ABOUT MICHAEL KING
WE HAVE BEEN HANDCRAFTING JEWELLERY SINCE 1982.
History of Michael King's Jewellery
Craftsmanship and design in gold, silver and precious stones.
In 1982, I started my own jewellery business in a barn at my home at Curthwaite in northern Cumbria. In 2001 I opened new premises at nearby West Woodside, on the A595 eight miles SW of Carlisle, providing space for a large new gallery showing a wide range of gold and silver pieces.
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During the last 20 years I have completed many important commissions. Among them have been a series of ornate weapons recalling the wonderful workmanship of the early Britons for the film 'The Lost Kingdom', commissioned for the Rheged Centre near Penrith, Cumbria.
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More recently, I was commissioned to copy the beautiful cross of St Cuthbert, kept in the treasury of Durham Cathedral, for a film about the life of the saint.
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Past commissions include a facsimile copy of an ancient crucifix for Queen Elizabeth II, a ceremonial cross for Carlisle Cathedral and a cross and ring for the Bishops of Penrith and of Jarrow.
Wedding and engagement rings and decorative jewellery form a basis of much of my work.
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Celtic art has been a strong influence as Cumbria's relatively unspoiled rural environment was once part of the Celtic kingdom.
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I have always been fascinated by contrasts of highly polished and granulated, textured surfaces. Some of my pieces are constructed around silver coral, a technique of simulating natural coral by a unique casting process I developed myself.