The magical Harry Potter cabinet handcarved by Lincoln company

A local business specialising in bespoke wood designs has conjured up an incredible cabinet straight out of the world of Harry Potter.

The painstaking piece of art features the Hogwarts Sorting Hat, Scabbers the rat, Albus Dumbledore’s Elder Wand, Lord Voldermort’s pet snake Nagini and the feet of Ravenclaw.

Ian Starks, 51, the brains and hands behind Northmark Ltd, spent over 150 hours on the piece.

The client, an avid Harry Potter, fan is said to be delighted with the finished product.

The cabinet in all its glory. | Photo: Ellis Karran for The Lincolnite

Ian boasts over 25 years of experience in the furniture design trade, completing requests from all over the globe from his workshop at Stirlin Business Park in Saxilby.

Every piece of timber in the cabinet was carefully hand-carved by Ian and another local business, Allen Stichler Woodcarving.

Stunning attention to detail throughout. | Photo: Ellis Karran for The Lincolnite

A close-up look at the Elder Wand, which has been styled like a handle. | Photo: Ellis Karran for The Lincolnite

Ian said, much like his other projects over the last 16 years, this cabinet was made out of a labour of love, becoming obsessed with the fine details and quality of his design.

“The client came to us with a design and it is my job to bring that to life,” he told The Lincolnite.

“Stuff like this is very personal so you become immersed in the project. It is sometimes hard to remember you are a business designed to turn over profit when you get so emotionally invested into a design.

“As a cabinet-maker by trade I have always taken great pride in the work I do, I couldn’t wait to start working on this piece and watching it evolve before my eyes was amazing.”

Each prop was carefully hand carved, taking over 150 hours in total to piece the cabinet together. | Photo: Ellis Karran for The Lincolnite

| Photo: Ellis Karran for The Lincolnite

The client was presented with the cabinet on Friday, and Ian said it was recieved even better than he could have anticipated.

“The customer was blown away by the whole piece and loved every detail. Happy would be an understatement right now, and moments like that are what make my job such a joy.”

The props took hours upon hours to perfect, with Nagini the snake, for instance, being made up of nine pieces of timber, the sorting hat requiring 15 pieces and Scabbers the rat needing just one timber piece.

Remarkably, none of the wood was carved or moulded with a machine, which is almost hard to believe when you compare the raw material to the finished product.

| Photo: Ellis Karran for The Lincolnite

How the oak looks before it is treated and carved into a furniture piece. | Photo: Ellis Karran for The Lincolnite

Discussing the Harry Potter elements of the piece, Ian says: “It’s an ode to and our interpretation of such a globally famous franchise, we’ve tried doing the Harry Potter series justice as well as the customer.

“Despite the rising costs over the last couple of years, one thing I have never sacrificed is the quality I promise my customers.

“My drive is to create things that incorporate tradition with modern methods, and above all else to make something unique – because there’s so many off-the-shelf standard items out there at the moment.

“You really reap the rewards of this when you step back and present it to the customer.”

For more information on Ian’s business, or to enquire about getting a piece commissioned for yourself, visit Northmark’s website, or alternatively his Facebook and Instagram pages to see more of Ian’s work.

| Photo: Ellis Karran for The Lincolnite

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