The Silver Trust is a registered UK charity. Its initial aim was to provide

10 Downing Street 10 Downing Street in London, also known colloquially in the United Kingdom as Number 10, is the official residence and executive office of the first lord of the treasury, usually, by convention, the prime minister of the United Kingdom. Along wi ...

, residence of the

British Prime Minister The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As modern p ...

, with a collection of contemporary silver. The Trust was established in 1987 by Rupert Hambro, Lady Falkender, Lady Henderson and

Jean Muir Jean Elizabeth Muir ( ; 17 July 1928 – 28 May 1995) was a British fashion designer. Early life and career Jean Muir was born in London, the daughter of Cyril Muir, a draper's floor superintendent, and his wife, Phyllis Coy. Her father ...

. The Trust helps encourage and publicise the work of practising British

silversmith A silversmith is a metalworker who crafts objects from silver. The terms ''silversmith'' and ''goldsmith'' are not exactly synonyms as the techniques, training, history, and guilds are or were largely the same but the end product may vary great ...

s; silver commissioned and owned by the trust is made available on loan for use in

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buildings and embassies overseas. The Trust's earliest commissioned work (1987) was a

cruet A cruet (), also called a caster, is a small flat-bottomed vessel with a narrow neck. Cruets often have an integral lip or spout, and may also have a handle. Unlike a small carafe, a cruet has a Stopper (plug), stopper or lid. Cruets are normal ...

set by

Malcolm Appleby Malcolm Appleby MBE (born 1946 in West Wickham) is a Scottish engraver. His public and private commissions include: the monde (orb) of the Coronet of Charles, Prince of Wales (1969); a 500th anniversary silver cup for the London Assay Office (1978 ...

. In 1991 a large donation from an anonymous benefactor allowed the Trust to commission a sizeable collection. By 1993 a sufficient amount of silverwork had been made and was presented to

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

John Major Sir John Major (born 29 March 1943) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1997, and as Member of Parliament ...

, to be used for government and state occasions. During the summer

Parliamentary A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democracy, democratic government, governance of a sovereign state, state (or subordinate entity) where the Executive (government), executive derives its democratic legitimacy ...

recess the Trust started a series of exhibitions; the venue alternates yearly between the United Kingdom and a destination abroad. These exhibitions have helped the Silver Trust become more widely known and also helped gain commissions for many of the silversmiths represented in the collection. The Trust also uses the exhibitions to show new pieces that have been commissioned into the Silver Trust National Collection.

References

External links

The Silver Trust website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Silver Trust Cultural charities based in the United Kingdom Silversmithing