Omar Ramsden RMS
Born 21 August 1873
Died 9 August 1939
Active: 1897 - 1935
Country of birth and death: England
Silversmith, modeller, engraver, chaser, designer and business owner
Born in Sheffield, Yorkshire. He was the son of Benjamin Woolhouse Ramsden (c.1851-c1898) and Norah (nee Ibbotson) whose family were ivory cutters and may also have dealt in ivory. Omar Ramsden was apprenticed as a silversmith in 1887 and studied at Sheffield School of Art from 1890, winning a four-year scholarship in 1894. After completing his training about 1897, Ramsden travelled abroad for a year with a fellow student at Sheffield, Alwyn Ellison Carr (1872-1940). On their return in 1898, they then set up a business in London, registering their own maker's mark. Ramsden and Carr worked first from Albert Studios, Battersea and then from a studio (St. Dunstan's) in Chelsea and a workshop in Fulham. From about 1914 Ramsden began to work independently and in 1919 the partnership with Carr was formally dissolved. Ramsden managed the studio and workshop alone until his death in 1939.
Wealth at death: £13,208 12s. 10d.
Probate date: 21 November 1939
Works
Dates are usually the year a work was exhibited so may differ from date of production.
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Model of a Casket Suitable for Containing the Freedom of a City or an Address
Locations
Address 70 Fir Street Walkley Sheffield | View on map
1891 (Circa) - 1897 (Circa)
Address 6 Albert Studios Albert Bridge Road London | View on map
1901 (Circa)
Both Ramsden and his partner Alwyn Ellison Carr at this address
Address St. Dunstan's, Seymour Walk Chelsea London | View on map
1911 - 1939
In 1911 his business partner Alwyn Ellison Carr was also living at this address. Ramsden stayed here throughout the rest of his career even after the partnership with Carr was dissolved.
Exhibitions, Meetings, Awards and other Events
Exhibited at Leeds City Art Gallery, The Spring Exhibition, 1897
'Model of a Ceremonial Key'
Exhibited at Leeds City Art Gallery, Yorkshire Artists' Exhibition, 1930
Multiple works
Exhibited at Leeds City Art Gallery, Yorkshire Artists' Exhibition, 1932
'Rosewater Dish'
Exhibited at Leeds City Art Gallery, Yorkshire Artists' Exhibition, 1933
Multiple works
Exhibited at Leeds City Art Gallery, Yorkshire Artists' Exhibition, 1934
'Renaissance Casket'
Exhibited at Leeds City Art Gallery, Yorkshire Artists' Exhibition, 1935
Multiple works
Exhibited at Leeds City Art Gallery, Yorkshire Artists' Exhibition, 1928
'Nearchus' Ship'
Speaker at Modern Metalwork (Art Workers Guild), 1926
1926
Descriptions of Practice
Occupation given in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1891
'Silver Modeller & Designer, Chaser & Engraver & Gold & Ass[istan]t Teacher Of Modelling Board School' worker and his father Benjamin Woolhouse (born c.1851 in Sheffield) 'Manager (Cutlery, Silver & Electro-Plate)' worker
Occupation given in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1901
Both Ramsden and his partner Alwyn Ellison Carr 'Designer & craftsman in metals' employer
Occupation given in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1911
Both Ramsden and his partner Alwyn Ellison Carr 'Designer & craftsman in Metals' employer working at home
Sources
Catalogue of the Spring Exhibition, The City Art Gallery, Leeds 1897
1897
Cat. Nos. 827, 830, 867, pp. 78, 82, 106
Catalogue of the Yorkshire Artists' Exhibition 1928
1928
Cat. No. 202, p. 9
Catalogue of the Yorkshire Artists' Exhibition 1930
1930
Cat. No. 275, 277, 279, p. 11
Catalogue of the Yorkshire Artists' Exhibition 1932
1932
Cat. Nos. 263, 275, pp. 11, 12
Catalogue of the Yorkshire Artists' Exhibition 1933
1933
Cat. Nos. 270, 275, pp. 11, 12
Catalogue of the Yorkshire Artists' Exhibition 1935
1935
Cat. Nos. 200, 201, p. 7
Catalogue of the Yorkshire Artists' Exhibition, 1934
1934
Cat. No. 276, p. 11
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1891
2004
RG12 piece 3798 folio 31 page 11
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1901
2005
RG13 piece 440 folio 108 page 41
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1911
2011
RG14PN125 RD2 SD1 ED38 SN289
England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1966
2010
Name: Omar Ramsden
Probate Date: 21 Nov 1939
Death Date: 9 Aug 1939
Death Place: London, England
Registry: London, England
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
2004
Anne Shannon and Muriel Wilson, ‘Ramsden, Omar (1873–1939)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 2009 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/35665, accessed 4 Oct 2012]
Citing this record
'Omar Ramsden RMS', 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=msib5_1208221730, accessed 29 May 2023]
