Sculptural Caddy Spoons
Sculptural Caddy Spoons, 2021-2022, Bishopsland Educational Trust Alumni, REDMG: 2022.7.1=11, Reading Foundation for Art collection, supported by many local donors. Copyright: the artists. Photo: Reading Museum, Reading Borough Council
Bishopsland Educational Trust is a charity which was based at Dunstan near Reading for more than 30 years. It moved to Buscot in Oxfordshire in 2024.
Bishopsland was founded by Pope and Oliver Makeover to provide an extra year of mentoring and skills development for students who were leaving Art College ill prepared to make a career in silversmithing.
Previously few had stayed in the industry.
Reading Foundation for Art asked exstudents and current students of Bishopsland to design a silver sculpture based on the simple form of a tea caddy spoon – a wide bowl and short handle. This is a contemporary take on a traditional task for apprentice silversmiths.
Among the 11 Bishopsland alumni who won caddy spoon commissions are leading contemporary silversmiths such as Theresa Nguyen, Nan Nan Liu and Angela Cork.
