Abstract:
The production, reception and collection of studio jewellery in New Zealand between 1900 and 1945 is examined. The influence of John Ruskin, William Morris and the Arts and Crafts Movement on art and design, and the role of the South Kensington system of technical education are discussed. Wellington Technical School is used as a case study and as an example of technical education in New Zealand. Exhibition records and sales ledgers are drawn upon, as are reviews and articles in the press. The lives and work of six artists are explored in individual studies that look at the education they received, the work they produced and its reception in the world. The collection of studio jewellery and art metalwork by public institutions and private persons is scrutinised and a thesis is postulated: that much of the work produced by the studio jewellers of that time is held in private collections, on the basis of sentiment, rather than on an appreciation of its true worth. The jewellers and art metalworkers who produced the work are largely forgotten and their work unrecognised, except where it is held by the families of the makers. The reasons for this lack of recognition are speculated upon. The thesis is confirmed when someone stands on a pair of earrings.
