Blade by Nicola Beattie – a tall, slender, hand-carved elm sculpture with an elongated leaf-like or blade-shaped form. The surface is deeply textured with rhythmic chisel marks, finished in rich reddish-brown tones with areas of darker burnished grain and natural patterning. Mounted on a tall black rectangular base atop a square plinth, the piece stands vertically like a minimalist totem. Its organic contours and refined symmetry evoke ancient tools or ceremonial artefacts, blending contemporary abstraction
Blade by Nicola Beattie – a tall, slender, hand-carved elm sculpture with an elongated leaf-like or blade-shaped form. The surface is deeply textured with rhythmic chisel marks, finished in rich reddish-brown tones with areas of darker burnished grain and natural patterning. Mounted on a tall black rectangular base atop a square plinth, the piece stands vertically like a minimalist totem. Its organic contours and refined symmetry evoke ancient tools or ceremonial artefacts, blending contemporary abstraction
BLADE (One-Off)
Blade by Nicola Beattie – a tall, slender, hand-carved elm sculpture with an elongated leaf-like or blade-shaped form. The surface is deeply textured with rhythmic chisel marks, finished in rich reddish-brown tones with areas of darker burnished grain and natural patterning. Mounted on a tall black rectangular base atop a square plinth, the piece stands vertically like a minimalist totem. Its organic contours and refined symmetry evoke ancient tools or ceremonial artefacts, blending contemporary abstraction
Blade by Nicola Beattie – a tall, slender, hand-carved elm sculpture with an elongated leaf-like or blade-shaped form. The surface is deeply textured with rhythmic chisel marks, finished in rich reddish-brown tones with areas of darker burnished grain and natural patterning. Mounted on a tall black rectangular base atop a square plinth, the piece stands vertically like a minimalist totem. Its organic contours and refined symmetry evoke ancient tools or ceremonial artefacts, blending contemporary abstraction
Blade by Nicola Beattie – a tall, slender, hand-carved elm sculpture with an elongated leaf-like or blade-shaped form. The surface is deeply textured with rhythmic chisel marks, finished in rich reddish-brown tones with areas of darker burnished grain and natural patterning. Mounted on a tall black rectangular base atop a square plinth, the piece stands vertically like a minimalist totem. Its organic contours and refined symmetry evoke ancient tools or ceremonial artefacts, blending contemporary abstraction
Blade by Nicola Beattie – a tall, slender, hand-carved elm sculpture with an elongated leaf-like or blade-shaped form. The surface is deeply textured with rhythmic chisel marks, finished in rich reddish-brown tones with areas of darker burnished grain and natural patterning. Mounted on a tall black rectangular base atop a square plinth, the piece stands vertically like a minimalist totem. Its organic contours and refined symmetry evoke ancient tools or ceremonial artefacts, blending contemporary abstraction
BLADE (One-Off)
Blade by Nicola Beattie – a tall, slender, hand-carved elm sculpture with an elongated leaf-like or blade-shaped form. The surface is deeply textured with rhythmic chisel marks, finished in rich reddish-brown tones with areas of darker burnished grain and natural patterning. Mounted on a tall black rectangular base atop a square plinth, the piece stands vertically like a minimalist totem. Its organic contours and refined symmetry evoke ancient tools or ceremonial artefacts, blending contemporary abstraction
Blade by Nicola Beattie – a tall, slender, hand-carved elm sculpture with an elongated leaf-like or blade-shaped form. The surface is deeply textured with rhythmic chisel marks, finished in rich reddish-brown tones with areas of darker burnished grain and natural patterning. Mounted on a tall black rectangular base atop a square plinth, the piece stands vertically like a minimalist totem. Its organic contours and refined symmetry evoke ancient tools or ceremonial artefacts, blending contemporary abstraction
Nicola Beattie

BLADE (One-Off)

This sculpture is part of a series entitled ‘Blade’.  

This sculpture belongs to a wider body of work inspired by archaeological forms - from Stone Age axes and arrowheads to Bronze Age swords and spearheads. In this piece, Nicola Beattie draws specifically on obsidian spear blades, objects prized in ancient cultures for their naturally sharp edges when knapped, much like flint.

Through close study and drawing of early tools and weapons, Nicola became fascinated by the language of flint knapping - the rhythm of impact, fracture, and refinement. That process is translated here into elm, with the surface worked into deep, irregular textures that echo the struck planes and fractured edges of stone.

The highly textured surface conveys friction, pressure, and turbulence - a quiet reference to conflict and struggle - while the overall form remains poised and controlled. Waxing the elm brings out a natural sheen, catching light across the raised and recessed areas and lending the sculpture a subtle vitality.

As with much of Nicola’s work, the piece balances tension and stillness: a form rooted in the history of warfare, reinterpreted as an object of contemplation, presence, and material integrity.

Size: 114cm x 16cm x 15cm        
Material: Elm
Date: 2024

£5,000.00
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