When, over a decade ago, two fountaineers lit the fuse to start their new father-and-son partnership, they had no idea of the magnitude of the explosion. Their chosen medium, water, was to prove as unpredictable as had their individual lives of high-octane adventure. To become fountaineers was an unusual choice, and their escapades with water have provided them with many excitements, yet as fountain-makers they have become important new members of a long and fascinating tradition.

Water’s therapeutic and decorative powers have been acknowledged and exploited since antiquity, but never more so than today. Harnessing the magical power of water has, by pure chance, become an enduring challenge for Ranulf and Giles Rayner. This inventive duo have created a large number of innovative fountains, both at home and abroad, and their sculpture, combining detailed naturalism with extreme modernism, exploits the fickle properties of water with spectacular results.

Since starting their enterprise commissions for fountains have taken Ranulf and Giles all over the world. The dynamic partnership has resulted in the building of water sculptures in many different genres, ranging from the purely traditional to the most extreme cutting-edge modernity, and has exploited the special effects of water in novel and exciting ways.

Fountains are now essential features in new urban developments and in large well-designed gardens, and Ranulf and Giles Rayner have never been busier. In this handsomely illustrated book, Jenny Pery explores their remarkable and adventurous lifestyles, discusses the background to their work, and reveals their achievements as leaders in the field.

Jenny Pery is an artist and art historian. She is the author of numerous titles on British art including books on Anthony Eyton, Benedict Rubbra, Daphne Todd, Claude Rogers, Solomon J. Solomon, John Dodgson, Edward Piper, Robert Organ and Alan Cotton.

Imprint: Halstar. ISBN 978 1 906690 27 4, hardback, 260x270mm, 144 pages. Published October 2010.