hone at home

What do you think of our new Ionic capital? It was made by master plaster caster Peter Hone and it's absolutely my favourite new thing. With work, we recently commissioned Peter to make about twenty very large casts (including an extraordinary 4' x 6' griffin plaque) for the decoration of a house's grand stair hall in Wiltshire. A selection of his smaller pieces can also be found at Pentreath & Hall. After years of yearning, I'm so happy to finally have a piece of Hone to call my own. Until the capital can be hung safely in our hallway, we've put it in the sitting room fireplace, and crowned it with a pineapple.

We collected the capital from Peter's flat a couple of weekends ago. For half a century Peter has lived on the same West London square - his flat is one of the most incredible homes I've ever been lucky enough to visit. The walls are covered from floor to ceiling with his wonderful plaster casts. The place is a pantheon to classical ornamentation in the spirit of collector Sir John Soane, bursting with busts, urns and architectural fragments collected over the years.

Peter and his (extremely) energetic little dog Basil. I completely adore this quote from Peter: 'Asking how many plaster casts I've made in my life is like asking how many peas one's podded in the pea factory.' O ho! My collection of Peter Hone plaster casts has has started life...