P. Cannon-Brookes, Omar Ramsden 1873-1939. Centenary Exhibition of Silver, exh. cat. (Birmingham: Birmingham City Museum and Art Gallery, 1973).

Omar Ramsden (1873-1939) was a Sheffield-born silversmith whose work is highly sought after. His pieces are both practical and decorative, and typically hand-made in the tradition of the Arts and Craft Movement. His silver designs feature influences from the curving lines and organic forms of the Art Nouveau period to post-war crisp lines of the Art Deco style. Yet his work also drew on inspiration from Renaissance metalwork techniques, which involved hammering and embossing the silver. There too is evidence in his designs that Ramsden recognised the style and skills of the Danish silversmith and sculptor Georg Jensen (1866-1935), whose work was characterised by hammer marks, flora and fauna, oxidization and the application of coloured gem stones - all of which can be seen in Ramsden's silver. The sculptural qualities of Ramsden's pieces can also be attributed to his awareness of Jensen's designs.

In his youth Ramsden attended summer schools at the Royal College of Art and later studied in the Victoria and Albert Museum, before setting up a workshop with his peer and friend from Sheffield School of Art, Alwyn Charles Ellison Carr (1872-1940). This partnership was prosperous, with their most important joint commission being a monstrance made in 1906 for Westminster Cathedral. Their partnership came to an end in 1914 when Carr enlisted in the army, after which Ramsden worked independently with a team of specialist workers to complete the increasing number of commissions. His partnership with Carr was formerly dissolved in 1919, before which Ramsden registered his own silver mark in 1918. Over the course of the next two decades Ramsden catered to the conservative tastes of the propertied social milieu, whose continued patronage saw his reputation as a fashionable designer of decorative domestic wares, ceremonial and church plate flourish. Ramsden's portfolio of silverware extends beyond a wide range of dining accoutrements, to jewellery and other personal items.

Ramsden frequently participated in professional debates about his craft and was viewed as an authority for a time, so much so, he contributed articles on modern silver design to the Goldsmiths Journal in 1928. He was also interested in the history of mazers, publishing an illustrated booklet on them in 1938. Ramsden was awarded many professional honours and is recognised today as a significant figure in the revival of public interest in silver design, resting on his ability to combine traditional and modern styles whilst adapting to contemporary prevailing tastes. Collections of Ramsden's work are held at Goldsmiths' Hall, the Victoria and Albert Museum, St Bartholomew-the-Great, Smithfield, and Westminster Cathedral, London; Birmingham City Museum; Graves Art Gallery, Sheffield; and the Campbell Collection, Toronto.

This inkwell holds several symbolic meanings with its engravings of a Tudor Rose and thorns. In the rose, for instance, we find a flower with such significance it has been depicted across poetry, art, literature, and religion. The Tudor Rose, specifically, is central to the heraldic imagery of the kings and queens of England after Henry VII joined the Houses of York and Lancaster through his strategic marriage to Elizabeth of York in 1486 following the civil war of 1455-1485 - more commonly cited as the War of the Roses due to Sir Walter Scott's reference in the novel Anne of Geierstein (1829).The combination of the white rose of York and the red rose of Lancaster continues to this day to represent the national flower of England. Likewise, the thorns symbolise adversity and sacrifice, and are also a universal reference to Christ's crucifixion. The symbolism of this imagery extends to Ramsden, whose choice to engrave the Tudor Rose and thorns on this piece references his own faith as a Roman Catholic.

The mark on this inkwell was a stamp used by Ramsden following the dissolution of his partnership with Carr, which translated from Latin means 'Omar Ramsden made me'. The Latin mark was in addition to his smaller 'OR' stamp if and when size permitted, and makes reference to the practice of Latin marks from much earlier periods in history.