Malcolm Appleby | 50 Golden Years in Scotland | March 2019 by The Scottish Gallery

Malcolm Appleby

malcolm appleby 50 Golden Years in Scotland 27 february â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 30 march 2019

Front and back cover: Colliding Galaxies, 2018, 22ct gold engraved beaker (detail) Inside left: Nutsquirrel pendant, 2018, 18ct gold, platinum and rough diamond, H 3.5 x W 2.5 cm

Foreword 2019 marks fifty years since Malcolm Appleby first set up his studio in Scotland and we can recognise today his unique contribution to the arts. His infectious enthusiasm for his craft, his willingness to work with other artists and his pleasure in sharing his skills is characteristic of his generosity and pre-eminence. It is twenty years since Malcolm held his first silver symposium which has developed into an annual event providing a unique opportunity for artists to work alongside Malcolm for a week in his studio, a creative refuge and space for all to consider the possibilities of working in metal. The finale is a gathering of friends, curators and collectors to celebrate the week’s work and encourage further discussion and creative thinking. The symposium attracts artists who work in different media, which enhances the experience for all participating. I have never taken for granted my visits to Grandtully – Malcolm and Philippa are always welcoming and I am introduced to all the new projects on the go. I now record every visit as a means of trying to keep up with the output. The possibilities to be creative don’t diminish, they increase – the more Malcolm makes, the more the ideas keep coming. 50 Golden Years in Scotland is a celebration of Malcolm Appleby and hopes to capture the beautiful, creative space that he has developed. The natural world that surrounds the studio informs every piece; the artist’s inspiration unlimited in the abundance of the world around him. The Scottish Gallery salutes this unique artist. The Gallery is as ever grateful to Philippa Swann for her photographs of Malcolm, his work and their surrounding Perthshire landscape as well as her invaluable help in selecting the following works for this exhibition. We thank the silver specialist, curator, collector and writer John Andrew for the following essay which gives further, valuable insights. CHRISTINA JANSEN

Left: Malcolm Appleby by Philippa Swann, 2018

malcolm appleby 50 Golden Years in Scotland

Malcolm Appleby has been described in many ways. Primarily he is known as a master engraver, but in fact he is a designer and a multi-skilled craftsman whose work ranges from small silver buttons through to large steel and gold fired sculpture. He excels as a teacher and via his intensive workshops has inspired generations of silversmiths to make items that appeal to themselves and their clients, rather than catering to popular trends. He is an enthralling speaker and has an enquiring mind that results in innovative techniques. Both his peers and clients hold him in high regard. He has been referred to as, ‘the Saint of Silversmithing’, a magician, while locally he is known as ‘the man with that darned jumper’. (He’s been darning it for 50 years too! The jumper was originally knitted by his mother.) Although Malcolm is a long-standing member of the Scottish silversmithing community, he was born in 1946 at Beckenham and lived at Coney Hall near West Wickham, Kent. Today and particularly in the 1950s, trees from the ancient woods and diverse ancient common land are reminders of rural Kent. His father was a good shot and fur and feather in the form of rabbit and pigeon formed part of the family’s table. He and his siblings were encouraged to forage for berries, nuts and herbs. Malcolm formed an interest in working with metal from an early age, the catalyst being a family friend, John Wilkes of the long-established firm of gun makers bearing his name. It was the intricate engraving with which bespoke firearms are traditionally decorated that attracted the young Appleby. Malcolm’s goal was to be a designer-artist and he progressed through various art schools. Two significant events happened while he was at the Central School of Arts and Crafts. First he started a ‘mock apprentice’ with John Wilkes as a gun engraver. Secondly, The Goldsmiths’ Company, London (The Company) awarded him a travel scholarship and he chose to visit Scotland and fell in love with its natural beauty. From 1966-68 he studied engraving at the Royal College of Art (RCA). Afterwards Malcolm was

certainly in demand. The silversmith Stuart Devlin liked his free creativity and suggested he may like to collaborate with him. Malcolm Appleby made very few pieces with Stuart for Collingwood of Conduit Street, London during Appleby’s early days at the train station in Crathes, Aberdeenshire. However, he was becoming weary of the aggressive commercialism of the capital. ‘I saw this sort of pressure building up all around and I didn’t really like it. I didn’t feel that the essence of what I was doing was in the suburbs of London. I got an opportunity to move to Scotland for a year and I took it. I’ve been in Scotland ever since.’ Nevertheless, his work often emanated from London. During the late 1960s he worked on three pieces designed by Louis Osman, engraving the orb for the Prince of Wales Crown used at his investiture on 1st July 1969 and a spherical model of the moon in hard steel from which gold copies could be made. These commemorated Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin’s landing on the moon 20th July 1969 (these were both made just prior to moving to Scotland at Coney Hall, Wickham). However, the highlight was ‘The Prince of Wales Gold Cup’ for the Louis Osman ‘Gold Exhibition’ early in 1971. It is an astonishing example of creative engraving by Malcolm (engraved whilst in Scotland). The article in the Illustrated London News of 13 February 1971 reporting the exhibition, devoted over 90 per cent to this one piece. Malcolm’s craftmanship certainly eclipsed Louis Osman. It is therefore fitting that 50 Golden Years in Scotland has two beautiful examples of 22ct gold engraved beakers in the studio (Harlequin Hammer, page 9 and Colliding Galaxies, page 11). Having rented a friend’s house for a year in Scotland, Malcolm was able to buy Crathes Station near Banchory off the Aberdeen to Braemar road and converted it into a home and workshop. Christine Rew of Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums described visiting Malcolm’s studio at the Railway Station as, ‘like stepping into another world, with a magical fairy-tale quality’. The chaser Rod Kelly, who was mentored

Malcolm Appleby in his studio, Grandtully, 2019

One of the workbenches in Malcolm Applebyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s studio, Grandtully, 2019

by Malcolm at Crathes in 1980 prior to going to the RCA, says the magic did not emanate from the building, but from Malcolm, ‘a larger than life affable character with a good sense of humour’. The magic was probably a combination of the two, but the indisputable fact is that during the 1970s and 80s while no trains entered the station, commissions flowed into it with regular abandon from the great and the good. While Crathes Station was ideal for Malcolm’s purposes, it could never be a family home. In the 1990s changes were afoot. Land was acquired at Grandtully, by Aberfeldy in Perthshire, the county that arguably boasts some of Scotland’s finest scenery. He knew that people liked Crathes and his objectives were to build a home, studio and workshop that people would like to come to as well as a place where he would like to live. When I first visited the studio, I was completely smitten with the place. Malcolm dislikes traveling and as with his station home, he wanted to be surrounded by the things that inspire him, which is essentially nature. Whereas the station barely had one acre, Grandtully now boasts twelve. Whilst the great French impressionist Monet had his gardens and lily pond for inspiration, Malcolm Appleby has his own nature reserve. He has made his studio surroundings as naturally beneficial as possible for wildlife. Philippa Swann, his wife and partner, brought oak saplings from the Scottish Borders while Malcolm planted Scots Pine. ‘At ground level I encourage ants, but we have no wood ants, so I need to plant more pine to encourage them. We have a lot of jays that plant our forest, while the roe deer come along and do nature’s pruning to open out the trees. Of course, people object to jays as they rob other bird’s nests, but all birds do something. Sparrows mainly eat grain, but they feed their young on insects. No one beastie is to blame’, he muses. I was impressed that they grow Scandinavian, English and Scottish apples to help counteract the effects of cold and hot years and even more so that some apples were left on the trees for the blackbirds. The red squirrels particularly love the planted hazel and the Kent cobs. Malcolm has always brought variety to his work. Some crafts people adopt a certain style that is immediately recognisable as ‘theirs’. His objective is to create a body of work that cannot immediately be categorised or pigeonholed as ‘Appleby’. He works with gold, silver, platinum, iron

and steel and of course gemstones, albeit that his preference is for stones with ‘character’. His main preoccupation is combining surface quality and form. An expanse of plain highly polished metal is not part of his repertoire, while engraved, textured or hammered surfaces are his forte. Employing a diverse range of raw materials with a cornucopia of techniques results in an eclectic output as is captured in this exhibition. ‘Of course I have this little trick up my sleeve called engraving which can add this extra lustre to anything…’, is one of Malcolm’s often repeated quotes. He excels with the ‘extra lustre’ in this exhibition with two 22-carat gold beakers (Harlequin Hammer, page 9 and Colliding Galaxies, page 11). Both beakers are masterpieces, and both are completely different. The first beaker Harlequin Hammer uses a new technique with an elliptical hammer to create a twist round the vessel. These are then finely engraved with ultra-fine shading resulting in a dazzling brightness of gold. The intense gold colour of its interior is also achieved by engraving. The second beaker Colliding Galaxies which was conceived as an analogy to the current global political climate, is a worldclass example of engraving. It is an outstanding work of art. Noting an original commentator who described Henri Matisse’s 1940s ‘cut-outs’ displayed in Paris as ‘the work of a deranged old man’, Malcolm thought he would invent the silversmithing equivalent and has created the Logsplitter Bowls and Candlesticks series (see pages 20, 23, 24, 25). The exhibition also continues to explore his collaborations with Jane Short who specialises in enamel. He gives her verbal cues such as Wild Fire or Spectrum and she enamels in response (see pages 12, 13, 15, 17, 19). They have a mutual appreciation of each other’s work and in Jane’s words, ‘We don’t need massive verbalisation.’ The jewellery captures components of Philippa’s and Malcolm’s nature reserve in precious metals and delights both the wearer and the viewer. The metal vocabulary that Malcolm possesses is infinite! The Scottish Gallery is one of the few private galleries in the United Kingdom that regularly holds and curates exhibitions of contemporary British silver for which collectors like myself, together with silversmiths, are very grateful. JOHN ANDREW

Grandtully, Autumn 2018

Harlequin Hammer, hammer raised and engraved beaker, 2018 22ct gold, H 8 x Ă¸ 7.6 cm

Detail of Colliding Galaxies in the studio, December 2018

Colliding Galaxies, hammer raised and engraved beaker, 2018 22ct gold, H 7.8 x Ă¸ 7.7 cm

Group of enamel and 22ct gold beakers, enamel, silver and 18ct gold details

Stratosphere, enamel beaker in collaboration with Jane Short, 2016 Britannia silver, H 6.2 x Ă¸ 7.6 cm

Trees at Grandtully, Autumn 2018

Spectrum, enamel beaker in collaboration with Jane Short, 2016 fine silver (999), H 6.5 x Ă¸ 7 cm

Detail of Wild Fire

Wild Fire, enamel beaker in collaboration with Jane Short, 2017 Britannia silver, H 11.2 x Ă¸ 7.1 cm

Grandtully

Stormcloud, enamel brooch in collaboration with Jane Short, 2015 H 9 x W 6.3 cm (image not to scale)

Group of candlesticks and beaker

Oak Leaf Candlestick, 2017-18 sterling silver, part gilt, H 15 x W 15.5 cm

Tree Dance Beaker, 2017 engraved Britannia silver, H 15.5 x Ă¸ 7.6 cm

Logsplitter Candlestick III, 2018 raised and fabricated, sterling silver, H 13 x W 10 cm

The first of the Logsplitter series were made from Britannia sheet silver. Malcolm asked one of his occasional assistants, Callum Strong, to work over the sheet with the rusted edge of a steel log splitting wedge which gave a satisfying subtle line texture. The flat sheets were then sunk into wooden formers then raised and fluted by Callum. To make the texture stronger and more distorted when struck into the silver, Malcolm made similar tools to fit his large fly press and deep struck the textures further. These were made into a series of Candlesticks and Bowls.

Logsplitter Series, Bowl III, 2018 raised and fabricated bowl, Britannia silver, H 4 x W 13.5 x D 12.3 cm

18ct yellow and white gold chain necklace with die struck links, 2018 L 92 x W 0.3 cm

Platinum and gold engraved disc necklace, 2017 L 46 cm

Engraved platinum and 18ct gold earrings, 2016 H 1 x W 1 cm (image not to scale)

Gold, platinum and opal earrings, 2018 engraved gold and platinum discs, L 5 x Ă¸ 1 cm (image not to scale)

Sycamore chains: amethyst, sapphire and labradorite circles, L 54 cm (far left and left) Large Mixed Links, pearls, kyanite, sapphire, aquamarine, labradorite, amethyst, Peruvian opals, L 70 cm (middle) Walk in the Woods leafy chain, amber, L 62 cm (right)

Maple Seed Wing Earrings, 2016 opals, lapis lazuli with 18ct gold detail, H 3.5 x W 3.5 cm

Top: Cloudscape Buckle, 2008, Damascus iron and gold, engraved with silver inlay, H 4.6 x W 7.2 cm Bottom: Iron and Gold Landscape Buckle, 2018, Damascus iron and gold, engraved, H 4.1 x W 6.2 cm

18ct Gold and Platinum Torques, 2018 18ct gold wire with platinum beads / emeralds, approx. L 38 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 43 cm

Rings, from left: sunstone, silver scroll, 18ct gold; purple sapphire, silver bird scroll, 18ct gold; sunstone, silver oak/acorns, 18ct gold; lapis lazuli, silver stargazing, 18ct gold, 2017-2018

Hand engraved earrings with black Tahitian pearls, 2016 silver, gold, black Tahitian pearls, H 4 x W 2 cm

Double/single stamped oval chain with ruby catch detail, 2016 18ct yellow gold, L 52 cm

Linden Leaf necklace, 2018 silver leaf necklace with 18ct gold details, L 42 x W 2 cm

Walk in the Woods necklace with gems (fluorite, aquamarine, sapphire, labradorite), 2018 L 70 cm

Nutsquirrel with ruby gemstone, 2018 cast silver nut with engraved squirrel, 18ct gold, H 3 x W 2 cm

Nutsquirrels with gemstones (turquoise, yellow opal, orange carnelian), 18ct gold, 2018, H 3 x W 2 cm

Scarab Beetle jewel pendant silver pendant, 18ct gold, grey moonstone (on a spinel chain), H 3 x W 1.5 cm

From left: Silver Spider with opal and 18ct gold beads, H 2.5 x W 1.4 cm; Silver Scarab Beetle with orange moonstone and 18ct gold, approx. Ă¸ 1.7 cm; 18ct Gold Scarab Beetle with yellow beryl, approx. H 3 x W 1.7 cm

Oak tree, Grandtully

Silver Foliate Scroll Belt Buckle, 2018 cast silver, H 6.3 x W 8 cm

Grey Diamond Ring white and yellow gold engraved band with a grey diamond, size 0Â˝

Selection of earrings in silver and 18ct gold

Selection of Banchory Bangles From left: Sparrow, Heron, Swan, Otter and Peacock (cast silver)

Dr Malcolm Appleby, MBE Designer Engraver Silversmith • Goldsmith • Jeweller

EDUCATION AND AWARDS 1946 Born Beckenham, Kent 1961-68 Beckenham School of Art, Ravensbourne College of Art & Design, Central School of Arts & Crafts, Sir John Cass School of Art, and the Royal College of Art 1969 Littledale Scholar, Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths 1997 Inches Carr Trust Crafts Bursary 2000 Doctor of Letters, Honorary Degree awarded by Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh 2003 Fellow, Master of Engraving, Bishopsland Educational Trust 2014 Awarded MBE for services to hand engraving and heritage crafts 2015 Lifetime Achievement Award, Hand Engravers Association, Great Britain STUDIOS 1963 West Wickham, Kent 1969 Crathes, Kincardineshire 1996 Grandtully, Perthshire SELECTED SOLO AND MUSEUM EXHIBITIONS 1998 Malcolm Appleby Designer and Engraver, Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museum 2006 Malcolm Appleby Precious Statements, Goldsmiths’ Hall, London 2008 Silver: Made in Scotland, National Museums Scotland, Edinburgh 2012 Malcolm Appleby Maker, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh 2014 Passing It On, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh 2015 The Silversmiths’ Art, National Museums Scotland, Edinburgh 2016 Malcolm Appleby at 70, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh 2018 The Miniaturists, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh 2019 Malcolm Appleby, 50 Golden Years in Scotland, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh SELECTED COMMISSIONS 1969 Engraved orb, Prince of Wales’ coronet (with Louis Osman), Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths Model of Moon (gift to first moon astronauts), with Louis Osman 1978 King George VI Diamond Stakes Trophy, De Beers 1971-77 Chess Set, Collingwood of Conduit Street First of annual engraved bangles, The Banchory Bangle, for Children 1st, Aberdeen 1976 1978 Cup commemorating 500 years of the London Assay Office, Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths

1985 1986 1988 1989 1994 1998 1999 2000 2005 2007 2009 2012 2013 2014 2017

Seal for the Board of Trustees, Victoria & Albert Museum, London Raven Gun for Tower of London, Royal Armouries Condiment Set for 10 Downing Street, The Silver Trust Standing Cup and Cover, National Museums Scotland, Edinburgh Charger, Cockerel Bowl, Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths Medal for the Museum of Scotland, National Museums Scotland, Edinburgh Sculptural Table pieces for Bute House, residence of the First Minister of Scotland, Incorporation of Goldsmiths of the City of Edinburgh Millennium Casket (18ct white gold) Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths, London Silver Teapot and Beaded Bowl, Perth Art Gallery & Museum The Trafalgar Medal, celebrating 200 years, Sim Comfort Associates Hurricane George large shallow bowl (for Cutting Edge exhibition, National Museums Scotland) Design for 150 Years Celebration Book, Victoria & Albert Museum, London Modern Nautilus or Loving Cups, George Heriot School Trust, Edinburgh Medal for XXXII Fidem Art Medal Congress, University of Glasgow Pair of Candlesticks for St Giles’ Cathedral, Edinburgh Fundraising Capercaillie Design for RSPB Scotland’s Conservation Capercaillie campaign Kalahari Flora and Fauna Guns, private commission

PUBLIC COLLECTIONS INCLUDE Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums Ashmolean Museum, Oxford Birmingham City Art Gallery British Museum, London Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge Goldsmiths’ Company, London The Hunterian, University of Glasgow National Museums Scotland, Edinburgh Edinburgh Museums & Galleries Perth Museum & Art Gallery Royal Armouries, Tower of London Victoria & Albert Museum, London Scottish Design Collection, V&A Dundee

Malcolm Appleby’s studio, Grandtully

Published by The Scottish Gallery to coincide with the exhibition MALCOLM APPLEBY 50 GOLDEN YEARS IN SCOTLAND 27 February â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 30 March 2019 Exhibition can be viewed online at www.scottish-gallery.co.uk/malcolmappleby ISBN: 978-1-910267-98-1 Designed by www.kennethgray.co.uk Photography by Philippa Swann and The Scottish Gallery Printed by Barr Colour Printers

Malcolm Appleby would like to thank the following: I would like to thank most sincerely my wife Philippa and daughter May who run the business so beautifully including our Instagram and photography and who keep everyone happy and keep me on an even keel! Karen Marion Wallace for her dedication as a maker and her constant willingness Jane Short for her enamelling and collaboration Graham Fuller for his goldsmithing Annabel Hood for her workshop help Kevin Allan for his silversmithing Stephen Wood for his gilding Stewart Moar for his jewellery finishing

Peter Musgrove for raising gold beakers etc Ryan McLean for heavy raising Callum Strong for his enthusiasm and making John Andrew for his essay and purchasing power Christina Jansen for her belief in my work HM The Queen for wearing my brooch every year at the Braemar Gathering All of my clients and friends who are one and the same thing

Right: Lise Bech Curly Weave Basket containing Malcolm Appleby beakers at the Silver Symposium, Grandtully, 2018