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Title: English Gothic foliage sculpture
Author: Samuel Gardner
Contributor: Arthur Gardner
Release date: August 31, 2026 [eBook #79482]
Language: English
Original publication: Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1927
Other information and formats: www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/79482
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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ENGLISH GOTHIC FOLIAGE SCULPTURE ***
ENGLISH GOTHIC FOLIAGE
SCULPTURE
CAMBRIDGE
UNIVERSITY PRESS
LONDON: Fetter Lane
[Illustration: colophon]
NEW YORK
The Macmillan Co.
BOMBAY, CALCUTTA and
MADRAS
Macmillan and Co., Ltd.
TORONTO
The Macmillan Co. of
Canada, Ltd.
TOKYO
Maruzen-Kabushiki-Kaisha
All rights reserved
ENGLISH GOTHIC FOLIAGE
SCULPTURE
BY
SAMUEL GARDNER
[Illustration: colophon]
CAMBRIDGE
AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS
1927
PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN
PREFACE
It is my hope that this little treatise may serve to enhance the
pleasure and interest of such visitors to our ancient Churches as care
for architectural details, and that it may help them to follow the
development of one of the most beautiful features.
With this object I have endeavoured to be clear and concise. This has
necessitated the rejection of scores of illustrations which might have
added to the attractiveness of the book, but would also have added to
its complexity. In making my selection I have had regard in every case
to certain points which are briefly hinted in the list of illustrations.
In suggesting approximate dates I have been guided mostly by the
character of the work, but I have compared my suggestions with records
when available. Appearances are often safer guides than doubtful
records.
For about one-fourth of the photographs from which the illustrations are
made I am indebted to my son Mr Arthur Gardner, F.S.A. The rest are from
my own negatives.
S. G.
HARROW
_January 1927_
CONTENTS
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS _page_ ix
ABBREVIATIONS xvi
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION 1
Pre-conquest and Anglo-Saxon work--Norman carrying
on of Classical traditions--13th century Renaissance and
progress--English and French development
CHAPTER II: PRIMITIVES 7
Anglian crosses--Anglo-Saxon embryo of Stiff-leaf--Byzantine
elements
CHAPTER III: ROMANESQUE OR NORMAN 14
Shapes of capitals--Lombardic ornaments--Early experiments--French
Corinthian--Scallops
CHAPTER IV: EARLY ENGLISH STIFF-LEAF 22
Basis of trefoils--Two types, the solid mid-rib and the
hollowed or cut-out--Traditional and Progressive--Course
of development
CHAPTER V: NATURALISTIC 33
The Return to Nature--Roses and Daisies, etc.
CHAPTER VI: DECORATED 39
Globular waves and Ripples--Stone-carving gives way
to Wood-carving
CHAPTER VII: PERPENDICULAR 42
Squareness and drilled holes--Sprawling leafage--Final
effort to return to Nature
CHAPTER VIII: MATERIALS 46
Form _v._ Surface--Building stone--Purbeck marble--Wood
CHAPTER IX: CONVENTIONAL ORNAMENTS 53
Dog-tooth--Ball-flower--Tudor-flower
TOPOGRAPHICAL INDEX OF PLATES 55
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
_The figures on the right give the pages where the Plates are described
or mentioned. Small print indicates points to be noted._
1 Shapes of Capitals.....14, 15, 20, 39
(i) Cushion (Winchester Crypt), (ii) Scallop (Tower of
London), (iii) Bell (Boxgrove), (iv) Cup (Bury St Edmunds)
2 Sompting, Sussex (String Course).....11, 23, 25
Saxon trefoils
3 Oxford Galleries (Ivory Casket).....11, 26, 48
Turned-over tips
4 Kimpton, Herts (Arcade).....13, 22
Alternate N. and E.E. caps.
5 Christchurch, Hants (Capitals).....15
Greek anthemion caps.
6 Hemel Hempstead, Herts (Capital).....15, 36, 41, 42, 50
Beaded strands and profile leaves
7 Northampton, St Peter’s (Capital).....16
Triple profile leaves
8 Aylesbury (Base of Font).....16
Triple strands and profile leaves
9 Oxford Cathedral (Capital).....16
Interlaced strands
10 Deerhurst, Glos (Font).....17
Saxon spirals and sprays
11 Deerhurst, Glos (Capital).....17
E.E. copy of font-sprays
12 Durham Cathedral Library (Trees).....17
Beaded straps
13 King’s Walden, Herts (Capital).....18
Transition water-leaf
14 Oxford Cathedral (Capitals).....18
Transition experiments
15 Canterbury Cathedral Choir (Capital).....19
French Corinthian
16 Broadwater, Sussex (Capitals).....19
A.S. type and French
17 Sompting (Capital).....19
Corinthian experiment
18 Canterbury Crypt (Capital).....20
Parallel leaves
19 Black Bourton, Oxon (Capital).....21
Curved scallops
20 Kimpton (Capital).....21, 24
Foliated scallops
21 King’s Walden (Capital).....21, 24
Scallops and parallel leaves
22 Romsey Abbey (Capitals).....21
Enriched scallops
23 Cuddington, Bucks (Capital).....21
A variety of scallops
24 King’s Walden (Capital).....22
Mid-ribbed trefoils
25 Hereford Cathedral (Capitals).....2, 23
Curved variation of Pl. 2
26 St David’s Cathedral (Capitals).....23, 28, 31
Hollowed trefoils
27 Bledlow, Bucks (Capital).....23
Alternate mid-ribbed and hollowed
28 Fountains Abbey (Capital).....23
Alternate mid-ribbed and hollowed
29 Kimpton (Capital).....23
Early stiff-leaf
30 Kimpton (Capital).....24
Early stiff-leaf
31 Minster, Thanet (Capital).....24
Solid and hollowed trefoils
32 Wells Cathedral, S. Transept (Capitals).....25, 28
Stiff-leaf varieties
33 Lincoln Cathedral, Nave (Capital).....25
Characteristic stiff-leaf
34 Hereford Cathedral, N. Transept (Capitals).....25, 28, 53
Convolutions and curved dog-tooth
35 Teversham, Cambs (Corbel).....26
Flat mid-ribs piercing tips
36 Eaton Bray, Beds (Capitals).....26
Wavy garlands
37 Ivinghoe, Bucks (Capitals).....26
Typical trefoils
38 Stone, Kent (Spandril).....27
Good specimen of late stiff-leaf
39 Westminster Abbey (Spandril).....27
The predecessor of Pl. 38
40 Lincoln Cathedral, Nave (Capital).....27, 28
Split trefoils
41 Wells Cathedral, W. Nave (Capitals).....27
Free treatment
42 Wells Cathedral, W. Nave (Corbel).....28
Cut-out trefoils
43 Wells Cathedral, W. Nave (Corbel).....28
Fronts and backs of leaves
44 Lincoln Cathedral, S.E. Porch (Foliage round statuettes).....28
Undercut arbours
45 Lincoln Cathedral, Choir Aisle Doorway (Foliage
on mouldings).....29, 39, 50
Undercut sprays
46 Lincoln Cathedral, Choir Aisle (Capital).....29
Crockets
47 Lincoln Cathedral, E. Angel Choir (Capital).....24, 29
Extreme limits of stiff-leaf
48 King’s Lynn, Norfolk (Capital).....29, 40
Stiff-leaf with flowers
49 Lichfield Cathedral (Capitals).....30, 53
Cinque-foils and 2-leaved dog-tooth
50 Salisbury Cathedral, Chapter House (Capitals).....30
Crocketed trefoils
51 Salisbury Cathedral, Old Choir Screen (Capital).....30
Graceful free treatment
52 Wells Cathedral, W. Nave (Capitals).....30
The Wells development suggesting cornucopiae
53 Wells Cathedral, Nave (Capitals).....31
The Wells development suggesting cornucopiae
54 Ely Cathedral, Retrochoir (Capitals).....32, 50
Bulged centres appearing
55 Llandaff Cathedral (Capitals, etc.).....32
Local varieties
56 Weobley, Heref. (Coffin-lid).....32
Stiff-leaf cross
57 Southwell Cathedral, Chapter House (Capital).....35, 40
Naturalistic hops
58 Southwell Cathedral, Chapter House (Capitals).....35
Naturalistic hawthorn, etc.
59 Southwell Cathedral, Chapter House (Gable).....35
Naturalistic hawthorn, etc.
60 Hereford Cathedral, Cantilupe Shrine (Spandril).....36
Trefoils and cinquefoils
61 Winchelsea, Tomb (Panel).....36, 41, 42, 50
Oak
62 Oxford Cathedral, Shrine (Spandril).....36
Oak
63 Exeter Cathedral, Choir (Corbel).....36
Oak
64 Exeter Cathedral, Choir (Corbel).....36
Celery (?)
65 Iffley, Oxford (Door jamb).....37
Norman rosettes
66 Lincoln Cathedral, Choir Aisle Doorway
(Mouldings).....37, 53
E.E. roses and dog-tooth
67 Fyfield, Essex (Window jamb).....37
Globular roses
68 Rochester Cathedral (Chapter House Doorway).....37
Heraldic roses
69 Erwarton, Suffolk, Font (Rose).....38
Later form of Pl. 68
70 Cambridge, St John’s College Gateway.....38
Tudor roses, etc.
71 Beverley Minster (Capital).....39
Adhesive foliage
72 Winchelsea, Tomb (Panel).....40
Rippling leaves
73 Beverley Minster, Tomb (Capital).....40
Exaggerated bulgings
74 Ely Cathedral, Lady Chapel (Gable).....41
Seaweed type
75 Ely Cathedral, Lady Chapel (Capitals).....41
Elaborate type
76 Lincoln Cathedral, Easter Sepulchre (Panels).....41
Combined naturalism and ripples
77 Exeter Cathedral, Tomb (Decoration).....41
Globular excrescences
78 Patrington, Yorks (Capitals).....41
Sprawling foliage
79 Aldenham, Herts, Tomb (Spandril).....36, 41, 42, 50
Late ripples
80 St Albans Cathedral, Ramryge Chantry (Cornice).....42
Square leaves with holes
81 Ely Cathedral, Alcock Chantry (Cornice).....43
Square leaves with holes
82 North Cerney, Glos (Pulpit).....43
Conventional lilies
83 Oxford, St Mary’s (Cornice and Spandril).....43
Square leaves with knobs
84 Oxford Cathedral, Watching Loft (Decorations).....43, 54
Tudor flowers and vine sprays
85 Cambridge, King’s College Chapel (Mouldings
of W. Doorway).....37, 38, 44, 45
Tudor rose and naturalistic leaves
86 Lincoln Cathedral (Corbel and Capital).....48
Purbeck marble foliage
87 Exeter Cathedral, Tomb (Panels).....49
Purbeck marble foliage
88 York Cathedral, Tomb (Spandril).....49
Purbeck marble foliage
89 Rochester Cathedral (Corbel).....49
Purbeck marble foliage
90 Peterborough Cathedral (Capitals).....49
Wood 13th cent. capital fitted into Renaissance arches
91 Exeter Cathedral (Misericord).....50
Wood stiff-leaf
92 Exeter Cathedral (Misericord).....50
Wood stiff-leaf
93 Exeter Cathedral (Misericord).....50
Wood stiff-leaf with knobs
94 Christchurch, Hants (Misericord).....50
Specimen of 13th cent. wood-carving
95 King’s Lynn, Norfolk (Misericord).....36, 41, 42, 43, 50
Specimen of 14th cent. wood-carving
96 King’s Lynn, Norfolk (Screen).....50
Wood canopies
97 Winchester Cathedral (Stalls).....50
.....14th cent. wood leaves and fruit
98 Tong, Salop (Cornice and Screen).....51
.....15th cent. wood leaves and fruit
99 Tong, Salop (Cornice and Screen).....51
.....15th cent. wood leaves and fruit
100 Abergavenny, Mon. (Cornice and Screen).....51
.....15th cent. wood leaves and fruit
101 Norwich Cathedral (Canopy of Stalls).....51
.....15th cent. wood crockets
102 Mullion, Cornwall (Bench).....52
.....16th cent. wood-carving
103 Crowcombe, Som. (Bench).....52
.....16th cent. naturalistic work
104 Ely Cathedral, Galilee (Wall Arcade).....53
Dog-tooth in mouldings
105 Soham, Cambs (Chancel Arch).....53
.....3-leaved dog-tooth
106 St Cross, Winchester (Arch over W. Doorway).....53
Elaborated dog-tooth
107 Dunstable, Beds (Mouldings).....53
Elaborated dog-tooth
108 Wells Cathedral, W. Doorway (Mouldings).....53
Elaborated dog-tooth
109 Leominster, Heref. (Window).....53
Ball-flower in mouldings
110 Exeter Cathedral (Screen Panel and Mouldings).....53
Stalked ball-flower
111 Tewkesbury Abbey, Tomb (Mouldings).....40, 54
Ball-flower
112 Purse Caundle, Dorset, Tomb (Spandril and
Cornice).....54
Tudor ornaments
ABBREVIATIONS
The following Abbreviations are used:
A.S. Anglo-Saxon, N. Norman, Tr. Transition, E.E. Early English, D.
Decorated, P. Perpendicular, N. North, S. South, E. East, W. West
ENGLISH GOTHIC FOLIAGE SCULPTURE
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION
English gothic architecture has been rightly described as a great
national living art. Gothic architecture existed as a living art over a
great part of western Europe for nearly five hundred years. In each
country where it flourished it developed national characteristics. In no
feature was this more conspicuous than in foliage sculpture.
When we describe an art as national, we do not mean that its germs
sprang into existence within the country, but that, once sown or
planted, they took root there and grew up under the influences of
national surroundings. By a living art we mean an art that is not mere
copying, but one that manifests a natural growth and development of
innate force. This does not exclude a power of assimilation of foreign
elements. Just as a tree may produce a variation of fruit or flower by
being grafted with a foreign shoot, so a national art may absorb and be
influenced by foreign ideas. But so long as it possesses a
self-contained force springing from its roots it remains a national
living art. Such was Gothic architecture in England from 1050 to 1550,
if we include Romanesque origins and Tudor survivals.
If we go back further still than 1050 we find certain forms of carved
foliage in use, but they are mostly more suggestive of the cast-off
leaves of autumn than of spring buds. Most of them appear to be
reminiscences or distant copies of forms to be found in decadent
Byzantine or Roman sculpture. But, just as in nature the buds that will
not come to maturity till the spring are found pushing off the autumn
dry leaves, if we search we shall find among these rude and debased
forms the embryo of a form destined to become the basis of that
beautiful type of carving which is called Stiff-leaf, and which
afterwards became the most perfect expression of our exclusively English
Gothic foliage sculpture.
The Anglo-Saxon period was not one of steady progress. There were bright
spots--times when and places where saintliness and learning shone for
brief intervals, and there were schools of art where great excellence
was attained in the illumination of manuscripts. There were also schools
where considerable artistic skill and refinement were shown in
sculptured reliefs. But the general impression produced by a study of
Saxon remains is that from time to time masons were introduced from the
continent, who executed fairly good work, the influence of which faded
away in the course of a generation or two. The constant incursions of
the Danes were not favourable to any steady progress in art, and in the
deteriorating copies of the work of foreign masons we cannot expect to
see many signs of life.
At the same time we must remember that very beautiful art existed in
Ireland under similar conditions. It may be that there is hardly
anything left of numerous works of art produced in Saxon England. Many
must have been destroyed by the Danes, and it is said that the Conqueror
sent many away to France and to the Pope[1]. Of these some may be still
in existence, but it is difficult to differentiate them from similar
work produced elsewhere.
The Normans before and at the time of the Conquest, though they were
great builders, and were inspired by a fresh impulse through the
adoption of free-arch construction, were very poor sculptors. They had
cast aside the dregs of Classical entablatures and placed their arches
directly upon their piers or columns, but they seldom attempted any
sculptured ornament. When they did so, it was either a distant copy of
Classical or, especially when human figures were intended, a rude and
barbarous effort. Later on, as they became more skilled, two rival
influences become apparent--the French, following Roman or Byzantine
models, and the English, which was also reminiscent of Classical
traditions but mixed with Norse and manuscript, and sometimes metal-work
and wicker-work suggestions. The Classical traditions often seem more
associated with Byzantine than Roman sources. It was from the English
and not the French elements that our characteristic English Gothic
foliage arose. The most constant feature of Anglo-Saxon sculpture was
intertwining strands terminating in conventional half-opened leaves
(Pls. 2 and 25) or trefoiled buds. From the trefoil was developed the
Early English stiff-leaf foliage which soon ousted the French
Corinthian, and for a hundred years maintained the style which may be
regarded as our national style of Gothic foliage.
Towards the end of the thirteenth century the various permutations and
combinations of the stiff-leaf convention had been exhausted, and for
some ten or twenty years a pure naturalism prevailed, but it then gave
way to a fresh convention, called the Decorated, in which the naturalism
was modified by a peculiar kind of waving and rippling which is easily
recognised. This style continued in the west until the end of the Gothic
period; elsewhere foliage sculpture in stone came almost to an end
before the Perpendicular period, the straight lines and panelling of
that style not lending themselves to floral decoration. On monuments and
other rich work we sometimes find bands of vine-leaf or other foliage,
generally coarse and square-cut. At the very end of the Gothic period
there was some attempt to return to naturalism, but this was nipped in
the bud by the invasion of Renaissance art (Pl. 85).
It is remarkable that, seeing how close was the connexion between
England and France in the days of our Plantagenet kings, just when
Gothic art on both sides of the Channel was in the full vigour of its
youthful exuberance, the development was so different. In no features
was this difference more marked than in the treatment of foliage
sculpture as well as of mouldings. In northern France there is very
little in the way of intermediate convention between the Romanesque
Corinthian type of foliage, and a naturalistic representation of leaves
and flowers. In fact they were intermingled. There is no parallel at all
to our English stiff-leaf, which is one of the chief glories of our
national architecture, except, possibly, in a few instances in Normandy
under English influence.
CHAPTER II: PRIMITIVES
Apart from some possible Roman fragments the earliest specimens of
foliage sculpture worked in this country are to be found on the Anglican
crosses. The dates of these crosses have been a subject of much
controversy, but a consensus of latest authorities accepts them as
genuine work of the seventh and eighth centuries[2]. On these the
foliage sculpture, if it can be so called, consists entirely of twining
sprays and occasional vine leaves and grapes. The earliest and best of
these would appear to be the work of foreign masons. St Augustine is
said to have brought with him some artisans from Italy, and St Wilfred
(634-709) is known to have done so, and some of these crosses may well
have been their work. The standing crosses are not numerous, but there
are hundreds of fragments scattered about, mostly in Yorkshire. The
character of this carving does not differ from specimens which are to be
found all over the eastern portion of the Roman Empire--in Italy,
Greece, Egypt and Asia Minor. It is Byzantine or Coptic in origin.
Although probably executed in England, and copied by native masons, it
is rather cosmopolitan than national art. Some of the original specimens
here compare favourably with sculpture of the same period in Italy and
elsewhere. But there is little in this carving to indicate any life or
originality. It is decadent Byzantine of the kind often called Lombardic
because it was the kind of work that was produced in Italy after the
Lombard invasion. The chief features of this style, besides the
Byzantesque figures, are intricate knots of intertwined strands, and
wavy sprays sometimes with biting beasts or pecking birds inserted among
them. The figures when copied tended to become grotesque barbarisms. The
knots were successfully copied up to the twelfth century. The strands,
which tended to become grooved, survived in the intertwined or woven
sprays of what is commonly called Anglo-Saxon sculpture and we find
animals inserted in such twelfth-century work as that of Rochester west
doorway, Ely Prior’s Doorway, and Kilpeck. The occasional vine-leaf and
grapes did not lead to any further development, but a common form in
this early work was a half-opened leaf in profile. This occurs
frequently wherever this style of carving exists, and it survived into
the twelfth century.
Assuming that these Anglian crosses belong to the end of the seventh
century, we cannot trace any progressive development through the eighth,
ninth and tenth centuries. It was not a period of progress, but rather
of decadence and destruction, in spite of bright spots here and there.
Arts which could be carried on in the seclusion of monasteries or
convents, such as illuminated manuscripts and fine needlework, were
carried to great perfection in certain quarters, perhaps also
ivory-carving, some good specimens of which are attributed to
Anglo-Saxon sources (Pl. 3). It is, however, questionable to what extent
stone-carving was influenced by these arts; whether, for instance, the
wonderful spirals and convolutions of Irish manuscripts should be
regarded as predecessors or followers of stone-carvings; but goldsmiths’
work, wicker-work, and iron and wood-work certainly suggested some of
the designs. In referring to a cross-shaft of very rude work at Bishop
Auckland, Sir Martin Conway says: “We find here, continuing, the
traditions introduced by Italian craftsmen into the North of England at
or about the time of Wilfred. Those traditions, the forms developed by
Irish and English craftsmen in goldsmiths’ work, illumination and
perhaps also in wood-carving, and, finally, the influence of surviving
works of Roman sculpture and decoration--these were the three factors by
whose union the art of the Anglian sculptures was produced and is
sufficiently explained[3].”
Between the period of the Anglian crosses and the eleventh century--a
period of constant warfare and Danish incursions--we know little of any
arts except the illuminations and needlework already mentioned, but
towards the end of that period, the time shortly before or after the
Norman Conquest, amid the dry bones of dead Byzantesque art we may
discover some symptoms of a new living force. The grooved triple strands
of Anglian art terminate naturally in a sort of trefoil. The trefoil is
a bud-form ready to open further and to multiply its parts. It is
therefore suitable as a basis for the decoration of curved or flat
surfaces and to fill spaces of any shape. Apart from its obvious
symbolism the trefoil had inevitably found its way into art in all ages.
The thunderbolt of Zeus, the French lilies and the Prince of Wales’
feathers are all varieties of it. Once recognised as having these
capacities it was bound to be adopted and developed. But this
recognition and application implies vitality and ambition--the elements
of progress.
At Sompting, in Sussex, there is a string course, a portion of which has
been carried over a piscina (Pl. 2). The triple strands are straight, or
nearly so, and are interlaced like wicker-work. They terminate in
trefoils which are of two kinds: (i) one with a solid mid-rib running up
into the central lobe, and (ii) the other in which the central lobe is
hollowed to look almost like a loop. These two kinds must be intended to
represent (i) the back or lower surface of a leaf, and (ii) the front or
top surface. It will also be observed that in one instance in the
portion selected for our illustration, the tip of the central lobe is
turned over from the margin, where there was not room for it to expand.
This was no doubt a reminiscence of the turned-over tips of Acanthus in
Corinthian capitals. In these features are contained the germs from
which sprang later the famous Early English stiff-leaf sculpture.
In the Oxford Galleries there are some casts of ivories attributed to
the Anglo-Saxon period, in which the borders contain foliage sculpture
resembling the floreated borders of Anglo-Saxon manuscripts (Pl. 3),
also the reliefs on one of the slabs at Chichester have a row of what
look like Greek anthemia. These slabs belong to what is called the
Winchester school of sculpture, and they are supposed to be pre-Conquest
in date. Similar anthemia are seen on a slab at Stepney. Other
interesting remains are those of an ivory tau-cross and an ivory comb in
the British Museum. These show trefoils of both sorts and one certainly
curled over, also the half-opened leaves in profile. As we have said,
these are all attributed to Anglo-Saxon art, and they are certainly very
superior to any sculpture that we know to have been the work of Norman
masons either prior to or shortly after the Conquest. These works, like
the manuscripts and needlework, point to the presumption that in the
eleventh century and perhaps earlier, there existed among our
Anglo-Saxon forefathers monastic schools of art which reached a higher
standard of vigour and refinement than was again attained until the
Saxons had recovered from the degradation of the Conquest and were
absorbing their conquerors into a blended nationality.
It is often difficult to be sure whether some of this sculpture is
pre-or post-Conquest. The same Saxon masons, or their sons or pupils, no
doubt retained something of their hereditary traditions when called upon
to serve under other masters. In some more remote districts the
Conquest probably did not cause any cessation of building. But in the
twelfth century we find English influences changing the Romanesque as
first introduced into Anglo-Norman and then into the Transition into
Early English. When strands are beaded, it is generally regarded as a
sign that the work is post-Conquest, but we do not consider this
indisputable.
Setting aside the French Corinthian type introduced at Canterbury and
elsewhere, from the period when the trefoil began to hold sway we can
see two English rival forces competing, which we may call the
Traditional and the Progressive. Sometimes masons of the two kinds were
at work side by side in the same churches. At King’s Walden and Kimpton
(near St Albans) (Pl. 4) the alternate capitals in the same arcade show
these rivalries. The two were in competition towards the end of the
twelfth century, and ultimately the English Gothic type became
triumphant.
We have next to trace the development of Byzantesque and Romanesque
foliage up to the period when the former ceased and the Early English
stiff-leaf foliage became everywhere adopted in this country.
CHAPTER III: ROMANESQUE OR NORMAN
As foliage sculpture is mostly concentrated on capitals, and sculpture
to some extent is modified by the shapes of the surfaces which it
ornaments, it will be well before going into sculptural details to note
that English capitals are of four descriptions: (i) cushion, (ii)
scalloped, (iii) bell, and (iv) cup-or bowl-shaped (Pl. 1).
Norman are mostly cushion or scalloped, but those of the French
Corinthian type are bells. Early English are mostly bells. Decorated
sometimes revert not to the cushion, but to a modification of it, which
we have called cup-shaped, the abacus being no longer square but
circular, or octagonal (Pl. 71).
The cushion is a cube with the lower corners chamfered off in such a
manner as to make the four sides semi-circular, the diameter being at
the top. Below the semi-circles the chamfers slope in to the necking of
the shaft.
The bell is the shape of a bell or trumpet-mouth. The profile of the
capital is concave from the necking up to the larger diameter of the top
adjoining the abacus.
In scalloped capitals the four sides of the capital, if square, or the
circumference if round, are subdivided into a series of semi-circles,
instead of having one on each face as in the cushions.
Cup-shaped capitals are the opposite of bells, having a convex instead
of a concave profile, say the shape of a tea-cup or bowl.
When Norman capitals are sculptured, whether with figure or foliage
sculpture, the character of the sculpture is Lombardic or Romanesque.
There is nothing especially English about it. The schools of carving
being mostly either in or under the control of the monasteries, and the
monasteries being cosmopolitan, the carving was so also, and followed
traditions which were mostly Classical in origin, but modified by
suggestions from painted illuminations, needlework, wicker-work,
wood-carving, and metal-work, both in iron and precious metals. Through
what are called the Dark Ages this type of carving had been kept up
chiefly on sarcophagi and ivory crosses and caskets, upon which the best
work is found.
Some cushion capitals at Christchurch have the Greek anthemion (Pl. 5)
and others the profile leaf, carved quite after the Greek manner.
The chancel arch respond at Hemel Hempstead has strands coming out of
the mouth of a human face, with similar profile leaves, beaded (Pl. 6).
At Hereford Cathedral there are interlaced spiral strands (beaded) mixed
up with animals and Greek anthemia. At Durham the capitals of a doorway
in the south aisle show winged monsters with long necks (beaded)
intertwined with foliage, while on the abacus is a row of anthemia. The
carving on the capitals is suggestive of Norse wood-carving. The same
character belongs to some capitals from the ruins of Reading Abbey. A
cushion capital at St Peter’s, Northampton, shows somewhat similar
characteristics, but some of the sprays end in triplets of profile
leaves (Pl. 7). Other capitals in the same church show animals mixed
with the sprays which are sometimes bound together by what look like
iron bands. Similar features appear on the base of the font at Aylesbury
(Pl. 8). We might multiply instances of this class of foliage to almost
any extent, but it does not lead us on to any further development. It
consists merely of variations of the old tradition derived from
Lombardic sources and exhibits no sign of vitality. We will therefore
content ourselves with showing one more rather remarkable specimen from
Oxford Cathedral. It puzzled antiquaries for a time, as it was thought
to be pre-Conquest in date, and yet it appears on the capital of a
rather late Norman column, thus illustrating the continuance or revival
of traditions in spite of the Conquest (Pl. 9).
The ornament on a doorway at Malmesbury consists of profile half-opened
leaves just like those on the Christchurch capitals, but, arranged as
they are here, back to back, they look more like halves of a Greek
anthemion or palmette.
Fonts sometimes show foliage sculpture. At Deerhurst is a font usually
considered Anglo-Saxon, on which the main part of the bowl is ornamented
with spirals without any leafage, but the borders, above and below, have
graceful sprays with leaves and flowers (Pl. 10). The type is
interesting, especially as a thirteenth-century capital in the same
church is evidently copied from it (Pl. 11).
Somewhat similar, but more clumsy, sprays occur on fonts at St
Stephen’s, Launceston, and Sidlington. In the Library of Durham
Cathedral there are some fragments containing conventional
representations of trees, which are a mixture of beaded straps and
leaves, some attempts at naturalism, others conventional palmettes or
“acanthus” leaves (Pl. 12).
A variety that stands by itself is seen at King’s Walden. It is
sometimes called water-leaf (Pl. 13). It also occurs under slightly
different arrangement at Fountains, and at Oxford Cathedral it is
combined with other experimental sprays.
These experiments at Oxford (Pl. 14) mark an important stage. Hitherto
we have come across nothing in the way of novelty. All the designs have
been copies--mostly debased copies--of Classical conventional forms. The
masons at Oxford were tired of this and attempted something different.
Their attempts were not altogether successful and did not lead to any
further development; the only feature that survived or was afterwards
revived was the rising of stalks from the necking.
During the same period the re-building of Canterbury choir took place
after the disastrous fire of 1174. The monks of Canterbury belonged to
the Traditional rather than the Progressive school, and they entrusted
the work to a French master-mason, William of Sens, instead of to
English masons who were feeling their way to such work as within a few
years is found fully developed in St Hugh’s choir at Lincoln. Up to this
time the French masons had adopted the Roman Corinthian type of capital.
This admits of considerable variety of details, and, after the middle of
the twelfth century, the French introduced not only Roman conventional
foliage, but also foliage of a more naturalistic kind. The capitals in
the Choir (Pl. 15) and especially in Trinity Chapel at Canterbury
contain much of both kinds, well executed and highly finished. This
Romanesque work is very beautiful, but it is not English, and has no
place in the continuous development of English foliage.
The French Corinthian type never made much progress in England. It
requires the square abacus to be effective, and the square abacus was
almost entirely abandoned here in favour of the round by the beginning
of the thirteenth century. A rather good example occurs at Ducklington,
Oxon, and an interesting juxtaposition of the Saxon type and the French
Corinthian is to be seen at Broadwater, Sussex (Pl. 16). Before passing
on to follow up the development of the stiff-leaf convention, it may be
interesting to note some early attempts to copy Corinthian. On a respond
of the tower arch at Sompting Church is a curious instance of this,
probably pre-Norman in date. It consists of a triple row of crockets,
apparently intended to copy acanthus, while the volutes resemble ram’s
horns, perhaps placed upside down, with clusters of grapes encircled in
them (Pl. 17). At Southrop, Glos, is a very primitive sort of capital
with volutes rising from a central stem, and below parallel leaves
rising from the necking. In Canterbury crypt there are several such
capitals (Pl. 18), some better and some worse executed. They appear to
have been carved _in situ_ on capitals that were originally cushions.
The feature that is of most interest in all these early attempts is the
parallel leaves rising from the necking. There is nothing new about this
arrangement. It is, in fact, precisely similar to that on the Lysicrates
monument at Athens, but it seems to have some affinity both to scallops
and stiff-leaf stems.
The scalloped form of capital is an English type. It is formed by
dividing each semi-circular face of the cushion capital into two or more
semi-circles, and carrying the channel between each semi-circle down to
the necking, so that each convexity is a half-cone. A very simple
example is a scalloped capital at the Tower of London, in which each
face is bisected. The capitals illustrated in Pl. 1 and Pls. 19, 20, 21,
22, 23 will show the shape better than any amount of description. The
nave capitals at Hemel Hempstead show the effect of scallops on large
square capitals. In this case variety is given by cutting out the
corners. The great round capitals at Malmesbury have scallops with the
semi-circles moulded. At Black Bourton, Oxon (Pl. 19), the scallops are
curved and the semi-circles made circular and ornamented with
quatrefoils. At Kimpton not only are the semi-circles moulded but the
scallops themselves have great leaves cut upon them (Pl. 20). At King’s
Walden, close by, spiked leaves rise from the necking between the
scallops (Pl. 21). At Romsey there are some very richly carved scalloped
capitals, with faces in the semi-circles and foliage all over the
scallops (Pl. 22). At Cuddington a round capital has curved scallops,
the semi-circles ornamented with a round hole, and plain sharply-pointed
leaves rising from the necking between the scallops (Pl. 23).
The chief significance of scalloping in connexion with the development
of stiff-leaf is the rising of straight lines from the necking. We have
already mentioned the Oxford experiments in which this feature is
prominent.
CHAPTER IV: EARLY ENGLISH STIFF-LEAF
The basis of the English stiff-leaf foliage, which dominated Gothic
ornament here for nearly a century, is a trefoil of a very marked type.
The period of its domination was from the end of the twelfth to near the
end of the thirteenth century--the spring-time of Gothic architecture.
It first appeared when the Saxon and Norman masons had got over their
animosity and were working together, while inter-marriage was binding
the two races into a new nation. The churches of King’s Walden and
Kimpton afford most interesting examples of the time just preceding this
fusion (Pl. 4). The masons of the dying Romanesque school were working
side by side with those whom the new spirit of Gothic was animating, and
who ventured on some of the earliest experiments in the coming style. It
is seldom that we are able to find so concrete an example of an abstract
type as the trefoils on a capital at King’s Walden (Pl. 24). Here is a
double row of plain trefoils showing clearly the solid mid-rib in all
three lobes, but appearing to press into, if not to pierce, the central
lobe. This is the simple earliest development of the type mentioned on
p. 11 as occurring in embryo-form on a string course at Sompting (Pl.
2), and representing the under surface of a leaf[4]. The other type,
representing the upper surface, is shown as plainly and simply on a
capital at St David’s Cathedral. Here, instead of the solid mid-rib, the
central portion of the central lobe is concaved into a hollow and looks
almost like a loop (Pl. 26). These two distinct types may be called the
eastern, or Lincoln, and the western, or Wells, types. But it must not
be supposed that this rough classification is exact or exclusive.
Trefoils of both kinds may be seen both at Lincoln and Wells, but the
mid-rib type is certainly more common in the eastern counties, and the
hollowed type is more frequently found in the west than in the east. A
capital at Bledlow Church shows simple examples of both types placed
alternately (Pl. 27), and at Fountains an early capital shows the same
distinctive features of the mid-rib and hollow alternately on leaves
that are not trefoils (Pl. 28). At Kimpton (Pl. 29) the development is
rapid. The trefoils are in groups of three, and they are made to blend
so as to make a continuous garland of leafage round the capital. But the
masons who carved the Kimpton capitals were not content with
uniformity. There were two schools, as we have said before, working side
by side; probably both of them had been at work on the great abbey of St
Albans. There were the conservatives and the progressives; and the rows
of capitals, apparently contemporaneous, contain some of the old
decadent Romanesque type and some of the new experiments in stiff-leaf.
The conservatives, not wishing to be outdone by their rivals, ornamented
the Norman scallops as in the capital illustrated in Pl. 20, or like Pl.
21 in the neighbouring church of King’s Walden. The progressives varied
the shapes of the trefoils and the character of the mid-ribs, which they
sometimes carried up above the top of the central lobe instead of
pressing into it. These variations will be seen in Pl. 30. In the
last-mentioned a very remarkable piece of almost impudent experiment
occurs. The spacing of the garland of trefoils round the capital not
being accurately measured, when the last space had to be filled there
was not room for a complete trefoil like the rest, so the mason had the
temerity to push out a trefoil sideways to fill the gap. This is a crude
and clumsy forerunner of such foliage as is to be found in the Lincoln
Angel Choir (Pl. 47). At Minster in Thanet there are hollowed trefoils
in a row on one face, and convexed mid-ribbed trefoils on another (Pl.
31). A double row of leaves appears on some capitals at Wells, the
monotony being broken by an experiment, not altogether successful, which
is a singular and exceptional breach of the convention, and suggests an
attempt at naturalism (Pl. 32[5]). It is, however, to be observed that,
in this departure, the mid-rib and concave conventions are followed in
the thin leaves substituted for the expansive trefoils. In the nave of
Lincoln some of the capitals have a double row of trefoils bending about
with considerable freedom and exhibiting very clearly some
characteristic features (Pl. 33). In most of the sprays the mid-rib is
prominent, and in most cases it dies into the leaf in a way which
explains the origin of the apparent pressing in or piercing. The point
of the leaf is seen plainly to curl over in the way of which we have the
first example at Sompting (Pl. 2). It is true that in that example it is
the concaved upper surface which is curled over, but it is suggestive.
The curling of all the tips in this Lincoln example led to such
convolutions as we find later in such capitals as those in the Hereford
north transept (Pl. 34). The semi-circular excrescences between the
stalks above the necking are an early feature, seen also at Oxford, and
elsewhere. This turning over of the tips is seen in the borders of Saxon
ivories at the Oxford Galleries (Pl. 3). It is quite Classical in
origin, and seems to be derived from the curling over of Corinthian
“acanthus” leaves. A corbel at Teversham (Pl. 35) shows long flat
mid-ribs apparently piercing the heads of the leaves like metal bands.
This specimen looks like the work of an inferior hand who did not grasp
the significance of the convention, but who slavishly copied it without
understanding it. The occurrence of such exceptional examples only
throws more light on the influence of _style_. It guided and kept within
reasonable bounds the intelligent and artistic mason, but merely
exercised a mechanical control over those less capable. We are reminded
of the great sculptors of Ancient Greece who did the figure work, and
the slaves who executed the patterns. The mason who did such work as
this at Teversham would have been better employed at cutting dog-tooth
ornament.
The trefoils exhibiting the mid-rib type are arranged in graceful wavy
garlands at Eaton Bray (Pl. 36). Ivinghoe Church has a very good series
of stiff-leaf foliage capitals, showing characteristics already
described (Pl. 37).
Perhaps the very finest specimens of mid-thirteenth-century stiff-leaf
are to be found on the spandrils of the wall-arcade round the chancel of
Stone Church, in Kent (Pl. 38). The foliage is arranged in circling
sprays designed to fill the spaces of the spandrils. The trefoils show
plainly the mid-rib. Most of them have an extra lobe, and, in what we
take to be the later ones, there is a tendency to emphasise the centres
of the lobes by little swellings--a feature to be further developed in
what is called the Decorated convention. These beautiful carvings at
Stone are supposed to have been executed by the Westminster Abbey
masons. It is therefore interesting to compare them with spandrils at
Westminster which were probably the pioneers of those at Stone (Pl. 39).
We have next to notice a variety of foliage in the nave of Lincoln, in
which the leaves are split (Pl. 40). This indicates a weakening of the
tradition. At West Walton some of the capitals suggest a reminiscence of
volutes and crockets. At Wells, while the trefoil form is discoverable,
there was much more freedom from convention. In a capital at the west
end of the nave (Pl. 41), the solid mid-rib can be recognised turned
over into a volute at a corner, while the turned-over tip survives in a
modified form. Many of the sprays are twisted into curves, some like
those at Hereford (Pl. 34), others rather at random. In others animal
forms are mixed with the foliage, and the whole treated in a very free
manner. In a vaulting-shaft corbel of the transept (Pl. 42) there are a
number of trefoils of the western type in which the hollowed portions of
the leaves are actually cut out, turning them into loops. In the St
David’s example we illustrate (Pl. 26) the leaves are similar, but not
undercut. A corbel at Wells of a lizard biting fruit (Pl. 43) shows both
kinds of trefoils, but the hollowed upper surfaces are not thus cut out.
It would appear that the masons who carved the corbel shown in Pl. 42
had lost the sense of the origin of the hollows and were influenced by
the desire, apparent in Pls. 40 and 32, to divide the leaves into
strips. The Judgment Porch at Lincoln has some exquisitely undercut
foliage forming bowers from which statuettes look out. This foliage
exhibits all the grace of the Westminster and Stone spandrils, and
stands out against the hollow of the moulding in a way that suggests
ivory carving (Pl. 44). The mid-ribbed trefoil, often with one or more
extra lobes, is much in evidence, also turned-over tips and occasional
spiral curls, and here and there little round knobs, these last
indicating the approach to a later stage, which is reached in the
sculptures on the doorways to the choir aisles at Lincoln (Pl. 45). In
these the newer features of curls and knobs prevail, but distinct and
separate trefoil treatment is difficult to find. In another small
capital at Lincoln (Pl. 46), in place of trefoils we find curling-over
crockets, generally showing a substantial mid-rib, but with the lobes
split and twisted into convolutions which are bold and in a way
impressive, but which are too prominent, and obscure rather than reveal
the architectural function of the capital. This over-profusion of
ornament is even more pronounced in a capital in the wall arcading under
the east window of the Angel Choir (Pl. 47). Here one cannot help
feeling that the mason deliberately selected much larger stones than
suitable for the capitals in order to display his cleverness in working
them into great crockets projecting far from the bell. The curves are
graceful and the work is refined as well as bold, but the projecting
foliage overbalances the comparatively small bell of the capital, and
may be regarded as the extreme limit of the stiff-leaf convention. The
style had reached a bubbling-over stage.
Before passing on beyond this limit we will turn aside to notice some
other variations. At St Margaret’s, King’s Lynn, there are some
capitals one of which shows four-leaved flowers with a knob in the
centre and on each petal. The trefoils between the flowers have the
mid-rib, and are symmetrically arranged in pairs curled backwards to
meet one another at the tips (Pl. 48). At Lichfield Cathedral some of
the trefoils have grown into cinque-foils, the central lobe with a
mid-rib rising to the abacus and there turning over in accordance with
the early tradition. The side lobes are slightly indented into trefoils
(Pl. 49). Some of the capitals in the chapter house at Salisbury are
very characteristic (Pl. 50) though they may have been to some extent
restored. They show trefoils forming crockets and used singly.
Perhaps the most beautiful and perfect specimen of the fully-developed
stiff-leaf style is on the wall arcade of the ancient choir screen now
placed in the transept of Salisbury Cathedral (Pl. 51). It has all the
grace and refinement of the late Lincoln capitals, but is closer to the
convention and is more restrained and architecturally suitable.
At Wells, where the development was on somewhat different lines, and
where we find more of the hollowed or looped trefoils, the later
capitals at the west end of the nave suggest a separate origin (Pl. 52).
The stalks rising from the necking blossom into luxuriant foliage or
fronds of bracken. A connexion between these rising stalks diverging as
they rise and blossoming at the top, and the scallops of Anglo-Norman
capitals resembling cornucopiae, on the top of which luxuriant
vegetation overflows, is confirmed by such a capital as that shown in
Pl. 53. We would also refer to the capital at St David’s (Pl. 26) in
which there is a similar suggestion.
It is impossible, within reasonable limits, to describe all the
variations of thirteenth-century foliage. As we have remarked before,
the convention or style guided and controlled, but did not enslave, the
masons. In the earlier days of the style, before the masons had fully
grasped the capabilities of the tradition, the experiments were in the
direction of more rigid uniformity, but mastery over the style grew
rapidly, and they soon found out how to employ their skill in new and
graceful ways within the limits imposed by it. Towards the end of the
period, say in the third quarter of the thirteenth century, they took
more liberties and added new forms and treatment until they had
exhausted its capabilities and grew tired of its control. Before passing
on to the next stage we will briefly refer to one or two specimens of an
unusual character.
In the retrochoir of Ely (Pl. 54) the trefoils have lumps on every lobe
almost like the bladders on seaweeds. This is an anticipation of the
fourteenth-century convention, but the stiff-leaf features and
thirteenth-century mouldings class these with the earlier style.
At Llandaff (Pl. 55) heads occur, and foliage different from any we have
attempted to describe. Finally, we would mention a coffin-lid at Weobley
on which the cross is formed of trefoils (Pl. 56).
CHAPTER V: NATURALISTIC
The stiff-leaf convention having reached its extreme development, and
the resources of design and invention within its limits having been
exhausted, the masons of the later part of the thirteenth century looked
about for a fresh inspiration. They were skilled handicraftsmen and true
artists, not content to plod on in the old ways, but seeking fresh
opportunities of manifesting their cleverness. They began to feel the
restrictions of the stiff-leaf convention to be fettering them in their
self-expression, and no longer a guide and help.
Under these circumstances the next stage to be expected of such men was
a return to nature. In all healthy living art there is from time to time
this return to nature. Without this resource art cannot live and
progress. As an example of the lack of this recuperative refreshment we
may instance the designs of oriental carpets. Beautiful and satisfying
as the arrangements of colour usually are, the designs are contemptible.
If carefully examined it is sometimes possible to detect their origin,
and they are found to be copies of copies of the art introduced by
Alexander. They have been copied and copied without understanding from
age to age until they have become utterly degraded. We found something
of the same sort in Saxon England. Skilled masons were introduced from
the continent from time to time. They produced fairly good work and
native pupils copied them, but mere copying soon led to decline and
death.
The thirteenth-century masons, on the other hand, were full of life and
energy, and, having liberated themselves from a convention which had
become a prison, they took to copying natural leaves and flowers, and
prided themselves on rendering these with the utmost skill and accuracy.
They showed their taste in arrangement and their cleverness in details.
They carried their naturalism so far as to represent not merely veins
and minute structure, but even hairs and insects.
In France this naturalism came a little earlier, as the French masons
passed direct to it from the Romanesque Corinthian foliage without any
intermediate convention. For a short time, therefore, the English and
French foliage were very similar. In England, however, this stage did
not last long, but soon was followed by another convention--that of the
Decorated or Edwardian style of the fourteenth century.
The best collection of naturalistic foliage is in the chapter house of
Southwell Minster and its vestibule. In tympana and mouldings and on
capitals here we find the leaves of oak, maple, vine, may, rose, hop,
fig, etc., etc., delicately carved in exact imitation of nature. Instead
of straight stalks rising from the necking of capitals the cut-off
stalks belonging to each leaf appear to be stuck on to the bell above
the necking. In fact the effect is as if leaves with their stalks had
been plucked from the trees or plants, glued on to the bells and
petrified there. The work is so cleverly done that it almost disarms
criticism, and it has sometimes been regarded as the most beautiful and
perfect type of Gothic foliage. Against this, however, it must be urged
that they are of the nature of applied ornament rather than
architecturally part of the building. They suggest a temporary adornment
like beautiful clothing which is removable rather than a permanent
portion of the structure. They do not impart a sense of rest and
strength, but look as if a strong gust of wind might blow them away.
These remarks apply specially to such a capital as that illustrated in
Pl. 57, and the very charming group of capitals on the entrance doorway
(Pl. 58). Some of the gables (Pl. 59) contain human faces or dragons
intertwined with the sprays of foliage. These, having a flat background,
have a more solid appearance and are delightful.
The Cantilupe Shrine at Hereford has naturalistic carving on the
spandrils between the weepers’ housings. No two spandrils are alike. All
are arranged with great taste, and gracefully fill the spaces they
occupy (Pl. 60).
Heads among foliage belong to all periods, and the carving of a spray
coming out of the mouth is a very old fancy. The earliest instance we
have illustrated is the one at Hemel Hempstead (Pl. 6). Of this period
one occurs on a tomb at Winchelsea (Pl. 61) where sprays of oak leaves
come from the mouth of a well-executed face, and spread to fill the
lobes of an ogeed trefoil panel. On the spandrils between the arches of
the shrine of St Frideswide at Oxford, there are rather flat sprays of
leaves of forest trees, with a face in their midst. This is thought to
commemorate an episode in the life of the saint, when she was hiding in
a wood (Pl. 62).
Among the best known examples of this style are the corbels of the
vaulting shafts in the choir of Exeter Cathedral. The two corbels we
illustrate (Pls. 63 and 64) show excellent naturalistic carvings of oak
and wild celery(?) leaves. Among the oak leaves are acorns and oak
apples.
As we remarked above, the naturalistic period did not last long in
England. Most of the examples were probably executed within the twenty
years from 1280 to 1300. Although a new convention then began, a
naturalistic treatment of details survived for a long time. We find
occasional instances of it right up to the Tudor period, and a distinct
revival of it, as on the west doorway of King’s College Chapel,
Cambridge, was the last effort of the Gothic masons before they were
swamped by Renaissance ideas (Pl. 85).
Before leaving this subject it may be interesting to compare the
treatment of roses in the four centuries the work of which we are
describing. In the twelfth century, the Norman or Romanesque style, we
find a few specimens, such as those at Iffley (Pl. 65), where the petals
are arranged in a double row round a central disc forming rosettes
rather than roses. Of the thirteenth century Early English style there
are some similar specimens, as at Lincoln (Pl. 66) on the doorways into
the choir aisles, but here the petals are in triple rows. Of the
fourteenth-century Decorated style some specimens, as at Fyfield, Essex
(Pl. 67), are more globular, without any definite arrangement in rows.
The roses on the chapterhouse doorway at Rochester are single with flat
petals, bulged in the middle (Pl. 68). On some of the late fourteenth or
early fifteenth-century fonts, as at Erwarton (Pl. 69), there are large
flat roses set in panels. They are of a conventional heraldic type. The
petals are arranged formally in two rows round a central disc which is
covered with knobs to represent stamens. The leaves are square-cut with
rounded corners and indented outer edge.
Tudor roses, as seen at King’s College Chapel, Cambridge (Pl. 85), are
again more naturalistic, with several rows of petals and a large central
disc. Cut stalks are seen between the outer petals. The gateway of St
John’s College, Cambridge (Pl. 70), has some good specimens of Tudor
roses together with a quantity of daisies, the emblem of the Lady
Margaret. In describing these as naturalistic we must remember that
there has no doubt been considerable development and modification of
cultivated roses in the course of the centuries. Those of the twelfth,
thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth centuries may have differed a good
deal from those of to-day.
CHAPTER VI: THE DECORATED STYLE
When the masons grew tired of extreme naturalism, which happened after
about twenty years, they invented, or rather there grew up among them, a
new style or convention which is called Decorated or Edwardian, as it
lasted through the reigns of the first three Edwards. Its peculiarities
were an exaggeration of the knobs or globular waves on the leaves which
we found beginning in the Angel Choir of Lincoln (Pl. 45), and a
rippling of the edges. This last feature gave a suggestion of adhesion
which was lacking in the naturalistic leaves, and accorded with the
convex character of the carving. The Early English stiff-leaf foliage
curled over outwards concavely like volutes, the Decorated foliage
returned to the cushion-shaped or, rather, the cup-shaped capital (Pl.
1), and gave an appearance of solidity and support (Pl. 71). The leaves
that lent themselves most fitly to this knob and ripple treatment were
long thin serrated leaves like those of certain ferns and seaweeds. Fern
leaves often exhibit very similar curves and ripples in nature, while
the bladders on seaweed may have suggested the knobs. The most marked
examples are the crockets on the exterior of arched canopies or gables.
In these the effect is to suggest that they are crawling like
caterpillars up the arches (Pl. 111). There are some good specimens of
these on the Percy Monument at Beverley. The crockets and finial on this
Percy Monument show very plainly the characteristics we have described
(Pl. 73). The globular swellings on the leaves are so exaggerated at
Beverley as to look almost like apples or pears from a distance. The
leaves here are not like those of ferns or seaweed, but are apparently
conventionalised vine leaves, and, as such, should be compared with the
naturalistic leaves on the Southwell capital (Pl. 57). Among the leaves
are some small bunches of grapes. This mixing of fruit with leaves is
also a feature of Decorated sculpture. It is seldom seen earlier though
it is frequent later. In a few rare cases flowers appear among
stiff-leaf foliage (Pl. 48), but fruit seldom or never. This period is
the August time of Gothic--the fruit season. The stiff-leaf period is
that of buds, the Decorated that of flowers and fruit, and the
Perpendicular that of vines and grapes carved in wood.
A very graceful arrangement of seaweed leaves occurs on a panel of a
tomb at Winchelsea (Pl. 72), and a more elaborate one of the same sort
on the tympanum of a gable in the Lady Chapel at Ely (Pl. 74). In this
chapel also a face occurs with sprays of Decorated foliage coming out of
its mouth (Pl. 75). This reminds us of Pls. 6 and 61. The foliage on the
Easter sepulchre at Lincoln is an exaggerated example of the crinkled
edges of the Decorated leaves (Pl. 76), and a monument at Exeter is an
exaggerated example of the puffed-out globular swellings (Pl. 77). Long,
coarse, sprawling leaves showing bulgings and rippled edges are
exemplified on capitals at Patrington (Pl. 78).
The Decorated type of foliage continued in use in the western counties
right through the Perpendicular period. In the east foliage sculpture in
stone almost ceased. The principal place for its exhibition being
capitals, the reduction in size and importance of capitals led to its
disuse. The small capitals of the period were mostly moulded, not
carved. Such foliation as we have is chiefly on monuments. While
stone-carving was becoming rare, or of a very coarse and decadent
description, wood-carving was coming more and more elaborate. The best
carvers, with a few exceptions, seem to have transferred their work from
stone to wood. The building of churches gave way to their enlargement
and ornamentation with wooden screens and alabaster monuments.
CHAPTER VII: THE PERPENDICULAR STYLE
The main feature in which Perpendicular foliage differs from Decorated
is its tendency to squareness and to long sprawling leafage. The
squareness culminated in what is known as the Tudor ornament. Drilled
holes to emphasise the indentations of the leaves are also a frequent
feature. As most of the foliation is of a decadent Decorated character
with more or less marked tendencies of the kinds we have mentioned, it
does not seem worth while to disfigure this volume with many
illustrations of the decadence. We therefore select a few characteristic
specimens only, and then pass on to the wood-carving.
At Aldenham there is a monument (Pl. 79) of doubtful date in a spandril
of which is a human face with sprays coming out of its mouth--a fancy we
have noticed before in both Norman and later work. The foliage is like
the Decorated seaweed but more rippling and elongated.
On the back of Abbot Ramryge’s Chantry at St Albans (Pl. 80) is a string
of vine leaves and grapes of a very square type, and with numerous
drill-holes. This was probably executed in the abbot’s lifetime. He
died in 1524. The same class of vine stems and foliage is seen on Bishop
Alcock’s Chantry at Ely (Pl. 81). He died in 1500. A pulpit at North
Cerney, Glos, has some rather remarkable lilies on stiff stalks (Pl.
82).
In the spandrils of the canopies over the sedilia at St Mary’s, Oxford
(Pl. 83), there is foliage of a similar kind to that at Aldenham, but
better executed. The cornice above has vine stems with leaves of a very
square-cut conventional type, approaching the Tudor ornament in shape.
The carving is much broken, but can never have been anything but poor
and clumsy in design.
A much better specimen of this late and poor work is the watching loft
of St Frideswide’s shrine in the Oxford Cathedral, the general effect of
which is rich and ornate. A close examination, however, will show that
the richness is caused by elaborate multiplication of similar ornaments
and not by any excellence of design (Pl. 84). Below the openings is a
row of Tudor ornaments, well enough executed, as much like one another
as the dog-tooth of the thirteenth century or the ball-flower of the
fourteenth. Above is an arrangement of tall finials forming crocketed
pinnacles. Above these is a cornice of vine stems, with leaves and
grapes. This is much finer work than the others we have described, but
there is a lack of grace in the curves of the stems, and the same design
is repeated over and over again. On the top is another row of Tudor
ornaments of a slightly different shape from those below.
It is refreshing at last to come to something more original and with
more design about it. In the hollow of the mouldings of the west doorway
of King’s College Chapel, Cambridge (Pl. 85), and in the spandrils above
is some carving which is particularly interesting. Heraldic devices
appear in English architectural ornament as far back as the reign of
Henry III, when Simon de Montfort’s arms are sculptured on a wall arcade
at Westminster. Many shields and arms appear on the Percy Monument at
Beverley, but it is not until the Perpendicular period that armorial
bearings became the chief features of monuments and not until late in
the Tudor period that they appear on the walls of royal chapels. The
shields were at first triangular and simple in outline. Towards the end
of the Tudor period and the commencement of the Renaissance they
developed into plaques with curvilinear edges, round indentations and
curled-over projections, such as we frequently see placed on wrought
iron gates. These plaques, we would suggest, have a sort of family
resemblance to such leaves as we saw on the Ramryge Chantry at St
Albans. The royal masons who were employed at King’s College were very
expert in the carving of armorial bearings--crowns, portcullises, the
animal supporters, and Tudor roses. Great roses are carved on the walls
both of the interior and exterior of King’s, but the feature to which we
would specially call attention is the stems and leaves of these roses.
It is true that the size of the roses makes the whole design top-heavy,
and is almost like a caricature with a large head out of proportion to
the body, but the stem and leaves are a new departure. They are
naturalistic, and, being the work of skilled masons, they are well done.
They are the very last effort of Gothic stone-carving and indicate a
desire to break loose from the hard-and-fast convention, and return to
nature for a fresh inspiration. What this might have led to we do not
know, for Renaissance invasions nipped this effort in the bud, and
Gothic art expired. It should be mentioned that these roses and leaves
have been copied on the Houses of Parliament at Westminster.
CHAPTER VIII: MATERIALS
So far we have merely described the forms of sculptured foliage. It is,
however, obvious that these forms must have been considerably modified
by the materials in which they were worked. We may go further and state
that not merely the sculptures, but the whole character of the building
must depend to a great extent on the materials obtainable. In some
cases, especially for great buildings like Canterbury Cathedral, the
stone may have been brought from a great distance--even across the sea.
But in most cases the buildings were constructed of materials that were
readily obtainable, and we find both in England and France the finest
and best buildings in greatest profusion in districts where good
building stone was readily procurable.
The great difference between northern and southern Gothic, say between
the architecture of England or Northern France and Italy, is the effect
of materials and climate. In the sunny south, wherever bright marbles
are obtainable, the architecture tends to depend more on colour and
surface than on form, while in the comparatively cold and rainy north,
where marble is scarce, the builders had to depend on form almost
entirely. A smooth polished surface would not be effective in ordinary
building stone, so bold outline and deep shadows must be designed. And,
truly, beauty of form is a higher and nobler art than beauty of polished
surface and colour. Beauty of form depends more on art than on
materials, though there is undoubtedly a great fascination in beautiful
shining coloured surfaces.
Professor Prior[6] goes so far as to say that what is much wanted is a
systematic survey to separate the various mason-crafts of the English
quarry centres, to show their influence on the great tides of central
style. He suggests that the country may be roughly divided into three
areas for this purpose:
1st: the Upper Thames Valley, including the free large block stone of
Box, Charlbury and Dunstable.
2nd: the regions of which Northamptonshire is the centre--Stamford,
Peterborough and the Valley of the Nene. The Rutland oolite stone was
more enduring than the Oxfordshire. Hence many illustrations of
architecture are selected from this region.
3rd: the East Coast, where easy water carriage made good stone easily
procurable.
Lincoln Cathedral containing our chief supply of thirteenth-century
foliage sculpture, it is interesting to note that the stone came from a
local quarry (oolite) and from Ancaster. Its warmth of tone and enduring
qualities influenced the design and insured permanence. The Chilmark
grey stone was eminently suitable for the refined mouldings of
Salisbury, and the Doulting stone for the sculptures of Wells and
Glastonbury, while Barnack quarries supplied three dioceses and six
counties.
The principal supply of marble in this country came from the Isle of
Purbeck. It is mostly used for slender shafts, but at Ely and Salisbury
and also in the Trinity Chapel of Canterbury Cathedral and Westminster
Abbey the main columns are built entirely of it. It is more usually
moulded and not sculptured, but it is sometimes sculptured as at Lincoln
(Pl. 86) on the capitals and corbels, and on fonts and tombs.
The stone for the choir of Canterbury was brought from Caen in Normandy.
In Cornwall we find at Launceston and elsewhere sculptured granite.
One of our illustrations is of ivory carving (Pl. 3). While this is not
strictly architectural work, it is closely related to it, and on account
of the beauty and costliness of the material, only the best carvers
were employed upon it. It is chiefly on ivories and sarcophagi that the
continuity of Classical and Gothic ornament may be followed through the
dark ages of the decline of the Roman Empire up to the Norman revival.
Before leaving this subject, we illustrate a few more Purbeck marble
carvings to note the effect of working in a harder material.
Pl. 87 shows some foliage on Bishop Marshall’s Tomb at Exeter.
Pl. 88 shows some foliage on Archbishop Grey’s Tomb at York.
Pl. 89 shows some foliage on a corbel at Rochester Cathedral.
These are all thirteenth-century work.
It remains to describe the progress of foliation in wood-carving. We are
unaware of the existence of any such carving dating from before the
thirteenth century. Some capitals of that date remain at Peterborough
Cathedral, taken out of their original setting and used again, fitted
into Jacobean canopies (Pl. 90). These specimens have a square abacus
which determines the arrangement of the foliage, but it will be seen to
consist of trefoils not grouped. Wooden capitals in good preservation
are rare. More common are misericords of this period. There are several
at Exeter showing well the characteristic Early English trefoils (Pls.
91 and 92). One that is apparently a little later (Pl. 93) shows the
blobs or round excrescences which we noticed at Lincoln (Pl. 45), Ely
(Pl. 54), and elsewhere, at the period just before the naturalistic
change. Christchurch also has a series of thirteenth-century
misericords, one of which is perhaps the best example left of this
period (Pl. 94). At St Margaret’s Church, King’s Lynn, there is a
well-executed fourteenth-century misericord showing a face with
Decorated foliage coming from the mouth (Pl. 95). The same fancy we have
noticed before, at Hemel Hempstead (Pl. 6), Winchelsea (Pl. 61) and
elsewhere.
At St Margaret’s Church, King’s Lynn, there is a very beautiful
fourteenth-century screen (Pl. 96). The foliage consists chiefly of
crockets on gables and pinnacles. It is sharp-cut early Decorated work
in this portion, and the leaves are almost naturalistic. Other portions
of the same screen extend into the Perpendicular period. Our next
illustration is of Decorated work from the canopies of the stalls at
Winchester (Pl. 97). The favourite subject of wood-carving throughout
the Decorated and Perpendicular periods is vine stems, leaves and
grapes. In this instance the stems are graceful--describing parts of
circles[7]. The grapes are numerous and round, the leaves extremely
bulbous and ripple-edged. In a vine string at Tong, the stems are still
graceful, but the grapes are fewer in number and more symmetrically
arranged (Pl. 98). The leaves are still bulbous and ripple-edged, but
are more lozenge-shaped, and the bulbous lumps are arranged in a cross.
At Abergavenny dragons are mixed with the vines (Pl. 100), the stems are
more twisted in a naturalistic manner, the grapes have lozenge outlines
and the leaves are lozenge-shaped with drilled indentations. On the
bench-ends at Tong the cruciform arrangement of the bulgings and the
straight edges of the grapes are even more marked. In another example
from Tong the wavy stem arrangement continues, but the foliage is oak
leaves and acorns (Pl. 99). Above is a row of Tudor ornaments with
symmetrically arranged balls or grapes between them.
The crockets outside the ogee arches of the stall canopies at Norwich
Cathedral are good examples of square-cut lozenge-shaped leaves with
rippled edges and radiating veins (Pl. 101).
The pews at Mullion may be taken as a characteristic example of late
Perpendicular carving in Cornwall. The indented edges of the long
pointed leaves with a ball in the centre are frequent in this kind of
work (Pl. 102).
At the very end of the Gothic period we find in some of the wood-carving
the same expression which we noticed at Cambridge--a desire to throw
over convention and return to nature. Of this a bench-end at Crowcombe
(Somerset) is a good example (Pl. 103).
CHAPTER IX: CONVENTIONAL ORNAMENTS
DOG-TOOTH, BALL-FLOWER AND TUDOR-FLOWER
The dog-tooth ornament is profusely used in rich thirteenth-century
buildings, and is one of the clearest indications of date. It is often
placed in the deep Early English mouldings as on the Galilee Porch at
Ely (Pl. 104). It consists of a pyramid formed of four leaves, usually
with a hole drilled where they divide. The example from Lincoln
ambulatory doorway (Pl. 66) shows their character plainly. Sometimes
they are curved, as in Hereford transept (Pl. 34), sometimes there are
only two leaves, the other two being suppressed, as in the Lichfield
triforium (Pl. 49). At Soham there are three leaves (Pl. 105). Sometimes
they are elaborately enriched as at St Cross (Pl. 106) and Dunstable
(Pl. 107). The most elaborate example of this sort of treatment is on
the west doorway at Wells (Pl. 108).
The ball-flower ornament is to the fourteenth-century work what the
dog-tooth is to the thirteenth. A window at Leominster (Pl. 109) shows
this well. Sometimes, as on the screen at Exeter (Pl. 110) the
ball-flowers are united by stalks. The character of the ornament is
shown plainly in our example from Tewkesbury (Pl. 111). The ball is a
bud form with three enclosing leaves, and there are three deep
indentations between them.
The Tudor ornament fulfils a similar part in late Perpendicular work. It
is well shown on the watching loft of the shrine at Oxford (Pl. 84), and
in detail in our illustration from Purse Caundle (Pl. 112).
TOPOGRAPHICAL INDEX
OF PLATES
Abergavenny _Plate_ 100
Aldenham 79
Aylesbury 8
Beverley 71, 73
Black Bourton 19
Bledlow 27
Boxgrove 1
Broadwater 16
Bury St Edmunds 1
Cambridge 70, 85
Canterbury 15, 18
Christchurch 5, 94
Crowcombe 103
Cuddington 23
Deerhurst 10, 11
Dunstable 107
Durham 12
Eaton Bray 36
Ely 54, 74, 75, 81, 104
Erwarton 69
Exeter 63, 64, 77, 87, 91, 92, 93, 110
Fountains 28
Fyfield (Essex) 67
Hemel Hempstead 6
Hereford 25, 34, 60
Iffley 65
Ivinghoe 37
Kimpton 4, 20, 29, 30
King’s Lynn 48, 95, 96
King’s Walden 13, 21, 24
Leominster 109
Lichfield 49
Lincoln 33, 40, 44, 45, 46, 47, 66, 76, 86
Llandaff 55
London (Tower) 1
Minster (Thanet) 31
Mullion 102
Northampton 7
North Cerney 82
Norwich 101
Oxford 3, 9, 14, 62, 83, 84
Patrington 78
Peterborough 90
Purse Caundle 112
Rochester 68, 89
Romsey 22
St Albans 80
St Cross 106
St David’s 26
Salisbury 50, 51
Soham 105
Sompting 2, 17
Southwell 57, 58, 59
Stone (Kent) 38
Teversham 35
Tewkesbury 111
Tong 98, 99
Wells 32, 41, 42, 43, 52, 53, 108
Weobley 56
Westminster 39
Winchelsea 61, 72
Winchester 1, 97
York 88
SHAPES OF CAPITALS
[Illustration: PLATE I
SHAPES OF CAPITALS
i Cushion
ii Scalloped
iii Bell
iv Cup
(pp. 14, 15, 20, 39)]
[Illustration: PLATE 2
SOMPTING. A.S. (pp. 11, 23, 25)]
[Illustration: PLATE 3
OXFORD. A.S.(?) (pp. 11, 26, 48)]
[Illustration: PLATE 4
KIMPTON. _c._ 1180. (pp. 13, 22)]
[Illustration: PLATE 5
CHRISTCHURCH. _c._ 1100. (p. 15)]
[Illustration: PLATE 6
HEMEL HEMPSTEAD. _c._ 1140. (pp. 15, 36, 41, 42, 50)]
[Illustration: PLATE 7
NORTHAMPTON. _c._ 1160. (p. 16)]
[Illustration: PLATE 8
AYLESBURY. _c._ 1160. (p. 16)]
[Illustration: PLATE 9
OXFORD. _c._ 1160. (p. 16)]
[Illustration: PLATE 10
DEERHURST. A.S. (p. 17)]
[Illustration: PLATE 11
DEERHURST. _c._ 1200. (p. 17)]
[Illustration: PLATE 12
DURHAM. _c._ 1170. (p. 17)]
[Illustration: PLATE 13
KING’S WALDEN. _c._ 1180. (p. 18)]
[Illustration: PLATE 14
OXFORD. _c._ 1165. (p. 18)]
[Illustration: PLATE 15
CANTERBURY. _c._ 1180. (p. 19)]
[Illustration: PLATE 16
BROADWATER. _c._ 1160. (p. 19)]
[Illustration: PLATE 17
SOMPTING. A.S. (p. 19)]
[Illustration: PLATE 18
CANTERBURY. _c._ 1150. (p. 20)]
[Illustration: PLATE 19
BLACK BOURTON. _c._ 1150. (p. 21)]
[Illustration: PLATE 20
KIMPTON. _c._ 1180. (pp. 21, 24)]
[Illustration: PLATE 21
KING’S WALDEN. _c._ 1180. (pp. 21, 24)]
[Illustration: PLATE 22
ROMSEY. _c._ 1150. (p. 21)]
[Illustration: PLATE 23
CUDDINGTON. _c._ 1160. (p. 21)]
[Illustration: PLATE 24
KING’S WALDEN. _c._ 1180. (p. 22)]
[Illustration: PLATE 25
HEREFORD. _c._ 1100. (pp. 2, 23)]
[Illustration: PLATE 26
ST DAVID’S. _c._ 1190. (pp. 23, 28, 31)]
[Illustration: PLATE 27
BLEDLOW. _c._ 1190. (p. 23)]
[Illustration: PLATE 28
FOUNTAINS. _c._ 1160. (p. 23)]
[Illustration: PLATE 29
KIMPTON. _c._ 1185. (p. 23)]
[Illustration: PLATE 30
KIMPTON. _c._ 1185. (p. 24)]
[Illustration: PLATE 31
MINSTER. _c._ 1190. (p. 24)]
[Illustration: PLATE 32
WELLS. _c._ 1190. (pp. 25, 28)]
[Illustration: PLATE 33
LINCOLN. _c._ 1220. (p. 25)]
[Illustration: PLATE 34
HEREFORD. _c._ 1250. (pp. 25, 28, 53)]
[Illustration: PLATE 35
TEVERSHAM. _c._ 1220. (p. 26)]
[Illustration: PLATE 36
EATON BRAY. _c._ 1205. (p. 26)]
[Illustration: PLATE 37
IVINGHOE. _c._ 1220. (p. 26)]
[Illustration: PLATE 38
STONE (KENT). _c._ 1265. (p. 27)]
[Illustration: PLATE 39
WESTMINSTER. _c._ 1255. (p. 27)]
[Illustration: PLATE 40
LINCOLN. _c._ 1230. (pp. 27, 28)]
[Illustration: PLATE 41
WELLS. _c._ 1230. (p. 27)]
[Illustration: PLATE 42
WELLS. _c._ 1190. (p. 28)]
[Illustration: PLATE 43
WELLS. _c._ 1190. (p. 28)]
[Illustration: PLATE 44
LINCOLN. _c._ 1270. (p. 28)]
[Illustration: PLATE 45
LINCOLN. _c._ 1270. (pp. 29, 39, 50)]
[Illustration: PLATE 46
LINCOLN. _c._ 1260. (p. 29)]
[Illustration: PLATE 47
LINCOLN. _c._ 1270. (pp. 24, 29)]
[Illustration: PLATE 48
KING’S LYNN. _c._ 1240. (pp. 29, 40)]
[Illustration: PLATE 49
LICHFIELD. _c._ 1250. (pp. 30, 53)]
[Illustration: PLATE 50
SALISBURY. _c._ 1270. (p. 30)]
[Illustration: PLATE 51
SALISBURY. _c._ 1260. (p. 30)]
[Illustration: PLATE 52
WELLS. _c._ 1230. (p. 30)]
[Illustration: PLATE 53
WELLS. _c._ 1230. (p. 31)]
[Illustration: PLATE 54
ELY. _c._ 1250. (pp. 32, 50)]
[Illustration: PLATE 55
LLANDAFF. _c._ 1200. (p. 32)]
[Illustration: PLATE 56
WEOBLEY. _c._ 1220. (p. 32)]
[Illustration: PLATE 57
SOUTHWELL. _c._ 1290. (pp. 35, 40)]
[Illustration: PLATE 58
SOUTHWELL. _c._ 1290. (p. 35)]
[Illustration: PLATE 59
SOUTHWELL. _c._ 1290. (p. 35)]
[Illustration: PLATE 60
HEREFORD. _c._ 1285. (p. 36)]
[Illustration: PLATE 61
WINCHELSEA. _c._ 1300. (pp. 36, 41, 42, 50)]
[Illustration: PLATE 62
OXFORD. _c._ 1290. (p. 36)]
[Illustration: PLATE 63
EXETER. _c._ 1295. (p. 36)]
[Illustration: PLATE 64
EXETER. _c._ 1295. (p. 36)]
[Illustration: PLATE 65
IFFLEY. _c._ 1160. (p. 37)]
[Illustration: PLATE 66
LINCOLN. _c._ 1270. (pp. 37, 53)]
[Illustration: PLATE 67
FYFIELD. _c._ 1290. (p. 37)]
[Illustration: PLATE 68
ROCHESTER. _c._ 1330. (p. 37)]
[Illustration: PLATE 69
ERWARTON. _c._ 1450. (p. 38)]
[Illustration: PLATE 70
CAMBRIDGE. _c._ 1510. (p. 38)]
[Illustration: PLATE 71
BEVERLEY. _c._ 1325. (p. 39)]
[Illustration: PLATE 72
WINCHELSEA. _c._ 1320. (p. 40)]
[Illustration: PLATE 73
BEVERLEY. _c._ 1325. (p. 40)]
[Illustration: PLATE 74
ELY. _c._ 1340. (p. 41)]
[Illustration: PLATE 75
ELY. _c._ 1340. (p. 41)]
[Illustration: PLATE 76
LINCOLN. _c._ 1300. (p. 41)]
[Illustration: PLATE 77
EXETER. _c._ 1330. (p. 41)]
[Illustration: PLATE 78
PATRINGTON. _c._ 1370. (p. 41)]
[Illustration: PLATE 79
ALDENHAM. _c._ 1410. (pp. 36, 41, 42, 50)]
[Illustration: PLATE 80
ST ALBANS. _c._ 1520. (p. 42)]
[Illustration: PLATE 81
ELY. _c._ 1500. (p. 43)]
[Illustration: PLATE 82
NORTH CERNEY. _c._ 1500. (p. 43)]
[Illustration: PLATE 83
OXFORD. _c._ 1500. (p. 43)]
[Illustration: PLATE 84
OXFORD. _c._ 1500. (pp. 43, 54)]
[Illustration: PLATE 85
CAMBRIDGE. _c._ 1515. (pp. 37, 38, 44, 45)]
[Illustration: PLATE 86
LINCOLN. _c._ 1270. (p. 48)]
[Illustration: PLATE 87
EXETER. _c._ 1210. (p. 49)]
[Illustration: PLATE 88
YORK. _c._ 1255. (p. 49)]
[Illustration: PLATE 89
ROCHESTER. _c._ 1220. (p. 49)]
[Illustration: PLATE 90
PETERBOROUGH. Capitals _c._ 1220. (p. 49)]
[Illustration: PLATE 91
EXETER. _c._ 1225. (p. 50)]
[Illustration: PLATE 92
EXETER. _c._ 1230. (p. 50)]
[Illustration: PLATE 93
EXETER. _c._ 1240. (p. 50)]
[Illustration: PLATE 94
CHRISTCHURCH. _c._ 1220. (p. 50)]
[Illustration: PLATE 95
KING’S LYNN. _c._ 1300. (pp. 36, 41, 42, 43, 50)]
[Illustration: PLATE 96
KING’S LYNN. _c._ 1300. (p. 50)]
[Illustration: PLATE 97
WINCHESTER. _c._ 1305. (p. 50)]
[Illustration: PLATE 98
TONG. _c._ 1500. (p. 51)]
[Illustration: PLATE 99
TONG. _c._ 1500. (p. 51)]
[Illustration: PLATE 100
ABERGAVENNY. _c._ 1500. (p. 51)]
[Illustration: PLATE 101
NORWICH. _c._ 1420. (p. 51)]
[Illustration: PLATE 102
MULLION. _c._ 1580. (p. 52)]
[Illustration: PLATE 103
CROWCOMBE. _c._ 1550. (p. 52)]
[Illustration: PLATE 104
ELY. _c._ 1210. (p. 53)]
[Illustration: PLATE 105
SOHAM. _c._ 1240. (p. 53)]
[Illustration: PLATE 106
ST CROSS. _c._ 1240. (p. 53)]
[Illustration: PLATE 107
DUNSTABLE. _c._ 1240. (p. 53)]
[Illustration: PLATE 108
WELLS. _c._ 1230. (p. 53)]
[Illustration: PLATE 109
LEOMINSTER. _c._ 1330. (p. 53)]
[Illustration: PLATE 110
EXETER. _c._ 1320. (p. 53)]
[Illustration: PLATE 111
TEWKESBURY. _c._ 1320. (pp. 40, 54)]
[Illustration: PLATE 112
PURSE CAUNDLE. _c._ 1500. (p. 54)]
* * * * *
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Freeman’s _Norman Conquest of England_.
[2] This question is argued at considerable length in Prior and
Gardner’s _English Medieval Figure Sculpture_, Book II, Chapter
I, and by Professors Baldwin Brown and Lethaby and Sir
Martin Conway in various numbers of _The Burlington Magazine_.
[3] _The Burlington Magazine_, “A Dangerous Archaeological Method.”
[4] A more graceful and further developed specimen occurs on a fragment
at Hereford (Pl. 25).
[5] It may be a later insertion. Compare with Pl. 43.
[6] _A History of Gothic Art in England_, p. 252.
[7] This is as distinguished from a common arrangement in later work in
which the stems take more the form of waves about to break. This form
is shown in the vine string on the Oxford watching loft (Pl. 84).
Typographical errors corrected by the etext transcriber:
Anglian crosses=>
Anglican crosses
{pg 7}
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