Remember that trailer load of unforgiving stone I went off to collect from the Jurassic Coast of Dorset some weeks ago? Well here is what I have made from it. I only post this up in case there are some wealthy people who read this blog and want me to do similar work for them. H.I. said that I was 'clever', but I pointed out that the only clever thing about this is the choice of material (makes the job easy in one way, and difficult in another...) and persuading my client that it was the right choice.It's bloody heavy - about half a ton - and weighs more than my poor old, frail frame likes to handle these days, but we have to eat.
This is what will be sitting on top of it - a Georgian bust of J.C. (that's Julius Caesar, not Jesus Christ, Mark - in case you get too excited) that I restored last year, and very handsome he will look too, I daresay. My client liked it so much that he is moving it from the present position to the top of the pedestal, which is - as we say in the trade - nice.
Now Thomas
ReplyDeleteI know I do take the piss out of you, your candlestick fetish and your kookie obsession with old glass
but I must say
I am truly impressed
way to go!
Aw, shucks.
ReplyDeleteI agree with John, that is truly impressive. You're not just a pretty face then.
ReplyDeletecough...cough
ReplyDeleteIt's beautiful. Do take care of your back.
ReplyDeleteFabulous-but then you know that already !xx
ReplyDeleteImpressive! It's lovely.
ReplyDeleteIs that one cough per gonad, John? And what are you saying, Olive?
ReplyDeleteWow how beautiful! The bust will look beautiful on it! Wish I needed something, but alas I think the cost of shipping to California might just break me! hugs
ReplyDeleteProper job! Now you'll have to carve something to replace JC on the smaller plinth. I hope you've told him that!
ReplyDeleteIt looks like a back breaker for sure. Nice job. Your comment on my last post made me laugh too. xx
ReplyDeleteThanks all - it's basic masonry, but the sort that suits me. My head is in the 18th century (especially when handling glass and candlesticks) and this stone - though actually the remains of a seabed teeming with life 190 million years ago - is ideally suited to that era.
ReplyDeleteYou've sussed my little plan, Cro. Ever since I first started doing this job, I have always aimed to make myself irreplacable (or however you spell it) but for reasons the customer cannot quite put their finger on. That's the difference between supplying something which is simply needed, and making something that they didn't even know they wanted. I'll do a post on that, because it's an interesting (to me again) subject which I have thought about a lot over the years.
Very nice. And not crooked either!
ReplyDeleteWhat weird stone. Does it really have holes in it? We holidayed in Portland last year in an old stoneworker's cottage. Old cottage, that is, not old stoneworker, though he might have been.
ReplyDeleteIt is actually crooked, Iris, but the photos don't show it.
ReplyDeleteYes, it is packed full of 'nautilus' shell-shaped holes, Morning, and these are the fossils of the Jurassic period. Was the old cottage you stayed in, steeped in misery from the floor to the ceiling? The rest of Portland is.
Since you mention it - the cottage seemed a little 'grey' but Swanage was OK when the sun came out!
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