RHS Chelsea Flower Show
A History of Enchantment
Some fifteen years have passed since we first loaded a van with our collection of lovingly crafted, literary-inspired bronze sculptures and set off for the Royal Hospital Chelsea, unsure of quite what to expect.
What began as a relatively modest debut in 2011 has burgeoned into one of the most anticipated dates in our calendar, and, as we are often told, one of the most photographed stands on the entire showground.
This is the story of how we got here…
How it all began in 2011
Our first Chelsea was made possible by the Clipper Tea Company, based in Beaminster, Dorset, close to where Bob lives and works. It was their generosity that essentially financed our first appearance, and in return, we showcased their wares.
As such, the sculpture stands were built from fabricated tea chests and finished with copper edges and stencils along the sides. We also brewed tea for anyone who cared to stop by to chat or simply marvel at the collection – the types of encounters and conversations that are still very much the essence of our annual Chelsea stand, some 15 years later.
The stand itself was, in James' words, a 'Chelsea Hat' – or a posh tent, if we’re getting technical!
He designed a chequered chessboard floor that receded in diminishing perspective, with asymmetrical display chests arranged to draw the eye and stir more than a little intrigue. It looked unusual, certainly, but captured the Wonderland ethos to a tee!
A forever-growing cast of characters
We arrived at our first show with just seven pieces, including Peter Pan & Tinkerbell, The Owl and the Pussy-Cat, Alice, and a number of other Lewis Carroll-inspired creations. Today, the display carries well over [x], and at least two or three additions are made to the cast each year.
James designs a fresh exhibition layout every single year, which keeps the work feeling alive and gives returning visitors something new to discover. Planning for the following May tends to begin almost the moment we finish packing away!
The habit of reinvention is a large part of why people keep coming back. Many now visit simply to see what we have been up to, as much as to buy, and watching someone recognise a character from a book they last opened as a child remains one of the great pleasures of the week.
Reaching gardens around the world
Few events carry the international pull of Chelsea. Visitors fly in from every corner of the globe to see the latest in garden design, and satellite makers like ourselves benefit enormously from that immense reach.
Conversations that begin on the stand have travelled with our sculptures to Australia, the United States and well beyond, and many of our overseas commissions can be traced back to a chance meeting at the show. For a small West Country workshop, that global audience is remarkable.
Chelsea 2026, our grandest showcase yet
This year marked 15 years since our first appearance at Chelsea, and we celebrated it in style with a stand twice its usual size.
The extra room allowed us to tell richer stories, weaving a larger cast of characters through the stone and planting. We kept the palette deliberately simple, with generous greens and whites and carefully placed flashes of purple to catch the detail in the bronze.
A Chelsea stand, more so now than ever, is a considerable undertaking. This year's took around two and a half weeks to build, ahead of the five-day show and the familiar scramble to dismantle everything soon after.
As is customary, there were plenty of new arrivals among the cast. Benjamin Bunny made a popular debut in his instantly recognisable purple jacket. Kanga, Roo, and wise old Wol joined the A.A. Milne collection to mark the centenary of Winnie-the-Pooh, and The Curlew with Quill turned heads throughout the week, its slender form capturing a bird long woven into the poetry and folklore of the British countryside.
Looking ahead to the next chapter
If you have followed our stand over the years, or discovered the collection for the first time this May, we would love to continue the conversation. A brochure request or a gallery appointment is often the easiest way to begin. And with planning for next year's show already underway, we suspect the best chapters are still to come.
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