BIOGRAPHY
John Elwell (born 1949, British)
The sculptural aluminium models of John Elwell are unique in their concept and construction, and unique in fact – each piece is a one-off, one of a kind, a limited edition of one example only.
A former engineer, and an enthusiastic racer and restorer of iconic automobiles, aircraft and motorcycles, Elwell’s passion lies with the art of powered transport. His technique is remarkable – working from blueprint drawings, each model is created as a steel space-frame over which hand-cut panels of aluminium are formed in much the same way as race cars of the pre-1970s era. The wheels on his car models are cast aluminium, with hand-turned ebonized ‘tyres’. Extensive hand-polishing and fettling leads to a superb and striking end product, the result of between 300 and 400 hours of work.
Elwell prefers to work to a large, dramatic scale – the model of Henry Seagrave’s land speed record breaking ‘Golden Arrow’ for example measured an impressive 50? (125 cm) in length.
As mentioned above, each model is unique and once made will never be re-created. We illustrate here an archive of the models commissioned exclusively by Pullman Gallery over the past few years. We usually commission models of particularly interesting machines – Bluebird, Supermarine S5, Boeing ‘Dixie Clipper’, Graf Zeppelin to name but four – but will be pleased to consider requests for special commissions from clients. Please contact us for the current availability of the models.
All images and text copyright © Pullman Gallery Ltd. 2023
