Our Story

For over 30 years David Harber and his team have been imagining and crafting sculptures, sundials and water features that change the way we see the world. And change the world around us. As if by magic.

The spirit of David

Our story

Humans have long laboured to mark the landscape.
And mark time.
Giving meaning to the world around them.

Deep in the Oxfordshire countryside the tradition continues.
A spirit of mischief, magic and ingenuity.
Put to work in creating sculptures, sundials and water features.

Made of mystery, beauty and great British craftsmanship.
Destined for private gardens, public spaces;
for broad vistas and intimate nooks around the world.

Destined to alter those spaces,
changing how we experience them.

How we think, and feel.

One of a kind

Whether you are buying a classic piece or commissioning a bespoke one, your David Harber will be unique to you. Either it’s inscribed with names, places or thoughts that hold particular meaning, or it’s individual by nature because it is handmade using natural materials.

Classical and contemporary

Our pieces sit as comfortably in an English country garden as in a public space in Florida. They have a timeless quality that makes them both classical and contemporary. At home in any setting. Urban or rural. Public or private.

Part of an ancient tradition

Our sculptures belong to a tradition that reaches back millennia to humans making edifices, totems, circles. These provided adornment and added meaning to their environment. We are part of that tradition, and when you commission a David Harber piece, it is because of your finer human instincts.

Award-winning artworks. All over the world

David Harber artworks have found their way into some of the most prestigious places around the world – from public spaces to luxury developments, boutique hotels to palatial private gardens. Changing those spaces. Altering perceptions.

Celebrating 30 years

1993 And so it begins

An antique dealer friend shows David an armillary sphere. David was instantly captivated by the ancient mathematical principles. He spent his last £20 on buying the materials to make one himself.

1994 First Exhibition

With an armillary sphere and this Samurai sundial, David exhibited his work for the first time at The Barn Gallery, Henley-on-Thames.

1994 Jeremy Irons

The actor Jeremy Irons was one of David’s first clients and has been a loyal supporter of David’s work ever since.

1994 Creativity out of chaos

Not totally state of the art at our old workshop situated in farm buildings on the Bix Estate in Oxfordshire. Happy times, though. Cheers, Richard!

1997 Our range begins to grow

Always bound by the constraints of the gnomon, David created an inspiring portfolio of sundials. (For the uninitiated, a gnomon is the shadow-casting part of a sundial.)

1997 First export

A large armillary sphere was our first export. The piece was destined for Barrington Bank & Trust in Chicago.

1997 First RHS Chelsea Flower Show

We had a tiny budget but lots of driving ambition for our first RHS Chelsea Flower Show. The stand was designed by David Narbett, who had just graduated from the Inchbald School of Design.

1999 First commission for Oxford University

Our earliest David Harber commission for Oxford University was this vertical strip dial for Magdalen College. Over the years we have installed 12 sundials at the universities of Oxford and Cambridge.

1999 Lockhinge

A design for the new century. We initially had an enquiry about making a small horizontal dial, but over lunch the commission evolved into a full-size Stonehenge and model of the solar system. Lockhinge was cited by The Times as one of 10 most inspired millennium commissions.

1999 Millennium Dome

We were asked by the Richard Rogers Partnership to make a multicultural sundial for the Millennium Dome in Greenwich, a location which just happens to be the home of time.

2000 Works outing

David, Sophie and Maya Harber went with employees Rory Elliot, Karen Fry and Richard Heron to the Normandy coast. Amazingly, Karen and Rory are still working with us today.

2001 Three huge spheres

Brass spheres with models of the planets designed to hang from the ceilings of the Pedrosa shopping centre in Barcelona, Spain.

2003 Exhibitions, exhibitions, exhibitions

In our early years, it sometimes felt like we were always on the road showing off our hand-crafted sundials. Often, with a little extra “help” from the little ones.

2004 Eton College

Combining old and new with a gleaming contemporary armillary in the middle of a pagan-inspired stone circle.

2005 Zabeel Park

Cracknell,  the international landscape architects, commissioned this chess-inspired cube sculpture for Dubai’s largest park.

2006 Goodenough College

What a momentous occasion! Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II unveiled our Armillary Sphere, marking the 75th anniversary of Goodenough College, home to London’s brightest postgraduate community.

2007 New workshop

We took another brave step and bought land to build our own workshop, which has served us well. The view of a Bronze Age fort feeds our spirit.

2009 It's in his genes

By chance, David discovers he is a descendant of celebrated Tudor mathematician, astronomer and designer of astronomical instruments, John Blagrave.

2010 The Blagrave Dial

Moved by the discovery of his connection to John Blagrave, David created a bronze replica of his forebear’s armillary sphere from an engraving. It was launched at the Science Museum in London.

2011 Introducing Torus

We launched this now iconic sculpture at The RHS Chelsea Flower Show in 2011.

2013 Windsor Castle

We were honoured to be asked to create a custom sundial modelled on the Order of the Garter for the College of St George.

2016 Our first Queen's Award

The team proudly receiving the Award for Enterprise and International Trade for the first time.

2016 Kips Bay Showhouse

Prestigious appearance of Torus on a sky-scraping Manhattan roof terrace. In collaboration with landscape architects Hollander Design.

2017 RAF Brize Norton

We crafted a striking, bespoke sculpture, complete with iconic British aircraft, to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the famous aircraft base, RAF Brize Norton.

2018 First show garden at RHS Chelsea

Our first show garden at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show was sponsored by Savills and designed by Nic Howard.

2019 Tycho Brahe

In collaboration with St John’s College, Santa Fe, David Harber built the only working version of Tycho Brahe’s equatorial armillary sphere from the famous Danish astronomer’s 400-year-old drawings.

2020 Our second Queen's Award

Due to the pandemic, we had to maintain social distancing while receiving our second Queen’s Award for International Trade from the Deputy Lieutenant of Oxfordshire.

2021 Art meets engineering

Strong and beautiful, The Spinnakers was designed for a residential development in Port St Lucie in Florida. It was built to withstand winds of over 100mph. Our team had to remotely support local contractors to build the piece as Covid-19 precautions were still in place.

2022 Giving back

David Harber partners with the Regenerative Agroforestry Impact Network (RAIN). The partnership involves investing in the growth of Pernambucco trees and regenerating the Amazon rainforest, both of which contribute to the creation of bows for stringed instruments.

2023 Our first design collaboration

We teamed up with internationally renowned jewellery designer Annoushka Ducas to design Sycamore. It consistes of a revolving seat and a scaled-up version of one of Annoushka’s stunning golden charms.

2024 Immense gratitude

None of this would have been possible without the skill and support of our craftspeople and our incredible team, past and present.

Download our Brochure

Brochure
The Classic Collection
98 pages
Brochure
The Commercial Collection
46 pages