The Future of Woodworking: Barnaby Ash and Dru Plumb
Utilizing green English oak sourced locally, Ash and Plumb produce pieces inspired by neolithic and medieval pottery and ancient bronzes from Chinese, Greek and Roman, English, and Etruscan sources. Their aim is to find something more elusive: “We try to tap into ones that feel deeply personal and human—that people will be instinctively drawn to whether they understand the history or not.”
From a workshop at a former dairy farm in Brighton, England, Barnaby Ash and Dru Plumb create turned vessels anchored in antiquity. Utilizing green English oak sourced locally and chainsawn to size, they produce pieces inspired by neolithic and medieval pottery and ancient bronzes from Chinese, Greek and Roman, English, and Etruscan sources. Their aim is not to make exact replicas, but to find something more elusive: “Across cultures, certain forms are universal,” says Ash. “We try to tap into ones that feel deeply personal and human—that people will be instinctively drawn to whether they understand the history or not.”
Ash and Plumb have complementary skills and passions. Ash (above right), who has worked as a bike mechanic, a landscape gardener, and a journalist (he was fashion editor for GQ Australia), does all the turning and also writes copy for their website.
Plumb, with a background in PR, marketing, and events, handles the business side of things, the photography of their work, and some of the scorched finishes on their pieces. He also does the stitching—with waxed thread—that they employ as a decorative touch on vessels that have cracked.
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Historical figures. Ash and Plumb create turned English oak vessels inspired by ancient pottery and bronzes. They scorch the surfaces to produce a mysterious patina and, occasionally—as in this vessel—to create a fire-eroded rim.
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