A journey through time

David Harber is an award winning sculptor and has earned an international reputation for creating innovative, contemporary designs paying homage to the past, and taking the marking of time as his inspiration.

Fascinated by the use of shadows, David incorporates light, water and reflections to create surprising and delightful illusions. His work has an ethereal quality, drawing integrity from his commitment to using only the finest quality materials;

Sundials, Sculptures, Water features, Corporate and Bespoke Commissions

David Harber is not the first gnomonic expert in his family, while researching the mathematician and dialist Sir John Blagrave (1561-1611) David unearthed the astonishing fact that this celebrated Elizabethan was a direct ancestor of his.

David comments: “Blagrave's astrolabe is one of the all-time great scientific instruments, often referred to and discussed in dialist circles, so to discover from my father that he was family and was born in Sonning, under 10 miles from my workshop, was astonishing.”

Moved by this discovery, David has recreated as faithfully as possible a replica of the original Mathematical Jewel.

Where were you born? I was born in West London where I spent my early years, but my mother tired of the fast pace of London so we moved to the West Country when I was nine. I had a creative and carefree upbringing surrounded by the beautiful Devonshire countryside; one of my favourite places still to this day is Dartmoor on a grey windy day; the vast and remote expanse of moor dotted with tors takes ones breath away.

122 resi de | EDITION 12 resi de | EDITION 12 123 Where do you live now? What has been your personal favourite and why? Where would an individual expect to start? I live in the shadow of a Bronze Age hill fort near in The Torus is my favourite piece, closely followed by the Mantle. I would love to be The project that I created for the Millennium Woodland in started off Oxfordshire with my wife and children. I am lucky to be able to asked to create a very large Torus. as an idea for a sundial, after two hours of discussion we decided to use 250 tonnes walk across the fields to work which is a converted barn workshop of stone to create an ancient astrological sundial and solar system. The project has and studio. since won an award for ‘Most inspiring Millennium projects’. [The project can be viewed at The and Lockinge Millennium Woodland.] Favourite London Location? London will always hold a place in my heart from the bustling Portobello How ethereal can a brief be or does it need to be specific – are you Road where I once lived to Eaton Square where many of my sculptures an interpreter? adorn the gardens. You can’t beat the Chelsea Arts Club though! The brief can be as simple as ‘I would like something here I think, but I don’t want it to spoil the view’. I am definitely an interpreter of their dream and imagination, I Favourite piece of sculpture? turn it into a reality. Each piece is built for a particular time and place, I make use of I have always admired Antony Gormley and his Iron Standing Men light and optical illusions and have created pieces where water looks like it is flowing on Crosby beach, as well as the Angel of the North. Having been uphill or where the simple flow of water has provided a sense of calm in a busy office schooled in Dartington I am also a close follower of Henry Moore lobby, I have also created a piece that glowed gold in the morning sunrise and in the whose Memorial figure sculpture can be seen at Dartington Hall. sunset basked in silver.

Where did you study and train? What was your primary Is all your work commission based or can people view pieces currently interest – painting, sculpture, or art in general? for sale? If so where? My schooling was based largely on creative learning and the “I can Clients can either commission one of our classic designs, which can be viewed in our do anything” approach but I did not study the arts. My formal brochure or online or alternatively I relish the opportunity to design an entirely training was in Devon where I started out as a potter, however with bespoke piece for a particular site at www.davidharber.com my love of Dartmoor I then became a rock climbing instructor, We also have our pieces on permanent display in Eaton Square, London SW1 and training Police cadets and outward bound students. From there I workshop in Oxfordshire, clients may call and book an appointment to visit us at either. approached the BBC to become a shadow cameraman for a mountaineering trip to Patagonia – with little knowledge of mountaineering or cameras!

I moved to France in my twenties and following a season or two of grape picking where I met my first love. We decided to buy a boat in Rotterdam – a 160 tonne Coaster – sail it to France and turn it into a floating theatre. Having rather clumsily restored the old dog to life, I petitioned the French Minister of Culture, Jack Mitterand for sponsorship and we became an official venue with both a theatre on the boat as well as an outdoor stage for people to watch from onshore. We spent ten years sailing around France and the Mediterranean, putting on eclectic theatre productions such as Shakespeare in Japanese – some of the best adventures of my career!

Upon return to England, with my young daughter, I somewhat carelessly decided to invest my last £30 in metal and books and make my first sundial which I sold to a well-known actor for the equivalent of two months’ rent. Thereafter I read up on sundials and discovered that I am in fact a direct descendant of Sir John Blagrave, whose astrolabe is one of the all-time great scientific instruments, often referred to and discussed in dialist circles. The rest as they say…. is history.

Who and what/where has been your greatest inspiration – personally and professionally? When reconditioning our floating theatre we were moored next to Is most of your work UK based, or equally split over seas? two of the finest goldsmiths I have ever met, who were lovingly Approximately 45% of my commissions are from overseas; Europe, USA, Russia, the restoring their boat with precision, love and passion. Over many Middle East and Australasia. late nights and wine I was inspired by their ethic of striving to do Have you ever had any issues with shipping/installation or requests to use things to their very best ability, without compromise, they gave me unusual materials? the vision to create pieces where aesthetic meets practicality. I had to ship a large installation to Barcelona as it was too big to transport via road or Sundials are in your blood – but what inspired you to air. However the client had nightmares that the ship would sink! Needless to say it pursue them as part of sculpture? didn’t, distance is no object. Sundials are an exquisite interpretation of science and have long If you were not a sculpture what would you have liked to be? been documented in history, from Ptolemy to Newton to my A builder – to build unusual properties. ancestor Sir John. I wanted to create sculptures that are the perfect marriage of art and science. What would you say your crucial aim is in your work? To beguile. What has been your most interesting commission – private or corporate? When taking a commission what is the process you go through in order to David Harber Display Gardens: David Harber Workshop and Studio I was commissioned to design an armillary sphere as well as an exact arrive at a full creative brief? Eaton Square Gardens The Dial House replica of Louis XXIV canon sundial for the owner of a private I like to meet the client and create the concept together, it is important that I really Eaton Square, Belgravia Church Road, Blewbury island in the Bahamas. The canon would fire at exactly 12 noon, get a feel for what they are after so that I can make the piece unique to them and London, SW1W 9BD Oxon, OX11 9PY just as the original did at Versailles – however in the Bahamas it was exactly as they had imagined. used to signal the opening of the first bottle of wine for the day! www.davidharber.com By appointment only

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