HRH The Prince of Wales and HRH The Duchess of Cornwall visited Goldsmiths’ Hall on Wednesday 23 February, 2011 to meet apprentices, young silversmiths and jewellers as well as members of the Company.
HRH The Prince of Wales applys the Leopard’s Head mark
Their Royal Highnesses were welcomed by The Prime Warden, Michael Galsworthy, and the Clerk, Dick Melly. On entering the Hall the Royal Party stopped to admire the newly commissioned portrait of HRH the Prince of Wales and to talk to the artist Richard Stone. The life-size portrait in oils shows HRH The Prince of Wales standing resplendent, wearing the uniform of the Welsh Guards with the robes of the Knight of the Garter.
Their Royal Highnesses were then escorted to the secure area of the Hall where the Curator of the Company’s collections, Rosemary Ransome Wallis, selected a number of notable items for them to admire. Collectively the pieces demonstrate the diversity and skilled artistry of designer silver currently being made in Britain today, as well as the skills of previous generations of silversmiths.
The Prince and The Duchess then moved to the Drawing Room where the Prime Warden introduced them to members of the Goldsmiths’ Company’s Assay Office including David Merry, Head of Assay Office Training, and two young Assay Office Apprentices, Robert Grant and Robert Hinson, who explained and demonstrated the Hallmarking process.
Their Royal Highnesses were also shown the new Diamond Jubilee mark which is to be officially launched in July 2011 in celebration of HM The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in 2012. This special commemorative hallmark, approved by the British Hallmarking Council, depicts a young Queen Elizabeth wearing an oversized crown in a diamond shaped surround. This optional mark will be available from all four UK Assay Offices in combination with a statutory hallmark from 1 July 2011. His Royal Highness was then invited to strike the Leopard’s Head, the mark of the Goldsmiths’ Company Assay Office, onto a small sterling silver plate bearing a laser version of the Diamond Jubilee mark, in addition to the three other marks which comprise the hallmark.
Their Royal Highnesses were then introduced to four Goldsmith Company apprentices and their Masters, as well as previous award winners of the Company’s Young Designer Silversmith Award.
Moving into the Exhibition Room the Royal Party was given a short briefing by Martin Dru Drury, Chairman of the Trustees, on the Goldsmiths’ Centre, the newly formed independent charity established by the Goldsmiths’ Company. The project represents the largest single investment ever made by the Goldsmiths’ Company in support of the craft and industry, with a total investment of circa £17.5 million. The Centre, currently under construction on a site in Clerkenwell, will comprise a multi faceted amenity, and will be home to a new training and education facility offering skills and post-graduate training, as well workshops, studios, conference and seminar facilities, together with exhibition space and a cafe. The Royal visitors were given the opportunity to see plans, illustrations and photographs of the Centre and to meet Goldsmiths’ Company staff involved in this major project.
Over tea and coffee, The Prince and The Duchess spoke to a number of other young silversmiths and jewellers who all have connections with the Goldsmiths’ Company. Before leaving, The Duchess of Cornwall was presented with a bouquet by Sasha Wynands (10) and Jessica Reeve (4). The Prime Warden, Michael Galsworthy, thanked their Royal Highnesses for visiting the Company and said what a “profound honour it was to be able to show them how the Company engages with its core industry.” He then presented them with a silver and glass box designed and made by silversmith Richard Fox incorporating gilded magnolia leaves from the Prime Warden’s Cornish estate, Trewithen. His Royal Highness replied by thanking the Prime Warden for his kind words and beautiful gift. He also expressed his admiration for the work of the Goldsmiths’ Company in ensuring that the skills and crafts of the goldsmith are maintained and developed, and he wished the Company great success with the new Goldsmiths’ Centre.
Before departing, the Royal Party admired the magnificent Livery Hall and the Company’s unique display of buffet plate.
The Prince is an Honorary Member of the Court of Assistants of the Goldsmiths’ Company and has been a liveryman since 1981. His Royal Highness last visited the Hall in February 2005. This was The Duchess of Cornwall’s first official visit to Goldsmiths’ Hall.
source: The Goldsmiths Company
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