Artist Emily Gore is giving new life to antique jewellery boxes from her Plynouth studio
Beautiful and unique luxury jewellery boxes are created by talented Emily Gore at her studio near the historic Royal William Yard in Plymouth.
Antique boxes are given a bespoke makeover by Emily, repurposed using hand embellishment and embroidery to create a modern heirloom unique to each customer.
Emily started Woodbury & Co last year, designing her first creation on her kitchen table after returning to her childhood roots in Devon.
It was as a child that Emily fell in love with antique boxes when her grandfather gave her a very old coromandel box which had travelled the world with a Cornish mining engineer and later with a Cornish artist.
Emily trained in jewellery and silversmithing at Edinburgh College of Art, where she developed her passion and flair for design and traditional hand production techniques.
It was during a successful career in the luxury jewellery industry in London that she realised many people struggled to find a distinctive box to match their jewellery collection,
Emily says she loves the story and sentiment behind each box and enjoys matching these to her clients. “Rediscovering these forgotten gems and lovingly restoring them to give a new lease of life just adds to the magic of every box we create,” she says.
Many clients want to mark a special occasion such as an anniversary, marriage proposal or milestone birthday. Emily loves to involve each client in their own creative journey and will consult with them to establish their personal brief. Along the way they will discuss options for bespoke monogramming, personalising each section with sentimental motifs, initials, a wedding date, children’s names and even pets to design something utterly unique and personal.
A recent commission was a box called Seaside Dreaming in which the client wanted one of her favourite poems intertwined with her love of the ocean to celebrate an anniversary. Emily sourced a special antique box with secret compartments and hand embroidered each drawer with the client’s personal motifs. The finished box has become an exquisite and much loved personal treasure for the family.
