Rundell & Bridge were a
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
firm of
jewellers and
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 ...
s formed by
Philip Rundell (1746–1827) and John Bridge (baptized 1755–1834).
History
When Edmond Walter Rundell, nephew of Philip Rundell, was admitted as a partner in 1804, the firm's name changed to Rundell, Bridge & Rundell. That same year John Gawler Bridge, nephew of John Bridge also joined the firm. Following John Bridge's death in 1834 a new partnership was formed comprising John Gawler Bridge,
Thomas Bigge, John Bridge's nephews and Bigge's son, and the firm changed its name to Rundell, Bridge & Co.
The firm was appointed as one of the goldsmiths and jewellers to the king in 1797 and Principal Royal Goldsmiths & Jewellers in 1804, and the firm held the Royal Warrant until 1843.
Amongst its employees were the well-known artists
John Flaxman
John Flaxman (6 July 1755 – 7 December 1826) was a British sculptor and draughtsman, and a leading figure in British and European Neoclassicism. Early in his career, he worked as a modeller for Josiah Wedgwood's pottery. He spent several yea ...
and
Thomas Stothard
Thomas Stothard (17 August 1755 – 27 April 1834) was an English painter, illustrator and engraver.
His son, Robert T. Stothard was a painter ( fl. 1810): he painted the proclamation outside York Minster of Queen Victoria's accession to the t ...
, who both designed and modelled silverware. Directing their workshops from 1802 were the silversmith Benjamin Smith and the designer Digby Scott; and in 1807,
Paul Storr
Paul Storr (baptised 28 October 1770 in London – 18 March 1844 in London) was an English goldsmith and silversmith working in the Neoclassical and other styles during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. His works range from ...
, the most celebrated English silversmith of the period, took charge, withdrawing from the firm in 1819 to establish his own workshops.
The Royal Goldsmiths served four monarchs:
George III
George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...
,
George IV
George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from the death of his father, King George III, on 29 January 1820, until his own death ten y ...
,
William IV
William IV (William Henry; 21 August 1765 – 20 June 1837) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death in 1837. The third son of George III, William succeeded h ...
and
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
. In addition, their name was attributed to the 'Rundell tiara', made for
Princess Alexandra in 1863.
Works
After the
Congress of Vienna
The Congress of Vienna (, ) of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon B ...
(1814–1815), the firm prepared 22
snuff-boxes to a value of 1000 guineas each to be given as
diplomatic gifts.
In 1830–1831, the firm created the
Irish Crown Jewels from 394 precious stones taken from the
English Crown Jewels
The Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom, originally the Crown Jewels of England, are a collection of royal ceremonial objects kept in the Tower of London which include the coronation regalia and vestments worn by British monarchs.
Symbols of ov ...
of
Queen Charlotte
Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (Sophia Charlotte; 19 May 1744 – 17 November 1818) was Queen of Great Britain and of Ireland as the wife of King George III from their marriage on 8 September 1761 until the union of the two kingdoms ...
and the
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved Bathing#Medieval ...
star of her husband
George III
George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...
. The jewels were stolen in 1907 and never recovered.
General Mining Association
Rundell, Bridge & Rundell formed the
General Mining Association
The General Mining Association was a London coal mining company operating in Nova Scotia. It was formed by Rundell & Bridge in 1827. It held a mining monopoly in Nova Scotia until 1858.
History
In 1788, King George III had drafted a lease i ...
(G.M.A.) in 1827 and opened a colliery in Sydney Mines, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada the same year and a second colliery in nearby Dominion (then called Lingan and subsequently Bridgeport) in 1830. The G.M.A. operated coal mines and built shipping piers and railways in Cape Breton until it sold its eastern Cape Breton County holdings to the Dominion Coal Company by 1894 and retained its Sydney Mines operations until selling to the Nova Scotia Steel and Coal Corporation in 1900.
[Charles William Vernon, ''Cape Breton, Canada, at the Beginning of the Twentieth Century: A Treatise of Natural Resources and Development'' (Toronto and New York: Nation Publishing Company, 1903), pp. 172–8. Leonard Stephenson, ''Dominion, NS, 1906–1981,'' pp. 8–9.]
Bibliography
* Fox, George, (1843), ''History of Rundell, Bridge and Rundell'' (Manuscript of a history of the firm written by a long-time employee.) Held at the Baker Library, Harvard Business School.
* Hartop, Christopher, with foreword by
HRH The Prince of Wales
Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...
, introduction by
Philippa Glanville
Philippa Jane Glanville, OBE, FSA (born 16 August 1943), formerly chief curator of the metal, silver and jewellery department of the Victoria and Albert Museum, is an English art historian who is an authority on silver and the history of dining.
...
and essays by Diana Scarisbrick,
Charles Truman,
David Watkin and Matthew Winterbottom (2005).
Royal Goldsmiths: The Art of Rundell & Bridge 1797–1843' Cambridge:
John Adamson
* Hartop, Christopher (October 2015), ''Art in Industry: The Silver of
Paul Storr
Paul Storr (baptised 28 October 1770 in London – 18 March 1844 in London) was an English goldsmith and silversmith working in the Neoclassical and other styles during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. His works range from ...
'', Cambridge:
John Adamson
*
References
{{Authority control
British jewellery designers
British jewellers
Jewellery companies of the United Kingdom
English goldsmiths
English silversmiths