Cow's Lane is the pastoral-sounding name of Dublin's newest street, off the top of Dame Street in Temple Bar. You won't find cows wandering home to be milked there, but you will find Dublin's newest gallery, Whichcraft. If you think this name sounds familiar, you're right. Six years ago, a gallery of the same name opened around the corner on Lord Edward Street.
"We are still keeping the old shop open," explains director Gerry Crosbie. At 1,500 square feet, the new premises is three times the size of the existing gallery. "We needed more space, and we'll be able to show a much wider range of work now, that we didn't have room for before, like furniture."
The new gallery is airy and spacious, with a small mezzanine where jewellery and wall hangings will be displayed. Downstairs is the furniture, large pieces of bog-oak and displays of glass and silverware. Crosbie has built up contacts with 220 artists around the country, and several dozen of these are represented in the new gallery.
The new gallery will sit alongside a range of other businesses on Cow's Lane, from fashion designers and a plant shop to a bakery, Internet cafe and antique jewellery shop.
Alongside this regular stock, he plans to show an exhibition each month of a major body of work by one of the craftspeople in his contact book. The gallery's first exhibition is of silverware from Dubliner Seamus Gill, which was opened on Thursday by Ronald Le Bas, the assay master (see story, left).
Silversmith Gill has the distinction of making the last piece to be hallmarked by the Assay Office in 1999. The silver jug is now owned by the Assay Office, and is part of their special collection, but it will be on loan for the duration of the exhibition. Among the pieces Gill has on show are candlesticks, wine-bottle coasters and bowls. A large silver bowl is £2,400; a pair of candlesticks is £800; and a pair of coasters £620. The pieces are clean and simple, with a minimum of decoration, other than the unmistakable gleam of polished silver.
Next month, the special exhibition will be by woodturners. In the New Year, Crosbie plans to invite exhibitors to give informal public talks on their craft, to explain the process from beginnings to completed piece.
As in any gallery, particular work appeals to different people, but there is bound to be something that catches your eye. Then you'll have to work out how to pay for it as prices for original craftwork can be steep. Striking items are the new range of pretty and delicate crystal and metallic-wire orange jewellery from Aisling Nelson, and these are among the more affordable pieces on show, ranging from £32 for earrings up to £130 for necklaces.
Sheena McKeon has two beautiful wallhangings in deep devore velvets, felts, and organzas, one orange and one red, which look of heirloom quality. Una Killen's wall-hangings use linen and stitching, and are subtle and fragile-looking. Helena Kaushal's unusual glass bowls give the illusion of being composed of broken sheet ice.
With 220 craftspeople on their books, it looks as if there will always be something new to see when you drop in. And there are big plate-glass windows, so any passing cows traversing their named passageway will be able to see in too.
Whichcraft Galley Cow's Lane, Temple Bar, is open 9 a.m.6 p.m. The gallery