395 - A pair of large silver goblets by Gerald Benney, 1972, each with a narrow polished rim, the bowls with bark-effect textured surfaces on plain polished stems and circular foot, gilt interiors, maker’s mark ‘AGB’, London hallmarks, height 15.3cm. £600-£800

A pair of large silver goblets by Gerald Benney, 1972, each with a narrow polished rim, the bowls with bark-effect textured surfaces on plain polished stems and circular foot, gilt interiors, maker’s mark ‘AGB’, London hallmarks, height 15.3cm. £600-£800 --- Gerald Benney (1930-2008) CBE RDI was one of the giants of 20th century British silver and goldsmithing. His designs are always powerful, simple and identifiable. Technically he was highly innovative, and devised a method of texturing silver with tiny striations, initially achieved by a bent hammer; this process eliminates tarnish and fingerprints and creates an attractive bark finish, which, together with his revival of the use of enamel, became one of his signatures. Born in Hull, Benney trained as a silversmith at Brighton College of Art and the Royal College of Art alongside contemporaries David Mellor and Robert Welch. In 1953 he secured his own workshop at Whitfield Place off Tottenham Court Road and went on to be elected a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths. He had three one-man exhibitions of his work at Goldsmiths’ Hall in 1973, 1994 and 2005. He was the first British craftsperson to hold four Royal Warrants at the same time and was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1995 New Year Honours, ‘for services to art’. ------ For more information, additional images and to bid on this lot please go to the auctioneer's website, www.noonans.co.uk