Laurence Arthur Turner FSA (9 July 1864 – 4 October 1957) was an English artisan and master craftsman.

Career

The brother of the architect Thackery Turner, was a leading figure in

woodcarving Wood carving (or woodcarving) is a form of woodworking by means of a cutting tool (knife) in one hand or a chisel by two hands or with one hand on a chisel and one hand on a mallet, resulting in a wooden figure or figurine, or in the sculptural ...

and ornate

stonemasonry Stonemasonry or stonecraft is the creation of buildings, structures, and sculpture using rock (geology), stone as the primary material. Stonemasonry is the craft of shaping and arranging stones, often together with Mortar (masonry), mortar ...

, and undertook many prestigious commissions. He executed ceilings in

Hampton Court Palace Hampton Court Palace is a Listed building, Grade I listed royal palace in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, southwest and upstream of central London on the River Thames. Opened to the public, the palace is managed by Historic Royal ...

. He was employed by Walter Cunliffe to decorate his new home, built in 1898,

Headley Court Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre Headley Court (abbreviated to DMRC Headley Court, and more commonly known as Headley Court), formerly RAF Headley Court, was an United Kingdom Ministry of Defence facility in Headley, near Epsom, Surrey, Eng ...

. Here he upholstered the drawing room with limed chestnut Elizabethan jewel panelling and a chimneypiece from Hinchingbrooke Hall with very fine Jacobean style plaster ceiling. The former smoking room, now the Mess Bar, is panelled and has a carved chimneypiece with arcading on caryatides. The elaborate ceiling in this room he embellished and depicts Tudor roses, fleur-de-lis and rabbits, the latter in recognition of the family name. It was originally white. His other commissions also include tombs for

William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was an English textile designer, poet, artist, writer, and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts movement. He was a major contributor to the revival of traditiona ...

and

Norman Shaw Richard Norman Shaw RA (7 May 1831 – 17 November 1912), also known as Norman Shaw, was a British architect who worked from the 1870s to the 1900s, known for his country houses and for commercial buildings. He is considered to be among the g ...

as well as decorative work for commercial and government buildings, churches, and educational establishments. He worked on a number of war memorials including the Robertson War Memorials in Netley Park, Guildford and Michel Dene, Wealden as well as Cound War Memorial, Shropshire, and Woolmer Green War Memorial, Hertfordshire, all of which are Grade II-listed. Turner was elected as Master of the

Art Workers' Guild The Art Workers' Guild is an organisation established in 1884 by a group of British painters, sculptors, architects, and designers associated with the ideas of William Morris and the Arts and Crafts movement. The guild promoted the 'unity of al ...

in 1922, and was also a Fellow of the British Institute of Industrial Art.

List of works

* Blo' Norton War Memorial, Norfolk, 1920 (grade II listed) * Bloxham War Memorial, Oxfordshire, 1920 (grade II listed) * Cound War Memorial, Shropshire, 1920 (grade II listed) * Epping War Memorial, Essex, 1921 (grade II listed) * Robertson War Memorial Bequest Obelisk at Michel Dene, West Sussex, 1940 (grade II listed) *Stone carvings at 10 Green Street, Mayfair.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Turner, Lawrence 1864 births 1957 deaths 19th-century British artisans English carpenters Masters of the Art Worker's Guild Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London Jacobethan architecture Arts and Crafts movement artists