Oak & silver presentation mallet & trowel

Finely crafted in the Arts & Crafts style, this oak wood and silver mallet and trowel set were expertly made as presentation pieces to celebrate the laying of the foundation stone of Liverpool University's new engineering laboratories in 1910.

Although this beautifully made silver set is unmarked and therefore we don't know who made it, it has the look and feel of Omar Ramsden's work.

The inscription on the trowel reads:

UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL
PRESENTED TO
T FENWICK HARRISON ESQ
BY THE ARCHITECT BRIGGS WOLSTENHOLME
& THORNELY
ON LAYING
THE FOUNDATION STONE
OF THE
NEW ENGINEERING
LABORATORIES
22 OCTOBER 1910

Inscription on the mallett:

UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL
PRESENTED TO T FENWICK HARRISON ESQ
BY THE BUILDERS
JOSHUA HENSHAW & SONS
ON LAYING THE FOUNDATION STONE OF THE
NEW ENGINEERING
LABORATORIES
22 OCTOBER 1910

The dimensions shown are for the trowel only.

The Arts & Crafts movement emerged from a disenchantment with the impersonal, mechanised direction of society in the 19th century and sought to return to a simpler, more fulfilling way of living. The movement was admired for its use of high quality materials and for its emphasis on utility in design.