gone back to his roots as a painter.