Marcus Hunt was born in London, England in 1961, but spent most of his childhood in the leafy county of Surrey. On leaving school in 1978 he was apprenticed to his father Ken Hunt.
However, the seeds of the craft had already been sown many years before. His father has worked from home since 1964 and on more than one occasion he allowed his young son to pick up a graver and often set him at a small vice to scratch away at a piece of copper. Often he would fall asleep at night to the gentle tick-ticking of the graver or the rhythmic tapping of hammer on chisel that emanated from his father's studio. Engraving was in his blood so it was only natural for him to follow in his father's footsteps.
Marcus painstakingly learned the traditional engraving methods that had been passed on to a young Ken Hunt by his master, Harry Kell who in turn had been taught by his father. Gradually he mastered the act of pushing graver through steel by hand and the gentle rhythms of hammer and chisel work. He also learned many techniques his father had developed over the years as well as gold inlay and damascene. Always though, his father would emphasize the importance of quality workmanship.
After 8 years working alongside his father, and having built his own list of clients, he set up on his own as a freelance engraver of bespoke shotguns and rifles to the London gun trade. Now living in the Oxfordshire Cotswolds, Marcus is considered by many to be one of England's premier engravers. He has worked on some of the finest sporting guns in the world and is always looking for new and interesting ways of bringing the ancient skill of hand-engraving to a new audience.
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Master engraver shares talent at Glendo
By Scott Rochat
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Marcus spent two weeks at Glendo as an artist in residence, including a week in the research and design area.
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