Geoffrey Munn: Difference between revisions

| caption = Geoffrey Munn in 2013

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=y|1953|4|11|df=yes}}

| birth_place = [[Hastings]], [[Sussex]], United Kingdom

| death_date = <!-- {{Death date and age|df=y|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} (death date then birth date) -->

| occupation = [[Antiques]] expert, [[television presenter]], [[author]].

'''Geoffrey Charles Munn''', [[Order of the British Empire|OBE]], [[Member of the Royal Victorian Order|MVO]], [[Society of Antiquaries of London|FSA]], [[Linnean Society of London|FLS]]. (born in Hastings on 11 April 1953, in [[Hastings]], [[East Sussex]])<ref name="who"/> is a British jewellery specialist, [[television presenter]] and writer. He is best known as one of the expertsspecialists on the [[BBC]]'s ''[[Antiques Roadshow]]''.

Munn's first television appearance was in 1963 when he, and his brother, Roger Munn, featured with their pet fox cubs on [[Johnny Morris (television presenter)|Johnny Morris]]'s ''[[Animal Magic (TV series)|Animal Magic]]''. He was brought up in [[Henfield]] in Sussex and educated at [[Shoreham College]] and [[Steyning Grammar School]], but, unlike many of his peers, did not attend university. Munn was the managing director of [[London]] jewellers [[Wartski]], where he worked since the age of 19; his specialisation is [[jewellery]], especially that of [[Fortunato Pio Castellani]], [[Carlo Giuliano]] and [[Peter Carl Fabergé]].

Munn became the managing director of London jewellers [[Wartski]], where he had worked since the age of 19;<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.express.co.uk/showbiz/tv-radio/1806453/antiques-roadshow-royal |last=Pepinster |first=Catherine |title=Country boy plunged into the royal world and is now Queen's jeweller |date=27 August 2023 |access-date=16 September 2024 |quote= "I was a complete country boy, no concept of even where Piccadilly Circus was. And I was plunged into this extraordinary rarified environment, a court jeweller, bristling with royal warrants – Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, Greece and Denmark, and subsequently the Prince of Wales, and connections with royalty."}}</ref> his specialisation is jewellery, especially that of [[Fortunato Pio Castellani]], [[Carlo Giuliano]] and [[Peter Carl Fabergé]]. Wartski are jewellers by appointment to HM the [[Elizabeth II|Queen]] and HRH the[[Charles, Prince of Wales|Prince of Wales]]. The firm made the Welsh gold wedding rings for the [[Charles, Prince of Wales|Prince of Wales]] and [[Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall|Camilla Parker Bowles]], and [[Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge|Catherine Middleton]] when she married [[Prince William, Duke of Cambridge|Prince William]] 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]] area of Suffolk. He has appeared in several television sequences of "[[mudlark]]ing" in the Thames at [[Westminster]]. Munn is fascinated by both literature and art and has written a number of books, including ''[[Southwold]], an Earthly Paradise'', a pictorial history of his home town. (Antique Collectors' Club<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.antiquecollectorsclub.com/|title=Antique Collectors Club -|publisher=|accessdate=5 March 2019}}</ref> 2006, revised and republished 2017). He has written on the drawingswork of D G [[Dante Gabriel Rossetti|Rossetti]], [[Edward Lear]] and, [[J. M. W. Turner]] and [[Richard Dadd]]. Geoffrey Munn is a trustee of the [[Bethlem Museum of the Mind]]. In July 2015, Munnhe conducted the first in a series called [[Tate Britain]] 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]]s'' at the [[Victoria and Albert Museum]] in 2002. He is a Fellow of the [[Society of Antiquaries of London|Society of Antiquaries]], the [[Linnean Society of London]] 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]]. He is also a member of the [[Garrick Club]], [[The Arts Club]], the [[Chelsea ArtsAcademy Club]] and the Sailor's Reading Room, [[Southwold]].{{cn|date=April 2022}}

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 1530-19301530–1930'' (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.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=60367 |date=29 December 2012 |page=12 |supp=y }}</ref> In 2016 Geoffrey Munn was appointed Chairman of the Friends of The [[British Antique Dealers' Association]] Trust.{{cncitation needed|date=March 2019}} In 2018 he was made a Member of the [[Royal Victorian Order]] by the Queen.{{cncitation needed|date=March 2019}}

Munn was born in [[Hastings]], [[East Sussex]]<ref>https://charlotte-desyllas.squarespace.com/s/Diamond-Geezer.pdf {{Bare URL PDF|date=August 2024}}</ref> in April 1953.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/officers/m7wbktMDs_SoI2ndntvScIHe3eM/appointments|title=Geoffrey Charles MUNN personal appointments - Find and update company information - GOV.UK|website=find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk}}</ref> He married Caroline in 1983 and the couple have two sons. The couple live near [[Southwold]] in Suffolk.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.eadt.co.uk/ea-life/suffolk-through-my-viewfinder-1-638532|title=Suffolk through my viewfinder|first=By Steven|last=Russell|website=East Anglian Daily Times|date=11 September 2010 |accessdate=5 March 2019}}</ref>

In ''[[Who's Who]]'' he lists his recreations as "[[mudlarking]]", [[Metal detector|metal detecting]], [[Bonsai]], cooking, museums and art galleries.<ref name="who">{{Cite web|url=https://www.ukwhoswho.com/display/10.1093/ww/9780199540884.001.0001/ww-9780199540884-e-257918|title=Munn, Geoffrey Charles, (born 11 April 1953), jewellery historian, television presenter and writer; Managing Director, Wartski Ltd, 1990–2018|website=WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO|doi=10.1093/ww/9780199540884.001.0001/ww-9780199540884-e-257918?rskey=7igdxz&result=1|doi-broken-date=26 September 2024 }}</ref> He played himself in ''[[Joe's Palace]]'', a film by [[Stephen Poliakoff]].<ref>{{cncite web | url=https://geoffreymunn.art/about | title=About }}</ref>

Munn is also an Ambassador for the [[Samaritans]] and patron of the [[Lowestoft]] branch; he ran the [[London Marathon|Flora London Marathon]] for the charity raising £80,000 in sponsorship. He is also an Ambassador for the charity [[Pancreatic Cancer UK]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pancreaticcancer.org.uk/|title=Home|website=Pancreatic Cancer UK|accessdate=5 March 2019}}</ref> and patron of [[The Brain Tumour Charity]], the [[NationalRoyal Osteoporosis Society]] and [[Sotterley]] Chapel Preservation Trust.{{cncitation needed|date=March 2019}}

[[Category:AntiquesEnglish antiques experts]]