Limewood overmantel, wall drops, panel and over-door carving
style of Grinling Gibbons (Rotterdam 1648 - London 1721)
Category
Art / Sculpture
Date
circa 1688
Materials
Limewood
Place of origin
England
Order this imageCollection
Belton House, Lincolnshire
NT 436757
Summary
Limewood, suite of limewood applique carvings including one overmantel, one panel, two wall drops and one over-door carving in the style of Grinling Gibbons (1648-1721), late 17th century with 19th century restorations. Mounted in the Chapel Gallery of Belton House.
Full description
The limewood carvings in the Chapel Gallery are rendered in the style of Grinling Gibbons and are believed to be late 17th century, c.1688, when Belton House was being furnished for the first time by 'Young' Sir John Brownlow (1659-97). The suite is comprised of: NT 436757.1 A carved limewood wall drop, stained, depicting fruit, flowers, foliage and ribbon ties, probably late 17th century; one of a pair with NT 436757.2 NT 436757.2 A carved limewood wall drop, stained, depicting fruit, flowers, foliage and ribbon ties, probably late 17th century; one of a pair with NT 436757.1 NT 436757.3 A carved limewood overmantel, stained, comprised of two drops and central swags with double cornucopia cresting piece, late 17th century NT 436757.4 A carved limewood panel, stained, with a swooping dove, sprays of wheat and swags of fruit, flowers and foliage, late 17th century NT 436757.5 A limewood carving, stained, with eagle, its wings outstretched, and bow-shaped swags of clustered shells, late 17th century, eagle is a 19th century replacement (see NT 434965). The suite is likely to have been made by more than one wood carver, working in the Grinling Gibbons style. Gibbons' trademark 'peapods, willow leaves, martagons, cobnuts, [and] chains of shamrock' are reproduced (Green 1964, p.115). Alice Rylance-Watson December 2018
Provenance
Purchased with a grant from the National Heritage Memorial Fund (NHMF) from Edward John Peregrine Cust, 7th Baron Brownlow, C. St J. (b.1936) in 1984.
Credit line
Belton House, The Brownlow Collection (acquired with the help of the National Heritage Memorial Fund by the National Trust in 1994)
Makers and roles
style of Grinling Gibbons (Rotterdam 1648 - London 1721), woodcarver