Chest Front

+10
images

Not on display

Artist/Maker	Unknown
Place of origin	England (made) Flanders (made)

This panel depicts the story of St George and the Dragon, a popular theme in Christian Art. In the Left hand at the top is St George offering his services to Sabra, whilst beneath he is wounding the dragon. The princess accompanied by the Saint is leading the wounded dragon into the city of Memphis where the King and Queen are watching the scene from their castle windows. Rabbits are seen issuing from and disappearing into holes in the rugged ground, which is diversified by trees. A lion sits near the walls of the city, which is entered by a bridge over a stream. Like medieval tapestries, the depiction of the story portrays different episodes of the story running into one another, allowing complicated action to be shown without consequent fragmentation of the design.

When acquired it was thought to be English 14th century work and to have come from Rufford Abbey, Nottinghamshire, but it was subsequently condemned by Museum authorities as a fake. Various 20th centuries experts regard it as early 15th century, but Flemish, the carving of very high quality, and relate it to a chest with similar front panel at York Minster, dated c.1380.

Object details

Categories	Woodwork Christianity
Object type	Chest front
Materials and techniques	Carved oak Oak Carved
Brief description	St George 'Rufford', Flemish, 1300-1400 or 19th century fake
Physical description	Carved in high relief with a representation of St George and the Dragon. In the Left hand at the top is St George offering his services to Sabra, whilst beneath he is wounding the dragon.The princess accompanied by the Saint is leading the wounded dragon into the city of Memphis where the King and Queen are watching the scene from their castle windows. Rabbits are seen issuing from and disappearing into holes in the rugged ground, which is diversified by trees. A lion sits near the walls of the city, which is entered by a bridge over a stream. The grassy ground is indicated by a series of double vertical lines. The panel consists of 3 oak planks (apparently slow growth oak, which are laterally grained) very tightly glued. A number of patch repairs in a different coloured oak are evident, notably at centre top where a lock plate would normally have been positioned. The carving is noticeably deep by comparison with most chest fronts of the period. The vertical side edges of the panel have been planed relatively smooth, removing any evidence of joints between this panel and adjacent members.
Dimensions	Length: 141cm Height: 61.3cm Board without high relief carving thickness: 3.5cm (Note: Max. depth at highest point of carving c.6.5cm) Measured May 2018 NH When acquired in 1893, it was measured as follows: length 4 ft 9 ins; Width 2 foot 1 1/4 in.
Object history	This object was bought in 1893 for £206. Some 'slight restoration' was carried out before the panel was acquired by the Museum (see C. Reginald Grundy). This panel was acquired as having come from Rufford Abbey and dating from about 1400, as English work. By about 1930 it was regarded by V&A curators as a 19th century forgery, being labelled "English, style of late 14th Century. Apparently a modern adaptation of the coffer at York Minster", a view they retracted after a vigorous article was published by Fred Roe and Charles Beard. Subsequent authorities have continued to regard it as late medieval of high quality, probably Flemish, with datings between c.1380 and '15th century', noting its similarity to the chest at York Minster. [Transcription from document on nominal RF, Marshall, Chas.H [MA/1/M 918]] No 15215. noted in fragment 16 jan 93 minute papers herewith 11 Pembridge Crescent Jan 14 '93 [1893] [stamped DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE & ART 17 JAN 1883 4447] In accordance with the request contained in your letter of Jan 11 - I went to Retford on Jan 13 &was received there by Mr Marshall an urbane and hospitable gentleman who gave me board and lodging, and with whom I spent a commercial day - far into the night - & recommencing next morning all this time I was employed in the interesting occupation of hammering politely at his big price for his famous chest front. S. George with the dragon - encountered by that knight. Transfixed, & pinned to Earth finally led in a tame state by the young lady of the piece into Memphis - parents melancholy but, resigned to the (apparently) inevitable looking on, &c &c. Mr Marshall's price [£220] is enormous, but he is a shrewd man of business & I fancy will get it to the uttermost farthing elsewhere & I must own I consider that the Department should not let it escape.[underlining added later in pencil] The other furniture of Mr Marshall's house seems to me, with one or two exceptions --reasonable in price. Indeed I venture to think that the objects of which I subjoin a list are very good money's worth indeed. I will take these in the order in which He has set them down in writing to Mr Clarke (so at least he told me.) 1st. The great close[?] - £ No 2 Chest Front S.George £220 3 Chest - Marquetry panels . 4 Cabinet (?Flemish) square sacred subjects - £35 {largish price but good piece 14 [added in pencil: (14) Oct.18] Gun. English 18th Centy ? £30 16 Door Scroby Palace (Wolsey's) £30 (This seems too high the 2 classic heads on it are very coarse, I think better English work of the date could be got - to wit the Exeter panelling) - This considerably repaired 17 Door - Linen pattern panels only - Caked[?] - from Doncaster Priory £15 ?Is it worth having neither door is in its actual original condition - another 17 - a small desk with marquetry sides & front £15 ?worth 23 Large press covered with carving - stiles - rails - cornice or top which is hollow & usable - panels &c. all carved in the strapwork common to 17 centy cabinet work. 25 Norfolk (?Flemish imported to the E. Counties from Belgium via (Yarmouth?) parqueted doors, split black wood turned ornament £10 modest Lancashire Cabinet small [added in pencil: (1) jan. 17] £15 modest has pendant knobs On corners of hood or top Very nice - small Example most of these pieces are figured in Marshall's book. [added in pencil: Nov 5 (24)] Box with drawer under £8 Chest of drawers carved fronts, a very important example. Lifted by feet some 12 or 15 inhces from the floor £23 [added in pencil: of Nov.5] note in Mr Marshalls letter to Mr Clarke £20 - stick to this There are several tables most them admirable. I strongly recommend the following [with pen sketches] Round £5 Triangular with circular flaps forming a round table £5 The flap opens £5 Toilet - light excellent pateena £6 about 3' or 3' 6" very good. Light graceful Surface carving William and mary £6 A very fine & characteristic 8agon [ie octagon] table its contrivances for opening well worth having as an example. Any remarks as to difficulty of showing this notwithstanding An attendant could always be got to show to a real student. £20.0.0 Two hats. £30 [price added later in pencil] A red velvet saddle. £15 [price added later in pencil] * A repousssé Flemish or Dutch brass dish (Alexander & family of Darius) a very good example £10 Two screen. Pictorial marquetry (French?) now used as screens. but probably intended for panels - excellent condition - £25 Chairs - Leather- £10 other chairs. Suppose the following were included in the purchase 1 Cabinet or Press (worksop manor) - 40- But it is large and not very fine carving 2 Small Scripture Subjects - 35 3 Norfolk cabt. - 10 4 Lancashire cabt -15 5 Marquetry Chest. - 20 6 Chest of drawers. £25 or 20 7 8agon table -20 8 5 small tables- 27 9 Gun (very good) - 30 10 Saddle - 10 [added in pencil: 15 or 25 (see above)] 11 Brass dish - 10 12 Two panels.screen -25 S.George - 220 Chairs .11 or a smaller number - 57 say 5 at - - 5- [added in pencil: See Mr Clarke's Report] 13 Leather chair - 10 [total] £549 From this - From this list I exclude Boys & drawer - £8 Marquetry desk - £15 Both doors. They ae too much 'done up' & pieced. £30 £15 I do not feel quite happy about the Worksop press - £40 - It is quite genuine but large. & the carving though characteristic is not very artistic - However I leave it in the list. Mr Marshall would send all the small objects - S.George - screens. saddle gun &c. that can be packed in a box to the Dep.t on approval - Seeing what the Museum has had to give to secure former purchases at carved oak sales most of these objects seem to me Reasonable in price - Some (as times go) cheap. - Mr Marshall, an ingenious gentleman, suggests that his furniture prices are so much off St George -# Perhaps if such a list as has been made out were procured he would not be very far from the mark - Stuart chairs less good than any of his went for 35 or 37 guineas each at the Turton Tower Sale - The earliest there sold cheap by comparison though the best - and now in the S.K.M. cost 11 guineas each.) - Other objects at equally or proportionally big prices - The St George price £220 is (in the abstract) enormous. but when the object is very rare - very rare indeed, it is like the East lb loaf a siege and will realize a sum to make even the baker stare - ## I have no doubt Mr Marshall can get his £220 & am by no means sure that I could not find a buyer myself - I hope, therefore that the Departmental Courage will be equal to the occasion - The panel is a Chest front probably made to contain the mantle mantle and insignia of the order of the Garter belonging to a Knight of the days of Richard IInd [added in pencil: 1377-1399] and Henry IVth [added in pencil: 1399-1412/5] or thereabouts. It is to be noted that the Saint wears a helmet like that of the Black Prince - that the heads are large - the hair of the heroine bunched out on both sides - I have little doubt of its being of English workmanship. Wood carvers were of high attainments in the 15th as well as in the 14th century. The landscape - trees - animals - town mountains &c are treated in the conventional manner of decorative carving of those centuries and the panel well filled by incident and by inequalities of rock &c. in the landscape. I am Sir, your obedient Servant JH Pollen [to] G.F.Duncombe Esq. P.S. Mr Marshall declines to send his big things if they are to return, - "Will not dismantle his house - would not know what to be at if the returns were contemplated" & similar arguments - He has a patriotic desire that these objects shall go to the nation but there is a limit to his self abnegation - [Notes * added in pencil: see Mr Marshall's letter of Nov. 5. x but fixed at £25 in letter of Jan. 17. # Apparently these objects were offered at low prices as a kind of discount on the St George panel price ## Possibly a reference to an incident that occurred during the siege of Kimberly, during the Anglo-Boer war (1899-1902)] Transcribed by NH, May 2008 Arthur Marshall (1858-1914) was the third son of James Matthew Marshall, a well-known local decorator, carver and gilder. He was an successful architect but also an authority on antique furniture and wood carvings, and a fine water colourist. He was also a prominent amateur photographer, exhibiting at both national and international events, and was at one time President of the Nottingham Mechanics Institute Camera Club.
Historical context	Rufford Abbey, Nottinghamshire was a Cistercian abbey suppressed in 1536 and granted by Henry VIII to George, 4th Earl of Shrewsbury. The sixth Earl rebuilt it (1560-90). In 1610, a new projecting wing was added to the northern end of this range. The estate was inherited in 1626 by Mary Talbot, sister of the seventh and eighth Earls of Shrewsbury, and it passed to her husband, George Savile of Thornhill. William Savile, George’s successor, made Rufford Abbey the seat of the Savile family after he burnt down the Saviles’ original home in order to prevent its being occupied by a Parliamentarian garrison during the Civil War. In 1679, the Savile family constructed a new north wing on the site of the abbey church, containing reception rooms and a long gallery. They also built the large stable block to the right of the house. The surviving roofed southern service wing (currently used as offices) was also added by the Saviles in the 17th century. In 1938, the third Baron Savile inherited the Rufford estate as a minor, but his trustees split it into lots and sold it off. The abbey and park were bought by Nottinghamshire County Council in 1952, and the north and east wings were demolished in 1956. The remaining west range and south service wing were put into the care of the Ministry of Works at the same date, and are now (2014) administered by English Heritage. Comparable Material York Minster: The front of this large chest is largely a mirror image of the V&A panel but with various differences in composition, pose and detail. There seem to be some differences in carving style although some details like the double hatch motif for grass is used on both. Arguably, the York carving is more accomplished, but the V&A panel may have lost some textural detailing during its restoration in the 19th century. The Boughton Monchelsea chest (Christie's South Kensington, 3/11/1999 lot 807, catalogue entry by Victor Chinnery); Martin Bridge and Dan Miles, 'Dendrochronologically dated chests in England', Regional Furniture 2011 (pp.48-9), where dating was given as 1435-60. Chest front with St George and the Dragon, Louvre OA10600; see BOS, Agnes: Mobilier du Moyen Age et de la Renaissance; La collection du musee du Louvre, 2019, no.83 pp.358-9
Production	This panel was acquired as having come from Rufford Abbey and dating from about 1400, as English work. By about 1930 it was regarded by V&A curators as a 19th century forgery, a view they retracted after a vigorous article was published by Fred Roe and Charles Beard. Subsequent commentators have continued to regard it as 15th century, probably Flemish.
Subjects depicted	Dragon George (Saint)
Summary	This panel depicts the story of St George and the Dragon, a popular theme in Christian Art. In the Left hand at the top is St George offering his services to Sabra, whilst beneath he is wounding the dragon. The princess accompanied by the Saint is leading the wounded dragon into the city of Memphis where the King and Queen are watching the scene from their castle windows. Rabbits are seen issuing from and disappearing into holes in the rugged ground, which is diversified by trees. A lion sits near the walls of the city, which is entered by a bridge over a stream. Like medieval tapestries, the depiction of the story portrays different episodes of the story running into one another, allowing complicated action to be shown without consequent fragmentation of the design. When acquired it was thought to be English 14th century work and to have come from Rufford Abbey, Nottinghamshire, but it was subsequently condemned by Museum authorities as a fake. Various 20th centuries experts regard it as early 15th century, but Flemish, the carving of very high quality, and relate it to a chest with similar front panel at York Minster, dated c.1380.
Bibliographic references	Charles Tracy, English Medieval Furniture and Woodwork (London, 1988), p.xxvii Fred Roe and Charles R.Beard, "Genuine of Forgery? The 'Rufford Abbey' Panel", The Connoisseur, pp.76-85, c.1930 S. Riches, St George - Hero, Martyr and Myth (2000), p. 6 Specimens of Antique Carved Furniture and woodwork, measured and drawn by Arthur Marshall ARIBA, Architect (London 1888), pl.25 LONDON, South Kensington Museum: Intro. John Hungerford Pollen: Ancient and Modern Furniture & Woodwork in the South Kensington Museum, Vol. 1 (London, 1908) p.64, fig.52. C. Reginald Grundy, 'The "Rufford Abbey" Panel Reinstated' in Connoisseur vol. LXXXVI, July-Dec. 1930, p.193ff Notes that Mr Murray Adams-Acton considers it Flemish or German, no earlier than late 15th century, and that at some period, when it was converted from a chest to a decorative panel, it was stripped of its pigment and ruthlessly over-cleaned. Compares the panel with York Minster chest, and V&A Adoration of the Magi panel, noting the greater vigour and realism of the V&A panels. Roe, F., Ancient Coffers and Cupboards, 1902, Chapter V, p.51f CHAPTER V TILTING COFFERS - A FORGOTTEN GENIUS In the fourteenth century mythical or warlike subjects seem to have become popular amongst the upper classes, for coffers of that date, as well as those of the early part of the succeeding century, often combine decoration of an architectural nature with groups of ﬁgures, the incidents represented being frequently those of the tourney or associated with deeds of arms (see note 11). The architectural features are usually conﬁned to the stiles, and are of a castellated or defensive order quite dissimilar to the ecclesiastical tracery used when the ornamentation is derived from architecture alone. This departure tends to show how the dominating inﬂuence of the Church was partly replaced by an independent spirit of militarism. Some precious examples have descended to us, and in not a few of these traces of the same master hand are visible. Those remaining in England may be found in York Cathedral; Harty Church, Isle of Sheppey; Southwold Church, Suffolk; and two specimens in the Victoria and Albert Museum. Of the latter, one is merely a panel or coffer-front minus the uprights, etc., the other is a coffret described as of French manufacture, and exhibiting no architectural details whatever. The panel of the York coffer and the ﬁrst-mentioned South Kensington piece are almost identical, with the curious exception that the composition is reversed. The similarity of treatment, handling, and execution, the mannerisms and peculiarities, in each case, leave no doubt that they were executed by the same person. A legend exists, we believe, in certain quarters, that the panel in the Kensington example is the original of that in the York coffer, and that the latter is a copy which must have been substituted during some repairs. This is most certainly not the case. The measurements of the two panels do not agree, and careful inspection will only go farther to substantiate the fact that they are both originals of fourteenth-century work. Many theologians maintain that certain discrepancies in the various accounts given by the writers of the Gospels do but substantiate and prove the unconcerted truth of the New Testament. The want of sameness in some parts of these coffer panels supplies a like illustration, the contrarieties in each being executed with absolutely the same spirit and mannerism. On the York panel traces of vermilion and gilding are still visible, and it may be reasonably supposed that if the brown stain with which it has been daubed could be safely removed, more of this adornment might be brought to light. In the Kensington example St. George wears a pig-snouted bassinet, with its attachment of ﬂowing camail, a form of defensive headgear which was in vogue here during the reign of Richard Il., and of which numerous illustrations occur in the Harleian manuscripts dealing with the Campaign in Ireland in I 394. In the York carving St. George's bassinet is plain and unvisored. Both panels exhibit St. George as wearing over his armour the belted and tight-ﬁtting surcoat, an earlier form of garment than the loose tabard which appears in the Harleian illuminations referred to. In the Kensington panel faint traces of dogging may be observed round the lady’s dress, and sleeves of St. George ; in the York example the dagging exists to a much greater degree and is even carried round the saddle-cloth and reins of the knight‘ charger (see note 12). The various incidents of the story are shown, as was customary in mediaeval work, in the same picture, and in both specimens the ﬁght is concluded by the princess leading the wounded dragon into captivity. This rather irregular ending to the fable is supported by some of the ancient writers and is quite in accordance with the romantic traditions of the times. An old legend says that Princess Cleodolinda tied her girdle round the dragon’s neck and “the dragon followed as it had been a meek beast and debonayre." The costume of the princess affords a ﬁne exposition of the hanging sleeve which was so popular during the last quarter of the fourteenth century. Some portions of the carving on the panels have been so undercut as to separate them from the surface. These have mostly suffered from ill usage and have now disappeared. The tree-trunks are but stumps, and on the right hand of the York coffer what appears to be a basket of cabbages on the charger’s back is merely the foliage of a tree with the stem broken away. A curious detail in the centre of this panel is a wattled border or fence round the tree which occurs underneath the lock-plate. The York coffer is purely secular in its design throughout, and shows no trace of religious inﬂuence, but rather of its’ having been commissioned by someone who exercised a knightly or warlike calling. It would never have been produced by order of the ecclesiastical authorities, though it may have been received as a gift or bequest, the form of which was not at all unusual in the Middle Age. King Richard II himself twice visited York: ﬁrst in 1385 and afterwards in 1389, the latter occasion being for the purpose of settling certain differences between Church and Corporation. It is recorded that to the mayor, William de Selby, he presented his own sword, taken from his side, for the purpose of being borne before him and his successors in the mayoral ofﬁce (see note I 3). It is not known what gifts were made to Mother Church on this occasion, but the coffer in question, which has singular national characteristics, may have had some connection with this visit. The true nationality of the maker of these coffers is open to doubt, though there is every probability that they were executed in this country. In the South Kensington example, which has been stripped, the wood has the appearance of being English oak, and there is a simplicity about the handling and workmanship which, while admitting the exceeding rarity of contemporary specimens, seems to point to home production. In the museum at Dijon is a carved wood retable, which is known to have been produced by Jacques de Baerze, a Flemish sculptor, in 1391, for the Church of the Chartreuse, and which displays a statuette of St. George habited in a manner wonderfully like that on the coffer-front. The details of dress and equipment on these presentments of the Prince of Cappadocia illustrate absolutely the same period, but as regards style and execution the results are vastly, not to say nationally different. On the other hand, a survey of the fortiﬁed town which appears on the York and Kensington coffer-fronts will discover some singularly Flemish details (see note I4). Among a multitude of roofs and towers, crowded as only those Gothic towns which were cramped for safety within walls could be, several instances of “corbie" or “crow’s-step” gables may be seen. These are mingled with houses fronted with tracery, resembling the somewhat later domestic dwellings which to this day remain at Bruges and other old towns in Flanders. The feature known as “ crow’s-step " was not introduced into England until a much later period, and then it rarely penetrated further than the eastern counties or the maritime fringe of England which lay nearest the Continent. It would be vain labour to search among the decreasing specimens in this country for so early a contemporary as those on the coffer-fronts, nor is it likely that any existed here before the Renaissance, though some resemblance may be seen in the rising battlements of certain buildings of the Perpendicular period, such as the gate-house of Oxburgh Castle, Norfolk, and some of the college gates at our Universities. Many illustrations containing “crow's-step” gables may be found in the manuscripts of the Travels of Marco Polo, and the Romance of Alexander, at the Bodleian Library, Oxford. These illustrations, in which the details have been rendered with remarkable accuracy, were executed by Jehan de Grise, a Frenchman who is supposed to have worked in England between the years 1338-44. The deduction from these considerations is either that the specimens in question were the work of an Englishman who had been inﬂuenced by architectural work which he had seen abroad, or else that of a foreigner residing in this country, and whose early impressions while working as a specialist for the wealthy classes were not entirely to be got rid of. In Poole’s History of York a notice of the coffer there is given by Sir Samuel Meyrick, who suggests rather vaguely that the legend of St. George expresses allegorically the union of Henry V. with the French princess, that the town at the back represented Paris, and that the king and queen looking from the castle windows are anxiously watching the fate of their kingdom, the English Alliance being typiﬁed by the lion. It is interesting to note that the Kensington example has been traced back to Rufford Abbey, in Nottinghamshire, where the coffer of which it formed part was ruthlessly broken up, as a cure for craziness, which might probably with care have been rectiﬁed. Note 11 (p. 51).—Such pieces are additionally valuable and interesting from the fact that their correct date can often be nearly ascertained by the clothing and equipment of the ﬁgures on them. Wood carvers might imitate the tracery of the preceding style, but the representation of costume never lied. Notes 12 (p. 52).—“Dagging." A vandyked border that was sometimes fashioned into the shape of oak leaves, letters, and other fantastic devices. The fashion arose in England during the reign of Richard II., and, in spite of the statutes subsequently promulgated by Henry IV. for its suppression, continued in popularity well into the ﬁfteenth century. Some statues at the Castle of Pierrefonds, in France, executed in 1386, show the pitch to which the custom attained in that country. Note 13 (p. 52).—It was then that the King honoured William de Selby with the title of Lord Mayor, which has ever since been retained by his successors. Note 14 (p. 55).—The two examples are so singularly alike in this feature as to suggest the idea that the walled city was a representation of some actual place. Owing to the reversal of the design, the town which appears on the right of the Kensington piece is in the York coffer depicted on the left. Clare Graham, Chest and Coffer, in Traditional Interior Decoration vol. 2 no. 1 (Summer 1987), pp.130-8
Collection	Furniture and Woodwork Collection
Accession number	82-1893

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Record created	November 16, 2005
Record URL	https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O118577/chest-front-unknown/

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