How one chef brought a forgotten craft back to Britain, and built a business stretching half a century
A company that single-handedly brought ice sculpting back to Britain after it had died out across Western Europe is celebrating 50 years in business.
Across half a century the London-based Hamilton Ice Sculptors has delivered a string of amazing projects including carving canapé garnishes for London’s top hotels to building 400-tonne walkthrough attractions.
They’ve even sculpted driving cars fitted with wheels made of ice.
The business was founded in 1976 by Duncan Hamilton, a chef who had worked the kitchens of The Mirabelle, Le Caprice and The Dorchester before turning his attention to sculpting food into art. A year later he appeared on the BBC’s Blue Peter carving ice live on air, an early sign of how far the craft would travel beyond hotel banquets.
Fifty years on, the company is run by Duncan’s son Jamie alongside a small team of specialist sculptors, and its work now spans visitor attractions, public art, theatre sets, global ad campaigns and props for major film and TV productions.
“Reaching 50 years is a significant moment for our family and everyone who has been part of Hamilton Ice Sculptors,” said Jamie. “My father began at a time when professional ice sculpture barely existed in the UK. Since then the work has moved far beyond individual decorative pieces. We’ve created complete environments, worked with artists and theatre companies, supported global campaigns and used ice to communicate serious messages about the world around us.”
Some of the studio’s most striking work has turned the material’s biggest weakness, the fact that it melts, into its message. For the Ice Bear Project, undertaken with wildlife sculptor Mark Coreth and supported by WWF, a life-size bronze polar bear skeleton was frozen inside a block of ice and sculpted live on the streets of major cities including Copenhagen, London and Toronto. As members of the public touched it, the ice melted away to leave only the bronze bones, a visible demonstration of what disappearing Arctic sea ice means for the animals that depend on it.
“Ice is unlike any other sculpting material because it changes in front of you,” said Duncan. “In some projects, that change becomes the message. The Ice Bear showed how sculpture could make a subject such as climate change feel immediate and visible. People could watch the bear disappear and understand the meaning without needing it explained to them.”
“There is no single type of Hamilton Ice project,” Jamie added. “Some commissions are designed to entertain thousands of people. Others support an artist, a theatre production or a film set. That variety has kept the company moving forward for 50 years. We’re proud of our history, but the aim remains the same as it was at the beginning: to keep testing what is possible and create things people haven’t seen before.”
BOX: Six of Hamilton Ice Sculptors’ biggest projects from the last 50 years
- The Magical Ice Kingdom, Hyde Park Winter Wonderland (2012–present)
An immersive walkthrough attraction built from more than 400 tonnes of ice and snow, redesigned every year around a new story, sometimes fiction, sometimes entirely original, complete with tunnels, characters and interactive features. - The Ice Bear Project (with WWF and sculptor Mark Coreth)
A life-size bronze polar bear skeleton frozen inside a block of ice and carved live on the streets of Copenhagen, London and Toronto, melting in front of the public to reveal the bones beneath, a stark statement on Arctic ice loss. - The Attenborough Head, Tenzing’s Take Action campaign (2021)
A two-metre ice portrait of Sir David Attenborough, built from five cubic metres of ice beside the Thames at Gabriel’s Wharf, representing the volume of Arctic sea ice lost every fortnight to the average UK resident’s carbon emissions. - Lexus NX Ice Wheels (2015)
The wheels and tyres of a Lexus NX, tread pattern included, were digitally scanned and recreated entirely in ice, then fitted to the car and driven along a London street for one of the studio’s most technically demanding projects. - Polar Ice Bar, Edinburgh (2012–present)
A pop-up Christmas ice bar in the Scottish capital where the bar, seating and glasses are all carved from ice, themed each year around Scottish folklore or original fantastical designs. - Film and television props
Specialist ice pieces created for major productions including Frankenstein, Captain America, Ammonite, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, Mission: Impossibleand Your Highness, alongside numerous television commercials.
