Join Stephen Walker as he brings experimental archaeology to life, recreating the molding and carving techniques behind medieval Celtic jewelry and metalwork. The subject of Celtic jewelry has been a source of inspiration for artists, historians, and designers alike, yet the true methods behind its intricate craftsmanship remain a fascinating mystery. Drawing from decades as a working craftsman, Walker explores how the breathtaking designs of the Golden Age of Celtic art (650-950 AD) were made—not with lost wax casting or clay molds, as long assumed, but with a technique that mimics traditional woodcarving. By reexamining treasures like the Ardagh Chalice and St. Ninian’s Isle brooches, Walker uncovers this overlooked method, revealing the surprising simplicity behind some of history’s most exquisite metalwork.

Stephen Walker is an American, born to a Scottish and Irish family in New York State. At age eleven, his grandmother gifted him a book about the Book of Kells, which was his first exposure to Celtic art. Later that same year, the family moved to Andover, NY, where the school art teacher, William MacCrea, encouraged him to develop his own art in the Celtic style. Eventually, this led to his career as a jeweler in the Celtic style, which he has now pursued for fifty years. Stephen met his wife, Susan, when he was studying metalsmithing and jewelry design at Syracuse University (BFA 1980). He went on for an MFA, specializing in married metals and mokume-gane at SIU Carbondale in 1982. With Susan, he founded Walker Metalsmiths, a craftsman-based company designing and making jewelry. Always fascinated with the technical, as well as the cultural aspects of Celtic art, Stephen has researched extensively on the methods that were used to create the metalwork of the early medieval period. He has presented papers at the International Insular Art Conference since 2011. He authored a book titled The Modern History of Celtic Jewellery that tells the story of the revival of the Celtic style in jewelry from 1840 to 1980.