Biography
William Anthony Dominic Phipps (b. Berlin, Germany 1936 - d. 2009) married to Henrietta, daughter of the artist Henry Lamb (1883-1960) from 1960, undertook an apprenticeship in Clerkenwell with the ecclesiastical silversmith Michael Murray, who recommended him to the Art Workers' Guild in 1963. Phipps became fascinated with the forging of spoons, and began to experiment with their manufacture. At first he worked in his garage, before acquiring a workshop in the Clerkenwell Road. hipps specialised in hand-forged silver, now a rare technique, under which the hot material is beaten into shape with a heavy hammer. Soon he was adding knives and forks to his repertoire, and then branching out into tea and coffee pots, chalices and goblets, tumblers, and boxes in the shape of apples and pears.
The Victoria & Albert Museum, Goldsmiths' Hall, the Design Centre, Sotheby's, the Barbican Centre, Leighton House, and the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge have all displayed Phipps's work. One of his specialities was making large paddle spoons; and in 2002 he was asked to create examples with the Queen's Jubilee hallmark, to be sold by the Friends of the Victoria and Albert.
