Shall I Carve? Talk and Demonstration

Colin Mantripp, a Master Carver and owner of the Lillyfee Studios in Woburn Green gave a talk on the commissioned work that he does. Charming and self-effacing, Colin described how, from leaving school and becoming an apprentice to his grand-father’s firm of architectural woodwork and furniture makers, carving and the search for beauty in design had become his life.

The Lillyfee studios were set up in 1994 and now employ some 16 members of staff. Colin asserted that they never advertised but obtained their commissions by referral, a testament to the quality of the work delivered by himself and his team. Perhaps surprisingly the projects managed by Lillyfee included house designs as well as prestigious renovation work for well-known institutions, such as Eton College, Windsor Castle and Lord Burnham and numerous stately homes here and overseas.

Colin, bought a few examples of his work as well as his carpenters’ workbench as means of demonstrating that he and his team were primarily interested in hand-carving, using only the best materials and traditional methods combined with the finest craftmanship. Few left the talk and demonstration in any doubt that this was the case.