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For centuries, Scotland has had a reputation for producing high-quality jeweller y and silverware. From enormous pieces of decorative silver displayed on gleaming woodwork in grand homes, to the tiniest of brooches worn as charms on the bodies of children, these objects – many of which survive today – point to the story of the jewellers and goldsmiths who made them.
The age of industry, from the later 18th century through to the early 20th, is often considered a period when craft skill went into terminal decline – when machines and mass production replaced the human hand and specialist knowledge applied in the making of things. But this was not the case: Scotland’s metalworkers continued to produce innovative and expertly-made pieces, mostly working on a small scale, and applying a combination of old and new tools and techniques.
Indeed, skills in making jeweller y flourished across the country during the 19th centur y as demand for fashionable little luxuries ballooned, mainly thanks to a rapidly growing and increasingly middle-class population.
The secrets of the workshop
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