Despite being raised at Kensington Palace with the title of Viscount and his aunt the Queen, David Linley loved nothing more than working with his hands. Her job was to assemble boards of wood (preferably wine-aged), measure, saw, and work them into something smooth and functional. object.
He is now the Earl of Snowdon, a cousin of Charles III, and honorary chairman of Christie’s EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa), where he is surrounded by art, antiques, jewellery, and luxury handbags.
But his parallel world is still covered in sawdust and crowded with dovetails, bandsaws, and intricate marquetry patterns. He spends his spare time making things and preaches the gospel of craft in a quiet way and often with a sarcastic sense of humor.
He’s the kind of guy who takes a few days off, builds a library ladder for a friend, and transports it in the pouring rain to its new owner. He is happy to tell the story.
“Ladders are a difficult geometric problem because they have to be wide at the base and narrow at the top. We also created a complex double joint, which came out through the trees and “It was wedge-shaped, so it looked really nice from the side,” Linley, 62, said at Christie’s offices in London. , wooden objects he created over the years.
After making the ladder, I wrapped the end in cling film (it was raining heavily that day) and shoved it into the back of the VW Golf so it would stick out the window. He then drove 100 miles to deliver it.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been this wet before,” but the ladder was fine, said a soft-spoken Lynley with a cheeky smile.
Students on the Snowdon Summer Program at Dumfries House, Scotland, the headquarters of the King’s Foundation.
This is not an unusual story.
Helen Chislett, an author and gallery owner who has known Lynley for more than 25 years, said: “His happy place was in his workshop, probably surrounded by sawdust, eating fish and chips or bacon sandwiches, and hanging out with everyone around him.” I’m just joking.”
Chislett and Lynley share a love of design and craft and co-authored the recently published coffee table book Craft Britain: Why Making Matters (OH Editions).
An in-depth exploration of the country’s traditional skills and makers, including rush weavers, fleece producers, steam-bent furniture experts, paper marblers, tailors, and the many others who make a living by hand. An interview with is published.
From the beginning, Chislett said, Linley wanted the book to “beat the drum, wake people up, and send the message that craft is more than just beautiful things, it’s important and valuable and still relevant. He said he hoped to “convey the message”.
The pair are currently in the early stages of planning a second book on the subject. The book could be aimed beyond the UK to artists and makers across continental Europe.
“Craft Britain” is one of Linley’s many projects aimed at introducing cabinet making and all kinds of crafts to new generations.
Linley is also vice-chairman of the charity King’s Foundation (formerly the Prince’s Foundation), and often represents his cousin Charles. The King has supported handcrafting techniques and environmental protection for decades, and the cousins are aligned in educating and training a new generation of artisans.
The King’s Foundation was founded in 1986 as an education charity by the then Prince Charles and now works on projects around sustainability and environmental regeneration both nationally and internationally. We provide training and education to people of all ages and backgrounds.
For many years, Linley ran the week-long Snowdon Summer Program at Dumfries House in Ayrshire, Scotland, the headquarters of the King’s Foundation.
That summer school was the inspiration for a more recent project, the Snowdon Furniture School at Highgrove, King Charles’ family home in Gloucestershire. The school, an old converted barn, is part of a complex on site that is becoming a training center for traditional skills and crafts.
Outside the Chanel Métiers d’art training atelier in Highgrove.
Last year, Chanel partnered with the King Foundation to implement a new highly skilled métiers d’art education program focused on traditional hand embroidery and beading skills.
The program is taught at the new Chanel Métiers d’Art training atelier in Highgrove. Students also take classes at le19M in Paris. le19M is an interdisciplinary space, creative hub and home to Chanel’s artisanal brand.
Snowdon School in Highgrove offers week-long intensive programs for people of all ages, from young people to second-career students. Successful candidates will already have the basics of woodworking and will be tasked with assembling furniture to take home with them during the program.
Previously there was a task to make a table with a parquet top. “It was a lot of fun because they don’t all look the same,” Linley says. “Some people are crazy, and some people are very methodical. Often, a student’s personality is summed up in the tabletops they create.”
The school is a true family business. Last year, staff and students created a chair for the coronation ceremony in 2023, following a special request from the King.
Ms Linley said she founded the Snowdon school “because of my passion for helping other people and how I was very fortunate to be trained”.
He worked with his hands from an early age, attending the famously bohemian and ultra-progressive Bedales School in Hampshire, England, which focused on “doing and making.”
“When we turned 17, we got the keys to the workshop. There were machines in there that could kill people, but we grew up enough to understand that it was a relationship of trust. I did,” Linley said, adding that her teachers encouraged her from an early age.
David Linley at the Snowdon Summer Program at Dumfries House, Scotland.Ian Brown
During the interview, he pointed to a ceramic teapot he made in Bedales when he was 13 years old. It was far from a victory, but it brought him closer to his passion.
He remembers his teacher telling him: I’ll take him to the woodwork shop. ”
Linley also wants younger generations to understand that a background in crafts can lead to a fulfilling career.
“I think there is a shift in young people wanting to do something with their lives.” [that’s not office based]” Linley says. He uses her 21-year-old daughter Margarita as an example. She makes jewelry from recycled materials and spends “hours dealing with small vices. Her workshop consists of a few pliers.”
David Linley’s double spiral marquetry. WWD staff
Conservation is another part of Linley’s broader craft message. As part of the Snowdon course, students gather in local forests to learn about logging and regeneration.
“Wood is a renewable resource if harvested correctly. In my opinion, it’s like aging wine. People are ready to age a bottle of wine and store it for five to six years. If you do this with a wooden plank, it will increase in value as the air-dried wood will be worth more than the binding material.
“If more farmers understand the benefits of laying down materials and then replanting trees, we will have a circular economy,” Linley says.
The son of Princess Margaret and nephew of Queen Elizabeth II, Lynley inherited his love of crafts from his father, Antony Armstrong-Jones, 1st Earl of Snowdon. Armstrong-Jones, who died in 2017 and contracted polio as a teenager, was a fashion and celebrity photographer, filmmaker and lifelong campaigner for people with disabilities.
Lynley’s grandmother, Queen Elizabeth (Queen Mother), supported Lynley throughout her life until her death in 2002. She bought her young Lynley her first bandsaw, and Lynley gave her her first wooden creation: her invisible dovetail humidor.
The Rose Garden in the Queen Elizabeth Walled Garden at Dumfries House, Scotland. Van Cleef & Arpels is the principal patron of the King’s Foundation Gardens and Mansions.Provided by Doug Shapley
After Bedales, Linley studied with John Makepeace, British furniture designer, maker and founder of Parnham House School for Craftsmen in Wood.
In 1985, he founded the furniture and home accessories brand “Linley.” This was an unconventional move, as the royal family is never involved in commerce, let alone working with their hands or serving customers.
Although Britain’s famous tabloids initially delivered predictable criticism, the Lynley brand soon became known for its quality, a 17th-century decorative technique featuring thin layers of differently colored wood. It became famous for its marquetry.
He will step down from the board in 2022 and no longer works for the company. He now spends most of his time at Christie’s.
When she’s not there, or making furniture for friends, you can find her at Snowdon Summer School in Dumfries House, which serves as her training and conservation base.
The mansion’s rose garden is managed by Van Cleef & Arpels, which last year was named principal benefactor of the King’s Foundation Gardens and Mansion.
As part of the deal, the Richemont-owned jeweler will monitor the flora of three properties linked to the king. Mey Castle and Gardens, Caithness, Highgrove Gardens, England.
Students at Snowdon Summer School.
Keeping Dumfries House schools and programs running is another job Linley is actively involved in.
He describes the house and its charity work as “a bit of a secret in Scotland and it’s important to keep it that way.” We are always raising funds for the next project, supporting the creative minds and hands of tomorrow.
