This has been an amazing commission to research, design and make. A ceremonial chalice, purely for decorative use, in the ancient and historic church of Saint Melangell, in Powys; just a short hop over the Berwyn Hills from where I live. The church is steeped in history and entered into Welsh folklore with the tale of a local girl, Melangell, who rescued a hare fleeing from a pack of hounds, by hiding it under her skirt. The church is also renowned for its ancient churchyard yews which have been confirmed as being over 2000 years old and have thus been awarded protected status. However, several huge branches fell in a storm a few years ago and i was commissioned to make a celebratory piece for the church, to acknowledge the history and mystery of its famous trees.
The chalice stands about 12" (30cm) tall and was made in two parts, simply because there wasn't a single piece of yew big enough to make it in one piece. In keeping with the nature of the commission, the chalice does not bear the semi-precious stones that many similar chalices have, rather, it has slate cabochons which I made from fragments of roof slate from the church's Priest House.
You can read my blog about the project, here....
http://www.prenturners.co.uk/2017/06/11/ancient-yew-from-an-historic-church-blog5/.
Les