Anne Boleyn (Blickling Hall, Norfolk 1501/07 - London 1536)
attributed to British (English) School
Category
Art / Sculpture
Date
1700 - 1799
Materials
Wood
Order this imageCollection
Blickling Hall, Norfolk
NT 354459.1
Summary
Wood, a carved relief figure of Anne Boleyn (Blickling Hall, Norfolk 1501/07 - London 1536), probably British (English) School, 18th century. Installed into a staircase niche in the Great Hall at Blickling with a paired figure of Elizabeth I (NT 354459.1), daughter of Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII. A relief figure of Anne Boleyn, probably of painted pine, atop a plinth with cartouche inscribed in gilt 'Anna Boleyn Hic Nata'. The subject's costume appears to derive from a depiction by William Hogarth of a scene from Colley Cibber's 1727 production of Shakespeare's Henry VIII (published c. 1727; see impression at British Museum, London, inv.no. Cc,1.96 and Ronald Paulson, Hogarth's Graphic Works, third edition, London 1989, no. 113.I). The 18th century reliefs of Elizabeth I and Anne Boleyn were inspired by figures of the Nine Worthies which had stood in the Jacobean great hall. The Jacobean staircase was dismantled and reassembled in 1767.
Provenance
Part of the Lothian Collection. The hall and contents were bequeathed to the National Trust by Philip, 11th Marquess of Lothian (1882-1940).
Makers and roles
attributed to British (English) School, carver