A major exhibition of new work by Scotland’s best contemporary crafts makers opens at the National Museum of Scotland in Chambers Street, Edinburgh on January 29. Thirty makers, including international names such as Adrian Hope (silver and gold box with gilded interior, below), Peter Chang and Jilli Blackwood, have contributed to The Cutting Edge, which features silver, textiles, jewellery, glass, ceramics, basketry, furniture and metalwork. Among the works on show is a witty piece by silversmith Malcolm Appleby called “Hurricane George” - a shallow silver bowl engraved with a hurricane and George Bush’s face at its centre.

The title of the exhibition refers not only to the fact that Scotland is a leader in craft practice but also to the wide range of tools used in craftwork, from the traditional to technologies such as laser welding and fibre optics. The Cutting Edge runs in until April 29, and will tour later in the year to Kilmarnock, Glasgow and Aberdeen.