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Panel

Panel

  • Place of origin:

    France (made)

  • Date:

    ca. 1450-1500 (made)

  • Artist/Maker:

    unknown (production)

  • Materials and Techniques:

    Carved oak

  • Museum number:

    8182-1863

  • Gallery location:

    In Storage

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This panel probably formed part of a cupboard. It is likely that comparatively little medieval, domestic furniture survived intact beyond 1600, but during the 19th century there was a thriving market in fragments, such as panels and the fronts of chests, which were sometimes re-used in replica or fake medieval furniture. This piece was carved in solid oak, and includes three fleurs-de-lis, one of the symbols used on the royal arms of France, although its use does not necessarily mean that the panel was made for a royal household. Exposed channels on the surface of the panel were made by Common Furniture Beetle larvae (woodworm) and may suggest that the panel was originally painted, and later stripped.

The panel was one of ninety-six pieces of architectural decoration collected by the architect A. W. N. Pugin. They served as models to be used in the Thames Bank workshops for the decoration and furnishing of the new Palace of Westminster, and were later transferred from the Office of Works to the South Kensington Museum (now the Victoria and Albert Museum).

Physical description

Oak panel, carved in the solid with an arch containing blind tracery above a shield with three fleur-de-lis, and each spandrel filled with a stylised leaf ornament.

The reverse is plain. All four edges have been cut back to form a rebate (11-12mm wide, 7mm deep). A canvas strip has been glued along the bottom edge lip, and there is a hole at the centre of the top edge lip with the remains of a peg. On the front are extensive exposed common furniture beetle channels and possibly some traces of pigment (bottom edge, centre) suggesting that the panel may have been painted, and stripped.

Place of Origin

France (made)

Date

ca. 1450-1500 (made)

Artist/maker

unknown (production)

Materials and Techniques

Carved oak

Marks and inscriptions

2571

Dimensions

Height: 36.8 cm, Width: 19.9 cm, Thickness: 1.8 cm

Object history note

Transferred to the South Kensington Museum from the Office of Works.

This panel was one of 96 pieces of architectural decoration collected by the architect A.W. Pugin. They served as models to be used in the Thames Bank workshops for the construction of the new Palace of Westminster, and were later transferred from the Office of Works to the South Kensington Museum (later the Victoria and Albert Museum).

Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)

The South Kensington Museum. Examples of the works of art in the Museum and of the decorations of the building with brief descriptions (London, 1882), no. 59
'probably once ...part of a small cabinet or chest. English or French work of the fourteenth century. The design is somewhat confused but it serves to fill the space, and to give a rich effect to the whole. At the bottom of the centre compartment is a shield, on which three fleurs-de-lis are carved.'

Materials

Oak

Techniques

Carving

Categories

Woodwork

Collection code

FWK

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Qr_O157271
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