Sam Smith (toy-maker)

Toy-maker

Sam Smith

At Kingswear in 1976 age 68

Born|

Alan Verner Smith

(1908-07-27)27 July 1908

Shirley, Southampton, England

Died| 9 February 1983(1983-02-09) (aged 74)

Newton Abbot, Devon, England

Education|

* Victoria College, Jersey
* Bournemouth School of Art
* Westminster School of Art

Known for| toy-maker, painter and sculptor
Notable work|

* Tmith (1973)
* The Crew Cats (1975)
* Rover's Regatta Day (1977)

Patron(s)|

* Muriel Rose
* Henry Rothschild

Sam Smith (Alan Verner Smith, 1908–1983) was an artist, crafter and sculptor, known for his sculptures and toy-making for adults and children, carving wooden curios such as boats and seaside dioramas.[1][2]

## Early life and education

[edit]

Smith was born in Southampton on 27 July 1908.[3] His father was a steamship captain.[3] Smith attended Victoria College, Jersey.[3] He studied art at Bournemouth School of Art and Westminster School of Art.[3]

## Career

[edit]

Art UK writes "A lonely, introspective child, he "always wanted to be an artist", went to art school, but the 1930s Depression meant that he had to become a handyman and advertising illustrator".[4] He was unsuccessful as a painter.[3]

He started to carve and make wooden toys whilst working at an art gallery in London, and these were sold in the gallery shop.[3]

During the Second World War, Smith worked as a draughtsman, for instance producing technical drawings for the development of the Bailey Bridge in Christchurch, Dorset.[3][4][5].

His wooden toys were shown at the Royal Festival Hall following the war.[4] "Smith’s objects became bigger, more elaborate and less toy-like, based on childhood memories and colourful characters, witty but a stringent comments on society."[4] The Victoria and Albert Museum says that "His work has been described as "sculpture toys for grown-ups" ... by the 1970s they had become quite large, with unusual themes".[6]

After the war, he, his wife Gladys, and stepson lived in a steep-hillside house, The Golf House, overlooking Kingswear, Devon, and across the River Dart to Dartmouth.[citation needed] For making toys, Smith had many wood-cutting tools in his studio in their house. They moved from Kingswear to Newton Abbot, Devon in 1979, where he continued to create work in his studio.

A film about Smith, Sam Smith: Genuine England, was made by the Arts Council of Great Britain in 1976, and broadcast by BBC Two on Arena.[4][7]

Smith continued to be successful in the United States of America with less of a reputation in the UK until Bristol Museum & Art Gallery held a large-scale exhibition in 1972.[3][4] In 1981 the Serpentine Gallery had a joint exhibition with H. C. Westermann, an American artist who was a friend of his.[4] During this exhibition Smith suffered a stroke. This was his last show. He died in 1983.[4]

He signed much[8][better source needed] of his 1930s work "Alan V". Later, he signed items "Sam Smith, Genuine England" as he became successful and sold work in London (for instance at the Primavera Gallery)[3] and New York.

Southampton City Art Gallery holds some of his work, including his painting Bathers in Southampton Water.[4][9] The Victoria and Albert Museum also has some of his work.[6]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Halina Pasierbska (22 September 2005), "Smith, Alan Verner [Sam]", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/93092
2. ^ Janine Barker; Cheryl Buckley (2015), "The Primavera Story: 1946–67", British Design – Tradition and Modernity After 1948, Bloomsbury Academic, ISBN 9780857857125
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Sam Smith collection, 1972-1996, bulk 1972-1979". Yale Center for British Art. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Sam Smith 1908–1983". Art UK. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
5. ^ "Mr Sam Smith", The Times, no. 61454, London, p. 14, 11 February 1983
6. ^ a b "Tmith (sculpture, 1973)". Victoria and Albert Museum. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
7. ^ "Sam Smith (1908 - 1983)". Contemporary Art Society. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
8. ^ Sam's 1930s toys and pictures still owned by me W Duncan Ogilvie in 2023, the godson of well-remembered Sam Smith
9. ^ "Bathers in Southampton Water". Art UK. Retrieved 6 December 2023.

## External links

[edit]

* Sam Smith "Genuine England" – a 1976 film by the Arts Council in which Smith explained his work
* Biography, Sam Smith 1908-1983 – personal website

## See also

[edit]

* Tim Hunkin

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