Geoffrey Charles Munn,
OBE,
MVO,
FSA,
FLS (born 11 April 1953 in
Hastings
Hastings ( ) is a seaside town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England,
east of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to th ...
,
East Sussex
East Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Kent to the north-east, West Sussex to the west, Surrey to the north-west, and the English Channel to the south. The largest settlement ...
)
is a British jewellery specialist,
television presenter
A television presenter (or television host, some become a "television personality") is a person who introduces or hosts television show, television programs, often serving as a mediator for the program and the audience. It is common for people ...
and writer. He is best known as one of the specialists on the
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
'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 Johnny or Johnnie Morris may refer to:
* Johnnie Morris (actor) (1887–1969), American comedian and actor
*Johnny Morris (television presenter) (1916–1999), British television presenter
* Johnny Morris (footballer) (1923–2011), English footbal ...
's ''
Animal Magic''. He was brought up in
Henfield
Henfield is a large village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Horsham (district), Horsham District of West Sussex, England. It lies south of London, northwest of Brighton, and east northeast of the county town of Chichester at ...
in Sussex and educated at
Shoreham College and
Steyning Grammar School
Steyning Grammar School is a coeducational comprehensive day and boarding, senior school and sixth form, located in Steyning, West Sussex, England.
The school has two lower school sites catering for Years 7 and 8. The original site was located ...
.
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,
Carlo Giuliano and
Peter Carl Fabergé
Peter Carl Gustavovich Fabergé (; – 24 September 1920; also known as Charles Fabergé) was a Russian goldsmith and jeweller. He is best known for creating Fabergé eggs made in the style of genuine Easter eggs, but using precious metals and ...
. Wartski are jewellers by appointment to HM
Charles III
Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms.
Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and ...
, having also served for the late HM
Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...
. The firm made the Welsh gold wedding rings for the Prince of Wales and
Camilla Parker Bowles
Camilla (born Camilla Rosemary Shand, later Parker Bowles, 17 July 1947) is Queen of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms as the wife of King Charles III.
Camilla was raised in East Sussex and South Kensington in E ...
, and
Catherine Middleton 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 Diana, Princess of Wales.
William was born during the reign of his p ...
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 North Sea, in the East Suffolk District, East Suffolk district, in the county of Suffolk, England. It lies at the mouth of the River Blyth, Suffolk, River Blyth in the Suffolk Coast and Heaths ...
area of Suffolk. He has appeared in several television sequences of "
mudlark
A mudlark is someone who scavenges the banks and shores of rivers 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 ri ...
ing" in the Thames at
Westminster
Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...
. Munn is fascinated by both literature and art and has written a number of books, including ''
Southwold
Southwold is a seaside town and civil parish on the North Sea, in the East Suffolk District, East Suffolk district, in the county of Suffolk, England. It lies at the mouth of the River Blyth, Suffolk, River Blyth in the Suffolk Coast and Heaths ...
, 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 Rossetti may refer to:
* Biagio Rossetti (c. 1447–1516), architect and urbanist from Ferrara, the first to use modern methods
* Carlo Rossetti (1614–1681), Italian cardinal, nobleman
* Cezaro Rossetti (1901–1950), Scottish Esperanto writer
...
,
Edward Lear
Edward Lear (12 May 1812 – 29 January 1888) was an English artist, illustrator, musician, author and poet, who is known mostly for his literary nonsense in poetry and prose and especially his limerick (poetry), limericks, a form he popularised. ...
,
J. M. W. Turner
Joseph Mallord William Turner (23 April 177519 December 1851), known in his time as William Turner, was an English Romantic painter, printmaker and watercolourist. He is known for his expressive colouring, imaginative landscapes and turbu ...
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, Orientalist scenes, and enigmatic genre scenes, rendered with obsessively minuscule ...
. 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 En ...
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 (, ) is a head ornament adorned with jewels. Its origins date back to ancient Greco-Roman world. In the late 18th century, the tiara came into fashion in Europe as a prestigious piece of jewelry to be worn by women at formal occasions ...
s'' at the
Victoria and Albert Museum
The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...
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 (biology), taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript a ...
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 styled ''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 ...
. He is also a member of the
Garrick Club
The Garrick Club is a private members' club in London, founded in 1831 as a club for "actors and men of refinement to meet on equal terms". It is one of the oldest members' clubs in the world. Its 1,500 members include many actors, writers, ...
,
The Arts Club, the Academy Club and the Sailor's Reading Room,
Southwold
Southwold is a seaside town and civil parish on the North Sea, in the East Suffolk District, East Suffolk district, in the county of Suffolk, England. It lies at the mouth of the River Blyth, Suffolk, River Blyth in the Suffolk Coast and Heaths ...
.
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
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...
(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 Trust. In 2018 he was made a Member of the
Royal Victorian Order
The Royal Victorian Order () is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the monarch, members of the royal family, or to any viceroy or senior representative of the m ...
by the Queen.
Personal life
Munn was born in
Hastings
Hastings ( ) is a seaside town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England,
east of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to th ...
,
East Sussex
East Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Kent to the north-east, West Sussex to the west, Surrey to the north-west, and the English Channel to the south. The largest settlement ...
in April 1953. He married Caroline in 1983 and the couple have two sons. The couple live near
Southwold
Southwold is a seaside town and civil parish on the North Sea, in the East Suffolk District, East Suffolk district, in the county of Suffolk, England. It lies at the mouth of the River Blyth, Suffolk, River Blyth in the Suffolk Coast and Heaths ...
in Suffolk.
In ''
Who's Who
A Who's Who (or Who Is Who) is a reference work consisting of biographical entries of notable people in a particular field. The oldest and best-known is the annual publication ''Who's Who (UK), Who's Who'', a reference work on contemporary promin ...
'' he lists his recreations as "
mudlarking",
metal detecting,
Bonsai
Bonsai (; , ) is the Japanese art of Horticulture, growing and shaping miniature trees in containers, with a long documented history of influences and native Japanese development over a thousand years, and with unique aesthetics, cultural hist ...
, cooking, museums and art galleries.
He played himself in ''
Joe's Palace'', a film by
Stephen Poliakoff
Stephen Poliakoff (born 1 December 1952) is a British playwright, Film director, director and screenwriter. In 2006 Gerard Gilbert of ''The Independent'' described him as the UK's "pre-eminent TV dramatist" and that he had "inherited Dennis Po ...
.
Munn is also an Ambassador for the
Samaritans
Samaritans (; ; ; ), are an ethnoreligious group originating from the Hebrews and Israelites of the ancient Near East. They are indigenous to Samaria, a historical region of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah that ...
and patron of the
Lowestoft
Lowestoft ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish in the East Suffolk (district), East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer Map OL40: The Broads: (1:25 000) : . As the List of extreme points of the United Kingdom, most easterly UK se ...
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,Alfred Inigo Suckling, Suckling, A.I., (1846). 'Sotterley', in ''The History and Antiquities of the County of Suffolk'', 2 vols (W.S. Cowell, Ipswich 1846), Ipp. 81– ...
Chapel Preservation Trust.
References
External links
"Interview: Geoffrey Munn"at ''
The Jewish Chronicle
''The Jewish Chronicle'' (''The JC'') is a London-based Jewish weekly newspaper. Founded in 1841, it is the oldest continuously published Jewish newspaper in the world. Its editor () is Daniel Schwammenthal.
The newspaper is published every Fri ...
''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Munn, Geoffrey
Living people
English 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
Antiques Roadshow