Fig. 91.—A Chimney-Piece for the Queen’s House, Greenwich, 1619, by Inigo Jones.From a Drawing in the Burlington-Devonshire Collection at the R.I.B.A.
Fig. 91.—A Chimney-Piece for the Queen’s House, Greenwich, 1619, by Inigo Jones.
From a Drawing in the Burlington-Devonshire Collection at the R.I.B.A.
Fig. 92.—A Chimney-Piece for the Queen’s House, Greenwich, by Inigo Jones.From a Drawing in the Burlington-Devonshire Collection at the R.I.B.A.
Fig. 92.—A Chimney-Piece for the Queen’s House, Greenwich, by Inigo Jones.
From a Drawing in the Burlington-Devonshire Collection at the R.I.B.A.
The kind of panelling which covered the walls of Jacobean houses was retained in the houses of less importance till about the middle of the century, but there was a tendency for the panels to grow larger. Inigo Jones and Webb generally used large panels, and discarded the small oblongs still favoured by local joiners. In the detail of woodwork generally greater refinement and simplicity became apparent, and more successful endeavours were made to adapt classic profiles. At St John’s College, Oxford, the work of 1631 illustrates this tendency (Fig.89). The wood chimney-pieces in the same building are also handled with more restraint than in earlier examples, and a similar kind of treatment marks the fine chimney-piece in the Jerusalem Chamber at Westminster (Fig.90), which must have been the work of John Williams, Bishop of Lincoln, who was Dean of Westminsterduring a large part of the reign of Charles I. The excellent panelling by Webb at Thorpe Hall has already been illustrated (see Fig.48). It embodies a still greater departure from the old manner.
Fig. 93.—A Chimney-Piece for “DrsPrice his Great Chamber,” by Webb.From the Burlington-Devonshire Collection.
Fig. 93.—A Chimney-Piece for “DrsPrice his Great Chamber,” by Webb.
From the Burlington-Devonshire Collection.
Fig. 94.—Chimney-Piece at Drayton, by Webb.From the Burlington-Devonshire Collection.
Fig. 94.—Chimney-Piece at Drayton, by Webb.
From the Burlington-Devonshire Collection.
This departure is also very noticeable in the designs of chimney-pieces which Jones and Webb have left behind them. Fig.91shows one of those designed for the Queen’s House at Greenwich in 1637: in the panel below the pediment is inscribed “Henrietta Maria Regina.” Fig.92is “for Greenwich,” and bears the cipher H.M.R. It is very characteristic of Jones’s way of sketching his details; he has bestowed more care (and more affection) upon the little children at the side than upon the principal object itself. It is evident that the large panel over the chimney-piece was to be occupied by a picture, as also perhaps was that in the preceding example. In Jacobean times such a space would have contained the owner’s arms. Webb’s chimney-pieces follow those of his master in general conception, and they are the precursors of the type prevalent in the eighteenth century, largely used by Kent, who had access to these very drawings. Of the examples selected, one was for Drayton House, in Northamptonshire, and it is signed by Webb and dated 1653 (Fig.94); the other was for “DrGeorge Price his great chamber” (Fig.93). The whole series affords a good idea of the style of the period as compared with that of earlier times.
It is interesting to compare with these drawings of Jones and Webb a contemporary chimney-piece at Ford Abbey, in Dorset, attributed to Jones (Fig.95). It must be confessed, however, that the treatment is widely different in the two cases. This is not to say that the Ford Abbey example has no merit; on the contrary, there is a refreshing playfulness about the way in which the staid classic detail is bent from its usual austere lines.
Fig. 95.—CHIMNEY-PIECE IN THE DINING-ROOM, FORD ABBEY,Dorset.
Fig. 95.—CHIMNEY-PIECE IN THE DINING-ROOM, FORD ABBEY,Dorset.
Fig. 96.—BELTON HOUSE.The Chapel.
Fig. 96.—BELTON HOUSE.The Chapel.