Cecil Beaton Oak Plates by David White

David is a master craftsman who is based in North Wales and with whom we have worked for many years.

These one-off plates are made using oak from a 300 (ish) year old tree that fell during Storm Bert; which is not the most glamorous of storm names, perhaps, but there we have it. The oak stood proudly about 100 metres from our studio and when it came down it brought down a 1700s wall with it.

It made a big mess, of course, but every cloud has silver linings.

Silver Lining 1. We have these plates, inspired by Cecil Beaton. More below. This is just the beginning.

Silver Lining 2. Uniquely in my experience, when the roots tore up the soil -to a depth of several metres- they gave life to a whole host of wildflowers. I can only assume that their seeds had been lying dormant for many years.

Anyway, David is a craftsman of great ability and taste, so we asked him to make something, using the oak, that riffed on the work of Cecil Beaton. Part of our work on Cecil this year has been to invite contemporary artists and makers to create something inspired by him/the exhibition.

These plates echo some pewter plates that belonged to Cecil. But, you might reasonably respond, ‘don’t be ridiculous, a plate is a plate is a plate!”.

And, yes, you’d be right. Sort of. But actually, Cecil’s plates are pewter, which is peculiarly tactile and warm, and they also have a very pleasing depth and proportion.

So, here are six plates, each unique, each tactile like pewter and hewn from an exceptional tree whose demise gave birth to some extraordinary wildflowers.