Silver: Light and Shade
22 Oct 2016 – 22 Jan 2017
Tells a new story about the properties of silver, conveying its visual impact and its infinite potential for creative, design-led objects.
Silver can be turned black or white, it goes red under heat; it can be combined with base and other metals, enamel or precious stones. Showcasing the work of skilled contemporary makers including Hiroshi Suzuki, Malcolm Appleby, Rod Kelly and Adi Toch alongside some of the finest and rarest pieces in silver to have survived from the last 500 years, the exhibition considers what inspires commissions and how different artists approach them to create exquisite and unusual objects.
Don't miss
John Flaxman's Shield of Achilles, a huge silver-gilt piece first seen at George IV's coronation banquet in 1821, will be displayed lying flat, allowing visitors to follow the intricate stories on its sculptural surface, decorated with scenes from Homer's Iliad.