Restoration of the Master's Chair of the Joiners & Ceilers Company at the V&A

A comparison of the original finial (left) and the replacement finial (right).

Clunie Fretton recently completed the restoration of the Master’s Chair of the Worshipful Company of Joiners & Ceilers, an extraordinarily intricate piece of furniture made in 1754 by Edward Newman, a Past Master of the Company.

The chair had sustained significant losses to the chair-back, particularly of the heraldic elements, which Clunie was asked to re-carve and finish in keeping with the rest of the piece.

A full record of the work can be found in her article for the V&A’s Conservation Journal here.

Lincoln Cathedral Heritage Skills Festival Demonstration

Many thanks to everyone who visited us at Lincoln Cathedral’s Heritage Skills Festival. We were overwhelmed by the number of visitors and the amount of craft skill on display in the cathedral grounds.

Lincoln Heritage Skills Festival

Lincoln Cathedral will be hosting a Heritage Skills Festival on the cathedral grounds on the 23rd & 24th of June. The festival brings together every craft that once went into the construction of the cathedral, as well as their representative London Livery Companies. For two days there will be live demonstrations of blacksmithing, wood-turning, weaving, stained glass making, metal casting and stone and wood-carving, and many more trade skills, culminating in an auction on the afternoon of the 24th to raise money for the restoration of the cathedral.

Fretton Handley will be present demonstrating woodcarving on behalf of the Worshipful Company of Joiners & Ceilers, and offering up the two carvings here for the auction on the Saturday.

Don't miss out! Lincoln is one of the UK's finest cathedrals, and there is no better time to visit  it than when it's full of craftsmen happy to discuss their skills. Feel free to drop by and say hello!

Fretton Handley Feature in House & Garden

From left to right: Felix Handley, Robert Cox, Clunie Fretton

Photograph courtesy of Andrew Montgomery

We were thrilled to feature in this month's House & Garden as part of the Georgian Group's Splendour! Exhibition alongside Robert Cox of Adam Architecture, in which Christopher Boyle, Chairman of the Georgian Group discusses the exhibition, the Georgian Group, and the future of the craft.

For the full article, visit: House & Garden

Photograph courtesy of Andrew Montgomery

Photograph courtesy of Andrew Montgomery

Splendour! Exhibition

Fretton Handley are displaying select pieces in the beautiful Splendour! Exhibition run by the Georgian Group alongside many other talented craftsmen and women. Splendour showcases and celebrates the continued practice of modern craft skills, anywhere from furniture making, to carving to shell-work, with a particular focus on young people in craft. Held in the Robert Adam designed building, the exhibition gives a feel of stepping back into the past, while promoting knowledge of niche and craft skills in the present.

Exhibition open from 2-25th February 2017

Opening times:

Wed-Sat 12-6pm
Sun 12-4pm

The Georgian Group
6 Fitzroy Square
London
W1T 5DX
0207529 8920