Sam Smith

Sam Smith (Alan Verner Smith, 1908–1983) was an artist, crafter and sculptor, known for his sculptures and toy-making for adults and children, carving wooden curios such as boats and seaside dioramas.

Early life and education

Smith was born in Southampton on 27 July 1908. His father was a steamship captain. He was unsuccessful as a painter.

After the war, he, his wife Gladys, and stepson lived in a steep-hillside house, The Golf House, overlooking Kingswear, Devon, and across the River Dart to Dartmouth. For making toys, Smith had many 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.

A film about Smith, Sam Smith: Genuine England, was made by the Arts Council of Great Britain in 1976, and broadcast by BBC Two on Arena.

Smith continued to be successful in the United States of America with less of a reputation in the UK until Bristol Museum & Art Gallery held a large-scale exhibition in 1972. of his 1930s work "Alan V". Later, he signed items "Sam Smith, Genuine England" as he became successful and sold work in London (for instance at the Primavera Gallery) The Victoria and Albert Museum also has some of his work.