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There's nothing quite like the altar at St Marks, Brithdir, North Wales: burnished copper enriched with vines, roses, lilies and daffodils. Deep within the cavernous sanctuary, it glitters in the low light...
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#thread
Church architect, Henry Wilson, designed every detail of the church - down to the finish on the stonework... but when it came to the altar, he didn't want any deviation from his vision, so he rolled up his sleeves, and crafted it himself.
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Wilson recorded his work on the altar, which depicts the Annunciation with angels and a dove. In the foreground, before a trellis of roses, an angel kneels among flowers, offering a stem of lilies to the Virgin Mary.
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However, Wilson's notes aren't always easy to read, so we know that he personally either *cast* the piece, or *chased* it (punched patterns and inscriptions into the metal). Chasing (also known as repoussé) is meticulous and slow work that requires a great deal of patience.
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Wilson's patience was certainly tested, however, by the boy who modelled for his child angel. The boy was, Wilson expresses with vexation, "so restless that the sittings had to be indefinitely multiplied".
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Does the inability of his young model to stay still in what was, to be fair, a rather tricky position, explain why Wilson chose not to show the angel's face - unlike all of the other figures?
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Wilson started experimenting in metalwork in 1895, making the copper work at St Marks some of this earliest work. He would go on to create metal, furnishings, jewellery and sculpture for buildings in the UK and US.
: Cathedral of St John the Divine, New York by andrewrabbott
: Cathedral of St John the Divine, New York by andrewrabbott
PS Are any of our followers planning a trip to Brithdir this weekend? If so, you like to undertake a special mission involving an electricity meter for us?! DM for deets!
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