Persona

Phillips, John

1930-1999

Born, London 24/10/1930. Died, Essex 30/07/1999.
John Phillips was born in London, and after his marriage, spent the rest of his life in Essex. On his first day in Primary School he was taken into a classroom with a frieze of Egypt round the walls and was instantly and completely smitten; it was a devotion which lasted for the rest of his life and which influenced much of his work.
John was a Master Craftsman who could turn his hand to working in any material; his first job on leaving school was designing record sleeves for Decca Records; he made marquetry boxes and trays, and designed gun cases and cabinets for Asprey's as well as producing a range of designs for their wrapping paper. He also designed mosaic floors and furniture, worked in copper, carved in wood, painted World War II aircraft, produced detailed pictures of motorcycles in scraper-board, and engraved on marble and glass.
At his house in Theydon Bois he engraved a life-size figure of Horus on marble for his front porch; he also engraved on glass, in reverse and from the back, a map of the world which took up much of a wall in the dining room.
After a major stroke in 1977 he started to make jewellery, and spent the rest of his life producing exquisite pieces for his friends, mostly based on the Egyptian Gods, animals and hieroglyphs and symbols.
He had an eclectic range of interests including archery, target shooting, and the aeroplanes of World War II, and he was a voracious reader.

• Info.: Ms Susan Cockyll, donor of the collection.