About
Vicki Ambery-Smith’s distinctive style of silversmithing reflects her great interest in architecture. Using techniques of manipulation and trompe l’oeil to get her desired effect, each piece is an interpretation of a particular building. She specialises in celebratory and commemorative pieces which capture the client’s love and affection for a building of special significance. . Her miniature interpretations play with the power of architecture to inspire fantasy, trigger memory and evoke sensations.
Growing up in Oxford initially provided much inspiration when she later studied jewellery design at the famous Hornsey College of Art in London. She was awarded a Crafts Council grant to establish her own workshop in 1977 Vicki has exhibited widely ever since and her work has been selected for many public and private collections around the world, including the Royal Scottish Museum, Norwich Castle Museum, Los Angeles Museum for Contemporary Art and Houston University, Texas. The Victoria & Albert Museum, London, acquired a selection of her design drawings as well as pieces for their jewellery and silver departments.
The many varied commissions Vicki has made include all ten trophies for the winner of the Prix Pictet Global, a global photography prize, several octagonal ‘turret pots’ for the London Business School, a box presented to the Lord Mayor of London based on St Stephen’s Walbrook, a ring for the Birmingham Art Gallery & Museum, a ring for the Court Barn Museum in Chipping Campden and many bespoke commemorative pieces for private clients. In 2010 Vicki was made a Freeman of the City of London and a member of The Art Workers’ Guild 2022 Her book: Jewellery & Silverware inspired by Architecture published by Unicorn Press was launched at the V&A in November 2022.
