The highly acclaimed memoir of a renowned artisan with a new introduction by Jenny Uglow,Β The Lost CarvingΒ reveals the inspirational secrets of wood and craft. On a chance visit to St James’s church, Piccadilly, David Esterly was awestruck by the delicate beauty and ambition of master carver Grinling Gibbonsβs limewood decorations. The encounter changed the course of Esterly’s life as he devoted himself to these lost techniques.
By 1986, when a fire at Hampton Court Palace destroyed much of Gibbonsβs masterpiece, Esterly was the only candidate to restore his idolβs work to glory, though the experience forced him to question his abilities and delve deeply into the subtle skills of making.Β
