Scottish silver jewellery - it's not just about kilt pins

If you said the words "Scottish jewellery" to a lot of people, it would conjure up an image of a kilt pin made from the foot of a dead grouse and perhaps embellished with a thistle motif - great for wearing on a kilt at some ceremonial occasion, but not the sort of thing most of us would consider as a suitable jewellery item in any other context. However, there is plenty of Scottish silver jewellery which is completely thistle-free apart from possibly the hallmarks, as I hope this hub will demonstrate! Read on and you'll find that a lot of Scottish silver jewellery is absolutely beautiful and in some cases has much in common with work by Scandinavian modernist designers. I will be concentrating mainly on jewellery made after about 1950, because it's where my interests lie and there is quite a lot of material from the Fifties onwards!

Hallmarks on Scottish silver

Being part of the UK, Scotland uses British silver hallmarks which comprise (a) a mark to denote the standard of silver, i.e. the fact that it's 925 parts per 1,000 pure or "sterling", (b) a town/assay office mark, (c) a date letter, and possibly (d) a maker's mark. The two main assay offices for Scottish silver are Edinburgh, which is still going today, and Glasgow, which closed down in 1964. The town mark for Edinburgh is a castle with three turrets - nice and easy to identify - while the one for Glasgow is a rather blobby tree with what looks like a Christmas ornament dangling from it and a post stuck through the trunk. In fact, the ornament is meant to be a bell while the "post" is a fish!

The standard mark for Edinburgh silver pieces made between 1759 and 1975 is a thistle, while the one for Glasgow is a lion rampant. In case you were wondering, a lion rampant is one which is rearing up on its hind legs. Not to be confused with the lion passant - a lion on all fours - which is used as the standard mark for English silver. Just to muddy the waters a bit further, the thistle on Edinburgh silver was replaced with a lion rampant in 1975.

Scottish silver jewellery made with agates

Agates are a type of chalcedony formed when silica-bearing solutions penetrate into cooled volcanic lava.  After millions of years, the resulting "nuggets" of agate finally get exposed on the surface of the ground and can be collected.  In fact, during the 19th century agates could easily be found on Scottish beaches which is why jewellery made with agate stones was often known as "pebble jewellery".  Agates can still be found at various locations all over Scotland.  They come in all sorts of colours and patterns; the colour is influenced by the type of impurity (for example carnelian agate, which has a reddish hue, contains traces of iron oxides).  Victorian silver/agate jewellery is highly collectable and often commands a three-figure price.

Some places in Scotland where silver jewellery is made

Iona. Iona is a small island off the westernmost tip of Mull in the Inner Hebrides. If you see the stamp "CAI" on a piece of Scottish silver, it stands for Celtic Art Industries, which was founded on Iona in 1945 by Hamish Dawson-Bowman. Makers who have worked there include Iain McCormick, Malachy Gormley and John Hart (senior). The jewellery designed here has a strong Celtic influence, with plenty of knotwork and scrolling.

South Uist. An island in the Outer Hebrides, and home to a silver jewellery making business called Hebridean Jewellery. Started in 1974 by John Hart senior's son, who is also named John Hart.

The Orkney Islands. Situated off the north-east tip of Scotland, the Orkneys are home to Ola Gorie who started as a jewellery designer in the 1960s after she returned to the Orkneys on graduating from art college. Ola Gorie herself has retired but the company she founded lives on. Other Orkney designers/companies include Sheila Fleet and Ortak, which was founded by Malcolm Gray. Being closer to Scandinavia, there's more of a Norse influence than with jewellery from the Hebrides.

The Shetland Islands. Situated north east of the Orkneys, these are the northernmost part of the UK. The company Shetland Jewellery was founded in 1953 and is based in Weisdale on Mainland, while Fair Isle Silver is based (unsurprisingly) on Fair Isle, Shetland's southernmost island. Again, there is a strong Norse influence in Shetland jewellery, as you can imagine. The pendant in the main picture is designed by Jack Rae and shows the Three Nornes, who were the three fates of Norse mythology and were called Urd, Verdandi and Skuld. According to legend, the Norse god Odin would consult them for information on the past, present or future.

Another Scottish silver jewellery designer you might not have heard of…

…is Norman Grant. Born in 1943, Norman Grant designed jewellery during the late Sixties and throughout the Seventies, mostly in enamel and silver. He used lots of plant and animal motifs in his jewellery, much of which is reminiscent of Art Nouveau pieces and is now very sought after!

The influence of Charles Rennie Mackintosh

Charles Rennie Mackintosh made his fame as an architect at beginning of the 20th century and later on as a painter and draughtsman.  He didn't make any jewellery (as far as I know), but his designs - like the "Glasgow Rose" motif - gave rise from the late Eighties onwards to a whole industry of Mackintosh-inspired silver jewellery pieces made by a number of companies (including Carrick, Ortak and Ola Gorie).  Some of these pieces are extremely attractive in their own right, and could well be the collector's items of the future.

© Empress Felicity August 2010

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