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[3] Design for a chimney-piece with herm figures in the fire surround, perched birds and a tympanum with an infant Hercules on the mantel piece, and an overmantel bordered by swags of fruit and flowers suspended from ribbons
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Reference number
SM, volume 110/30
Purpose
[3] Design for a chimney-piece with herm figures in the fire surround, perched birds and a tympanum with an infant Hercules on the mantel piece, and an overmantel bordered by swags of fruit and flowers suspended from ribbons
Aspect
elevation, partly unfinished on right
Scale
About 7/8 in. to 1 foot
Inscribed
In ink by George Dance at bottom right, Gd, and to right by C19 hand, (30[ ]
Signed and dated
- Undated, but datable 1689-94
Medium and dimensions
Pen and brown ink over graphite under-drawing with pink, greenish-yellow and grey washes and some additions in graphite; on laid paper, with pinkish-brown staining in top 40 mm of sheet; 420 x 259
Hand
Gibbons
Watermark
Countermark: CDG
Notes
The pairs of herm figures flanking the fire opening and the curved pediment in the centre of the mantel shelf suggest the influence of a design by Pierre Collot, published in 1633 (Esterly, 1998, fig. 81). If this is the source, Gibbons has transformed it by classicising the centre pediment and setting above a relief of sea gods. The sketch of this relief is probably intended to represent Neptune and Galatea, as it has affiinities with the composition of his 1701 marble relief of this mythical encounter, now at Dalkeith House, Lothian, Scotland (Esterly, 1998, fig. 211). Within the pediment is the infant Hercules strangling a serpent, and above a vase of flowers in ink and yellow wash (for gilded wood).
The cresting at the top of the overmantel consists of horns, oak and bay leaves, and palm fronds, with a rope of small flowers connecting to a knot of ribbons suspending the side drop. The drop is divided into three groupings, irregularly spaced, suspended by ribbons, in a gently tapering overall form. A pair of exotic birds is perched on the mantel shelf. The sketching in graphite proposes caryatid figures for right side of the fire surround, in more casual poses than the term figures on left.
The cresting at the top of the overmantel consists of horns, oak and bay leaves, and palm fronds, with a rope of small flowers connecting to a knot of ribbons suspending the side drop. The drop is divided into three groupings, irregularly spaced, suspended by ribbons, in a gently tapering overall form. A pair of exotic birds is perched on the mantel shelf. The sketching in graphite proposes caryatid figures for right side of the fire surround, in more casual poses than the term figures on left.
Literature
Esterly, 1998, pp. 105-06 and fig. 80; Wren Society, IV, pl. 28, bottom
Level
Drawing
Exhibition history
Grinling Gibbons and the Art of Carving, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 22 October 1998 - 24 February 1999
Europe and the English Baroque: Architecture in England 1660-1715, V&A + RIBA Architecture Gallery, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1 May - 9 November 2009
The Genius of Grinling Gibbons: from Journeyman to Kings Carver, Fairfax House, York, 14 April - 14 September 2018
Europe and the English Baroque: Architecture in England 1660-1715, V&A + RIBA Architecture Gallery, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1 May - 9 November 2009
The Genius of Grinling Gibbons: from Journeyman to Kings Carver, Fairfax House, York, 14 April - 14 September 2018
Digitisation of the Drawings Collection has been made possible through the generosity of the Leon Levy Foundation
If you have any further information about this object, please contact us: drawings@soane.org.uk