Decorative Metal Work Course, Day Class (Swansea School of Art), 1909-1936

Start Date: September 1909 (Presumed)
End Date: 1936

Type: Art school course

Description: The course details listed for the academic session 1909-1910 are as follows:

Instruction will be given in:
a) Raising, hammering, and planishing sheet metal into cups, beakers, chalices, tankards, salvers, caskets etc.
b) The making of jewelry and personal ornaments, such as brooches, pendants, necklets, rings, etc., with special attention to the artistic setting of precious stones.
c) The decoration of metals by chasing and repousse, engraving, niello and inlay.

All students attending these classes will be required to devote part of their time to Art Work connected with the subjects they take, such as drawing, modelling and design, as applied to the making of objects and their decoration.

The course details listed for the academic session 1918-1919 are as follows:

Decorative Metal Work.
Instruction will be given in all methods of working the various metals, such as copper, brass, silver, gold, etc.

First Year.
Drawing: Drawing of ornament, objects and geometry.
Design: Elements of design, space filling and design based on direct impressions of the tools.
Practical: Making of repousse tools and simple objects: ash trays, serviette rings, salvers, etc., in copper and brass, filing and polishing of metals and the uses of various acids for pickling.

Second Year.
Drawing: Drawing from nature and study of historical examples.
Design: Design, based on historical examples, and its application to metal work.
Practical: Making of cups, crosses, rose bowls, door furniture, such as knockers, finger and lock plates, etc.; the processes of raising, hammering and planishing; the making of hard and soft solders and their use in joining various parts; the decoration of objects with mouldings, repousse work, etc.

Third Year.
Drawing: Museum studies from historical examples and drawing from nature.
Design: Original design and modelling in relation to the craft.
Practical: Making up of original designs, chasing, engraving, repousse, inlaying of metals, etc.

The decorative metal work department/classes at the Swansea School of Art was probably the most celebrated art department in the Principality. A silver medal has been awarded to the Swansea School of Art for an exhibit of decorative metal work, at the International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Art, Paris, 1925. The school was also awarded a grand prix for general work.

Citing this record

'Decorative Metal Work Course, Day Class (Swansea School of Art), 1909-1936', Mapping the Practice and Profession of Sculpture in Britain and Ireland 1851-1951, University of Glasgow History of Art and HATII, online database 2011 [http://sculpture.gla.ac.uk/view/event.php?id=msib1_1213115511, accessed 29 May 2023]