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Fiona Peever

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Fiona Peever
Born
Fiona Leonora H. Winkler

1964 (age 59–60)
Richmond, London, England
NationalityBritish
EducationCity and Guilds of London Art School
Known forLarge sculptures, stone carving, heraldry, public art
Notable work
SpouseAlec Peever

Fiona Leonora H. Peever, née Winkler (born in 1964), is a British sculptor based in Oxfordshire, England. With her husband and fellow-sculptor Alec Peever, she is a director of Lettering and Sculpture Limited, a sculpture studio. She carves in stone and other materials, and has produced public art, along with art for educational and religious institutions, besides private commissions. She is known for her sculpture of Thomas Attwood in Birmingham (1993), made in collaboration with Siobhan Coppinger. This statue is unusual in that it appears to have stepped down from its soapbox to sit on the steps, seemingly reading some notes.

Background

Fiona's paternal ancestors were mostly Londoners; members of the skilled working class who held responsible positions throughout all or most of their working lives. The family was then joined by Eastern European immigrant Ernest Winkler-Haase (later Ernest Winkler), who brought accountancy skills which heralded a move from East London to Richmond. Fiona's great great grandparents were Charles Hargrave (Marylebone 11 May 1830 – 1920) and Eliza Goymer (Holbrook ca.1835 – 1907).[1][2][3] Eliza was the daughter of agricultural labourer John Goymer.[4] Charles started out as a coffee house keeper, then worked as a foreman porter for Midland Railway until he was at least 80 years, describing himself then as a "superannuated railway servant."[5][6][7][8][9] Fiona's paternal great grandparents (the parents of her father's mother Angela Georgina) were William Thomas Hargrave (Marylebone 12 May 1862 – 1947),[10][11] a bookstall manager, selling books, newspapers and stationery, and Angela Georgina Hargrave (Hackney, London ca.1866 – 1936).[12][13] Fiona's paternal grandparents were scientific works accountant Ernest Oscar Winkler-Haase (23 October 1889 – 1978)[14] and Dorothy Marguerite Hargrave (West Ham 29 September 1895 – 1982),[15][16] who married in West Ham in 1914.[17] In 1939 they were living in St Albans, Hertfordshire.[18][nb 1] Fiona's parents were John H. Winkler (born 1928)[19] and Christine D. Willis (born 1926),[20] who married in 1954 at St Albans.[21][22] Fiona Leonora H. Winkler was born in Richmond in 1964,[23][24] and was married in 1985,[25] to her business partner and artistic collaborator, the sculptor Alec Thomas Peever (born 1954).[26][27] They have been working together since 1983.[28] She graduated in 1984 from City and Guilds of London Art School.[29]

Career

Main article: Lettering and Sculpture Limited

As of 2019, Fiona Peever was based with her husband at their Lettering & Sculpture Limited studio at Ducklington, Oxfordshire. The company was incorporated in 2008. She was initially the company secretary, and she additionally became a director in 2015.[23] She creates art in partnership with her husband Alec Peever, and in cooperation with other artists. She specialises in public art, including large sculptures, stone carving and lettering, and combines traditional with experimental techniques. She uses various materials for her sculptures, including wood, steel and bronze, besides slate, marble and other types of stone.[27]

Architectural carving is one of her specialities, and she has made church and graveyard memorials. She creates poetry trails and installations, besides garden and water features, and many of these are public works. Together with Alec she has shown her work at many exhibitions, and has achieved a number of awards.[27]

Works

The following is a small sample of many commissions which were executed by Fiona in collaboration with Alec and other artists.[27]

Thomas Attwood, Chamberlain Square, Birmingham, 1993

The full title of this sculpture in Chamberlain Square, Birmingham, is Thomas Attwood 1783–1856, Birmingham's first Member of Parliament. It was a collaboration between Sioban Coppinger and Fiona Peever. In this sculpture, the bronze Thomas Attwood, the economist who helped bring about the Reform Act of 1832, has apparently climbed down from his pedestal – or soapbox – and is sitting on the steps of the amphitheatre, continuing his work. Inscribed on the steps where he has walked are the words, "prosperity," "the vote," and "reform." His scattered notes are titled: Votes for All, Full Employment, and Free Trade.[30][31] The sculpture has been "said to reflect the values Mr Attwood promoted – reform, vote and prosperity."[32]

The sculpture was removed for safekeeping in 2015, before Birmingham Central Library was demolished in the following year.[33] The statue may be gone until building work is completed, but the brown plaque that commemorates it remains.[34]

  • Thomas Attwood, 1993: "Having left his plinth ...
    Thomas Attwood, 1993: "Having left his plinth ...
  • ... and having scattered his bronze pages on the steps ...
    ... and having scattered his bronze pages on the steps ...
  • ... the statue sits ..."[30]
    ... the statue sits ..."[30]

Royal Parks waymarkers, 2000

These are stone and metallic pavement markers which guide visitors on the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Walk in London. They were created in collaboration with Alec Peever.[35][36]

Bodleian Library grotesques, Oxford 2007–2009

This project involved a Millennium Myths and Monsters Festival competition in which children designed grotesque carvings to replace weather-worn ones on the Bodleian Library, Oxford. Fiona and Alec Peever developed stone carvings from the children's designs, and they were placed high on the cornice of the library. The nine winning designs are: Wild boar, Dodo, Tweedledum and Tweedledee, J. R. R. Tolkien characters, General Pitt Rivers, Aslan the Lion, Green Man, Sir Thomas Bodley, and Three Men in a Boat. Isobel Hughes, the University of Oxford's head of building conservation, commented: "The grotesques will stare out over Oxford for hundreds of years. I hope the winners will be able to revisit their stone carvings many times, bringing their children and their grandchildren to see them too."[37][38][39]

Regarding the view of the carvings from below, Alec Peever said: "It's to do with the foreshortening and the perspective of the figures, and also the way the shadows work in order to create the strength of design that can be understood by the passerby."[40] Dr Sarah Thomas, librarian, said: "They have been beautifully interpreted by the stone carvers who have managed to create grotesques that work as sculptures and yet still capture the original charm of the children's drawings."[41] In 2010 Fiona and Alec received a Grotesques Award from the University of Oxford Estate Services.[42]

Architectural sculpture, Highgate Junior School, 2016

This Junior department of Highgate School in London was designed by Architype in Portland stone to replace the Cholmeley House library, and completed in 2016. Fiona and Alec executed sculptures here, including a chameleon, a centipede, and gargoyles on themes appropriate for children, as well as a painted glass window screen.[43]

Notes

  1. ^ E.O. Winkler-Haase has no England/Wales birth certificate. He is possibly Eugene Winkler (born Szeged, Hungary 1889), living at 2 Colville Gardens, Westminster, and working in 1911 as a bank clerk in the Anglo-Austrian Bank, London. See 1911 England Census, schedule 82 Westminster. He could also be G.O. Winkler, (born Germany 1889–1891; resident in England), living at 15 Chitty Street Westminster, and working in 1911 as a bank clerk. See 1911 census England, schedule 441.

References

  1. ^ Baptism record of William Thomas Hargreave, St Mary, Marylebone 21 June 1863.
  2. ^ United Kingdom census, 1871 RG 10/476 p22 Bethnal Green Hackney 143 Columbia Square
  3. ^ "Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 7 March 2019. Deaths Sep 1907 Hargrave Eliza 73 Hackney 1b 213
  4. ^ United Kingdom census, 1841 HO107/1034/15 Holbrook p23-24/15
  5. ^ United Kingdom census, 1901 Lansdowne Road, Hackney RG13/223 p73/76
  6. ^ United Kingdom census, 1861 RG949 p5/5 st John the Evangelist parish, Westminster
  7. ^ Deaths Jun 1920 Hargrave Charles 89 Hackney 1b/376
  8. ^ baptism record, 13 June 1830 St Mary, St Marylebone Rd, London
  9. ^ United Kingdom census, 1911 schedule 74 November 14, 1119 65 Malvrn Road, Dalstone NE
  10. ^ Births June 1862 Hargrave William Thomas Marylebone 1a 424
  11. ^ "Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 6 March 2019. Deaths Mar 1947 Hargrave William T. 56 Hendon 5f 175
  12. ^ United Kingdom census, 1911, 61 Claude Road, Upton Manor, schedule 58
  13. ^ "Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 6 March 2019. Deaths Dec 1936 Hargrave Angela G. 70 W.Ham 4a 32
  14. ^ "Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 5 March 2019. Deaths Jun 1978 Winkler Ernest Oscar 23 October 1889 Richmond/T 14 1489
  15. ^ "Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 5 March 2019. Births Dec 1895 Hargrave Dorothy Marguerite W. Ham 4a 71
  16. ^ "Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 5 March 2019. Deaths Sep 1982 Winkler Dorothy Marguerite 29 September 1895 Wandsworth 15 0970
  17. ^ "Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 5 March 2019. Marriages Mar 1914 Hargrave Dorothy M. and Winkler-Haase Ernest O. W.Ham 4a 493
  18. ^ "England and Wales Register for Ernest O Winkler". Ancestry. 1939. Retrieved 1 March 2019.
  19. ^ "Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 5 March 2019. Births Mar 1928 Winkler John H. Hargrave St.Albans 3a 1291
  20. ^ "Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 5 March 2019. Births Mar 1926 Willis Christine D. Chandler Shoreditch 1c 44
  21. ^ Marriages Sep 1954 John H. Winkler and Christine D. Willis St Albans 419 14 4B
  22. ^ London electoral registers 1932–1965, St Leonards Road Richmond, page 5, 870/140
  23. ^ a b "Lettering & Sculpture Limited 06640159". Companies House. Retrieved 1 March 2019.
  24. ^ "Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 5 March 2019. Births Jun 1964 Winkler Fiona L.H. Willis Westminster 5C 467
  25. ^ Marriages Jul–Sep 1985 Alec T. Peever and Fiona L.H. Winkler Richmond upon Thames Surrey 1545 14
  26. ^ "Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 3 March 2019. Births Sep 1954 Peever Alec T. Lowrey Surrey N.W. 5g 755
  27. ^ a b c d "Alec & Fiona Peever – Lettering & Sculpture Ltd". The Sculpture Website. 2019. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
  28. ^ Discover Hidcote Sculpture Trail (PDF). National Trust. 2012.
  29. ^ "Fiona and Alec Peever, Lettering & Sculpture: Curriculum vitae". Alecpeever.com. Retrieved 2 March 2019.
  30. ^ a b "Statues hither and thither, Thomas Attwood". Statues Vanderkrogt. 24 June 2014. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
  31. ^ "Birmingham – Modern figure sculpture: Victoria Square and Corporation Street". Speel Me. 6 April 2014. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
  32. ^ Jones, Tamlyn (29 September 2015). "Birmingham Post". Chamberlain Square statues removed ahead of Central Library demolition. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
  33. ^ Young, Graham (9 July 2017). "What's happened to the three key city statues missing from Chamberlain Square?". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
  34. ^ "Thomas Attwood brown plaque in Birmingham". Blue Plaque Places. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
  35. ^ "Royal Parks waymarkers". Lettering in London. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
  36. ^ Corby, Tom (2000). A Walk for Diana. Royal Parks Agency. ISBN 9780953142668.
  37. ^ University of Oxford (2008–2009). "Annual Review" (PDF). Taking a place in history. p. 22. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
  38. ^ "Tweedledum and Tweedledee, stone carving at the Bodleian library, Oxford". Oxford University Images. 2019. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
  39. ^ "The story of the new Bodleian gargoyles". AOUP newsletter. AOUP. 2010.
  40. ^ "Arts and Culture: Library's new gargoyles revealed". BBC. 15 September 2009. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
  41. ^ "The Telegraph". Philip Pullman to unveil Oxford gargoyles. 12 September 2009. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
  42. ^ "Building and conservation awards". University of Oxford Estate Services. 28 November 2018. Retrieved 19 February 2019. Grotesques award 2010, Bodleian Library, Alex and Fiona Peever
  43. ^ "Highgate Junior School London N6: Stone carving, Fiona and Alec Peever" (PDF). Albion Stone. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
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