Elizabeth Gage

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

is a British

jewellery designer Jewellery design is the art or profession of designing and creating jewellery. This is one of civilization's earliest forms of decoration, dating back at least 7,000 years to the oldest known human societies in Indus Valley Civilization, Mesop ...

and trained master

goldsmith A goldsmith is a Metalworking, metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Nowadays they mainly specialize in jewelry-making but historically, goldsmiths have also made cutlery, silverware, platter (dishware), pl ...

who has been creating collectable jewellery for over 50 years. She has been described by the trade as someone ''"whose large rings, historical references, gorgeous stones and elaborate craftsmanship set the tone for a whole generation"''. Elizabeth Gage works in 18 and 22 carat

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

. Her 'Helios' gold necklace, featured in ''

Tatler ''Tatler'' is a British magazine published by Condé Nast Publications focusing on fashion and lifestyle, as well as coverage of high society and politics. It is targeted towards the British upper-middle class and upper class, and those interes ...

'' magazine, took 203 grams of gold and 93 man hours to create. Elizabeth’s approach to design is as unique as the jewels themselves. She combines different elements in her work which she chooses for their individual beauty; exquisite stones, ancient bronzes, beautiful carvings, baroque pearls, in fact anything where the shape and colour inspire her.

Early career

After studying design at the Chelsea School of Art and at the Sir John Cass College, in 1968 Elizabeth received a commission from

Cartier Cartier may refer to: People * Cartier (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) * Cartier Martin (born 1984), American basketball player Places * Cartier Island, an island north-west of Australia that is part of Australia' ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

to create a special collection for their new catalogue. Four years later, she was presented with the coveted

De Beers De Beers Group is an international corporation that specializes in diamond mining, diamond exploitation, diamond retail, diamond trading and industrial diamond manufacturing sectors. The company is active in open-pit, large-scale alluvial and c ...

International Diamond Award. In 1989, she was awarded the

Queen's Award Queen's Award can refer to: * Queen's Awards for Enterprise, formerly The Queens Awards to Industry * Queen's Award for Voluntary Service, an annual award given to groups in the voluntary sector of the United Kingdom * Queen's Award for Forestry T ...

for Export Achievement. In 2008 Elizabeth was presented the Lifetime Achievement Award by ''Retail Jeweller'', a UK Jewellery publication.

Current work

A major US retrospective of Elizabeth Gage's work entitled 'The Enchanting Jewels of Elizabeth Gage' was held at the

New Britain Museum of American Art The New Britain Museum of American Art is an art museum in New Britain, Connecticut. Founded in 1903, it is the first museum in the country dedicated to American art. A total of 72,000 visits were made to the museum in the year ending June 30, 20 ...

. The critically acclaimed show ran from 25 April to 26 July 2015. The 2015 auction at

Bonhams Bonhams is a privately owned international auction house and one of the world's oldest and largest auctioneers of fine art and antiques. It was formed by the merger in November 2001 of Bonhams & Brooks and Phillips Son & Neale. This brought to ...

New York of jewels belonging to the Hollywood legend

Lauren Bacall Lauren Bacall (; born Betty Joan Perske; September 16, 1924 – August 12, 2014) was an American actress. She was named the 20th-greatest female star of classic Hollywood cinema by the American Film Institute and received an Academy Honorary Aw ...

featured one of Elizabeth Gage’s pieces; an enamel, cultured pearl and diamond “Camel” brooch. The brooch sold for $23,750, well above its $7,000 high estimate. Bacall bought her first piece of jewellery from Elizabeth Gage in 1985 and went on to order a total of 23 pieces from her. Of her friendship with Lauren Bacall, Elizabeth says ''“Lauren Bacall was a strong woman and she knew her own truth. She was so easy to work with and we shared our inspirations. It was enormous fun designing for her. I shall miss her because as a woman, she was unique''”. Elizabeth's pieces constantly attract the attention of top fashion magazines and celebrities due to their unique quality. Some of her designs are included in the permanent jewellery collection of the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

, London. She has recently published a book about her jewellery and her inspirations called ''The Unconventional Gage''. Elizabeth Gage regularly shows her new collections in New York, where she has a faithful following. Gage was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(MBE) in the

2017 Birthday Honours The 2017 Queen's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as pa ...

for services to business.

References

External links

Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gage, Elizabeth British goldsmiths British jewellery designers Year of birth missing (living people) Living people British jewellers Women metalsmiths Members of the Order of the British Empire Women jewellers