[8][9][10][11][12][b] In the view of John Nash and Gerald Fleuss, his workshop "produced, from the 40s to the 60s, some of the most distinguished public lettering in England".

[14] The son of a baker, Sharpington studied at the City and Guilds of London Art School and started his career working as an assistant in the workshop of Percy Delf Smith from about 1920 to 1935.

[8][3][e] (Giving a memorial lecture to Delf Smith in 1946, M. C. Oliver commented that Sharpington "specializes in painted lettering of fine quality".

[6]) In addition, tastes changed and the practice of signwriting declined after his career, meaning his work was often not replaced with similar designs.

[2] However, photographs exist of some of his lost work[17][14][40] and other examples survive which were made of stone or kept indoors in protected locations such as government buildings and churches.