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> Home : The
Company
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Overview
The Worshipful Company of
Goldsmiths, more commonly known as the Goldsmiths' Company,
is one of the Twelve Great Livery Companies of the City of London
and received its first royal charter in 1327.
Founded to regulate the craft or trade of the goldsmith, the
Goldsmiths' Company has been responsible since 1300 for testing
the quality of gold, silver and, from 1975, platinum articles.
The word hallmark
originates from the fifteenth century when London craftsmen
were first required to bring their artefacts to Goldsmiths'
Hall for assaying and marking. This requirement continues unchanged
today and the Company still carries out its statutory function
through the operations of Assay Office London.
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| Goldsmiths'
Hall in 1913, from a watercolour by Herbert
Finn |
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Other responsibilities of
Assay Office London include the annual examination of coins
manufactured by the Royal Mint, known as the Trial
of the Pyx and, with the assistance of the Antique
Plate Committee, the checking of items of antique silver
plate suspected of having contravened the Hallmarking Act.
For a chronology of the Company see Company
History. |
The Company continues to play an increasingly
important role in support for the
craft and industry, assisting with the technical training of aspiring
craftsmen and promoting excellence in the design and craftsmanship
of silverware, jewellery and art medals, through supporting and arranging
commissions, competitions
and exhibitions. A selling exhibition, Goldsmiths'
Fair, is held each year in the first week of October, where members
of the public can purchase the work of over eighty contemporary designers
and craftsmen.
The Company's Library
maintains a comprehensive collection of archives, dating from
the fourteenth century, books, journals and pictures, relating
to the history of the Company, the craft, regalia and hallmarking,
for use by historians and students.
Historically members of the Company have given money, property
or gifts to the Company for the benefit of educational purposes
and the relief of deprivation. Trust funds have been established
from which grants are made to national charities,
to initiatives in support of education,
and to activities in support
for the craft and industry. The average sum total of grants
over the last three years has been £1.75M per annum.
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| The Bowes Cup,
presented to Sir Martin Bowes, Prime Warden, by
Queen Elizabeth I, after her coronation banquet,
1558 |
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