Arthur Joseph Gaskin

Born in Birmingham, Arthur Gaskin (1862-1928) spent most of his life within the Birmingham circle of artists and craftsmen. He was an illustrator painter, teacher and designer of jeweler and enamelwork. He studied at the Birmingham School of Art, beginning in 1883, under Edward R. Taylor and later taught there. Here he met his future wife Georgina, whom he married in 1894. Both were members of the Birmingham Group of Artist-Craftsmen who sought to apply the principles of the Arts and Crafts movement across the decorative arts. He produced woodcut illustrations for William Morris’ Kelmscott Press. He and his wife began producing jewelry from 1899.