Overmantel
Category
Architecture / Features & Decoration
Date
1600 - 1650
Materials
Stone, plaster and paint
Measurements
3500 x 3060 mm
Order this imageCollection
Lyme, Cheshire
NT 499417
Summary
A seventeenth century, plaster overmantel bearing the arms of Elizabeth I flanked by atlantes and caryatids; raised design. Pediment top with a central lion's head mask flanked by cherub masks with wings; pointed final and a baluster vase either end. Border underneath of interlocking tentrils with masks at intervals. The central panel depicts the coat-of-arms of Elizabeth I painted in red, gold and blue and surrounded by scrolling shapes, the largest of these underneath the arms has a central, gold lion's head. The relief panels either side contain two tapering fluted columns, topped with male and female busts with fruit spilling from their head-dresses. The columns are decorated with swathes of fabric in plaster, with an urn in between.
Provenance
Original to the house. The overmantel's awkwardness in relation to the plaster frieze and ceiling suggests it was moved to the Drawing Room from elsewhere in the house, probably in the late seventeenth century, when the chimneypiece beneath is likely to have been made. (taken from Lyme guide book 2000 edition, P.14)