Contemporary Bronze sculpture, Wood carving, Relief Carving, Wildlife Sculpture and HMS Victory.

Welcome

Contemporary Sculptor

Ian G Brennan

Sculptor and Woodcarver to the

British Royal Household

Ian G Brennan who was officially appointed 'Sculptor to the Most Noble Order of the Garter and Most Honourable Order of the Bath' in 1989 and has been a professional artist and sculptor working in variety of materials for thirty years. Ian's woodcarvings and bronze sculptures can be found in Windsor Castle, St Paul’s Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, Museums and private art collections all over the World.

Contemporary sculptor Ian G Brennan is one of those rather rare breed of Artists that both carves and casts. Ian has not only been commissioned to create woodcarvings and bronze sculptures for many private and corporate clients, but has also been commissioned to produce a wide variety of unique sculptures for both British and European Royalty and the Nobility, several British Prime Ministers as well as other Heads of State.

Although Ian produces limited edition bronze realistic and heraldic sculptures, the vast majority of his work is involved with creating a variety of detailed bespoke 'one off 'sculptures in a wide variety of different subjects and materials, including wood, marble resin, bronze and sterling silver with realistic, naturalistic wildlife sculptures being a particular specialty.

The 'Mute swan protecting her Cygnets' bronze; Mirror Lake Florida

Ian’s commissions are also as diverse as creating and recreating sculptures and carvings designed to suite the ancient splendour of historic buildings such as Windsor Castle , Westminster Abbey and St Paul's Cathedral were his rather unique skills in reproducing wood carvings and bronze sculpture from a by-gone age are often required, to the more modern surroundings of Company receptions and Board Rooms. Ian has also been commissioned to produce large bas-relief carvings for Lord Nelson's 18th century Flagship HMS Victory as well as creating sculptures for modern Ocean Liners including two large bas-relief sculptures now placed amongst the grandeur and elegance of the Grand Lobby of the Cunard Liner, Queen Victoria.

Currently there are thirty one sculptures created by Ian G Brennan on public display in Windsor Castle; these sculptures have been produced in a wide variety of subjects and styles which often vary from the more traditional heraldic sculptures to sculptures which are somewhat more realistic in design. At the time of the Royal wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton in Westminster Abbey there were thirty two sculptures created by Ian commissioned by the Royal Household on display in Westminster Abbey.

This website explores a small selection of the over 350 wood, bronze and sterling silver sculptures Ian G Brennan has been commissioned to create since 1984. Although there are a number of examples of Ian’s more recent sculptures shown on this website including the large bronze sculpture of the ‘Mute Swan protecting her Cygnets’ which was installed alongside Lake Mirror for the City of Lakeland Florida in 2012, the majority of the sculptures shown are of Ian’s early work with most of his commissions for private and corporate clients and particularly those for the Royal Household having been omitted; however contemporarysculptor.com still does give a good idea of the typical style and detail that sculptor and woodcarver Ian G Brennan has created for almost three decades.

Life size bronze Osprey catching a Pike – Royal Unicorn – Snowboarder - Bald Eagle - Mute swan protecting her Cygnets along with a small selection of Ian’s life size and smaller bronze and silver wildlife sculptures

(please click to enlarge )

Leaping Panther - Swimming Otter - Sleeping Leopard - Marsh Harrier

bronze bronze bronze bronze bronze sterling silver

45 inches (115cm) long - 43 inches (119cm) high - 27 inches (69cm) high - 20 inches (51cm) high - 15 inches ( 38 cm) high

The wildlife sculptures shown above; the life size Osprey, Swimming Otter, Sleeping Leopard and Mute Swan were originally carved from a single piece of English lime wood or walnut which was then moulded and sometimes enlarged before being cast in bronze or sterling silver.

Lord Nelson’s Flagship HMS Victory – The HMS Victory sculpture – The Victory sculpture signed print - Cunards Queen Victoria Logo - The Warsash bas-relief carving

Ian a self taught woodcarver and sculptor who first became a professional woodcarver in 1984 and then later in 1996 also began producing his contemporary sculptures in other materials including bronze and sterling silver; initially using his original woodcarvings as the ‘master copy’. Ian's first exhibition in an art gallery was in London’s Mayfair in 1985 with a collection of wood carvings; he then began exhibiting his realistic woodcarvings and bronze sculpture widely throughout the UK. During 1990 the Museum Service also toured a large collection of Ian’s sculptures as a 'one man' exhibition throughout the year to various museums in England.

Ian G Brennan’s last exhibition in an art gallery was in the Mall Gallery in London in 1997 and since then has been working almost exclusively to commission which kept him so busy he was unable to concentrate on assembling a collection of his work to exhibit in art galleries. However since then working alongside his commissions Ian has finally managed to put together a large unique collection of wood carvings and bronze sculpture and is once again looking forward to exhibiting his work in selected art galleries in the near future.

Although Ian has not exhibited in art galleries for almost twenty years he has on occasions exhibited examples of his work in the somewhat more formal surroundings such as Museums; The Queens Room on-board the Cunard Liner Queen Elizabeth 2; Burlington House; Home of the Royal Academy of Arts and also within the historic Royal setting of St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle, where Ian has also been invited on a number of occasions to give fully illustrated talks about the various aspects of his work and in particular how he became a sculptor.

Click to image to enlarge

In 1989 Ian was officially appointed the 'Sculptor to the Most Noble Order of the Garter and Most Honourable Order of the Bath' and since that time he has spent an average of five months of each year working exclusively on a wide variety of unique sculptures for the British Royal Household.

Initially these commissions for the Royal Household were mostly traditionally heraldic in design, often involved with creating the original carved, painted and gilded Royal Crowns, Coronets and Crests for the newly installed Ladies and Knights of the Garter, along with the carved and painted Crests for the newly installed Knights of the Bath.

However from 1993 onwards these commissions for the Royal Household also included creating a wide variety of private sculptures. These private commissions now account for around a third of the time Ian spends working for the Royal Household.

Many of these private commissions for the Royal Household are far more realistic in design all of which are created in fine detail. The subjects also often vary from the more traditional heraldic sculptures, such as Royal Lions, Griffins and Unicorns; to subjects more naturalistic in style and include lifelike sculptures of Dogs, Stags, Pheasants and Horses, as well as wide variety of sculptures depicting the human form.

For the most part these sculpture commissions from the Royal Household are usually quite evenly spaced out throughout the year although occasionally Ian is found working on several totally different sculptures all at the same time. One such occasion was during the HM The Queens Golden Jubilee year when Ian was working on sixteen such commissions for the Royal Household throughout that period.

Ian G Brennan has since 1989 received amongst other sculpture commissions from the Royal Household carved, painted and gilded all the Knights Crests for the latest Knights of the Bath which was first established in 1725; along with producing all the Royal Crowns, Coronets and Knights Crests for the Ladies and Knights of the Garter which was first established in 1348 and records show Ian has individually created more of these unique sculpted achievements than any other person in history and continues to do so today.

Seventy nine of these one hundred and fifteen commissions Ian has received to date from the Royal Household are currently on public display in Westminster Abbey and Windsor Castle. As well as commissions for the British Royal Family there have also been a wide variety of unique commissions for other Royal Families including HM King Juan Carlos of Spain, HM King Harald V of Norway, HM Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands and His Imperial Majesty Emperor Akihito of Japan.

These diverse commissions for the Royal Household can also be well illustrated when Ian's was recently commissioned to create sculptures of a Stag, Labrador and a Mute Swan along with the Royal Crest and Sword for HRH Prince William of Wales; The Duke of Cambridge; Ian was also informed by HM The Queen at Windsor Castle that HRH Prince William was to become the 1000 Knight of the Garter to hold this the highest order of chivalry, since 1348.

HM The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh processing to St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle for the annual Order of the Garter service

A selection of the 98 Royal Crowns, Crests and Coronets produced by Ian G Brennan for the Knights and Ladies of the Order of the Garter and Knights of the Bath ; Images shown here are The Royal Crest for Prince William: the Duke of Cambridge.- King Harald V of Norway's Crown - Princess Anne; The Princess Royal's Coronet - Former British Prime Minister Baroness Margaret Thatcher's Coronet - The two latest Knights of the Garter Crests in Ian's studio about to be delivered to Windsor Castle.

For a panoramic view of many of Ian’s Royal Crowns, Coronets and Crests created between 1989 and 2012 commissioned for the Royal Knights, Knights and Ladies of the Most Noble Order of the Garter in St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle. Please click here .

Ian G Brennan produced HRH Prince William’s Royal Crest and sword in 2008 with part of the sword having been made from original oak timbers from Lord Nelson’s Flagship HMS Victory; The Royal Crest and Sword are currently on display in St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle. As the second in line to the British throne; Prince William; The Duke of Cambridge, like his father the Prince of Wales, also uses a white label of three points attached to the Lion but in addition there is a small carved red ‘escallop’ from the Spencer Arms to honour the memory of the Prince’s mother Diana, Princess of Wales.

Two of Ian's other commissions for the Royal Family were a pair of similar sculptures created for HM The Queen's two sons, HRH Prince Edward, The Earl of Wessex and HRH Prince Andrew, The Duke of York when they were appointed Royal Knights of the Garter. Both of these sculptures were delivered to Windsor Castle during 2007.

A white and gilded bronze Royal Unicorn sculpture in St George's Chapel Windsor Castle along with a similar version finished with the traditional bronze patina Bronze

For further information about Ian's work or details about commissioning an original sculpture in a variety of materials including marble resin, wood, bronze or silver.

please contact

ian@iangb.com

Ian G Brennan: nr Portsmouth – Hampshire. UK

Bas-relief carving for St Mary's Church, Warsash, Hampshire.

( 7 feet high X 10 feet wide )

HMS Victory The HMS Victory Sculpture

HMS Victory restoration; Ian's carved replacement starboard side entrance port - HMS Victory replica carved entirely from original oak from HMS Victory's lower gun deck. (47 inches long)

for further information please click

The Queen Victoria Crest and modern Cunard Logo commissioned for the Grand Lobby of the new Cunard Liner the Queen Victoria

40 inches wide x 35 inches high -- 40 inches x 58 inches high

For further details and stage photographs showing how both Cunard bas relief sculptures were produced; please click appropriate photographs.

Carved, painted and gilded lime wood Arms

The carved 'master copy' for a bronze crucifix

The life size 'Osprey catching a Pike' original wood carving 'master copy' alongside the bronze limited edition

please click to enlarge

These web pages also show how some of the British artist Ian G Brennan's original wildlife woodcarvings, realistic bronze sculptures, coats of arms and crests are produced using stage photographs. A selection of these wood carvings are also shown being carved directly from the tree to the completed polished or painted wood sculpture; how a flexible rubber mould can be made which will enable a wood carving to be accurately reproduce in wax and then cast in a variety of materials including bronze and sterling silver.

click to enlarge

The majority of Ian G Brennan’s commissions over the years have been for either realistic or heraldic sculpture created in fine detail. The wide variety of wood carving commissions Ian has received; many of which have been carved from a single piece of wood, can be well illustrated with this small sample of wood carvings; shown above.

A life size Osprey catching a Pike carved from within a 150 year old Lime Tree - The oak carved and gilded Pascal Candle Stand for St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle - A Millennium Project for a local school carved from Scots Pine - The Sword commissioned for HRH Prince William partially carved from oak timbers from HMS Victory – Pair of Swimming Otters carved from Walnut..

Suzanne Cavill

Shown below are various other web pages which illustrate with stage photo's not only how Ian produces some of his realistic woodcarvings, coats of arms and crests, but also outlines the mould making process which will enable replica's of some of the artists original sculptures to then be cast in bronze or silver.

A 10 feet high Bald Eagle sculpture; photographed in stages from the tree to the completed sculpture:

Stages of carving a Bald Eagle

Stages of The HMS Victory Sculpture Stages of a Relief Carving Stages of creating a Bronze

Stages of creating a Mould Stages of creating a Crest Creating a Sculpture

These photographs taken at St George's Chapel Windsor Castle are used with the kind permission of The Deans and Canons of Windsor, permission for further use of these images must be sought from the Chapter Office, The Cloisters, Windsor Castle.

These photographs taken at Henry V11 Chapel Westminster Abbey are used with kind permission of The Dean and Chapter of Westminster, permission for further use of these images must be sought from the Chapter Office, Westminster Abbey, 20 Dean's Yard. London.

For further information about Ian G Brennan's work for 'The Most Noble Order of the Garter and The Most Honourable Order of the Bath'

please click this link to :-

www.heraldicsculptor.com

Carved Coat of Arms - lime wood

30 inches high x 26 inches wide

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