An amethyst set Joseph and Joyce Himsworth silver spoon

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A  rare silver spoon set with an amethyst by Joseph Beeston Himsworth and Joyce Himsworth.  The bowl of the spoon is hand hammered in the arts and crafts style, while the applied leaf design displays some of the art deco style that Joyce brought to her later solo work. The  spoon dates to 1932 when Joseph and his daughter Joyce were working together.

Rosemary Himsworth was born in Sheffield in 1905 and from very early on worked with her father Joseph Beeston Himsworth at B Worth a & Sons making spoons and small items of jewellery. She went on to study at the Sheffield School of Art and did design work for the Company. In 1925 she registered a joint mark with her father and established her own workshop in Sheffield. In the 1930’s she studied at the Central School of Arts and Crafts under H G Murphy in London and registered her own mark there and in Sheffield. She was not a prolific maker, working mainly to commission. A pair of vases and two chalices can be seen in Westminster Cathedral and a silver and gold Peace Cup made for the ‘Britain Can Make It’ exhibition. She took part in many exhibitions of the Goldsmiths’ Company at home and abroad and taught at Rotherham and Chesterfield art colleges, She retired in the 1960’s and an exhibition of her work was held at the Sheffield City Museum in 1978. She died in 1990. (Thanks to Styles Silver of Hungerford for this biography)

Maker: Joseph and Joyce Himsworth

Designer: Joeseph and Joyce Himsworth

Date : 1932

Marks: JBH/JRH, Sheffield, date letter “P”

Material: Sterling silver

Condition: Excellent, slight crack/chip to amethyst visible under magnification only

Size: 15.5 cm long

Weight :  20 grams, 0.7 oz