Untitled
Louis Osman (Exeter 1914 - 1996)
Category
Jewellery
Date
Unknown
Materials
Place of origin
Canons Ashby
Collection
Canons Ashby, Northamptonshire
NT 495549
Summary
A 22-carat gold opal parure designed by Louis Osman (1914-96) and made by goldsmith Malcolm Green (born 1945) at Canons Ashby, 1972-73. The parure comprises a hinged torque collar, hinged bangle, two ear pendants, ring and brooch. Each piece is designed with an organic branching form supporting graduated oval cabochon opals. The claws are set above concave dish mounts with hammered finish. The collar, bangle, ear pendants and ring are hallmarked London, 1972, with sponsor's mark 'LO'. The brooch is unmarked. All pieces are contained within a carved yew wood and silver fitted case designed and made by Osman.
Full description
The architect and goldsmith Louis Osman (1914-1996) was tenant of the Dryden family at Canons Ashby between 1968 and 1980. He lived and worked at the property, setting up a workshop with his wife, enameller Dilys Osman (néeRoberts), and employing a team of specialist craftspeople. At Canons Ashby, Osman fulfilled a series of major commissions, notably the Prince of Wales’s Investiture Coronet (Royal Collection Trust) worn by then Prince Charles in 1969 and a showcase for the Magna Carta, a gift from the British government to commemorate the 200th anniversary of American independence in 1976. Maurice and Dorothy Jenkins became longstanding and important private clients. Osman, grateful for the trust they placed in him, wrote of the couple 'What matters are good patrons and this is just what Dorothy and Maurice Jenkins have been'. He credited their inaugural commission for this gold opal parure with reviving his creative energy in the aftermath of a car accident. The opals were purchased by Maurice Jenkins whilst travelling for business in Australia as a gift for his wife, the couple then working with Osman on the design. During one visit to Canons Ashby, Osman seized a kitchen teaspoon, placing an opal upon it to illustrate how he would set the stones in concave 'bowls' to best illuminate their characteristic fire. Surviving BBC archive film footage records Osman and Malcolm Green working on the parure. Regarded amongst his most important jewellery commissions, Osman frequently requested this suite on loan. It was exhibited in Loot, The Observer Jewellery Exhibition curated by the Welsh Art Council at National Museum Wales, Goldsmiths' Hall, Edinburgh and Bristol, 1973; Explosion. Talent Today the 650th Birthday of the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths 1327-1977, Goldsmiths' Hall, 1977; and after Osman's death in Celebration in Gold & Silver. An exhibition of exquisite jewellery and magnificent silver made during the reign of Elizabeth II, Goldsmiths' Hall, 2002. Osman also included it in the eponymous exhibition held in the Long Gallery at Canons Ashby in May 1974. In the exhibition catalogue, Osman focussed on the design of the settings, explaining that 'The opals [are] raised above the forged and burnished gold settings so that the light is thrown back through the stones'. The suite was well received. It was worn by two generations of the Jenkins' family and widely admired when displayed publicly. Judith Bannister observed that Osman could 'charm with movement and colour, as in the grand suite set with a mineful of Australian opals made recently for a collector - waterfalls of gold splashed with spectrum colours, the stones set high above their gold frames so that every morsel of light is caught and reflected' (Country Life, 13 September 1973) . The storage case was made by Osman at a later date from a single piece of yew felled at Canons Ashby. He infilled the natural cracks in the yew with silver, in a manner reminiscent of the Japanese style of kintsugi, and carved the yew to hold each jewel. The infill draws the viewer's attention to the repair, celebrating, rather than disguising it. With the property in a state of disrepair by the 1970s, Osman found its decaying trees a source of 'artistic inspiration'.
Provenance
Gold opal parure designed by Louis Osman (1914-96) and made by goldsmith Malcolm Green (born 1945) at Canons Ashby, Northamptonshire in 1972 and 1973 for Maurice and Dorothy Jenkins, the pieces set with opals purchased by Maurice Jenkins in Australia; fitted case made by Osman at a later date; thence by descent to Victoria, Toby and Claire Jenkins. Exhibited at Canons Ashby, May 1974. Consigned to auction at Noonans, Mayfair, 26 November 2024, lot 373 and purchased by the National Trust for Canons Ashby in 2024, with support from a National Trust fund set up by the late Simon Sainsbury.
Makers and roles
Louis Osman (Exeter 1914 - 1996), designer Malcolm Green, goldsmith