Over the centuries artists have often brought new ideas to jewellery design. In Britain, in the 1950s and '60s, they contributed greatly to the growth of individual expression, perhaps because they were working outside any commercial constraints.

In 1961 designs by artists were shown at the International Exhibition of Modern Jewellery, held at the Goldsmiths' Hall, London. This ground breaking exhibition aimed to 'stimulate public interest in jewellery as an art and to encourage British designers in this field'. Many artists were invited to contribute, some making jewellery for the first time. They were sent a small box of wax, from which they modelled a piece and returned it to the organisers for casting in silver or bronze.

These artists' jewels reflected a diversity of influences. Often rough-textured and heavy, they added a fascinating new dimension to the use of metals. As the catalogue said, they 'proved, if proof be needed, that cheap materials need not mean artistic insignificance, and that creative imagination shown with one visual art can very often be diverted to another'. These precepts, heralding alternative priorities within jewellery, helped consolidate the position of the emerging artist-jewellery movement.

F.E. McWilliam (1909-92) was a sculptor and painter, who joined the British surrealist group. His style is figurative. McWilliam taught at the Slade School of Art in London, there he met Henry Moore, who inspired him to become a sculptor.