Artist

Phillip Fike

born Baraboo, WI 1927-died Grosse Pointe, MI 1997
Also known as
  • Philip Fike
  • Phillip George Fike
  • Phillip G. Fike
Born
Baraboo, Wisconsin, United States
Died
Grosse Pointe, Michigan, United States
Active in
  • Detroit, Michigan, United States
Biography

Philip Fike studied under the GI Bill at the University of Wisconsin, where, as an undergraduate, he revived an ancient decorative metal technique called niello. His success prompted requests for him to teach workshops in the technique, and in 1970 he became a founding member of the Society of North American Goldsmiths (SNAG). He was introduced to blacksmithing by L. Brent Kington and began incorporating iron into his later work. Fike is also well known in the metal community for his revival of the fibula, a type of ancient clasp, which he spent decades studying.