BAZ MANNING, FSHA (Retired)

Baz’s artistic formats include Shield Maker, Heraldic Arts, Heraldic Researcher, Recording, and Pho-tography. The initial talent – that of Shield Maker – separates him from the bulk of heraldists working today, as he is one of only a tiny handful worldwide who have mastered the art of working with, and painting on, wood and other media.

Baz’s career included two very important clients – the House of Lords, where he painted the heraldry on the inside walls, and Windsor Castle, where he had painted the Garter Knight’s shields since the restoration of St George’s Chapel. He attended the Artists’ Workshop of the Ottawa Heraldry Congress of 1996. Baz edited the SHA Newsletter and turned it into The Heraldic Craftsman.

Baz painted since the age of 4 and signwrote his first commercial sign when he was 15. After a period as a painter in the Royal Air Force and the civilian spraying industry, he retrained to master his first love of signwriting. It was while at college that he was introduced to heraldry as an art form; the lec-turers had the same enlightened approach as the pre-20th century artisans that all signwriters should have a working knowledge of the subject. He had been brought up to see heraldry as a normal part of life by a grandfather and great uncle who told him stories about ancient family heraldry, ancestral castles, religious and political disputes, peerages and the College of Arms. The reintroduction to the subject as a mature student catapulted him onto the heraldic stage within a matter of a few brief years.

Notable Accomplishments

  • Appointed heraldic artist to the Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn.
  • Appointed heraldic artist for the Empire Test Pilots’ School, Royal Air Force
  • Attended the Artists’ Workshop at the 22nd Congress of Genealogical and Heraldic Sciences, Ottawa as the guest of the Canadian Heraldic Authority
  • Received the Burnett-Weston Prize for Excellence in Heraldic Art
  • Commissioned to paint a series of the arms of the 15 British Prime Ministers who have been members of Lincoln’s Inn over the past 3 centuries. These now hang in the Great Hall of Lincoln’s Inn
  • Appointed shield maker to the Worshipful Company of Gunmakers
  • Organised the Heraldic Art Exhibition for the Heraldry Society Congress in Gloucester
    Appointed heraldic artist to the House of Lords
  • Appointed shield maker to the High Sheriffs of Oxfordshire
  • Appointed heraldic artist to the Dean of Windsor Castle
  • Became shield painter to the Royal Household for the Most Noble Order of the Garter at Windsor Castle
  • Elected to the Council of the Heraldry Society
    Appointed heraldic artist to the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths
  • Appointed heraldic artist, shield painter and signwriter to the Speaker of the House of Commons
  • Appointed heraldic artist to the Honourable Society of Gray’s Inn

Books

  • The Old Panels of Lincoln’s Inn, a slide and photographic catalogue of the heraldic panels from 1742-1901 (Private publication for the Inn, 2000)
  • Contributed text and photos to The Complete Book of Heraldry by Stephen Slater (2002)
  • The 4th Heraldic Armory of Lincoln’s Inn, a full catalogue of the vast amount of heraldry within the Inn, by name and blazon with extensive notes and dozens of pages of cross-referenced indexes (Private publication on CD for the Inn, 2004)
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