Newlyn Copper
Jude Clarke

Arts and Crafts metalwork is currently enjoying a renaissance with collectors and Newlyn Copper, with its romantic associations with the small fishing town of Newlyn in West Cornwall, has particularly stirred the imagination. Back in the 1890s the main threat to fishing came from bad weather rather than EEC quotas and there were many times when the local fishermen were forced into long periods of inactivity.

The Newlyn Metalwork Industry was established in 1890 by the socially enlightened artist J.D. MacKenzie partly to assist the local community with productive work " for idle hands". With the help of other artists and benefactors it soon became a centre and workshop not only for metalworking instruction in copper, bronze and pewter but lessons in embroidery and enamel making for jewellery.

The Industrial Class produced all manner of decorative and functional items which received great artistic acclaim at the time. Though not all the fisher lads and local men could be expected to warm to the task, many of them were adept at the art of copper making and their names are looked out for by collectors today.
These include MacKenzie who was responsible for the majority of the designs and John Pearson, a skilled metalworker who came from London to instruct the lads in the skills of repoussé copper working.There are also fine pieces made by Obed Nicholls, Tom Batten and Johnny Payne Cotton, who continued making ' Newlyn Copper' until the 1950s.

Not all pieces of Newlyn Copper are marked with the indented name NEWLYN or signed on the back of the piece. However, the decorative style and quality , especially of the earlier pieces, makes most of them very easy to identify once you are familiar with the type of decoration and imagery used. Some of the most common motifs include galleons, shells, fish, fritillary flowers, medlars, St. Michael's Mount and other images associated with the local area.

The David Lay auction rooms in Penzance, Cornwall (www. auctions-on-line.com/davidlay) regularly feature items of Newlyn Copper in their sales and they currently hold the record auction price for a piece of Newlyn - £2500 for a large rectangular mirror decorated with fish and shells. Good decorative examples of Newlyn copper can generally be found for between £100 - £300 for smaller items and between £300 - £800 for chargers, large trays and small mirrors.