Judgement of Paris
Category
Textiles
Date
1660 - 1685
Materials
Silk and wood
Measurements
209 x 241 x 190 mm
Place of origin
England
Order this imageCollection
East Riddlesden Hall, West Yorkshire
NT 201696
Summary
Charles II period (c.1660-83) raised work embroidered box. Worked in laid floss silks on the exterior. The interior has the original pink silk lining, with silver trimmed edges. The top opens to reveal an inkwell and sand shaker and several compartments. The lid is lined with a mirror. The doors at the front open to reveal four drawers and there are a number of hidden compartments. Stands on ball feet. The pictures show figures in 17th century costume and illustrate one or more Ancient Greek stories. The top illustrates the Judgement of Paris; Paris hands Aphrodite an apple while Hera (with a peacock) and Athena (with an owl) look on. The illustrations on the right and left may be the story of Adonis and Aphrodite, with the right showing Adonis hunting Ares in the form of a boar with dogs, while the left shows Aphrodite (with Cupid) mourning over the body of Adonis, flowers spinging up from his blood. On the rear a shepherd sits by a lake with crook and pipes, sheep close by. The front shows a man holding a spear being gestured towards by Cupid standing next to a woman; possibly Paris and Helen.
Full description
For a discussion of the design, see ‘Posies, Pictures and Promises, Love and the Object: The English in the Seventeenth Century' by Dr Sarah Ann Robin, Lancaster University 2016, p74 (N.B. wrong accession number cited).
Provenance
Part of a 1988 bequest to the National Trust by R.C.Sneyers and allocated to various National Trust sites in Yorkshire region.