Sam Smith (toy-maker)

Sam Smith (Alan Verner Smith 1908–1983) was an artist, craftsman, and sculptor, especially known for his toy-making for adults and children, carving small wooden curios such as boats and seaside dioramas.[1][2] He signed much[3] of his 1930s work "Alan V". Later, he signed items "Sam Smith, Genuine England" as it became successful and sold in London (for instance in Primavera shop) and New York.

Sam Smith
At Kingswear in 1976 age 68
Born
Alan Verner Smith

(1908-07-27)27 July 1908
Shirley, Southampton, England
Died9 February 1983(1983-02-09) (aged 74)
Newton Abbot, Devon, England
Education
Known fortoy-maker and artist
Notable work
  • Tmith (1973)
  • The Crew Cats (1975)
  • Rover's Regatta Day (1977)
Patron(s)

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

After the war, he, his wife Gladys, and step son Jasper Jewett lived in the steep-hillside house named "The Golf House" overlooking Kingswear, Devon, and across the River Dart to Dartmouth. For making toys, Smith had many modern 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.

Smith continued to be very successful in the USA with less of a reputation in the UK until the Bristol City Art Gallery held a large scale exhibition in 1972. In 1981 The Serpentine Gallery had a large joint exhibition with H C Westermann, an American artist he'd developed connections and friendship with over the years. Sadly during this exhibition Sam suffered a stroke. This was his last show.

See also

References
  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. Sam's 1930s toys and pictures still owned by me W Duncan Ogilvie in 2023, the godson of well-remembered Sam Smith
  4. "Mr Sam Smith", The Times, London, no. 61454, p. 14, 11 February 1983
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