Reredos
Edward Pierce (c.1635 - 1695)
Date
circa 1682 - 1685
Materials
Oak, limewood (and possibly elm)
Place of origin
London
Collection
Polesden Lacey, Surrey
NT 1248794
Summary
An oak and limewood (and possibly elm) reredos, circa 1682-85 (later reconfigured), carved by Edward Pearce (d. 1695), sculptor, carver and mason, for the church of St Matthew, Friday Street, London. In three sections, the central section topped by a segmental arched pediment with foliate corbels and egg and dart-carved mouldings, raised on Corinthian columns topped by urn finials, flanking a pair of panels with arch-headed acanthus-carved mouldings and beneath a floral swag centred by a winged cherub mask, a tablet with an applied foliate swag and a frieze applied with palms, all above a fireplace with a marble surround. The flanking sections now configured as doorcases and featuring cartouche-centred swags, pediments, and flower and foliate-carved drops.
Full description
Edward Pearce (d. 1695) worked on several London churches re-built by Sir Christopher Wren (1632-1723) after the Great Fire of 1666, and was considered one of the leading sculptors and carvers of the last half of the 17th century. The church of St Matthew, Friday Street was demolished in 1885 and this reredos (the ornamental screen covering the wall behind an altar) was acquired by the London decorator White, Allom & Company before being installed - in a slightly reconfigured format - in the hall at Polesden Lacey for Margaret Greville (1863-1942). An earlier age would have seen the installation of woodwork from a sacred, consecrated builidng (the two central arched panels would originally have been painted with The Ten Commandments, or another sacred text) in a secular setting as blasphemous, but in the early 20th century the trade in panelling and interior woodwork was thriving: not only did this reredos endow Polesden Lacey's hall with grandeur and luxury - one commentator has described it as providing visitors with a ‘confrontational visual wallop’ - but was also the height of fashion.
Provenance
One of the items contained in the bequest of Margaret (Anderson) McEwan, The Hon. Mrs Ronald - later Dame Margaret - Henry Fulke Greville, DBE (1863-1942) from probate records linked with the donation of the property to the National Trust in 1943.
Makers and roles
Edward Pierce (c.1635 - 1695), carver
References
Harris, 2007: John Harris, Moving Rooms: The Trade in Architectural Salvages, Yale, 2007., p. 92