WOMEN OF SILVER: British and Irish women silversmiths of 18th and 19th centuries with Anne Harbers

Louisa Courtauld (1729 – 1807) of the Courtauld family was one of many women silversmiths whose beautiful silver pieces can be seen in the Courtauld Institute of Art in London, as well as in The National Museum of Women in the Arts in New York, which holds a silver collection of 141 women silver artisans.

This talk will focus on the skilled and intricate work of many of these women silversmiths. Such silver pieces can be seen in paintings of the time, both in family portraits grouped around afternoon tea or genre scenes of ladies at their toilette. Portraits of children often included silver rattles such as a George III child’s rattle, attributed to the silversmith Mary Ann Croswell, London made in 1808. We will enjoy viewing many of these 18th and 19th century silver items, whilst discussing their social significance of the time and the women who made them.

Anne Harbers is a collector of English and Dutch silver. She holds a Master research degree in Chemistry and an MBA and for 25 years has worked in the field of biotechnology. She is co-author of Jane Austen – Antipodean Views (2001). She is currently completing a postgraduate degree in Art History at the University of Sydney.

Johann Zoffany (1733-1810) (attrib), Portrait of Louisa Courtauld (detail)