 | Anthony Elson
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Anthony Gordon Elson: born 1935 Worthing, Sussex. Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths.
1956 trained under Dunstan Pruden at Brighton College of Art where he received a diploma.
1960 to the Royal College of Art with a BA and Silver Medal for geometrical decoration in 1963 and in 1964 received a travelling bursary. Worked for William Comyns Ltd. 1964-68 where he was introduced to the production techniques that governed commercial viability. He went to Geneva and Tiffany's factory in New York. 1968 bought Blunt & Wray, an old established ecclesiastical manufacturer which produced mainly brass churchwork but had a small silversmithing workshop. By 1976 the company employed 25 producing Elson's designs, the domestic silver production subsidising the ecclesiastical business. He aimed at mass production through retailers and a fine jug (1972) and cigarette box (1974) in the Goldsmiths Company collection illustrates his work. With the decline of the ecclesiastical market and tough economic climate of the late 1970's he appointed a liquidator in 1981 and this side of the business was sold to A E Jones in Birmingham. In the same year he formed Anthony Elson Silversmiths establishing a successful design and prototype workshop in Clerkenwell, London, working with freelance specialists, concentrating on individual silver commissions. In 2002 he moved the Studio and workshop to Wadhurst in East Sussex.
In 1979 he edited a book published by the NAG "A Silversmith's Manual" by Bernard Cuzner. Elson has been the Chairman of the Council for Craft at the Goldsmith's Company and also served on the Council of City of London Guilds. Many prominent commissions from the City of London, London Stock Exchange, City livery companies, universities, corporations, Liverpool Anglican Cathedral, Lincoln Cathedral and the King of Nepal. Has exhibited widely in the UK, Europe, USA, Canada, Australia and the Middle East. His work can be found in many private and institutional collections. He lives in East Sussex and galleries that sell his current work include the Gilbert Collection at Somerset House and Thomas Goldsmith in Pimlico. www.anthonyelson.com
Personal Statement
With a thorough understanding of the craft and concern about the diminishing range of skills within the industry, my designs endeavour, when interpreting the wishes of my patrons, to combine these rare skills with imagination.
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