IVES, Ernest

1934 - 2014

Ernest Herbert Ives was born at Burnham-on-Crouch, Essex on 8 February 1934, son of Herbert Philip Ives (5 March 1909-1979), a barge mate & rigger, and his wife Alice Rachel née Cardnell (born 18 June 1913), who married at Maldon, Essex in 1933 and in 1939 were living at 4 Ditney Road, Burnham-on-Crouch. Ernie was educated at Burnham Council School and on leaving, was apprenticed to boat-builder R. J. Prior 1948-1960, and then spent two winters in the south of Jordan on his National Service. Taking a correspondence course to become a woodwork teacher, in 1961 he obtained a position in Woking, Surrey and, with a frequent train service, often visited London shows and exhibitions. At a Do-it-Yourself exhibition where the Marquetry Society had a stand Ernie noted there was a marquetry group at Guildford, Surrey which was a couple of stations from Woking. An elderly lady held the meetings in her spacious flat when Ernie, with a photo of a boat that he thought of making, was given the veneers, and shown how to work and he took the completed marquetry picture to the following meeting. He went on to become a stalwart of the Marquetry Society being the editor of its magazine, ‘The Marquetarian’ for over 25 years. Ernie’s expertise in the field of wood microtomy and for the production of high-quality section slides, was known throughout the world and for his relentless quest to find the most successful techniques for preparing many of the difficult section timbers and his microscopy expertise also extended to the production of micro slides of insects. In 1984 Ernest became a self-employed marquetarian and microscopist living at 63 Church Lane, Sproughton, Ipswich from where he ran the Sproughton Marquetry Group. Ernest Herbert Ives died at Sproughton on 26 February 2014. The author of ‘A Guide to Wood Microtomy: Making quality Microslides of Wood Sections’ and ‘Marquetry - A Beginner's Guide’.

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Works by This Artist