NEIL OLIVER - BIOGRAPHY
I have been working as a hand engraver in my own business since 1964, from which time I have endeavoured to create a workshop unique in Great Britain.
Learning, to the highest level through apprenticeships, as many skills in the field of engraving as I possibly can. I achieved distinction in the City and Guilds advanced craft qualification. I also studied at the School of Jewellery, a faculty of the University of Central England, under Master engraver the late Sid Perkins.
On Mr. Perkins' retirement in 1978 I became the lecutuer of engraving at the School of Jewellery, with reponsibility for the development of the course, then the City and Guilds in Jewellery and Siversmithing and Allied Crafts, and the training of many students. During my time as a lecturer I achieved senior lecturer status and became a fellow and founder member of the Institute of Professional Goldsmiths before leaving in 1989 to pursure my own business interests once more. Throughout my career I have continued to study the different aspects of the engravers art and I have amassed a broad range of engraving skills to an extremely professinoal level, from inscription and line engraving through gun engraving to enamel cutting, die-sinking, seal engraving and copper-wheel glass engraving.
For the main part of my business, the seal engraving, in both stone and gold, I use a range of steel tools, called gravers, hand made by myself, and quite often custom made for a particular job.
Each seal ring is individually engraved, so even if I have a commission requiring two or more rings with the same design, no ring will be an exact replica of another. In fact any attempt to reproduce a seal ring exactly would be considered a forgery, as the seal should be a signature unique to the preson who owns it, as it is one of the earliest forms of authentication.
The copper-wheel engraving on glass is an addition to my business, now that I have the opportunity, with the expansion into retail work, to include it in my range. It has attracted quite a lot of interest already, and I have a number of ongoing commissions.
Again the technique is an ancient one, the glass is held against a wheel in a lathe, a grinding agent suspended in carrier oil is applied to the wheel and the glass is ground away to leave a fine textured three-dimensional design. The wheels are as with the gravers hand made by myself, are custom made for specific designs.
Currently most of my business is for the jewellery trade I have large customer base, all of which send me work through the post, some from as far afield as the South of England, Europe and lately the U.S.A. This allows me to live in the beautiful countryside of the North East of Scotland. In the last fifteen years since I have lived in Scotland I have increased the trade work and expanded in to retail work, gaining many new, and loyal customers. Now with the power of the internet I can deal directly with my customers, and discuss their own personal requirements one to one.
All the methods of engraving I use are firmly grounded in history; the tools and techniques would not look out of place in the workshops of ancient times.
Notable commissions have been:
- Engraving the Seal for the Royal Warrant Holders Association
- The design and carving of the model in plaster of Paris from which the new badge for the Bentley Motor Company was made
- Engraved glasses for the Duke of Wellington
- An engraved glass presentation piece for the retiring president of the Atlantic Salmon Trust
- An engraved glass presentation piece for the Highlands and Islands Airport Authority
- Engraved glasses for the Lord Lieutenant of Moray
- A medal die depicting Alfred Nobel, for the North Ayrshire Education Authority