Winterburn Fine Art holds our family surname front and centre of everything we do, this was a purposeful shift in the progression of our journey. Our name is hand carved into every piece and becomes immortal each and every time a piece is cast in bronze, for that reason we pour every ounce of passion into every piece making sure they are perfect when they leave the family studio. This is why legacy is at the core of our company, because it is the pressure we bestow upon ourselves to honour our family name that produces the quality of work and ethics to build a lasting legacy not only for us but for the family that purchases the piece as it the becomes part of their heritage. That is what makes stories like this all the more special to us.
It recently was made aware to us as a family that a Steve Winterburn sculpture, a falcon to be precise, had been acquired by the local and beautiful family-owned estate Burton Agnes Hall, in the village of Burton Agnes, near Driffield. So of course we visited promptly to see it in situ. After walking the whole house from bottom to top we were almost disheartened to not see it, but after a further short walk out into the grounds of the house, into the woods, as the path opens up between the trees there it was silhouetted atop a beautiful column standing about 15ft tall. Seeing our work in situ at their new homes is always amazing but to see how owners; Simon and Olivia had positioned this so beautifully, it was truly breathtaking.
After talking further with the family and the amazing guides at Burton Agnes, we found out how our sculpture had made its way here. It was purchased by Robert Slater, a guide who worked there for many years and lived locally. Whilst he was alive the falcon would move from room to room in the house and spent quite a lot of time in the staffroom. On his unfortunate passing, Robert bequeathed the sculpture to the house and family which is incredibly touching and speaks volumes for what the Burton Agnes legacy and what the family have created. They honoured this bestowal, with one of the nicest positionings of a Winterburn to date. The falcon atop the column, facing in a direction such that it appears to be flying along the edge of the woodland and looking back across the estate, as though observing the house and grounds is such a beautiful testament to a man that dedicated years of his life to exactly that.
This story has been amazing for us to learn about and to add to our legacy of works that mean so much to us, we are honoured to be involved in the heritage of such a beautiful home with such a great family history!
To any of you that haven’t had chance to visit this amazing estate, please find the time to pay a visit it is a brilliant day out.
