Rauni Higson MBE wins the QEST Award for Excellence 2025

We’re thrilled to announce that silversmith Rauni Higson MBE has been awarded the QEST Award for Excellence, in recognition of her outstanding contribution to craft and her dedication to nurturing the next generation. As the 13th recipient of the award, Rauni was honoured at the RWHA & QEST Annual Luncheon at the Guildhall, where she was presented with a medal crafted by Thomas Fattorini Ltd and a £1,000 cash prize.

Based in Snowdonia in Wales, Rauni is one of Britain’s leading silversmiths. She studied Silversmithing, Goldsmithing and Design in Finland before returning to the UK to study at the Birmingham School of Jewellery, and in 1997 she launched her business, Rauni Higson Silversmith. Renowned for her distinctive sculptural tableware, her work features in national collections such as the V&A and the Goldsmiths’ Company, and she has delivered commissions for Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral and HMS Prince of Wales.

Congratulations on winning the QEST Award for Excellence! What does this recognition mean to you?

“It’s a wonderful surprise, I’m delighted, and particularly honoured to be joining the illustrious list of 12 previous recipients, which contains a good number of my heroines and heroes. Excellence is important to me in my work, I do consciously strive towards it, but the nature of aiming for such a nebulous concept is ridiculous, as we humans always move the goalposts. I’m thrilled to receive recognition from QEST, upholders, arbiters and nurturers of excellence in so many ways.”

You received a QEST Scholarship in 2021 — with one of your teachers, Rod Kelly, also a former QEST Scholar. How did the Scholarship shape or influence your practice?

“I was shortlisted and interviewed for a QEST Scholarship years ago, and when I was unsuccessful, I knew I would not apply again until I was sure I had the right project, so I did think very long and hard about it! I made a list of what I perceived as the most significant gaps in my skill-base that I wanted to address, to help me both in my career and to strengthen my mission to pass on these skills which I’ve been so fortunate to learn and practice. It was great to work with Rod up in Shetland, really feeling that continuum of skills passing from hand to hand, and being inspired by his practice, his approach, his uncompromising eye for detail and careful planning and preparation, as well as learning new skills and ways to smoothen the workflow. I also worked with two other master silversmiths as part of my scholarship; Clive Burr and Tony Bedford. It was an intense year, focussing on levelling up my practice. It was powerful.”

Where do you draw inspiration from, and how has that evolved over time?

“It has always been, and probably always will be, the wonder of the natural world for me. My work is my homage, my love letter to Nature, whether that is an appreciation of water, growth patterns, super-dimensional forms, geology, erosion, moments of evolution or change, energy, flow, the exuberance of Spring. I’m endlessly inspired by the rugged and spectacular landscape I’m lucky enough to live and work in, in Eryri (Snowdonia), North Wales. Over time, I have become more confident about expressing whatever moves me, as with my recent work that draws on my experiences rock climbing and closely observing crags in the heightened state of awareness that is vital when engaging intimately with the rock while climbing. Earlier, I felt this too personal to put out into the world, but I was overjoyed when the V&A chose to acquire my first ‘Chockstones’ piece. It was an actual dream come true.

I really love working to commission too, and in that case, I work with clients in a collaborative process to draw out significant themes or ideas, then develop them into a design and a finished piece that is better than either of us could have imagined at the start. This can be particularly effective with pieces for celebration and commemoration, which I love making.”

Passing on your skills is clearly something you value. In the last QEST round, both Jacky Oliver and Willow Bloomfield trained with you as part of their grants. Could you tell us a little more about this. And what advice would you give to a maker thinking about teaching their craft to others?

“Willow has spent the first of three weeks with me, and it was a strong start, nailing a thorough approach to Raising, with good foundations, and working on accuracy and intentionality. It’s such a pleasure to work with a young person who is already skilled, but is also thoroughly engaged in the process of developing those skills further. It’s been delightful, and I look forward to seeing how things develop.

I’m really looking forward to working with Jacky soon, I’m sure it will be fascinating, as our styles are very different. Teaching is always also a huge learning experience, and I highly recommend it to any makers who are curious about trying it. Sometimes people hold back because they don’t feel ‘expert’ enough. I would encourage people to share their skills and practice, to encourage more connection with hand skills and engaging with creativity, with real materials in real time. The world quite simply needs more of that. Creating with our hands, heads and hearts is a fundamental aspect of humanity.”