Plaisterers' Trophy
Preston working on an overdoor panel, designed by Francis Terry. Photo: Nick Carter.
Architectural sculptor Geoffrey Preston has just been awarded the Plaisterers’ Trophy for his work at Thornhill Park in Dorset.
Geoffrey Preston’s impressive new work at Thornhill (originally built in the 1720s for the baroque artist Sir James Thornhill) has given the traditional craft of plastering a huge boost. The decorative scheme made out of hand carved plaster or stucco, is the first such project to be carried out for nearly 100 years. This is because many of the techniques for hand working stucco were lost at the end of the 18th century when the introduction of gypsum made it possible to mass produce cast decoration. And the old recipes weren’t re-discovered until restoration work began on the National Trust property Uppark House in the 1990s, so this is the first time that new stucco work on this scale has been commissioned from scratch for over a century. As might be expected the work is very traditional in style, but it’s the skill in rediscovering an old technique that’s important here not stylistic innovation. And it’s for this craftsmanship that Preston has been awarded the Trophy, a prize given annually by the Worshipful Company of Plaisterers and the Federation of Plastering and Drywall Contractors.
www.geoffreypreston.co.uk.
