As far as dream sequences go, Alex Moss found himself being asked to create a fairly nightmarish one.

The brief came from movie-maker Tim Burton, concept-deep into the creation of the 1999 film Sleepy Hollow. Alex’s job was to create a torture chamber... using 17th-century tools, so the manufacture was ultra-realistic. “Yes, a little grisly!” says Alex. “But Tim Burton was fanatical. He would produce detailed drawings of each prop he’d like in the film – in fascinating detail – even if they were only to appear on sceen for a second.”

Originally a PE and maths teacher in Islington, Alex had become frustrated with the politics of the profession and joined his brother Ollie’s furniture design business, learning first-hand the joy of metalwork. The duo had a busy workshop in Shoreditch, east London; a hive of fledgling creativity which, as Alex modestly says, meant it was natural that he also came to work with visionary fashion designer Alexander McQueen.

“The catwalk show was crazy, unforgettable,” he says, “as much about the drama as anything. It all followed [McQueen’s] theme and the atmosphere backstage was frantic.”

Alex’s brutal yet delicate metal work was employed crafting sculptural skirts and head-cages, complete with stuffed birds (and also sometimes live ones) worn by Erin O’Connor and styled by Katy England on catwalks and in state-of-the-art ’90s ad campaigns.

However, aside from the odd collaboration with high-street names, it was bed-making that was the bread-and-butter of the brothers’ business. Thanks to word of mouth, the Mosses sold “hundreds and hundreds” of beds, forged in steel and each as varied and striking as the customer for whom it was designed. One frame (below) of curlicued ‘Z’s was forged after a customer asked simply for “a bed which will send me to sleep”. Such is the lasting, bespoke appeal of these fairly inexpensive beds that dozens of customers have sent Alex pictures of themselves tucked up in their creations.

One customer – Alison Chadwick – got more than she bargained for when she commissioned a “very classic, French, feminine wrought-iron bed”. When Alex delivered the finished article, it’s fair to say that Alison fell hook, line and sinker for its maker. The couple fell in love and were married at Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, four years later. “Yes, we’ve had all the jokes about making your bed and lying in it,” says Alex. “Many times.”

Said bed is now at Alison’s mother’s house nearby. And, by way of replacement, Alex made an even bigger bed which takes pride of place in the lovingly refurbished Deddington cottage the couple now live in with their two daughters and their retriever. It is an achingly pretty village setting, with Alex working from a forge – a 200-year-old beamed building so low and crooked that he has to stoop to fit inside – which used to be a stained-glass window maker’s shop.

In the showroom, a large bloodshot eyeball, a retro relic from Blackpool Illuminations, glares from one corner at the mix of Alex’s hand-crafted items – and found ones.

Alex admits antiques are ‘in the blood’ having grown up with antique dealer parents, often manning the shop in Camden Passage. Alex’s mum runs Annie’s Vintage Clothes, a mecca among vintage fans, and worked on the costumes for Great Expectations. “In my childhood, there was always something being made or restored,” says Alex. “I loved helping out, the market atmosphere, the excitement of finding a gem, and, of course, being surrounded by all those great characters.”

Alex still travels up to the London market a few times a week, as does Alison, for her work as an executive coach. But the village is the idyllic hub for the family – and with just the merest hint of birdsong, it feels a world away from London.

It was, in fact, Alison who felt the magnetic pull of Oxfordshire, having grown up in nearby Charlbury where her father was a vicar at the church for 18 years. “I’m a country girl at heart” she says. Alison read English at Christ Church, Oxford – the same alma mater as Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, who became Lewis Carroll, creator of the Alice legend.

With their girls at the village school and now part of the friendly community and creative scene in Deddington, Alex takes part in the monthly village market and also sees people by appointment at their Kempster Place base.

On May 18–19 and 25–26, he will stage displays of his handiwork for Artweeks, taking his mighty anvil outside to forge in the open air, so visitors can see the sparks fly. “I still love what you can do with metal, just as much as I did when I started” says Alex. “Cold, you can do a lot, and when you heat it up, you can do... anything!”

And, with the orders being just as eclectic as ever, Alex is also getting the chance to make more items fired by his own imagination.

“It’s wonderful to make something to order. “But the real joy is having a free rein over what I make,” he says.

 

 

 

Forged & Found,
Kempster Place, Deddington, OX15 0TB
forgedandfound.com