Stained glass panel
possibly David Joris (1501 - 1556)
Category
Stained glass
Date
1520 - 1540
Materials
Glass, Paint
Place of origin
England
Order this imageCollection
Mottisfont, Hampshire
NT 1955145
Summary
Stained glass heraldic panel. The personal arms of William Sandys, 1st Baron Sandys of the The Vyne (Argent, a cross ragulée sable, with an eschutcheon of pretence quarterly of 4: 1 and 4: Gules, three bends vair; 2 and 3: Argent, a chevron between three eagle's legs erased sable armed gules) surrounded by garter and inscription Honi Soit Qui Mal y Pense ("Shamed be Whoever Thinks ill of It"). English or Flemish, c.1520-1540, possibly the work of David Joris (1501-1556). William Sandys personal arms are a combination of the Sandys family crest with the arms of his wife, Margaret Bray. The arms consist of a black cross on a plain glass background with a smaller quartered shield of three eagles legs with a chevron and red stripes on a blue and white chequerboard pattern.
Full description
This is one of four heraldic panels set into the west windows of the Whistler Room at Mottisfont Abbey. They are all linked to William, 1st Baron Sandys of The Vyne, who purchased Mottisfont Priory in 1536, before converting it into a family home. They include two panels showing coats of arms associated with the Sandys family, and two further pieces associated with King Henry VIII. The history of the panels, is not, however, completely understood. While the possibility that they may have been commissioned for Mottisfont after the conversion of the Priory by William Sandys, they have also been strongly associated with the famous stained glass windows ofthe Holy Ghost Chapel in Basingstoke, Hampshire. This chapel was built and by William Sandys and served as the burial place for himself and many of his descendants. As part of this work, it is generally accepted that Sandys commissioned a group of Flemish glaziers, including David Joris (1501-1556), to design and make the windows. The complete scheme probably consisted of multiple scenes from the life of Jesus Christ as well as panels depicting the donors, William, Lord Sandys and his wife Margery Bray, as well as images of King Henry VIII and his then wife, Catherine of Aragon. By the 1660s, probably due to the impact of the English Civil War, the chapel was in poor condition and the windows had been removed. Three surviving windows are now believed to be present in the chapel at The Vyne (NT 719818). With the sale of The Vyne to the Chute family in 1653, Mottisfont became the main residence of the Sandys family. From correspondence in the Hampshire Record Office, it seems that surviving parts of the Holy Ghost stained glass was brought from The Vyne to Mottisfont by the Sandys family, and remained there into the 19th Century. The surviving glass then passed with the house at Mottisfont to the Mill family, and Rev. Sir Henry Mill, 8th Baronet (1720-1782), used some of the glass stored there to make a new east window at Woolbeding Church in Sussex. A further donation of glass stored at Mottisfont was made by Lady Jane Barker-Mill to St Michael's Church in Basingstoke in 1869. It now seems likely that these four pieces are all that remains of the stained glass once at Mottisfont Abbey. The earliest evidence of their existence is Prosser's account of the house in 1836 where they are mentioned as being in a single window in the entrance hall. Photographic evidence shows that they remained in this position until the 1890s, and are likely to have been separated into two windows during the renovations of c.1900-1901. This panel consists of the personal coat of arms of William, 1st Baron Sandys (1470-1540). It consists of a white shield with a ragged black cross for his family, and then incorporates a smaller shield showing the Bray coat arms for his wife, Margery. It is placed within a garter, with the Latin motto Honi Soit Qui Nak y Pense (Shame on Whoever Thinks ill of it) of the Order of the Garter reflecting. Sandys was created a Knight of the Garter by King Henry VIII in 1518.
Provenance
Probably commissioned by William, 1st Baron Sandys for the Holy Ghost Chapel, Basingstoke; removed from the chapel in the seventeenth century and moved to Mottisfont after 1653 and inserted into the windows of the current Whistler Room before 1836. By descent to Peter Barker-Mill and sold with Mottisfont Abbey to Gilbert and Maud Russell, 1934. Given to the National Trust with Mottisfont Abbey and its estate by Maud Russell in 1957.
Makers and roles
possibly David Joris (1501 - 1556), stained glass artist
References
Wayment 1982: H. G. Wayment, 'The Stained Glass of the Chapel of the Vyne and the Chapel of the Holy Ghost, Basingstoke', Archaeologia 107 (1982): 141-52 Wayment 1980: Hilary Wayment, ‘The Stained Glass in the Chapel at The Vyne’, National Trust Studies (London, 1980), 35-48 Prosser, 1833: G. F. Prosser, Select Illustrations of Hampshire Comprising Picturesque Views of the Nobility & Gentry Lodge Entrances &c., London 1833.