When Ian G Brennan was appointed Sculptor to the Most Noble Order of the Garter and the Most Honourable Order of the Bath in 1989, he was told that the main criterion of the job was “to be able to carve anything”.
More than 140 heraldic woodcarvings later, he can look back on everything from swans and lions to an axe-wielding hand, in the course of fashioning the outsized limewood crowns, coronets and crests that are placed over the stalls (seats) of newly created knights: in St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle (Order of the Garter), and in the Henry VII Chapel at Westminster Abbey (Order of the Bath).
Ian’s Hampshire workshop and studio – in a garden frequented by wildlife from the neighbouring nature reserve – are bursting with from when he was involved in restoration work on Nelson’s flagship and into which he has carved a scene from the Battle of Trafalgar. His heraldic carvings are here too, including at the time of visiting, a crest of a mute swan holding a rose made for former Prime Minister and Knight of the Garter Tony Blair.
