22/05/2026
René Lalique's Dragonfly Corsage Ornament. When is it ok to be sexy?
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Is it time for a revival of the incredible beauty of Art Nouveau? We discuss this remarkable piece and Richard’s attempts to explore similar themes in his work.
This exquisite, mysterious, erotic and creepy work from 1897-1898 is made of gold, enamel, moonstone, diamond, chrysoprase and chalcedony.
We have decided to do a podcast from our shared perspectives as an award-winning goldsmith and a university lecturer, curator and historian. We often chat about the history of art and design and love how we approach this from different perspectives.
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Dr Rosamund Lily West:
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Richard is an award winning goldsmith, designer, maker and artist. He won the GCDC (Goldsmiths, Craft and Design Council) Senior Modellors Gold Award and the Cookson Precious Metal Award in 2024. He was shortlisted for the Greenwich Business Awards in 2025 for Best Mobile Trader and is an Associate Fellow of the Institute of Professional Goldsmiths (IPG). He has been a full time jeweller and silversmith since 2009, working out of Greenwich Market. He sells hundreds of jewellery designs he has hand sculpted in wax for lost wax casting. He has created thousands of bespoke pieces, largely wedding and engagement rings, along with hand engraved signet rings and numerous other forms of jewellery. He specialises in mokume gane and adding sentimentality to his bespoke work. He is inspired by art throughout history including classical, renaissance, rococo, art nouveau, art deco, impressionism and fauvism. Before being a goldsmith, he was a secondary school art teacher working in Welling school and Elm Green School and was nominated for Supply Teacher of the Year for his work in Dunraven School.
Rosamund has lectured at UCL, the University of Manchester, Chelsea College of Arts, UAL and KLC School of Design, West Dean. Prior to academia, she worked in museums for 15 years, including curatorial roles at Kingston Museum, London Transport Museum and the Royal Society of Sculptors. She has worked with a range of social history, military, anthropological and costume and fashion collections. She is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, an Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, an ECR Advisory Board Member for the Centre for the History of People, Place and Community and a co-founder of the Anglo-German Research Group. She also leads architectural walking tours.
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René Lalique's Dragonfly Corsage Ornament. When is it ok to be sexy...
