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Wayne Meeten

Wayne Meeten Silversmith
Contact
English, Japanese
Hours:
By appointment only
Phone:
+44 7834606477
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In harmony with silver

  • • Wayne began his career in the Brighton Lanes
  • • He is a fluent Japanese speaker and studied with Japanese masters
  • • The philosophy of tai chi has influenced his work

Bringing silver to life is a hard task. Conventional designs rely on the metal's cold brilliance, but in expert hands it can be transformed into something suffused with feeling and energy. Wayne Meeten is one of the rare artisans who achieves this. After training at The Cass in London, he was invited to the prestigious Goldsmiths Fair where his entire collection sold and his career took off. Fascinated by Japanese techniques and tai chi, he did a PhD in Tokyo where he trained in the mokume gane and shibori advanced metalworking techniques. Wayne owes much of his success to leading Japanese experts. He was the first and last westerner to be invited to study under the late Professor Hirotoshi Itoh, now accorded the status of National Treasure.

Read the full interview

Works

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Cascading Heavenly Chi

This silver vessel, with gentle curves, was hand raised from a single sheet of Britannia silver. Wayne practises the ancient meditative art of qigong, and achieves the same meditative state when chasing metal with a Japanese hammer. The inspiration for many of his pieces comes from these unique, enlightened moments.

Width 22 cm
Height 23 cm

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Fountain of Energy

This contemporary fruit bowl can stand on either side. While the form of the bowl creates the illusion that it would fall over if stood on its middle column, it is in fact stable and balanced by hidden counterweights. The hole in the column can be used to hold flowers. The vessel was inspired by a movement in tai chi that follows the natural flow of the body. It is made from three layers of metal held together by a push fit without any solder.

Width 22 cm
Height 23 cm

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Autumn Leaves

This sculptural form was raised from a single sheet of Britannia silver, with geometric patterns added in gold leaf to parts of the vessel. Autumn was the inspiration for this vessel, the movement and meditative nature of falling leaves reflected in the colour and hammered form.

Width 16 cm
Height 18 cm

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Starburst

This whisky tumbler was hand raised from a single sheet of Britannia silver. The form and colour of the tumbler were inspired by that singular moment when clouds move in front of the sun, casting a shadow with bright rays shining through. Starburst is also the name of a tai chi movement known as tantien, where energy radiates out of one’s core.

Width 7.5 cm
Height 8.5 cm

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Rhythm

This orchid vase was hand raised from a flat sheet of shakudo, a Japanese alloy of gold and copper. Traditional Japanese hammer chasing gives the vessel its sense of flowing movement. The title evokes rhythmic elements in nature: a heartbeat, breathing, a river flow, ice melting and wildlife migrating. There is a natural pause between each heartbeat, and a natural pause between each breath we take, a moment of stillness. The bowl is still, yet the eye moves and follows the contours – shadow to light, high to low.

Width 13 cm
Height 15 cm

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