Bryant Fedden
Bryant Olcher Fedden (17 July 1930 - 19 March 2004) was a self-taught letter-cutter, glass engraver and sculptor who developed his craft in a workshop environment with craftspeople whom he taught and supported. He was a member of the Gloucestershire Guild of Craftsmen for more than forty years. He was a founder member of the Letter Exchange, a professional organisation promoting lettering in all its forms. Bryant Fedden has work in the Victoria and Albert Museum Collections. Bryant Fedden went to Bryanstone School and followed that with two years in National Service. He then went up to Clare College, Cambridge University where he read history. Bryant married Kate in 1955 and they then taught English in Pakistan. Bryant Fedden then taught history at Gordenstoun School in Scotland. They then made the decision to change careers and set up a letter cutting and sculpture workshop in Toddington, Gloucestershire. The workshop gained commissions including a memorial plaque for the Waller era architects for Gloucester Cathedral in 1961. In 1966 Bryant Fedden moved his workshop to Winchcombe, Gloucestershire in part to be closer to Winchcombe Pottery and its manager, the potter Ray Finch. The number of people working at the workshop increased and included Kate Fedden who took on some of the commissioned glass engraving. Notable works by Bryant Fedden at this time included the gates and railings for Tewksbury Abbey, with Keith Jameson, in 1968; the Ivor Gurney Memorial Plaque in Gloucester Cathedral in 1976 and the memorial plaque to Sylvanus Lysons in Gloucester Cathedral in 1989. Bryant Fedden then moved to Littledean, Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire and together with wife Kate Fedden (glass engraving), his son Matthew Fedden (artist-blacksmith) and his son-in-law Paul Harper (furniture maker) set up a multi-functioning workshop. Bryant Fedden's notable works from this time include a viewing platform plaque of a short poem by Robin Munro carved in stained oak for the National Garden Festival in Gateshead in 1990; the carved grave stone for his friend Li Yuan-Chia, the renowned Chinese artist, poet and curator in 1994 and the public art Memorial to Littledean Dairymen in Littledean, Gloucestershire in 2000. In 2002, Gloucester Cathedral hosted an exhibition of works from Bryant Fedden's various workshops entitled "40 Years of Bryant Fedden Workshops: A Celebration". Education Bryant Fedden attended Bryanstone School from 1944 - 1948 where he was taught by the sculptor and potter Donald Potter. In Fiona MacCarthy's The Guardian obituary for Potter she included a description of Potter's experiments in earthenware: "[Potter] had constructed the wood-fired kiln for earthenware himself, and there are many memories among ex-pupils of staying up for all-night firings, drinking beer and cider while Potter reminisced and quoted William Blake. Those pupils included the distinguished potters Richard Batterham and Mike Dodd, the artist Richard Bawden, the sculptor and lettercutter Bryant Fedden and the architects Richard Burton and Quinlan Terry.". From 1950 Bryant Fedden read history and English at Clare College, Cambridge University. National Service Bryant Fedden took part in National Service in Nigeria