Oak boss, carved with a lion's head, gnawing a bone; made in Hertfordshire, 1300-1325

Round oak ceiling boss, dome shaped and carved with the head of a snarling lion. The mane and tail of the lion have been carved so as to form the circumference of the boss. Elements of the carving are stylistically close to stiff-leaf foliage, and as a whole the boss conveys animal and plant-like elements which combine to convey both the sinuosity of the animal and the swirl of enveloping foliage. The lion is shown gnawing on what could be either a bone, the thick stem of a leaf or the end of its own tail, which it grasps between its claws.

The boss has been carved in the solid, in high relief. It has been hollowed out, the interior surface showing concentric gouges, which are rough and deep. The crevices of the exterior surface have been gauged, cut and smoothed with a variety of tools, including gauges and chisels, shaping the decorative flow of the lion’s mane, tail and foliage around the outer circumference of the boss. The hollow boss would have been carved to fit onto a jamb of ceiling masonary. Two large nails protrude from inside the interior of the boss, and one has been bent to form a type of hook. If original these nails may have been used to place the boss in situ. Traces of red pigment and gilding are visible on the boss, which indicates that it would have been a highly decorative feature of the ceiling design.

Later interventions and damage
Splashes of white paint are visible under the rim of the base, and mirror plates have also been attached to the base. Layers of wood have become detached from the surface of the mane, ears, and one of the claws.

This boss is one of a group of thirteen acquired by the Museum, which were removed from St Alban's Cathedral, Herts. during the restoration of the Abbey about 1890. Some have since been returned to the cathedral. This boss, (and another now at St Alban's) must have been keystone bosses, probably from the wooden vault of the Lady Chapel. Unfortunately it has not been possible to recognise this boss from pre-restoration photographs of the ceiling. But it is difficult to imagine where else this could have originated. The boss is of early 14th century type and can be associated with the building activity of Abbot Hugh of Eversden (1308-26) who was responsible for the roofing of both Lady Chapel and retrochoir.

The flat ceiling in the retrochoir and the vaults of the Lady Choir must have been made at much the same time. A large number of bosses would have been required for the Lady Chapel and retrochoir ceilings. They could have been carved by a few master carvers over a fairly wide time span (say, five years) or by a larger team over a shorter period. Some of the bosses are quite naturalistically treated and, therefore, early in type. Others are reminiscent of the conventionalised Decorated style of carving of c.1315 as is exemplified at Chichester Cathedral on the vault of the Lady Chapel and the misericords of the choir-stalls. These differences may have been due to the presence of older and younger men employed in the same workshop.

Several types of foliage commonly used in the early 14th century are present on the V&A's bosses, such as hawthorn, oak, maple and 'stiff-leaf' survival. In some the treatment is still naturalistic with two or more leaves springing from the same stalk. Fruit and flowers are also present and the technique of juxtaposing leaves back and front is found. The leaves were originally gilded and the interstices painted red.

Some of the carvings are pierced right through over a large area and the profile of the whole boss is hemispherical. On one of the bosses, the underside provides evidence for the surplus material having been removed on a turning lathe. At Winchester Cathedral the same regular grooving can be seen inside the finials of the choir-stalls reflecting the use of the same technique.

Note from acquisition register:
Stated to have come from St Alban's Abbey, and to have formed part of the roof of the nave. Removed in the course of the late Lord Grimsthorpe's restoration. The contractor was under contract to take away the old material (which was too much decayed for use) and these fragments were given by him to his daughter. She was Mr Willson's [the vendor] predecessor in the house at Cricklewood and when she left, the bosses being too unwieldy to take away, she disposed of them to Mr Willson who was an old St Alban's resident.

Historical significance: This is a good example of a Gothic roof boss from a major church.

Bosses like this were placed where the ribs of a vault met. They could be made of stone or wood. Bosses also had a decorative function as well as a structural one. Bosses that were made for cathedral vaults needed to be carved and decorated boldly in order to be visible from the ground.

The lion was regarded as the king of the beasts, and was often the first beast to be described in medieval bestiaries, which were compendiums of moral tales relating to the animal world and which were popular in the middle ages. According to Hall's Dictionary of Subjects and Symbols in Art, p.193, 'The lion is common in religious and secular art, with many attributions for good or evil. In the Middle Ages one meaning attibuted to it was that it was a symbol of the Resurrection because, according to the bestiaries, the cubs when born lay dead for three days until their father brought them to life by breathing in their faces'.
According to Christa Grossinger in The World Upside-Down: English Misericords (p.136), 'The Lion could symbolise either good or evil, Christ or the Devil, depending on its associations in the various stories. It was very popular with carvers, and on a misericord in Exeter Cathedral it is seen prancing along on its own, tail lifted, demonstrating its great strength.'

Removed from St Alban's Cathedral, Hertfordshire

Bosses are conventionally applied where the ribs of a vault intersect in a roof. Vaulted roofs are a characteristic feature of English medieval churches and great houses. They can be made of stone or wood. Bosses can perform a structural purpose, fastening the ribs, but sometimes they simply add decoration. Close-up their carved ornament may look chunky or even crude, but they were designed to be seen at a distance in their original position in the roof. This large boss displaying a lion gnawing a bone must have been a keystone boss, and was removed from St Alban's Cathedral, Hertfordshire during the restoration of the Abbey about 1890. Others that came to the V&A at the same time have since been returned.

W.51-1914