“In The Sweat Of Thy Brows Shalt Thow Eate Thy Bread.’
— Motto of The Worshipful Company of Gardeners
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We’ve been collaborating with The Worshipful Company of Gardeners for quite some time now, and we’re proud to give you a glimpse of our most recent work.
First mentioned in City Corporation records in 1345, The Worshipful Company of Gardeners is a survivor from the medieval era of craftsmanship. These guilds exercised control over their particular crafts and through rigorous apprenticeships, they ensured a robust legacy through proper training of their craftsmen. The Company of Gardeners was incorporated by Royal Charter just over 300 years after that first mention, and the charter sets out the operations the Company was responsible for:
“The trade, crafts or misterie of gardening, planting, grafting, setting, sowing, cutting, arboring, rocking, mounting, covering, fencing and removing of plants, herbes, seedes, fruites, trees, stocks, setts, and of contryving the conveyances to the same belonging....”
400 years later, the Company is number 66 in the City of London’s order of precedence of Livery Companies, and they turned to Grant Macdonald London to create a set of badges featuring the Company’s Coat of Arms.
In their Coat of Arms, which was first seen in 1616, a shield flanked by Supporters holding fruit and flowers, depicts Adam using a spade to delve into the earth, with the motto used by the Company demonstrating the hard work and necessity of their craft.
In creating a family of badges to represent the Company, our craftsmen drew together silver, 24ct gold and vitreous enamel, using state-of-the-art 3D printing technology in combination with ancient silversmithing techniques. Designing a ring of shovels to frame the central image, Grant Macdonald London sought to capture the sweat from the Gardener’s brow, placing a single aquamarine droplet on the shovel’s blade.
The Company encourages the beautification and greening of the City of London by encouraging planting and encouraging charitable activities connected with horticulture. They organise the “Flowers in the City” campaign to encourage the planting of gardens, courtyards, window boxes and hanging baskets. It’s only right that those dedicated to providing beauty throughout London are honoured with carefully considered designs, inspired by elbow grease and finished with silver polish.