Geoffrey Munn

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Geoffrey Charles Munn, OBE, MVO, FSA, FLS (born 11 April 1953 in

Hastings Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...

) is a British jewellery specialist, television presenter and writer. He is best known as one of the experts on the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

's ''

Antiques Roadshow ''Antiques Roadshow'' is a British television programme broadcast by the BBC in which antiques appraisers travel to various regions of the United Kingdom (and occasionally in other countries) to appraise antiques brought in by local people ( ...

''.

Career

Munn's first television appearance was in 1963 when he, and his brother, Roger Munn, featured with their pet fox cubs on Johnny Morris's '' Animal Magic''. He was brought up in Henfield in Sussex and educated at Shoreham College and Steyning Grammar School. Munn became the managing director of London jewellers Wartski, where he had worked since the age of 19; his specialisation is jewellery, especially that of

Fortunato Pio Castellani Fortunato Pio Castellani (6 May 1794 – 1 January 1865) was a 19th-century Italian jeweller and founder of Castellani, an Italian jewellery company. Castellani opened his first shop in Rome in 1814. Geoffrey Munn He specialised in recrea ...

, Carlo Giuliano and

Peter Carl Fabergé Peter Carl Fabergé, also known as Karl Gustavovich Fabergé (russian: Карл Гу́ставович Фаберже́, ''Karl Gustavovich Faberzhe''; 30 May 1846 – 24 September 1920), was a Russian jeweller best known for the famous Faberg� ...

. Wartski are jewellers by appointment to HM the

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

and HRH

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...

. The firm made the Welsh gold wedding rings for the Prince of Wales and Camilla Parker Bowles, and

Catherine Middleton Catherine, Princess of Wales, (born Catherine Elizabeth Middleton; 9 January 1982) is a member of the British royal family. She is married to William, Prince of Wales, heir apparent to the British throne, making Catherine the likely next ...

when she married

Prince William William, Prince of Wales, (William Arthur Philip Louis; born 21 June 1982) is the heir apparent to the British throne. He is the elder son of King Charles III and his first wife Diana, Princess of Wales. Born in London, William was educa ...

in 2011. Munn has a keen interest in every aspect of history and has a collection of ancient flint tools he has found in the

Southwold Southwold is a seaside town and civil parish on the English North Sea coast in the East Suffolk district of Suffolk. It lies at the mouth of the River Blyth within the Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The town is ...

area of Suffolk. He has appeared in several television sequences of "

mudlark A mudlark is someone who scavenges in river mud for items of value, a term used especially to describe those who scavenged this way in London during the late 18th and 19th centuries. The practice of searching the banks of rivers for items cont ...

ing" in the Thames at

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...

. Munn is fascinated by both literature and art and has written a number of books, including ''

, an Earthly Paradise'', a pictorial history of his home town. (Antique Collectors' Club 2006, revised and republished 2017). He has written on the work of D G

Rossetti The House of Rossetti is an Italian noble, and Boyar Princely family appearing in the 14th-15th century, originating among the patrician families, during the Republic of Genoa, with branches of the family establishing themselves in the Kingdom o ...

, Edward Lear, J. M. W. Turner and

Richard Dadd Richard Dadd (1 August 1817 – 7 January 1886) was an English painter of the Victorian era, noted for his depictions of fairies and other supernatural subjects, Orientalism, Orientalist scenes, and enigmatic genre works, genre scenes, rendered w ...

. Geoffrey Munn is a trustee of the Bethlem Museum of the Mind. In July 2015, he conducted the first in a series called

Tate Britain Tate Britain, known from 1897 to 1932 as the National Gallery of British Art and from 1932 to 2000 as the Tate Gallery, is an art museum on Millbank in the City of Westminster in London, England. It is part of the Tate network of galleries in ...

BP Walks Through British Art in which there was an emphasis on jewellery and botanical decoration from the Renaissance to the present day. Munn has curated many exhibitions, including ''

Tiara A tiara (from la, tiara, from grc, τιάρα) is a jeweled head ornament. Its origins date back to ancient Greece and Rome. In the late 18th century, the tiara came into fashion in Europe as a prestigious piece of jewelry to be worn by women ...

s'' at the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

in 2002. He is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, the

Linnean Society of London The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature colle ...

and The Royal Society of Arts. Munn is a Freeman of the City of London and was Fourth Warden of the

Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths The Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths, commonly known as the Goldsmiths' Company and formally titled The Wardens and Commonalty of the Mystery of Goldsmiths of the City of London, is one of the Great Twelve Livery Companies of the City of Lond ...

. He is also a member of the

Garrick Club The Garrick Club is a gentlemen's club in the heart of London founded in 1831. It is one of the oldest members' clubs in the world and, since its inception, has catered to members such as Charles Kean, Henry Irving, Herbert Beerbohm Tree, Ar ...

The Arts Club The Arts Club is a London private members' club founded in 1863 by, among others, Charles Dickens, Anthony Trollope, and Lord Leighton in Dover Street, Mayfair. It remains a meeting place for men and women involved in the creative arts either ...

, the Academy Club and the Sailor's Reading Room,

. Munn is the author of four books about jewellery: '' Castellani and Giuliano: revivalist jewellers of the nineteenth century'' (Office du Livre 1984), ''Artist's Jewellery; Pre-Raphaelite to Arts and Crafts'' with Charlotte Gere (Antique Collectors' Club 1989), ''The Triumph of Love: jewellery 1530–1930'' (Thames and Hudson 1993), ''Tiaras: a history of splendour'' (Antique Collectors' Club, 2003). Geoffrey Munn has also written a history of his firm called " Wartski- The First One Hundred and Fifty Years" (Antique Collectors' Club 2015). In 2023 Geoffrey Munn published a memoir under the title 'A Touch of Gold - The reminiscences of Geoffrey Munn' (ACC Art Books 2023). He has also made a survey of the work of the contemporary Italian jeweller and goldsmith Giovanni Corvaja. Munn was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2013 New Years Honours list for services to charity in the United Kingdom. In 2016 Geoffrey Munn was appointed Chairman of the Friends of The

British Antique Dealers' Association The British Antique Dealers' Association (BADA) was founded in London, 1918. It is Britain's leading trade association for art and antique dealers and its members are carefully vetted and selected for their experience and professional integrity, ...

Trust. In 2018 he was made a Member of the

Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order (french: Ordre royal de Victoria) is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the British monarch, Canadian monarch, Australian monarch, or ...

by the Queen.

Personal life

Munn married Caroline in 1983 and the couple have two sons. The couple live near

in Suffolk. In '' Who's Who'' he lists his recreations as "

mudlarking A mudlark is someone who scavenges in river mud for items of value, a term used especially to describe those who scavenged this way in London during the late 18th and 19th centuries. The practice of searching the banks of rivers for items cont ...

metal detecting A metal detector is an instrument that detects the nearby presence of metal. Metal detectors are useful for finding metal objects on the surface, underground, and under water. The unit itself, consist of a control box, and an adjustable shaft, ...

, Bonsai, cooking, museums and art galleries. He played himself in '' Joe's Palace'', a film by Stephen Poliakoff. Munn is also an Ambassador for the Samaritans and patron of the Lowestoft branch; he ran the Flora London Marathon for the charity raising £80,000 in sponsorship. He is also an Ambassador for the charity Pancreatic Cancer UK and patron of The Brain Tumour Charity, the Royal Osteoporosis Society and

Sotterley Sotterley, originally ''Southern-lea'' from its situation south of the river, Suckling, A.I., (1846). 'Sotterley', in ''The History and Antiquities of the County of Suffolk'', 2 vols (W.S. Cowell, Ipswich 1846), Ipp. 81–96(British History Onli ...

Chapel Preservation Trust.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Munn, Geoffrey Living people Antiques experts British television presenters 1953 births People educated at Steyning Grammar School Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London Fellows of the Linnean Society of London People from Henfield People from Hastings