Circle of Grinling Gibbons (Anglo-Dutch, 1648-1721): A late 17th/early 18th century carved limewood and oak panel

Footnotes

Provenance:
Arthur James John Ayres (British sculptor, 1902-1985), thence by family descent.

By repute, the current lot was purchased sometime in the 1950s by the sculptor Arthur J.J. Ayres from an art and antique dealer in Petworth, West Sussex apparently trading under the name of 'Boss'. He was informed that it had allegedly previously been removed from a property called Billingbear House, which was located in Berkshire until its demolition in 1924 following a major fire. Undoubtedly recognising its quality and the finesse of the applied carving, it later formed a major part of an itinerant year long travelling Crafts Council exhibition in 1993, being illustrated on the front-piece panel of the accompanying catalogue.

The highly intricate and bravura style of the carving evident on the offered panel is typical of the work of the highly prolific Grinling Gibbons (1648-1721), who flourished in England during the final quarter of the 17th century. The two winged putto masks, abundant fruiting foliage, floral festoons and palm fronds, which are relatively recurrent aspects of Gibbons's oeuvre, also feature prominently amidst the magnificent wall carvings he supplied in the period 1690-2 for the Carved Room at Petworth House. However, one perhaps more unusual and idiosyncratic feature of the panel is the incorporation of two matching cloverleaf swags to the lower section placed in a composition which apart from the pair of winged putto masks and central palm frond motif typically relies on the more usual random free placing of flowers, fruit and leaves. A similar symmetrical swag device dating from 1684 is however utilised on the carved lime wood Reredos by Gibbons at St James Church in Piccadilly although these swags apparently depict bell-flowers rather than clover-leaves. In addition, three similar winged putto masks also by Gibbons are incorporated into the design of the organ casing of the same church dating from 1686 and originally from the chapel at Whitehall.

Billingbear House was located in Waltham St. Lawrence near Windsor, Berkshire. In 1567 Sir Henry Neville oversaw the construction of a house upon the land he had acquired there. Perhaps the most important visitor to Billingbear was Cosimo III de Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany. He is recorded as being presented with a carved wood panel, specially commissioned by Charles II from Gibbons for the former's official visit to England in 1669. The Cosima panel, now on display at the Pitti Palace in Florence, Italy is one of Gibbons's supreme masterpieces and it is also one of the very few works that he actually signed. Following the tragic destruction of Billingbear in 1924, one of the panelled rooms was fortunately saved and this was subsequently sold to Pace College Manhattan, New York, while some of the other salvaged elements of the house were also used in the restoration of Bulmershe Court, another Berkshire property, the following year.

Arthur J.J. Ayres was a highly accomplished and skilled sculptor and teacher married to the painter Elsa Gronvold. Born in in Paddington in 1902 he trained at the South Kensington School of Wood Carving in his early youth and in his mid twenties at the Royal Academy Schools between 1928 and 1931. He was awarded many prizes culminating in the Prix de Rome in 1931 which allowed two years' study at The British School in Rome.

In his distinguished career, Ayres was active creatively all his life. He was an architectural sculptor and his work in the 1930s in London included Hornsey Town Civic Centre where he demonstrated his versatility in stone, brick and metal and the Adelphi Building where he carved "in situ", most notably on the giant stone figures. By 1955 he had won the commission for a monumental carved mural in Peterborough for Mitchel Engineering which occupied him for three years on site. However, his first love was wood carving and he created two major works in this medium in the mid 1960's - in 1965 a one and half times life size crucifix for the exterior of Tyburn Convent, near Marble Arch and in 1966-67 a large reredos as a homage to Gibbons for a city church which went to Fulton Missouri, SÁ as part of the Churchill Memorial.

In parallel with these larger commission he made many smaller pieces in wood, stone, ivory and bronze including "Jezebel", a bronze that was featured in The Exhibition of the Royal Scottish Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture in 1939. He also worked alongside silversmiths producing coins, medals and trophies, most notably the Moss Bros. silver cup, exhibited at the 1951 Festival of Britain.

Ayres subsequently became a respected and highly revered teacher of carving at the Royal Academy Schools from 1947 and he was made a member of Royal Society of British Sculptors in same year, a fellow of the Royal Society of Sculptors between 1948 and 1985 and a member of the council for the society in 1951. He taught at the City and Guilds School of Art in Kennington from 1973, and was a member of the Art Workers Guild. His son James is also a sculptor and his daughter an architect.

In his later years Ayres flourished as a building conservation/restoration specialist, producing the master carvings for classical features at St John's Smith Square in London, many Oxbridge colleges and Westminster Abbey. Indeed, the day before he died in 1985 he was working on the roof of the Abbey, aged 83.

An exhibition of his life work was held at the Heinz Gallery in London in 1986 with a catalogue 'AN ARCHITECTURAL SCULPTOR - ARTHUR AYRES 1902 - 1985' written by his son James Ayres

Literature:
D. Esterly, Grinling Gibbons and the Art of Carving, Exhibition Catalogue, 1998, V&A publications.
M. Coatts & Jeremy Theophilus, The Woodcarvers Craft, 1993, Donside Paper Co. Aberdeen.
G. Beard, The Work of Grinling Gibbons, 1989, London.
F. Oughton Grinling Gibbons & The English Woodcarving Tradition, 1979, Stobart Davies Hertford.

Exhibited:
The Woodcarver's Craft, Crafts Council touring exhibition, 1993, Crafts Council in association with City of Bradford Metropolitan Council, Art, Museums and Libraries Division, City of Glasgow District Council, Department of Museums and Art Galleries, Hove Museum and Art Gallery, Hove Borough Council, and Lincolnshire County Council, Usher Gallery, Lincolnshire.