For almost four decades, Jim Partridge (b.1953) and Liz Walmsley (b.1952) have been among the leading voices in contemporary British furniture making. Working from their studio near Oswestry on the Welsh border, they have developed a distinctive body of work that combines exceptional craftsmanship with a deep sensitivity to material, landscape and place.
Partridge studied at John Makepeace’s influential Parnham House School for Craftsmen in Wood during the 1970s, while Walmsley began her career in ceramics before turning her attention to furniture and collaborative design. Since 1986 they have worked in partnership, designing and making furniture, sculptural objects and ambitious site-specific commissions. Alongside their collaborative practice, Partridge continues to create the carved and turned vessels for which he is widely admired.
Their work is rooted in a profound understanding of wood as both material and subject. Frequently working with green oak, ash and other native timbers, they embrace the natural character of the material, allowing grain, movement, texture and the passage of time to inform the final form. Many pieces are carved from solid timber before being scorched, brushed and polished to create richly textured surfaces that reveal the inherent beauty and complexity of the wood. The resulting works occupy a compelling space between furniture and sculpture: functional objects that possess a powerful physical presence and a strong sense of place.
Landscape has always been central to their practice. Whether creating furniture for domestic interiors or large-scale public commissions, Partridge and Walmsley seek to make work that is both grounded and enduring. As they have often said, their ambition is to create “work with a strong but quiet presence in the landscape.” This philosophy has informed a career that has successfully bridged craft, design, architecture and environmental art.
Their work has been commissioned for a wide range of public projects and cultural institutions, including Grizedale Forest, Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Compton Verney, Ruthin Craft Centre and RHS Wisley. Their furniture and sculptural works are held in major public collections including the Victoria & Albert Museum, the Crafts Council Collection, Manchester Art Gallery, the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, the British Council Collection, the Kyoto Museum of Modern Art, Japan, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Widely respected for their contribution to contemporary craft and design, Partridge and Walmsley have exhibited internationally throughout their careers and were shortlisted for the LOEWE Craft Prize in 2019. Their work continues to demonstrate how furniture can transcend function, becoming a powerful expression of material, landscape and human connection to the natural world.
The Scottish Gallery has exhibited their work since the early 1990s, celebrating a partnership whose influence on contemporary furniture making remains profound.
