Arthur Joseph Gaskin
Born 16 March 1862
Died 4 June 1928
Active: 1883 - 1916
Silversmith, teacher, jeweller, etcher, engraver
Born in Birmingham, raised in Wolverhampton. He was the son of Henry Gaskin (born c.1831 in Willington, Derbyshire) a japanner (a foreman in 1871 but unemployed in 1881). In 1883 Gaskin began studying at Birmingham School of Art. Within two years he was appointed as assistant master, even though he had not completed his full student course. It was while he was studying that he met, fellow student, Georgie Evelyn Cave France (1866-1934) whom he married on 21 March 1894. Gaskin worked at the art school at a time when there was great interest in and support for crafts, especially metalwork, from the headmaster, Edward Richard Taylor. In 1903, Gaskin became Head of the School of Jewellery and Silversmithing. Arthur and his wife Georgie both took to jewellery making as a second career when they were mature artists. The couple lived in Acocks Green, Birmingham and later in Olton, Solihull. He died in Chipping Campden in the Cotswolds.
Wealth at death: £9,211 2s. 1d.
Probate date: 18 June 1928
Works
Dates are usually the year a work was exhibited so may differ from date of production.
New entries have been made each time a work was exhibited. Click here for more information.
Silver Casket
1922
The Collings Casket
1911
With fellow teachers at the Vittoria Street School of Jewellers and Silversmiths, Birmingham
Case of Jewellery
1900 (Presumed)
Collaborated on Altar Cross
1905 (Presumed)
With Mrs Gaskin, and with 'the assistance of' Miss Lily Dale, A. Jones and J. Morris.
Collaborated on Jewellery
1905 (Presumed)
With Mrs Gaskin, and with the assistance of Miss Lily Dale, A. Jones and J. Morris.
Collaborated on Case of Jewellery
1912 (Presumed)
Locations
Address The Little House Chipping Campden | View on map
Living at this address when he died
Address Fairlea Victoria Road Birmingham England | View on map
1899 (Presumed) - 1905 (Presumed)
Exhibitions, Meetings, Awards and other Events
Exhibited at Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society: Sixth Exhibition, 1899
Multiple works
Exhibited at The Thirty-Fifth Spring Exhibition at the Rooms of the Society, New Street (Royal Birmingham Society of Artists), 1900
Multiple works
Exhibited at Royal Society of Artists Birmingham Arts and Crafts Exhibition, 1909
1909
Jointly exhibited a case of 53 jewellery objects with Mrs Gaskin; most of the objects were offered for sale: pp. 5-8 (1-53).
Exhibited at Royal Birmingham Society of Artists [Autumn] Exhibition, 1916
1916
Jointly exhibited a case of jewellery with Mrs Gaskin: p. 33 (Case 4, no. 1).
Exhibited at Memorial Exhibition, Arthur Joseph Gaskin, ARE (1862-1928) (Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery), c. 1928
1928 (Circa)
The works were exhibited posthumously.
Exhibited at Twenty-Five Years of Birmingham Art (Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery), 1935
6 November 1935 - 6 December 1935
Exhibited: 'The Galahad Cup of Honour' (silver); and 'Amethyst Pendant' - cat. nos 91-92. The works are undated in the catalogue but were exhibited posthumously [summary].
Institutional and Business Connections
Elected professional associate member of Royal Birmingham Society of Artists
1899 - 1905
The book 'The History of the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists' (p. 51) gives 1895 as the date of Gaskin's election; however, he is first listed as an Associate member in the exhibition catalogues in Spring 1899.
Elected professional member of Royal Birmingham Society of Artists
1905 - 1928
First listed in the Society's exhibition catalogues as a full Member in Spring 1905.
From Spring 1927 listed as R.B.S.A.
Headmaster of Vittoria Street School for Jewellers and Silversmiths
1903 (Circa) - 1924 (Circa)
See Haggar, 'Dictionary' (1947), unpaged
Member of Bromsgrove Guild
Member of Birmingham Art Circle
1888 - 1893
Resigned in 1893.
Studied at Government School of Practical Art, Wolverhampton
1882 (Circa) - 1883 (Circa)
Listed as a 'Second Grade Prize' winner for mechanical drawings and a 'Third Grade Prize' winner of a 'free studentship for twelve months'. See 'Annual Report' (1883), p. 9.
Studied at Birmingham Municipal School of Art, Central School
1883 (Circa)
See Haggar, 'Dictionary' (1947), unpaged, no end date is given.
Teacher at Birmingham Municipal School of Art, Central School
1903 (Circa)
Described as being 'for some years' the master of the advanced classes at the school for two days a week, and assisting in the training of ex students. No dates are given, however, Gaskin became headmaster of Vittoria Street School for Jewellers, Birmingham, in 1903. See 'Death of Mr. Arthur J. Gaskin. Ex-Principal of Vittoria Street School for Jewellers', Birmingham Post, 6 June, 1928, in 'Birmingham Biography', vol. 15, p. 29.
Worked for Bromsgrove Guild
1902 (Circa) - 1923 (Circa)
Gaskin made a silver enamelled crucifix for a Bromsgrove Guild commission - a private chapel at Mansfield Court (work on the chapel was carried out between 1902 and 1923). See Goodwin and Townshend, 'The Workers at the Bromsgrove Guild' in Watt 'The Bromsgrove Guild', (1999), p. 54.
Personal and Professional Connections
Assistant was Lily Dale
1905 (Presumed)
Assistant was A. Jones
1905 (Presumed)
Collaborated with Georgie Evelyn Cave Gaskin
1909 - 1916
Jointly exhibited a case of 53 jewellery objects in the RBSA's Arts and Crafts Exhibition (1909) and a case of jewellery in the RBSA's Autumn exhibition (1916).
Wife/husband/spouse of Georgie Evelyn Cave Gaskin
Alan Crawford, ‘Gaskin , Georgie Evelyn Cave (1866–1934)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/66046, accessed 2 Feb 2009]
Sources
Arts and Crafts Society: Catalogue of the Sixth Exhibition.
1899
p.38, pp.135-136.
Birmingham Biography, Newspaper Cuttings, 1872-1966 Birmingham Biography
See 'Birmingham Biography', vol. 15, (8 May 1928-14 March 1929), p. 29.
Catalogue of the Arts & Crafts Exhibition 1900
1900
p. 75
England & Wales, Death Index: 1916-2007
2007
Name: Arthur J Gaskin
Birth Date: abt 1862
Date of Registration: Apr-May-Jun 1928
Age at Death: 66
Registration district: Birmingham South
Inferred County: Warwickshire
Volume: 6d
Page: 157
England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1966
2010
Name: Arthur Joseph Gaskin
Probate Date: 18 Aug 1928
Death Date: 4 Jun 1928
Death Place: Gloucestershire, England
Registry: London, England
Memorial Exhibition Arthur Gaskin, A.R.E. (1862-1928), c. 1928 Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery Exhibition Catalogues
1928 (Circa)
pp. 1-31.
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
2004
Included in the entry for his wife:
Alan Crawford, ‘Gaskin , Georgie Evelyn Cave (1866–1934)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/66046, accessed 2 Feb 2009]
Royal Birmingham Society of Artists. Exhibition, 1916 [Autumn] Royal Birmingham Society of Artists
1916
p. 33.
Royal Society of Artists Birmingham Arts and Crafts Exhibition, 1909
1909
pp. 5-8.
The Art Circle, Register of Members to Date, 1879-2002 Birmingham Art Circle
2002 (Presumed)
Unpaged.
The Bromsgrove Guild. An Illustrated History, 1999
1999
p. 7 and p. 54.
The Fifteenth Annual Report of the School of Practical Art, November, 1883
30 November 1883
p. 9.
Twenty-Five Years of Birmingham Art, 1935 Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery Exhibition Catalogues
1935
Unpaged.
Citing this record
'Arthur Joseph Gaskin', 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/person.php?id=msib4_1203430963, accessed 28 Sep 2023]
