Arts Scholar John Benjamin’s talk on 18th Century Jewellery will look at many of the key inspirations of this beautiful - and often misunderstood - period of jewellery design, so very different from much of the repetitive, perfectly proportioned generic jewels sold today.

The famous Arts Scholars Friday Fish & Chip lunches are back!

This lunch on 24th Sep 21 will be the first in a new series, to be held at the City University Club, the new home of the City Livery Club (the current President of which is Arts Scholars' Past Master Nic Somers).

Portable Antiquities Scheme Finds Liaison Officer, Stuart Wyatt, will be leading another Arts Scholars expedition of antiquity hunting on the Thames foreshore. In contrast with the highly enjoyable sessions in July 2019, this time the north foreshore (the City/St Paul's side) will be visited. Low tide is at 11.35am and Arts Scholars will explore the area with Stuart, after being shown a variety of objects previously found on the foreshore of the Thames. A late light lunch nearby at Mudlarkers’ own expense will follow.

COMMON HALL forms a very important part of the Company’s calendar. It is, effectively, the Annual General Meeting, when all Arts Scholars have an opportunity to meet each other, hear about the Company’s activities and longer-term plans, and put questions to the Chairmen of each of the Company’s committees: Charity, Communications, Education, Events, Finance, Membership and Regalia about their work for the Company through the year. (Please read the admin notes at the bottom of the page before registering)

Arts Scholar Alan Freeland, known to members for his Silk Road themed tours of the V&A, will talk to us about one of the lesser-known British designers of the nineteenth-century, Owen Jones (1809-1874). An architect, illustrator and author of the seminal 'The Grammar of Ornament', he lived in the shadow of his more famous contemporary Ruskin. Alan will explore with us Jones's very different views on architecture and design, and his championing of the use of a strong colour pallet in architectural decoration.

A Company Dinner (not the Annual Banquet) was held to celebrate the freedom to meet-up again.

A Talk by Arts Scholar Dr Sam Moorhead of the British Museum in which he will spotlight Roman cities in the Near East and North Africa which have been largely destroyed (for example Hatra in Iraq and Palmyra in Syria), sites which have been heavily looted (Apamaea and Dura Europos in Syria), and places which are now too dangerous to visit (Leptis Magna and Cyrene in Libya).

(Image: Temple of Bel at Palmyra in 2011, now destroyed © Sam Moorhead)

An online presentation by Arts Scholar Bernadine Bröcker Wieder, which will cover the evolution of technology for the art market. Bernadine will illustrate how “Web 3.0” changes the art world's dynamics at the core, especially in light of recent times with the COVID-19 business interruption.

Arts Scholars will be given a guided evening tour by member Ian Kelly round the Western Cemetery of the historic Highgate Cemetery. Subject to social distancing restrictions, there will be an optional meal in a local restaurant.

Arts Scholar Liveryman, Nigel Israel, will be giving a potted history of diamonds from rough to jewellery, with crystallography, optical and physical properties, cutting and their use in jewellery by different classes through the centuries.