Kevin Coates

Kevin Coates is an independent artist-goldsmith who creates one-off jewels, larger ceremonial silver items, medals, and small sculpture. He is also a musician, specialising in Baroque and early Classical music; author of "Geometry, Proportion, and the Art of Lutherie" (OUP); Liveryman of the Goldsmiths' Company; Fellow of the Royal College of Art.

Statement by Kevin Coates: "I approach all my output with what I see as the spirit of the jewel, whether it is to be worn, to be held and used, or placed on a table. It is the mental approach of the Goldsmith, one catholic in technique, and omnivorous of material. The opportunity and ability to work through the deep treasury of precious gems, minerals, and metals is an enormous privilege, and, at times, a true confrontation with 'prima materia' - with the very elements of Creation. This extensive 'palette of absolutes' is something to which I am constantly drawn, to express the ideas that continue to haunt the different stratas of my mind: a search for the music within the silence, the movement within the stillness, and the eternal moment within the relentless dynamic of time. It is always a pursuit of the metaphor which will first 'connect', then enshrine, the meaning to provoke that essential journey of response in others - and like that of the alchemist, it is a quest for the transcendental, one where the Stone's achievement lies in the ensoulment of the object itself."

'Mixed media' approach including: hardstone carving and inlay; modelling, carving and specialist casting; patination and colouring of metals; electroforming; fabrication, engraving and setting; mosaic work in all materials; lettering, painting and leaf-work.

1977 First Norman Butler Award
1974 Medal of Excellence, Society of Designer Craftsmen
1973 First Marlow Award, Society of Designer Craftsmen

1969-70 West Sussex College of Design, Foundation Studies
1970-73 DIP.AD (Hons) Central School of Art and Design, London
1973-76 MA (RCA) Royal College of Art, London
1976-79 PH.D (RCA) Royal College of Art, London

Private Collections:
Work represented in many private collections worldwide.

Acquisitions:
Brooch 'The Weighing of the Heart', Cooper-Hewitt Museum NYC
Ring 'Pan', MFA Boston

Commissions:

'Hundred-Sunned Phenix' Centrepiece
'Pearl-fishers' Candle-pieces
'Havdalah'
'Court Wine Cup' for Timothy Schroder
'The Flood' Centrepiece
'Arlecchino Saltimbanco'
'The Charter Bell' Commissioned by The Goldsmiths' Company

Other Public Collections

2000
‘Waiting for Joan’, brooch on stand, Royal Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh, Scotland

1999
Tiara/neckpiece, 'Entry of the Queen of the Night'(Mozart Series), Royal Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh, Scotland

1998
Brooch 'Frog Labyrinth', Kansas University Museum, Kansas, USA

1996
Brooch 'Seraph' (Angel Series), Victoria & Albert Museum Contemporary Jewellery Collection, London, England

1995
Loving Cup 'Ovid Metamorphoses’, commissioned by Fleischman, New York

1992
‘St George and Dragon’, large centrepiece for 10 Downing Street, The Silver Trust, London, England Portrait Medal of Lord Dainton, The Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths, London, England

1991
‘The St Chad Cup’, Lichfield Cathedral, Lichfield, England Medal Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, The British Museum, London, England Ring Lazarus, Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths', London, England

1990
‘Caryatid’ presentation pins, commissioned by The British Museum, London, England ‘The Schroder Cup’, The Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths, London, England

1988
‘Tree of Knowledge’ centrepiece, Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths, London, England

1987
Rosewater maze centrepiece, Leeds Castle, Nr Maidstone, England ‘The Carrington Cup’, Victoria & Albert Museum, London, England

1986
Brooch ‘Selene’, commissioned by Ayrton Metals ##platinum# collection Loving Cup and thematically-related pin, commissioned by HE Ambassador to the Dominican Republic Ring ‘Caliban’, Victoria & Albert Museum, London, England

1985
The Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths, London, England Modern Plate Collection: Silver Court Wine Cup, Rosebowl/centrepiece Jewellery Collection: ‘Serlio Doorcase’ Brooch, ‘Hypnos III’ Pin, ‘Meniscus’ Ring, ‘Crustacean’ Ring

1984
‘Oologos’ Brooch, The Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths, London, England Centrepiece for Conference Room (memorial to Peter Wilson), commissioned by Leeds Castle Large Sculpture, “IKAROS”, Nissan UK Ltd. Magnifying Glass, “Angling Cat”, commissioned by The Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths, London, England

1983
Large Sculpture, Nissan UK Ltd. fifty years celebration Presidential Badge, British Society for History of Pharmacy, commissioned by the Wellcome Foundation, London, England ‘Athene Noctua’, Victoria & Albert Museum, London, England Ring ‘Harlequin Masks’, The Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths, London, England

1981
‘The Amity Cup’, The Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths, London, England

'Time Regained - Works by Artist Goldsmith Kevin Coates'
FILM 'Time Regained' - Kevin Coates (YouTube)
'A Notebook of Pins' 2009 - RCC
'KEVIN COATES - A Hidden Alchemy' - Arnoldsche Art Pubs.
'A Notebook of Pins' - Mobilia
'An Alphabet of RIngs' - Mobilia
'Tiaras past & present' - V&A
'Frammenti: FRAGMENTS: Pages Stolen from a book of Time' Arsenale pubs
'Strumentaio', Paolo Meucci, Marsilio
'Remember the Future', Research RCA Sandra Kemp (Ed.)
'British Library - Craft Lives' - Oral History Project