BAZ MANNING, FSHA (Retired)
Baz’s artistic formats include Shield Maker, Heraldic Artist, Heraldic Researcher, Recorder and Photographer. The initial talent – that of Shield Maker – separates him from the bulk of heraldic artists working today, as he is one of only a tiny handful worldwide who have mastered the art of working with, and painting and gilding on, wood, metal and glass.
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 Knights’ 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 lecturers 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 CastleElected 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
Appointed heraldic artist to the Honourable Society of Middle Temple
Designed and made the table shield as an alternative to the table banner. Cut from wood in various historic shield shapes and painted with the arms of the client (see the illustration of the Wooten crest).
Commissioned by the Royal Household to record the heraldry in the Albert Memorial Chapel, Windsor Castle (see Books below)
Made a Fellow of the Heraldry Society, the first heraldic artist since Anthony Wood and John Ferguson decades before.
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)
- The Armory and Armorial of the Albert Memorial Chapel, a private commission from the Royal Household. A complete photographic catalogue of the heraldry in digital form recorded and listed separately in alphabetical order. Assisted by Stephen Slater, FHS.
Apart from Lincoln’s Inn all the armories below area available as MS Word documents by contacting the author.
- The Armory of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, included as part of the Heraldry Society’s ‘Armorials or the Order of the Garter’ available from the Heraldry Society’s online shop.
- The Goldsmiths’ Armory.
- The Gunmakers’ Armory.
- The Stationers’ Armory.
- The Skinners’ Hall Armory.
- The Gray’s Inn Armory.
- The Middle Temple Armory.
- The Inner Temple Armory (being written 2025). Along with the arms in Temple Church this will complete the recording of the heraldry in all the Inns of Court in the City of London.
- The Armory of Parliament and the Palace of Westminster (being written).
All artwork remains Copyright © The Artist and/or Armiger unless otherwise indicated