David Kindersley, lettercutter, sculptor and inventor, started his workshop near Cambridge in 1946, having been apprenticed to Eric Gill. He was joined in 1976 by Lida Lopes Cardozo, beginning a partnership which lasted until David’s death in 1995. The workshop moved to its present address in Victoria Road, Cambridge in 1977. Now run by Lida, his widow, with her husband Graham Beck, it consists usually of two lettercutters and three apprentices. Teaching is a vital part of workshop life.
Lida Kindersley is dedicated to the increase of good lettering in the world. She carves letters in stone and other media; designs typefaces; runs the Cardozo Kindersley Workshop in Cambridge; trains apprentices in lettercutting by hand, each usually staying for three years; and writes and publishes books on all these subjects.
Lida and her assistants make letters in stone, glass, metal, paper and wood, including headstones, commemmorative plaques, heraldic carving, sundials, typefaces, bookplates and lettering cut straight into buildings. They cut with hammer and chisel and avoid using machines. They design, cut, paint, gild and prefer to fix all their own work.
