Awestruck by the sight of a Grinling Gibbons carving in a London church, David Esterly chose to dedicate his life to the art its physical control, intricate beauty and intellectual demands. Forty years later, he is the foremost practitioner of Gibbons s forgotten technique, which revolutionised ornamental sculpture in the late 1600s. After a fire at Hampton Court Palace in 1986 destroyed much of Gibbons s masterpiece, the job fell to David Esterly to restore his idol s work to its former glory. It turned out to be the most challenging year in Esterley s life, forcing him to question his abilities and delve deeply into what it means to make something well."