Canopy, one of a pair, of carved oak, from two alcoves flanking the chimneypiece in the drawing-room at Lululaund, the house at Bushey designed by Sir Hubert Herkomer for his own use.

Small carved oak canopy in gothic style, with foliage and arches. One of a pair

Designed by the painter Sir Hubert Herkomer (1849-1914) for his house, Lululaund, near Bushey, Hertfordshire, 1885-1894. The panel was carved either by his father, Lorenz, or by his uncle Johann, or under their supervision by an unknown carver working on the house.

This canopy was purchased (with other carvings from Lululaund, W.20 to 24-1980) from a Mr Donald Hay, who had acquired them from an elderly cousin, Miss Hannah Braithwaite, of Bradford. There is no record of how they had come into her possession. The Nominal File for the acquisition is numbered MA/1/H1851. At the time of acquisition the responsible curator, Simon Jervis, described the carving as 'vegetative, proto-Art Nouveau, late Gothic, which is at once very German and very Richardsonian' (referring to H.H. Richardson, the architect who designed Lululaund.

The carvings derive from Gothic designs of the early 16th century. Similar forms were used in areas of Germany and Switzerland in the early 16th century, as illustrated by a multi-drawered cabinet, originally made c. 1518 for the offices of the Dom at Basel, is in the Historisches Museum Basel (inv. no. 1906.1121), illustrated in Stefan Hess and Wolfgang Loescher, Möbel in Basel. Kunst und Handwerk der Schreiner bis 1798 (Basel, 2012), cat. no. 12

Carved by Sir Hubert Herkomer's father, Lorenz, or by his uncle Johann, or by one of the carvers under their supervision.

W.22-1980