Wendy Ramshaw: a life in projects

20 December 2018

We celebrate the life and work of the inimitable jewellery designer by looking at five of her seminal creations

20 December 2018

Ring Sets, Wendy Ramshaw from The Scottish Gallery Collection, 1988-2012. Photo: Will Van Esland

Wendy Ramshaw, who paved the way for modernist jewellery design, has died aged 79 years, following a long-term illness. Born in Sunderland in 1939, she passed away on 9 December 2018, and is survived by her husband, the artist David Watkins.

Ramshaw forged an artistic career that was a far cry from her family’s seafaring roots. Her path began when she enrolled at the Newcastle College of Art and Industrial Design to study printed textiles and illustration, eventually graduating in 1960. Throughout her time at the college, she would make jewellery from scrap metal – eventually selling pieces to the Liberty department store in London.

Her achievements remain quite staggering, her style recognisable, her quality of making unsurpassed
Corinne Julius

She went on to complete a teacher training course at Reading, where she met her soon-to-be husband David Watkins, a sculptor who, at the time, was making money as a musician. The pair’s collaborative compatibility was cemented in 1963 when they presented their first joint exhibition of sculptures and stabiles.

Following this, Wendy Ramshaw’s career took off – particularly throughout the 1970s, with a string of high profile commissions and exhibitions. It seems apt, if not a little melancholy, that her career was celebrated in its entirety last year, with a retrospective at the Scottish Gallery. Marking the exhibition, Corinne Julius wrote in Crafts issue 269:

‘Her achievements remain quite staggering, her style recognisable, her quality of making unsurpassed, her mastery of colour intensity. She is meticulous and painstaking, demanding of others the same (impossibly) high standards that she demands of herself.’

We take a look at five seminal projects by Ramshaw:

The New Edinburgh Gate in London's Hyde Park, Wendy Ramshaw, 2010

The New Edinburgh Gate, Hyde Park, London

Ramshaw was commissioned by developers Candy & Candy to create a gate for the Knightsbridge entrance to London’s Hyde Park. Erected in 2010, the 15 metre-long structure is typical of Ramshaw’s geometric style, with shapes constructed from cast bronze.

Ringsets, Wendy Ramshaw. Photo: Sophie Mutevelian

Ringsets

Whether making medals to celebrate the millennium or gates for public spaces, a constant throughout Ramshaw’s career were her so-called ‘ringsets’. Although stacking rings are now commonplace in jewellery design, Ramshaw was arguably the first to explore this method of personalisation – creating options of rings for wearers to layer and arrange at their own discretion.

‘I have known her gently take the rings off a client’s fingers and arrange them the right way round,’ recalled Christina Jansen, director of The Scottish Gallery.

Goodwood Gate at Cass Sculpture Foundation, Wendy Ramshaw, 2001

Cass Sculpture Foundation gate, Chichester, Sussex

Visitors enter the Cass Sculpture Foundation in Chichester through an abstract gate designed by Ramshaw in 2001. In her classic abstract style, the forms and shapes are intended to be representative of the number five – marking the first five years of the foundation’s existence.

Millennium Medal, Wendy Ramshaw, 1999. Photo: courtesy David Watkins

Millennium Medal

On the eve of the 31st December 1999, Queen Elizabeth II was presented with a medal to celebrate the upcoming millennium. It was designed by Ramshaw to represent the architecture of the Millennium Dome, designed architect Richard Rogers, and featured two layers of cut-out patterns enclosed within a stainless steel casing.

Something Special paper jewellery, Wendy Ramshaw. Photo: courtesy David Watkins

Something Special paper jewellery

Ramshaw was making this jewellery right at the beginning of her career. Although humbly made from paper, it was the ‘self-assembly’ concept that got her noticed by fashion designer Mary Quant, who went on to stock it in her London Bazaar in the 1960s.

Explore work by Wendy Ramshaw in the Crafts Council Collections

Wendy Ramshaw: a life in projects

Read more

Jewellery artist John Moore is inspired by nature and movement

How Theresa Nguyen became a silversmith

How to become a chain maker

Jeweller Nora Fok's Bubblebath neckpiece in the Crafts Council Collection