Not currently on display at the V&A
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Oak door, carved with two interlacing thistle plants issuing from the mouths of two dragons, and with linen ornament.
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| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Carved oak |
| Brief description | Oak door, carved with two interlacing thistle plants issuing from the mouths of two dragons and with linen ornament. French, early 16th century. |
| Physical description | Oak door, carved with two interlacing thistle plants issuing from the mouths of two dragons, and with linen ornament. |
| Dimensions | - Height: 216.5cm
- Width: 81.3cm
Dims. from catalogue |
| Object history | Bought for £80 'Slightly wormeaten and split.'
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| Subjects depicted | |
| Bibliographic references | - ROWE, Eleanor (ed.), French Wood Carvings from the National Museums
First Series - Late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries (London, 1896), pl. XII
“PLATE XII is a Gothic door, admirable in execution and proportion. The framework is entirely modern. The linenfold panels are excellent, and there is much to admire in the design and treatment of the top panel, although the start of the ornament from the beasts’ mouth is not happy. The foliage is well distributed over the ground, and well united with the margin, which slopes, as before described, into the ground, but there is a want of grace and vigour in the carving, which is not so observable in the Plate as in the object itself. The carving is half an inch in relief. The hollow and V groove are worked out of the framing.”
- Eleanor Rowe, Practical Wood-Carving; part 2 Advanced Wood-Carving (London, 1907), p 27-29. Ill.
[Museum no. in the caption of illustration appears as '853-95' instead of 855-1895]
'Foliage Gothic panels are not so common as tracery panels, buth the one on p. 28 is a very fine example. The design is excellent, although the start of the foliage from the mouths of the grotesque birds is not altogether happy. The treatment of the carving is admirable in all but the branches, which are a little too round and not equal to the way in which they were treated by the Devonshire carvers of the same period.
The feathering of the birds is just what it should be for broad effect, and the thistles are well massed. Very typical of Nothern French work is the manner in which the roots are treated. The background is punched, but so lightly and sparsely that is hardly observable. The inner marginal lines are sloped towards the carving, which is half an inch in relief. The sight measure of the carved panel is 3 ft. by 2 ft.
In the lower part of the door are two linenfold panels, and they are very suitable in such a position.'
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Suggest feedback| Record created | June 16, 2008 |
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