New Materials For The Life Of Grinling Gibbons.

NEW MATERIALS FOR THE LIFE OF GRINLING GIBBONS .

Within the last few years—since the life of Gibbons was written at any length—the place of his birth has been determined past all future doubt . From his nativity , cast by his contemporary , no less a person than Elias Ashmole , we learn than he was born , not in London , as had been too readily believed , but in Eotterdamon the 4 th of April 1648 . The

, , figure of his nativity was discovered by Mr . W . II . Black , among the Ashmole MSS ., and may be seen , Avith many others , in the Ashmolean Museum , at Oxford . As far as I can decipher the planetary arrangements at his birth , his unrivalled excellence in Avood carving was apparently unforseen .

That he was of English descent I see reason to believe , for I find in the works Accounts of the Crowu of Charles I . the mention of Simon Gibbons , a skilled carpenter , employed under no less a master than Inigo Jones . Of this Simon Gibbons I have found no other trace .

"We first hear of Gibbons from Evelyn , in a wellknown entry . That well-accomplished English gentleman found the sculptor , then ( 1671 ) unknown , busy afc Deptford , wifch an elaborate carving in wood from Tintoretto ' s cartoon of the t : Stoning of St .

Stephen . " "Where is this carving ? I have never seen a person who has seen it or can tell me where it now is , and X am diligent in my inquiries . Horace Walpole had evidently never seen it ; Allan Cunningham , I can state , had never seen it . What is known about it ? This miracle of carving in wood was at Cannonsiu

, Middlesex , the princely seat ofthe Duke of Chandos . Erom Cannons it was "brought" to Bush-hill , near Edmonton , in the same county , the seat , late in the last century , of Joseph Mellish , Esq . Mrs . Catherine Mellish , his widow , was iu possession of it at her death , in October , 1794 , aud from that period I have

lost all trace of ifc . ' - 'The architectural parts , " says Lysons , ' Environs , ii . 260 ( writing in 1791-5 ) , " are particularly line . " Before I produce the many curious entries I have had the good fortune to discover touching our great sculptorI will ask another question about a work b

, y Gibbons , of which I can learn nothing more than the fact of his having executed such a work , and in whose hands it once was . Among the effects ( 1730 ) of Mrs . Oldfield , the celebrated actress , was the following article : —¦

"The Earl of Strafford , a whole length , finely carved in ivory by Mr . Gibbons . " Think of the Tandyck collar , and in ivory , and by Grinling Gibbous ; Walpole ' s point-lace cravat would surely fade before it . Where is this statue or statuette ? Eemember that it is no less a person and

poet than Pope , who tells us that Mrs . Oldfield was a judge of lace : — " Odious ! in woolen 1 'twould a saint provoke ( Were the hist words that poor Jfarcissa spoke ) : jfo ; let a charming chintz and Brussells lace Wrap mp cold limbs and shade my lifeless face -. Oue would not , sure , be frightful when one's

dead—And , Betty , give this cheek a little red . " And that her " maid" assures us she was buried in Westminster Abbey , "in a very fine Brussells lace I

head , a Holland shift with a tucker and double ruffles of the same lace , and ... a pair of new kid gloves . " * Mrs . Oldfield was the very lady to possess and A'alue such a Grinling Gibbons' example ; and I repeat the question , " Where is the ivory Earl of Strafford , "b y the great G . G . ? I will now introduce entries of payments made to

him by the Crown for " work done . " Here is a Whitehall entry : — " To Grinlin Gibbons , carver , for carving the Crown sceptre and fcassell , with 9 hoses of wood over the canopy , and for-vallons , festoones , cornishes , and other carved works on tbe front ofthe organ for the Tabernacle and all its relieves , and 14 figures in the Chapel ; for a marble holy-water pot ; and for a chimneypiece in the Great Bedchamber and another in the Little Bedchamber , £ 3-10 17 * . 9 d . "—Works , Rebuilding Privy Gallery at Whitehall , 16 S 5-6 .

Here is another : — " To Grinling Gibbons , carver , for carving and sculpturing bv him done in her Majesty ' s Sew Chapel at Whitehall , by fi-easm-v order of 27 May , 1600 , £ 361 . " — Works of Whitehall , 1 G 90-1 . '

Here is a third , and one of historical importance ( unknown to Macaulay ) , to be explained hereafter-. — " The said Grinling Gibbons and Arnold Quellin , for making ami curving- the great altar-piece of white marble , veined , wrought according to a design and contract , they finding all materials and workmanship , with two marble columns under the throne , fluted , with capitals and bases ( besides £ 1 'A ISs . 2 d : abated for a square white marble pillar delivered them ) , — £ 1875 Is . Sd . "—Works—liebuilding Priory Gallery at "Whitehall , 16 S 5-G .

Quellin made Squire Thyun and his coachman ' s monument in Westminster Abbey—famous , additionall y , through Mr . Joseph Miller , better known as " Joe . " Stepping westward , we come to Kensington Palace , Gibbons worked at Kensington : — " To Grinling Gibbonsfor 1405 feet ' of Ionick modillion and

, hollow cornish , 012 feet of picture frame over the doors and chimneys , 80 feet of astregal moulding about the glasses in the chimneys ; carving the king ' s arms , supporters , crown , and garter , the vails and ballisfcers in the Chapel , and several other services in aud about the said buildings , — £ 536 14 s . Id . "Works afc Kensington , 1 st Oct ., 16 S 0 , to 39 th Sept ., 1691 . ' To Grinling Gibbons , carver , for work done in the Sew

Gallery building in the King ' s Great and Little Closet , in three rooms under the King's Apartment , in the King's Gallery , and other places , — £ 839 O . s . Ail . "—AVorks at Kensington , 1 st Oct ., 1091 , to 31 st March , 1696 .

Windsor is next in our way . The following payments -are new , and of moment . What Avas , and where is now to be seen , "the extraordinary fine piece of carved work made by Gibbons , and given by Charles IL , ' as a present to the Duke of Florence '"? ' ' Grinling Gibbonscarverfor an extraordinary fine iece of

, , p carved worlt made and carved by him for his Ma "" , and sent by his Ma ' ' 1 " as a present to the l ) uke of Florence , £ 150 . And more to him for his pension , after the rate of £ 100 per annum , according to his Ma" wan-ant , and due to him for half a year ended afc Midsummer , 16 S 2 , £ 200 . "—AVorks at AVindsor , 1 st Oct ., 1680 , to 30 th Sept ., 1682 . " Grinling- Gibbons , carver , for 2 cbimneypieees carved with

flowers and fruits set in the Queen ' s Privy Chamber and the King's Drawing Boom , and for 26 foot of Picture-frame carved , £ 63 ' 5 s . " —Works at AVindsor , 1 st Oct ., 1078 , to 30 th Sept ., 1680 . "Grinling Gibbons , carver , for sundry carved works by him performed , viz ., for sixty panels carved with flowers , fruits , shells , and several other ornaments , set over the chimney in the angles of His Maj ' " Great Bedchamber , Little Bedchamber , and