Bernard Winskill was born in Wigan. He developed a deep love of horses during his childhood working at Lord Dudley’s stud. He attended St Martin’s School of Art, London and then Kennington School of Art where he concentrated on sculpture. He became a designer and modeller and also bred horses before joining the Royal Worcester design team in 1968. His first commission was to work on a series of figures of famous Military Commanders on horseback. He always paid great attention to the detail of the uniforms and the movement of the horses and as these large pieces were always assembled and painted by hand there are always tiny differences between individual examples.
Many of Winskills models were also cast in bronze at the Royal Worcester foundry in Severn Street. A traditional lost-wax casting method was used to create a series of models with great style and movement.
Bernard lived and worked in his own studio near Axminster in Devon, but made frequent trips to Worcester to check on the progress of his models through the factory. He died on 6 October 1980.
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