CLICK HERE TO ORDER

Philip Morton's books, Contemporary Jewelry, a Studio Handbook and Contemporary Jewelry, a Craftsman's Handbook are invaluable resources for collectors, jewelers and students who wish to learn about the history of the modern studio jewelry movement and its design principles, materials and techniques.

Morton's childhood and college days were spent in Utah.  In the 1930s he took a course in jewelry design from a WPA sponsored art project and from that time forward, he made jewelry.  His studies in contemporary art movements were done on his own.

During World War II he moved to California where his jewelry sold successfully at many of the leading shops in the San Francisco area. By 1946 he was also producing his own line of contemporary silverware and, in 1947, because of his success as a metalsmith and designer, he was invited to teach design at Alfred University at the School for American Craftsmen.  A year later he took a position with the newly formed art department at the University of Minnesota where he taught three dimensional design, jewelry making and sculpture.

In 1951 he established the first bronze foundry in any American university art program.  his own work, over the next few years was devoted to bronze sculpture and jewelry making.

Morton's work has been widely exhibited at museums in the United States and other countries.

Taken from my book, Form & Function, American Modernist Jewelry, 1940 - 1970