19th Anniversary

Antiques & Fine Art 155 2019 — Great Britain — Charlotte Newman (English, 1840–1927), Pendant, 1884–1890. Gold, amethyst, enamel. Collection of Newark Museum. Photograph by John A. Faier, 2014, © The Richard H. Driehaus Museum. Charlotte Newman, also known as Mrs. Philip Newman, was the first English woman to be recognized as a jeweler in the second half of the nineteenth century. She began by assisting well- known revivalist jeweler John Brogden in the 1860s, and after his death in 1885 established her own workshop until about 1910. Newman did not confine her work to any one style. Her success in the traditionally male-dominated profession inspired many more women in the Arts and Crafts movement to become jewelers. Ella Naper (English, 1886–1972), Lily-Pad Hair Combs, ca. 1906. Horn, moonstone. Collection of Richard H. Driehaus. Photograph by John A. Faier, 2014, © The Richard H. Driehaus Museum. The Arts and Crafts movement flourished in Great Britain between 1880 and 1920 as a reaction to Victorian styles. The goal of its jewelry makers was to create handcrafted jewelry imbued with social and political implications. The movement was particularly responsive to the changing role of women in the modern world. By the 1890s, the rise of industrialization created a class of women with time on their hands. Crafts were considered appropriate female activities, and for some, both an acceptable course of study and a way to make a living. Among the first generation of female Arts and Crafts jewelry artists was Ella Naper, who attended Camberwell School in South London, and after graduation opened a shop in Branscombe, Devon, with her teacher, Fred Partridge. After her marriage to Charles Naper they moved to an artist’s colony in Lamorna, Cornwall, where she continued her work.

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