Don’t Take Any (Giant) Wooden Nickels

A craftsman from Scotland has been commissioned to carve a set of giant wooden nickels by Historic Scotland. The aim is to create replicas of the 38 surviving 3-foot diameter wooden head roundels that originally adorned the ceiling of the royal apartments of Stirling Castle.

Historic Scotland has commissioned a local craftsman to recreate a set of wooden heads, above, carved during the Renaissance to decorate the royal apartments of Stirling Castle for King James V.

John Donaldson has put aside almost five years of his life and used the same painstaking techniques of his ancestors to replicate the Stirling Heads.

His work is part of a plan to rebuild the ornate ceiling of the King’s Presence Chambers as it would have looked in 1538.

The carvings depict imps, classical heroes and nobles. They were used to adorn the coffered ceilings in one of the most important rooms of the palace until 1777 when the roof collapsed, destroying much of the grandeur.

About 38 original roundels, some of which are more than a yard (a metre) in diameter, still survive although there is evidence that at least 46 were made. Mr Donaldson’s job is to copy them and make three or four new ones to his own design.

I just love that line: "when the roof collapsed, destroying much of the grandeur." That is classic. Eventually, the originals will remain on display while the replicas are to be installed in the newly un-collapsed roof. Anyway, here's an article from 2004 on the Historic Scotland website that has a picture of Donaldson holding one of the manhole cover sized carvings. (It also appears to be taking longer than originally planned.)