Stuart Leslie Devlin (9 October 1931 – 12 April 2018) was an Australian artist and metalworker who specialised in gold and silver. He designed coins for countries around the world, and became especially well known as London-based designer of collectors' items in the 1970s and 1980s.

Early life and education

Devlin was born in

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung language, Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in Victoria, Australia, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River (Victo ...

, Victoria, Australia, and became an art teacher, specialising in gold and silversmithing. In 1957, he obtained a post at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology and studied for a Diploma of Art in gold and silversmithing. He was awarded scholarships to study at the

Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public university, public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City, London, White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design uni ...

in London in 1958, and was awarded a

Harkness Fellowship The Harkness Fellowship (previously known as the Commonwealth Fund Fellowship) is a program run by the Commonwealth Fund of New York City. This fellowship was established to reciprocate the Rhodes Scholarships and enable Fellows from several co ...

by the

Commonwealth Fund The Commonwealth Fund is a private American foundation whose stated purpose is to "promote a high-performing health care system that achieves better access, improved quality, and greater efficiency, particularly for society's most vulnerable, inc ...

. He spent the two-year fellowship at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

where he met and married his first wife, Kim Hose, in 1962.

Career

He returned to teach in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

and subsequently became an inspector of art schools. He rose to fame when, in 1964, he won a competition to design the first decimal coinage for Australia. In 1965, he moved to London and opened a small workshop. This marked the beginning of Devlin's own style, which often took the form of limited editions, the most popular being Easter eggs and Christmas boxes, now collectors' items. He adapted and devised new techniques to produce a wide variety of textures and filigree forms, and became well known in London's West End, producing a new collection each year. He had a prestigious showroom in Conduit Street from 1979 until 1985. In 1966 a Stuart Devlin fine silver sculpture was commissioned by

Ford of Britain Ford Motor Company Limited,The Ford 'companies' or corporate entities referred to in this article are: * Ford Motor Company, Dearborn, Michigan, USA, incorporated 16 June 1903 * Ford Motor Company Limited, incorporated 7 December 1928. Current ...

to celebrate the release of the new Mk IV Ford Zephyr and

Zodiac The zodiac is a belt-shaped region of the sky that extends approximately 8° north and south celestial latitude of the ecliptic – the apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year. Within this zodiac ...

range of motor vehicles. He designed furniture, interiors, jewellery, and commissioned pieces of all types, including trophies, clocks, centrepieces, goblets, candelabra, bowls, and insignia. Among his most popular commissions, Devlin designed coins and medals for 36 countries throughout the world, including precious coins for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games and the medals for the founding awards of the Australian honours system in 1975: the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

, the Australian Bravery Decorations and the National Medal. In 1982, Devlin was granted the Royal Warrant of Appointment as Goldsmith and Jeweller to Her Majesty the Queen. He married his second wife, Carole Hedley-Saunders, in 1986. He was Prime Warden of the Goldsmith's Company 1996–97. After he stepped down from that role, he continued to work with the Goldsmiths, and particularly involved in the developing of a new institute for future Goldsmiths, and also with various other aspects which involve opportunities for up-and-coming jewellers and goldsmiths, including a summer school and 'getting started' course.

Retirement

Having closed his London workshop, Devlin retired to

Littlehampton Littlehampton is a town, seaside resort and civil parish in the Arun District of West Sussex, England. It lies on the English Channel on the eastern bank of the mouth of the River Arun. It is south south-west of London, west of Brighton and ...

West Sussex West Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Surrey to the north, East Sussex to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Hampshire to the west. The largest settlement is Cr ...

. In his Littlehampton studio, he was one of the first artist to use computer-aided design. By 1992, he purchased an

Intergraph Intergraph Corporation was an American software development and services company, which now forms part of Hexagon AB. It provides enterprise engineering and geospatially powered software to businesses, governments, and organizations around the w ...

workstation running I/Design 3D solid modeling software to design finely detailed jewellery in 3D with photorealistic animations and output to a 3D printer. He had not yet retired. He ceased drawing after he suffered a stroke in 2014. Devlin died on 12 April 2018 at the age of 86.

Honours

Devlin was appointed a Companion of the

Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince of Wales (the future King George IV), while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III ...

in the 1980 Birthday Honours for service to the art of design and an Officer of the

in the 1988 Australia Day Honours in recognition of service to the craftsmanship as a goldsmith, silversmith and designer.

References

External links

Profile at RMIT University
{{DEFAULTSORT:Devlin, Stuart 1931 births 2018 deaths Australian silversmiths Columbia University alumni Harkness Fellows RMIT University alumni Australian expatriates in England Australian designers Goldsmiths Australian Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Officers of the Order of Australia