Omar Ramsden (1873–1939), born in Sheffield, was one of England’s leading designers and makers of silverware.
Returning to the UK after some years in America, he was apprenticed to a firm of silversmiths in Sheffield. In 1890 he attended evening classes at the Sheffield School of Art where he met Alwyn Carr and then both had summer classes at the Royal College of Art. They set up a studio together in Chelsea in 1898 and shortly after moved the workshop to Fulham. Ramsden had the public relations flair while Carr provided the financial backing. Their thriving workshop produced a large quantity of silver in medieval revival style including mazer bowls and goblets. Today Ramsden’s romantically inspired designs, often with characteristic hammered finish and pseudo-Latin inscription Omar Ramsden me fecit (Latin: ‘Omar Ramsden made me’), are sought after by collectors around the world. After the Ramsden & Carr partnership was dissolved in 1919, Ramsden went on to become a member of the Royal Miniature Society in 1921 and exhibited over 90 works with the Society. Ramsden had up to 20 assistants working for him during the 1930’s but he never worked on a piece himself.