James Miller Wilkins: Founder of Sculptured Crafts Scotland 

My love of history grew from my early surroundings; I was born in what was Lord Strathconna’s House in Glencoe, a remote Highland glen in Argyllshire on the west coast of Scotland. As a boy I grew up on the home farms of many grand estates; Earl of Moray’s at Darnaway, Lord McKenzie’s at Dolphinton, Colonel Balfour’s at Dawcyk, Lady Dundas’s at Arniston. Being brought up in such impressive surroundings with their majestic stately homes I became fascinated with old buildings, their history and history in general, a fascination, which is still with me to this day. 

It was my love of history that when I semi retired, led me to found Sculptured Crafts and the production of our medieval Knight figure. We have produced many figures over the last five years culminating in our personalised Chivalric Orders series of Knights and Knight Busts, the first of which was the Knight Templar figure. 

One may ask, why a Knight Templar figure? 

The answer to this question lies in the last estate I mentioned, the Dundas Estate at Arniston and the nearby village of Temple, Midlothian, formally called; Balantrodach. A name which will be familiar to those who know their Templar history. 

In 1127, Hugues de Paynes, the first Grand Master of the Knights Templars visited Scotland and met with the Scottish King, David I.  A consquence of this meeting was that King David granted the Knight Templars land in Balantrodach which became the principal Templar Preceptory and seat in Scotland. What is now the Dundas Estate, was the original Templar estate granted to Hughes de Paynes almost 900 years ago and in the middle of this Estate stands Arniston House, a grand Palladian style mansion. If you ever find yourself in or near Edinburgh, Scotland, Arniston House and the Dundas Estate is well worth a visit; http://www.arniston-house.co.uk Less than 10 miles from Arniston House you will also find Rosslyn Chapel. 

The figures you see displayed on our web site are the product of many months of development; from the original sculpture through various amendments to what we believe are outstanding obje d'art.

James is the Chairman of The Christian Triangle Ltd., which Sculptured Crafts is a separate part of.' For the present Sculptured Crafts use the Christian Triangle Ltd PayPal payments system..