Grinling Gibbons: aspects of his style and technique

Magazine Antiques, Oct, 1998 by Miriam Kramer

At the age of nineteen, however, Gibbons moved to England, which was then relatively provincial. It offered less competition for his skill as a sculptor and was undergoing a boom in construction, particularly in London, which had been largely destroyed by the Great Fire of 1666. He worked first in York, but had moved to Deptford, near London, by 1671, when he was discovered by the diarist John Evelyn (1620-1706) while working on a relief carving of the Crucifixion after a painting by Tintoretto. Evelyn was so taken by the young sculptor's work that he was determined to introduce him to the king, Charles II (r. 1660-1685). Despite Evelyn's introduction to both the monarch and to his surveyor general, Sir Christopher Wren (1632-1723), who was in charge of rebuilding London, no immediate commissions were forthcoming.

In 1678 the first of Gibbons's dozen children by Elizabeth (d. 1719; surname unknown) was baptized. In 1672 he was admitted to the Drapers' Company and was living in Ludgate Hill, near Saint Paul's Cathedral. By the mid-1670s his emphasis had sifted from religious objects to non-ecclesiastic decoration, and he had supplied limewood carvings for two private houses - Holme Lacy in Herefordshire and Cassiobury Park in Hertfordshire. By 1685 Gibbons had a flourishing workshop in Covent Garden and was well established as a provider of decorative carvings. not only in wood but also in marble and other kinds of stone. In fact, a substantial proportion of his income came from stone carving (see Pl. IV), and after the accession of Queen Anne in 1702 it became the sole focus of his work, since her preference for plain interiors changed the fashion from the elaborate wood carving for which Gibbons was known.(1)

His most prestigious commissions included a marble bust (now destroyed) of the painter Sir Peter Lely (1618-1680) in Saint Paul's Church, Covent Garden; the Cosimo panel sent by Charles II to Cosimo III de'Medici (1642-1723); carvings for the refurbishment of Windsor Castle; and decorations in a substantial number of grand country houses. By the time of his death in 1721 his work could be found at Saint Paul's Cathedral, Hampton Court Palace (see Pl. I), Kensington Palace in London, and Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire, as well as at Oxford and Cambridge Universities.

The foregoing is a brief summary of Gibbons's relatively long life and many accomplishments.(2) What follows is a consideration of various aspects of his work - his technique, the influences on him, and most importantly, the innovations he introduced in English carving.

Gibbons did not invent the type of carving with which he is now most closely identified, namely decorative overmantels and architectural embellishments. That type of work was well developed in England by Gibbons's time thanks to Inigo Jones (1573-1652). What Gibbons did was to release it from the restrictive formality that was so prevalent when he arrived.

One form of carving he did invent was the trophy panel - a freestanding carved tableau somewhere between a painting and a sculpture.(3) Its appeal to a wood carver is easy to understand, for it was the center of attention rather than simply the surround to someone else's work. Gibbons's greatest example, the Cosimo panel (for which he was paid [pounds]150), is full of symbols celebrating the magnificence of both its donor and its recipient (Pls. III, IIIa-c).

The key to understanding Gibbons's style and his manner of working is to be found in his early years in the Netherlands. As an apprentice sculptor there he was subjected to a number of influences that he subsequently introduced to England. Possibly the most important was his use of limewood (from the lime, or linden, tree) as his primary medium. Another was the workshop system whereby the master sculptor was in overall charge but other craftsmen produced sections of the carvings. And finally, the baroque style was in full flower in the Netherlands at the time, and Gibbons readily incorporated its curves and still lifes into his work.

Gibbons's arrival in England coincided with the introduction from the Low Countries of the fashion for avenues of linden trees on country estates. Thanks to his training in the Netherlands. Gibbons preferred limewood to oak, which was the English carvers' choice. Initially they did not like limewood's lighter color, but eventually they came to appreciate its positive properties. It is strong but soft, it can be carved against the grain and thus is very versatile, and its stability prevents warping. Most importantly, its grain favors the curves and outlines of the baroque style.(4)

Flowers, game, foliage, and musical instruments were among the most popular subjects in Dutch and Flemish still lifes of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. In his carvings, Gibbons rendered them in three dimensions (see Pl. VII) by laminating layers of wood, sometimes using three or four pieces, each about three inches thick, for a single work. Coupled with his superior technique, this meant that the carving looked natural and lifelike when viewed from any angle.