David Harber
Celebrating 30 Years
And So it BeginsAn antique dealer friend shows David an armillary sphere. David was instantly captivated by the ancient mathematical principles. He spent his last £20 on buying the materials to make one himself.
1993
First ExhibitionWith an armillary sphere and this Samurai sundial, David exhibited his work for the first time at The Barn Gallery, Henley-on-Thames.
1994
Jeremy IronsJeremy was one of David's first clients and has been a loyal supporter of David's work ever since.
1994
Creativity out of ChaosNot totally state of the art at our old workshop in farm buildings on the Bix Estate in Oxfordshire. Happy times though. Cheers Richard!
1994
Growing RangeAlways bound by the constraints of the gnomon, David created an inspiring portfolio of sundials. (For the uninitiated, a gnomon is the shadow casting part of a sundial).
1997
First ExportA large brass armillary sphere was our first export. The piece was destined for Barrington Bank & Trust in Chicago.
1997
Chelsea Flower ShowWe had a tiny budget but lots of driving ambition for our first stand at the RHS show. This stand was designed by David Narbett who had just graduated from the Inchbald School of Design.
1997
Nearly a FirstAn early David Harber commission at Oxford University was this vertical strip dial for Magdelen College. Altogether, we have installed 12 sundials at the universities of Oxford and Cambridge.
1999
Cosmic WelcomeFor the new century: an enquiry for a small horizontal dial evolved over lunch into a full size stone henge and a model of the solar system. Lockhinge was cited by The Times as one of 10 most inspired Millennium commissions.
1999
Millennial CommissionAsked by the Richard Rogers Partnership to make this multi-cultural sundial for outside the Millennium Dome in Greenwich. Which just happens to be the home of time.
1999
Works OutingDavid, Sophie and baby Maya Harber, went with employees Rory Elliot, Karen Fry and Richard Heron to the Normandy coast. Amazingly, Karen and Rory are still with us!
2000
Three Huge SpheresBrass spheres with models of the planets designed to hang from the ceilings of the Pedrosa shopping centre in Barcelona, Spain
2001
Travelling to Exhibitions Sometimes in those early years, it felt like we were permanantly on the road showing off our hand-crafted sundials. Often, with a little extra "help".
2003
Eton College Combining old and new with a gleaming contemporary armillary in the middle of a pagan inspired stone circle.
2004
Zabeel ParkInternational lansdcape architects, Cracknell, commissioned this chess inspired cube sculpture for Dubai's largest park.
2005
Goodenough CollegeWhat a momentous occasion to have Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II unveil our armillary sphere marking the 75th anniversary of this postgraduate community.
2006
New Workshop We took another brave step, buying land and building our own workshops. They have served us well. And the view of a bronze age fort feeds our spirit.
2007
It's in his GenesBy chance, David discovers he is a descendant of celebrated Tudor mathematician, astronomer and designer of astronomical instruments, John Blagrave.
2009
The Blagrave DialMoved by the discovery of his connection to John Blagrave, David created a bronze replica of his forebear's armillary sphere from an engraving. It was launched at the Science Museum in London.
2010
Torus IntroducedThe launch of the iconic sculpture was at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show.
2011
Windsor CastleHonoured to be asked to create a custom sundial modelled on the Order of the Garter for the College of St George.
2013
Jaipur JamboreeDavid and Sophie at the rather cool – if we do say so ourselves – Indian-themed party we held one hot summer night. The party celebrated all the fabulous designers and architects we work with.
2014
Queen's AwardProudly receiving the Award for Enterprise and International Trade for the first time.
2016
Kips Bay ShowhousePrestigious appearance of Torus on a sky-scraping Manhattan roof terrace. In collaboration with landscape architects Hollander Design.
2016
RAF Brize NortonBespoke sculpture with airplanes to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the famous aircraft base.
2017
Garden at ChelseaOur first show garden at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, sponsored by Savills, designed by Nic Howard. Delighted team in front of Aeon.
2018
Tycho BraheIn collaboration with St Johns College, Santa Fe, David Harber built the only working version of Tycho Brahe's equatorial armillary sphere from the famous Danish astronomer's 400-year-old drawings.
2019
Second TimeMaintaining social distancing while receiving our second Queen's Award for International Trade from the Deputy Lieutenant of Oxfordshire.
2020
New York, New YorkLaunch of our roof terrace garden showroom at the Decoration & Design Building in Manhattan. Designed by Janice Parker for Christoper Peacock.
2020
Art Meets EngineeringProud of this one – both beautiful and built to withstand winds of 100mph. At Port St. Lucie, Florida.
2021
Giving BackPartnership with the Regenerative Agroforestry Impact Network – or RAIN. We are investing in the growing of Pernambuco trees, regenerating the rainforest and used to make bows for stringed instruments.
2022
First Design Collaboration It was with jewellery designer Annoushka Ducas. Sycamore is a revolving garden seat that is a scaled up version of one of Annouska's golden charms.
2023
Immense GratitudeNone of this would have been possible without the skill and support of our craftspeople and all of our incredible team past and present.
2024
