Stuart Devlin

Stuart Devlin studied at Columbia University, RMIT University and Royal College of Art. The recorded working language is English. Places of work recorded in the authority are London. Employment is recorded with RMIT University. Works named in the authority record are coins of the Australian dollar. Work by Stuart Devlin is recorded in the collections of National Gallery of Victoria, Swiss National Museum, Kimberly Klosterman collection and Alice & Louis Koch collection. Distinctions recorded are Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George and Officer of the Order of Australia.

• Name — Stuart Devlin • Birth Name — Stuart Leslie Devlin • Born — 9 October 1931 • Birthplace — Geelong, Victoria, Australia • Died — 12 April 2018 • Place of death — Chichester, West Sussex, England • Occupation — Goldsmith, silversmith, designer, medallist

Devlin was born in Geelong, Victoria, Australia, to Jessie (nee Manly), a housemaid, and Richard, a painter and decorator. After an apprenticeship in ecclesiastical brass, he trained in art education and taught at Wangaratta Technical College between 1951 and 1955, specialising in gold- and silversmithing. In 1957, he obtained a post at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology and studied for a Diploma of Art in gold and silversmithing. He was awarded scholarships to study at the Royal College of Art in London in 1958, and he was awarded a Harkness Fellowship by the Commonwealth Fund. He spent the two-year fellowship at Columbia University in New York City where he met and married his first wife, Kim Hose, in 1962.

• Illustration — Devlin's initials are located at the bottom of the reverse of the 1966 Australian 50-cent coin. Devlin returned to teach in Melbourne and subsequently became an inspector of art schools. He rose to fame when, in 1964, he won a competition to design the first decimal coinage for Australia. In 1965, he moved to London and opened a small workshop. This marked the beginning of Devlin's own style, which often took the form of limited editions, the most popular being Easter eggs and Christmas boxes, now collector's items. He adapted and devised new techniques to produce a wide variety of textures and filigree forms, and became well known in London's West End, producing a new collection each year and employed 60 craftsmen at the height of his career. He had a prestigious showroom in Conduit Street from 1979 until 1985. In 1966, a Stuart Devlin fine silver sculpture was commissioned by Ford of Britain to celebrate the release of the new Mk IV Ford Zephyr and Zodiac range of motor vehicles. He designed furniture, interiors, jewellery, and commissioned pieces of all types, including trophies, clocks, centrepieces, goblets, candelabra, bowls, and insignia. Among his most popular commissions, Devlin designed coins and medals for 36 countries throughout the world, including precious coins for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games and the medals for the founding awards of the Australian honours system in 1975: the Order of Australia, the Australian Bravery Decorations and the National Medal. In 1982, Devlin was granted the Royal Warrant of Appointment as Goldsmith and Jeweller to Her Majesty the Queen. He married his second wife, Carole Hedley-Saunders, in 1986. He was Prime Warden of the Goldsmith's Company 1996–97. After he stepped down from that role, he continued to work with the Goldsmiths, and particularly involved in the developing of a new institute for future Goldsmiths, and also with various other aspects which involve opportunities for up-and-coming jewellers and goldsmiths, including a summer school and "getting started" course.

Having closed his London workshop, Devlin retired to Littlehampton in West Sussex. In his Littlehampton studio, he was one of the first artists to use computer-aided design. By 1992, he purchased an Intergraph workstation running I/Design 3D solid modelling software to design finely detailed jewellery in 3D with photorealistic animations and output to a 3D printer. He had not yet retired. He ceased drawing after he suffered a stroke in 2014. Devlin died on 12 April 2018 at the age of 86.

Stuart Devlin is recorded as goldsmith, silversmith, jewelry designer, medalist and furniture designer.