Stuart Devlin

Stuart Leslie Devlin (9 October 1931 – 12 April 2018) was an Australian artist and metalworker who specialised in gold and silver. He designed coins for countries around the world, and became especially well known as London-based designer of collectors' items in the 1970s and 1980s. Devlin was born in Geelong, Victoria, Australia, and became an art teacher, specialising in gold and silversmithing. In 1957, he obtained a post at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology and studied for a Diploma of Art in gold and silversmithing. He was awarded scholarships to study at the Royal College of Art in London in 1958, and was awarded a Harkness Fellowship by the Commonwealth Fund. He spent the two-year fellowship at Columbia University in New York City where he met and married his first wife, Kim Hose, in 1962. He returned to teach in Melbourne and subsequently became an inspector of art schools. He rose to fame when, in 1964, he won a competition to design the first decimal coinage for Australia. In 1965, he moved to London and opened a small workshop. This marked the beginning of Devlin's own style, which often took the form of limited editions, the most popular being Easter eggs and Christmas boxes, now collectors' items. He adapted and devised new techniques to produce a wide variety of textures and filigree forms, and became well known in London's West End, producing a new collection each year. He had a prestigious showroom in Conduit Street from 1979 until 1985. In 1966 a Stuart Devlin fine silver sculpture was commissioned by Ford of Britain to celebrate the release of the new Mk IV Ford Zephyr and Zodiac range of motor vehicles. He has designed furniture, interiors, jewellery, and commissioned pieces of all types, including trophies, clocks, centrepieces, goblets, candelabra, bowls, and insignia. Among his most popular commissions, Devlin has designed coins and medals for 36 countries throughout the world, including precious coins for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Game