An impressive Arts and Crafts two handle bowl, of compressed...

Estimate

£4,000 - £5,000

An impressive Arts and Crafts two handle bowl, of compressed circular form, hammered ground with embossed Iris and strap leaves, raised on a spreading plinth base, London 1895, Johnson, Walker and Tolhurst, signed Gilbert Marks to base, 11x32cm, 933grams.

Gilbert Leigh Marks (1861 - 1905) was born into a family with artistic and commercial traditions. The artists were his two uncles, Henry Stacey Marks R. A. and Frederick Walker, along with his great-grandfather, William Walker.

Marks gave his first solo exhibition in 1895, at the jewellers Johnson, Walker & Tolhurst, 80 Aldersgate Street, in the City of London. In the initial period of collaboration with Johnson, Walker & Tolhurst, the objects bore their sponsor's mark and had Marks' facsimile signature. It is likely that this bowl being offered here was from this first exhibition in 1895. He continued to exhibited there regularly, until 1901. Between 1897 and 1903 exhibited at the Royal Academy, Walker Art Gallery, Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts, and Leeds City Art Gallery. He had a solo show at the Fine Art Society in London in May 1899. His maker's mark 'GM', was registered at Goldsmiths' Hall in 1896.

In 1897 he made the body of a silver casket, to a design by George Frampton, for the Skinner's Company (subsequently presented to the Speaker of the House of Commons, William Court Gully. Frampton made the enamelled lid. It is now in the Victoria and Albert Museum.

His own silver work, in the Arts and Crafts style, was characterised by being unpolished and unturned, so still showing the marks left by his tools. He designed all his own pieces, which were produced by hand, without the use of dies, and with no piece duplicated. They were decorated with repoussé subjects from nature, such as flowers, fruit, and leaves, or, on later works, fish or lizards and were occasionally embellished with semi-precious stones. He also produced a few works in pewter, and on at last one occasion, a casket in steel, with bronze and silver inlay. His clients included Edward VII, for whom he made cups and bowls, and Croydon Borough Council, for whom he made the official ceremonial mace.

Literature: F. Miller, 'Some Gold, Silver, and Coppersmiths,' Art Journal, November 1896, p.347ff.
'Gilbert Marks: An Artist in Silver,' The Magazine of Art, January 1897, p.158ff.Obituary,
The Burlington Magazine, Vol 7, no 27, June 1905, p.243ff.Culme, 'The Directory of Gold & Silversmiths' (London 1987), page 312-313.'