Rare jewellery made by a Falmouth artist who was part of the prestigious St Ives Society of Artists is going up for auction in Cornwall tomorrow.
Four pieces of Gwen Whicker jewellery is being sold by Lay’s Auctioneers, from the estate of Esme Beecroft.
The quartet – three bangles and a necklace – each have a guide price of £100 to £150.
Esme was a lifelong friend of Gwen Whicker and her husband Frederick, also an artist, and was painted as a child by Gwen.
She was also featured in several of her paintings as a young woman, and supported the Whickers by buying their paintings, going on to become the executor of their estates.
Gwen Whicker became a well known artist in Falmouth after she and Frederick moved to Woodlane in Falmouth after the war.
However, she was born in Bristol, in 1900, and studied at the Bristol Municipal School of Art - against her parents’ wishes.
There she met her husband, Australian born artist Frederick Whicker. They jointly exhibited at the Royal West of England Academy from 1923 to circa 1935, but Gwen was never elected an associate member, though she was a founding member of the New Bristol Art Club and was the first president.
After moving to Falmouth, Gwen and Fred became members of the St Ives Society of Artists, where they became secretary and treasurer respectively. They continued to exhibit until their deaths, with Gwen dying in 1966.
During her lifetime, Gwen produced etchings, paintings, drawings, sculpture, jewellery and silver wares. Much of her silver has not been traced as it was sent to Fred’s sister in Canada on her death.
A retrospective exhibition of their work was held at the Falmouth Art Gallery in 1994, where 14 pieces of Gwen’s silver were loaned from private collections.
Lay’s Auctioneers said that in addition to the pieces in Thursday’s Jewellery and Luxury Fashion, sale, it was also “delighted” to have a collection of silver by Gwen in its Silver Auction on June 7.
The jewellery includes a rare Gwen Whicker Arts & Crafts silver stone set necklace set with eight rectangular hardstone cabochons panels, interlinked with wire work links and flower heads, and a silver moonstone set bangle, set with three oval cabochon stones flanked by wire work flower heads.
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