Physical description

Cravat carved from limewood with raised and openwork carving, 24.1 x 20.9 x 5.1 cm. Carved in imitation of Venetian needle lace fashionable in the late seventeenth century and similar to those used in other schemes of carved decoration associated with Gibbons.

The lace represented would be a piece measuring 32 x 16.5 cm if it were laid flat.

Place of Origin

London (made)

Date

ca. 1690 (made)

Artist/maker

Gibbons, Grinling, born 1648 - died 1721 (maker)

Materials and Techniques

Limewood, with raised and openwork carving

Dimensions

Height: 24.1 cm, Width: 20.9 cm, Depth: 5.1 cm

Object history note

Made in London by Grinling Gibbons (born in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, 1648, died in London, 1721)

In the Description of Strawberry Hill, 1774, the cravat was in the Tribune and was identified as by Gibbons. It was in one of two glazed cabinets containing Walpole's 'principal curiosities' which flanked the altar. In the 1784 edition the cravat is described as 'a present from Mr. Grosvenor Bedford' (Walpole's deputy at the Exchequer), who had given the cravat to Walpole by 1769.

Sold in the Strawberry Hill sale, 1842, day 15, lot 99, when it was bought by Miss Burdett Coutts for 9 guineas. Sold from the collection of the late Baroness Burdett-Coutts on 11 May 1922 by Christies (lot 345a). Bought by Read for £26.5. Given to the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1928 by the Hon. Mrs Walter Levy.

Lent to the exhibition 'The Genius of Grinling Gibbons - From Journeyman to King's Carver' at Fairfax House, York, April 14th - 14th September 2018.

Shown at Strawberry Hill for the exhibition 'Lost Treasures of Strawberry Hill: Masterpieces from Horace Walpole's Collection', 20 October 2018 - 24 February 2019. See below for reference to catalogue.

Descriptive line

Cravat, made of limewood with raised and openwork carving, by Grinling Gibbons, ca. 1690

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

Baker, Malcolm, and Brenda Richardson (eds.), A Grand Design: The Art of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London: V&A Publications, 1999.
Snodin, Michael, ed., with the assistance of Cynthia Roman. Horace Walpole's Strawberry Hill. New Haven and London: The Lewis Walpole Library, Yale University, Yale Center for British Art and the Victoria and Albert Museum, in association with Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-12574-0. Catalogue of the exhibition held at the The Yale Center for British Art, 2009 and the Victoria and Albert Museum, 2010, cat.167, fig. 116, pp. 86ff (Chapter 5, by Alicia Weisberg-Roberts 'Singular objects and multiple meanings'; 316

Chapter 5 discusses the cravat and considers Walpole's interest in Gibbons as carver and collector
This object features in 'Out on Display: A selection of LGBTQ-related objects on display in the V&A', a booklet created by the V&A's LGBTQ Working Group. First developed and distributed to coincide with the 2014 Pride in London Parade, the guide was then expanded for the Queer and Now Friday Late that took place in February 2015.
Victoria & Albert Museum: Fifty Masterpieces of Woodwork (London, 1955), no. 30.

Davoli, Sylvia, Lost Treasures of Strawberry Hill. Masterpieces from Horace Walpole's Collection. London: Scala Arts & Heritage Publishers Ltd., 2018. ISBN: 978-1-785541-180-6, p.85 [The Tribune]

Labels and date

Such cravats, carved in imitation of Venetian needle-point lace, appear in several architectural schemes of carved decoration associated with Gibbons, notably at Petworth and Hackwood, but the virtuosity of this example makes it a unique survival. It belonged to Horace Walpole and was normally kept in the Tribune Room at Strawberry Hill. On 11 May 1769, he received some distinguished foreign visitors wearing the cravat and a pair of gloves which had belonged to James I: 'the French servants stared and firmly believed that this was the dress of an English country gentleman'. [pre May 2001]
British Galleries:
Walpole greatly admired the skilled carving of this cravat as a fine example of the work of the 17th century wood carver Grinling Gibbons. However, he was not above using it for a joke. In 1769 he described how he had received some distinguished foreign guests while wearing it: 'The French servants stared and firmly believed that this was the dress of an English country gentleman.' [27/03/2003]

Subjects depicted

Cravat; Lace

Categories

Fashion; Clothing; Woodwork; British Galleries

Collection

Furniture and Woodwork Collection