Nina Bilbey, the Senior Stone Carving Tutor at the City & Guilds of London Art School, the internationally highly respected centre of architectural and sculptural stone carving, has been presented with this year’s Prince Philip Medal.
The Stone Specialist writes:
Nina received the medal from HRH The Princess Royal, Princess Anne, at St James’s Palace in Westminster, London, on 8 June.
First presented in 1962, it is awarded to an individual who has displayed outstanding achievement in their career, or who has demonstrated excellence in their workplace. Nina was selected for her outstanding leadership as both a stone carver and teacher. As stated at the ceremony proceedings: ‘As well as truly walking the City & Guilds path in her own right, Nina is continually helping many others to do the same. As a guardian of our historic buildings her work will stand tall for centuries to come and generations of craftspeople will follow in her footsteps guided by her inspiration and teaching.’
Nina has been involved in many incredibly challenging and ambitious restoration projects across the country, working on some of the UK’s most recognisable landmarks. Her phenomenal skills have been critical to projects of major national historic importance, including the Houses of Parliament, The Royal Pavilion Brighton and Hereford Cathedral. Nina’s astounding talent as a stone carver has brought numerous commissions including statues for Hampton Court flower show, gargoyles for St Pancras Station and statues for Saint George’s Chapel, Windsor. She also took great pride in assisting with the design of various sculptures that decorated the Royal Barge for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in 2012.
One of her most recent commissions, which she is particularly proud of, has been the design and carving of two statues of Her Majesty the Queen and His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh for the front of Canterbury Cathedral. They were unveiled by the royal couple in March 2015 and are the first sculptures to depict them as a pair. Nina says the Lavoux à Grain French limestone statues of the royal couple at Canterbury Cathedral were, at the time, the highlight of her career, which now spans more than 20 years. But, she says, a new carving in Portland Weatherbed she is currently working on for a park in Folkestone is even better.
