Geoffrey Munn
| Geoffrey Munn | |
|---|---|
 Geoffrey Munn in Archant | |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation | Antiques expert, television presenter, author, |
| Employer | Wartski |
| Television | Antiques Roadshow |
| Spouse(s) | Caroline |
| Awards | OBE |
Geoffrey Charles Munn, OBE, FSA, FLS, FRSA (born in Hastings on 11 April 1953) is a British jewellery specialist and writer. He is best known as one of the experts on the BBC's Antiques Roadshow. However, his first television appearance was in the early 1960s when he, and his brother, Roger Munn, featured with their pet fox cubs on Johnny Morris's Animal Magic. He was educated at Steyning Grammar School. Now Geoffrey is the managing director of London jewellers, Wartski where he has worked since the age of 19; his specialisation is 19th-century precious metalwork and Fabergé.
Wartski are jewellers by appointment to HM the Queen and HRH the Prince of Wales. The firm made the Welsh gold wedding rings for the Prince of Wales and Mrs.Camilla Parker Bowles, and Miss Catherine Middleton when she married HRH the Duke of Cambridge in 2011
Geoffrey Munn has a keen interest in every aspect of history and has made a collection of ancient flint tools which he has discovered in the Southwold area of Suffolk. Geoffrey has appeared in several television sequences of "mudlarking" in the Thames at Westminster. Munn is fascinated by both literature and art and has written a pictorial history of his home town entitled Southwold, an Earthly Paradise. (Antique Collectors' Club[1] 2006). He has written on the drawings of D G Rossetti and JMW Turner.
Munn has curated many exhibitions, including Tiaras at the Victoria and Albert Museum in 2002. He is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, the Linnean Society of London and The Royal Society of Arts. Geoffrey Munn is a Liveryman of both the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths and the Worshipful Company of Painter-Stainers, a member of the Garrick Club, The Arts Club, the Chelsea Arts Club and the Sailor's Reading Room, Southwold.
Munn is the author of several books about jewellery including 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 1530-1930 (Thames and Hudson 1993), Tiaras: a history of splendour (Antique Collectors' Club, 2003). Geoffrey has also written on the work of the contemporary Italian jeweller and goldsmith Giovanni Corvaja.
In 2007 Munn played himself in Joe's Palace a film by Stephen Poliakoff. In Who's Who he lists his recreations as mudlarking, metal detecting, Bonsai, running, cycling, cooking, museums and art galleries.
Munn is an Ambassador for the Samaritans and patron of the Lowestoft branch; he ran the Flora London Marathon for the charity in 2009 raising £80,000 in sponsorship. Munn is also an Ambassador for the charity Pancreatic Cancer UK[2] and patron of both The Brain Tumour Charity and Sotterley Chapel Preservation Trust. He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to charity.[3]
He lives in London and Reydon with his wife Caroline.[4] They have two sons.