TABERNACLED STALLS
In the latter years of the fourteenth century we come to a new form of
stall design; one in which the English carvers won their greatest triumphs,
and which became the standard and typical design for English stalls. It is
seen in the magnificent tabernacled stalls of Lincoln, Chester, Nantwich,
Carlisle, Windsor, St Asaph, Ripon, Manchester, Westminster, Beverley and
Durham. To distinguish this group, we may term it "stallwork with
tabernacled canopies," or, more shortly, "tabernacled stalls." Though new,
it is, like all design, based on earlier models. At Ely (37) two distinct
and conflicting designs are combined; to those two the Lincoln carvers gave
unity (17). The stallwork at Ely is in two stories; but they are not
correlated in any way. The upper story consists of canopied niches, now
containing figures, formerly probably occupied by paintings. At Lincoln the
lower story was omitted, reducing the elevation to a single story; while
the niches of the Ely upper story were brought low down, and made to
enshrine the vested canons below. The Lincoln niches, however, are of more
elaboration than those of Ely; in the latter each niche was fronted by
three straight-sided pediments; in the former the pediments are
hollow-sided, and in front of each is a bowing ogee arch. Then these niches
are repeated above, except that each niche is single instead of being
triple, and enshrines a statuette of wood, and is flanked by window
tracery. Moreover, above each upper niche, as at Ely, rises a lofty
spirelet with crockets and finials, encircled by a coronal of ogee gables
and flanked by tall slender pinnacles, themselves also ornamented with
miniature niches, crockets and finials. Also the upper portions of the
shafts below are niched, crocketed and battlemented. Thus the Ely design
becomes thoroughly harmonious and at one with itself.
{52}
[Illustration: Lincoln]
{53}
[Illustration: Chester]
As a rule, design did not originate with the wood carver; it first found
expression in stone. And it well may be that to earlier work executed in
stone rather than to the stallwork of Ely the Lincoln design is to be
attributed. At any rate, the tabernacled canopies of wood are anticipated
in most marked fashion in the monument of Archbishop Stratford in
Canterbury cathedral. He died in 1348; his monument is therefore earlier
than any of the tabernacled canopies in wood. It consists of two stories,
with three gables below and a single niche above; then come spirelets with
pinnacles between.[24] There is a similar monument to Archbishop Kemp, who
died in 1454. Of the Lincoln work Mr A. W. Pugin said that "the stalls are
executed in the most perfect manner, not only as regards variety and beauty
of ornamental design, but in accuracy of workmanship, which is frequently
deficient in ancient examples of woodwork.... They are certainly superior
to any other choir fittings of that period remaining in England. The
misericords also are all varied in design, and consist of foliage, animals,
figures and even historical subjects, beautifully designed, and executed
with surpassing skill and freedom." As the work was begun by the treasurer,
John of Welbourn, who died in 1380, we may give it the approximate date of
1370. This is borne out by the fact {54} that on the base of the Dean's
stall are the bearings of Dean Stretchley, who died in 1376.[25]
Judging from the armour represented on the misericords the design of the
Lincoln stalls was copied very soon afterwards, say _c._ 1390, in Chester
cathedral, but with a magnificence of foliated ornament which is
reminiscent of the glorious stalls of Lancaster. For the main lines of the
design, however, the new type of canopy which had been worked out at
Lincoln was taken as a model; the details only are those of Lancaster, the
general design is from Lincoln. As at Lincoln, the lower canopy has
duplicated gables in front of each of the three faces of the main structure
of the canopy. This main structure starts from between pinnacled
buttresses, as it were, separating each canopy; then is brought forward
like an oriel window, having square-headed traceried windows, the whole
surmounted by a battlemented pierced parapet. In front of each face of the
oriel is first a truncated ogee arch, and second, a complete ogee arch,
both springing from a battlemented and pinnacled corner buttress. These
buttresses, whether between the canopies or in front of the corners of the
oriels, are truncated, the former rising not from the shoulders of the
stalls below but from angels, the latter from carved bosses or paterae. The
gables at the back spring from a higher level than those in front, and, as
at Lincoln, are truncated ogee arches. The three front gables are complete
ogee arches, which differ from those in the Lincoln stallwork in that their
lower convex curve spreads outward again. This is an important matter; for
though this compound ogee arch is not employed in the Lincoln stalls, yet
it occurs up and down the cathedral in the stonework of the fourteenth
century; _e.g._, in the arcading under the western towers[26] put up by the
same treasurer who paid for the stalls. It is so special and characteristic
to Lincoln that its presence at Chester may be taken as a decisive proof of
Lincoln influence in the design of the stalls. In the upper story is a
central niche, flanked by window tracery, as at Lincoln. Above rises a
lofty spirelet, encircled at its base by "Lincoln ogee" gables. Between the
spirelets, as at Ely and Lincoln, are tall pinnacles. The leafage of the
lower canopies should be compared with that of Lancaster. In the five
examples illustrated (53, 55, 56) it will be seen how consummate and
versatile in design were these mediæval craftsmen; they were bubbling over
with design, and could not repeat themselves if they wished.[27] {55}
[Illustration: Chester] [Illustration: Chester]
{56}
[Illustration: Chester] [Illustration: Chester]
{57}
[Illustration: Nantwich] [Illustration: Nantwich]
{58}
The magnificent church of Nantwich, Cheshire, was in building before the
Black Death of 1349; the work was then stopped; and when it was resumed, it
was carried out in a different style. To this later period belong the south
transept and the east window of the chancel with rectilinear tracery; it is
probable that the pulpit and stalls also belong to this second work, _c._
1400. The design connects itself with that of the Lincoln and Chester
stalls in the absence of any line of demarcation between the upper and
lower portions; but while that of Chester is reminiscent of early
fourteenth century work, that of Nantwich is well advanced toward normal
fifteenth century design. It is also much richer than either, the lower
stage being a mass of niches and pinnacles, with angel corbels below. The
great novelty at Nantwich is the absence of spirelets, the absence of which
is nobly compensated for by the increased height and prominence given to
the central of the three upper niches (57).
[Illustration: York Minster]
The stalls of York Minster were destroyed by fire in 1819. Both in the
treatment of the supporting shafts and in the design of the single upper
niches flanked by window tracery they closely resembled the Lincoln stalls,
on which they were probably modelled; above the upper niches rose spirelets
flanked by pinnacles. There is a marked horizontal line midway, dividing
the composition into two stories (58). The presbytery of York Minster was
built between 1361 and 1370; the choir between 1380 and 1400; we may
therefore take 1390 as the approximate date of the stalls. They are a
little later than the Lincoln stalls, and probably contemporaneous with
those of Chester. A general view of the stalls appears in Drake's
_Eboracum_, page 522 (18).
{59}
[Illustration: Carlisle]
At Carlisle the stalls were erected by Bishop Strickland (1399-1413); Prior
Haithwaite is said to have added the tabernacle work after the year
1433:[28] it would therefore be about forty years later than that at
Chester (21). The lower canopy, as before, has triple gables, which are
truncated ogees, but the additional front gable of Lincoln and Chester is
omitted, while the pinnacled buttresses separating the canopies are carried
by shafts standing on the shoulders of the stalls. The line of demarcation
between the two stories, which the Lincoln and Nantwich designs had
minimised, is now emphasised by making the band of quatrefoils continuous.
The upper story, which in the earlier designs had had insufficient
dominance, is now heightened and enlarged; it consists of three pedestalled
niches instead of one; and the flanking window tracery of Lincoln and
Chester, with its makeshift look, is reduced in importance, forming merely
the backing of the three upper niches. The spirelet above is also greatly
enriched, and additional pinnacles are introduced. A little prim the design
may be in comparison with the exuberance of Lincoln, Chester and Nantwich,
but the proportions are fine, and were the statuettes once more in their
niches, it would be a very satisfactory composition. Such work as this has
well been resembled to "a whole wood, or say a thicket of old hawthorn with
its topmost branches spared, slowly growing into stalls." {60}
[Illustration: Ripon]
{61}
At St Asaph's cathedral the stalls and part of the canopies are
ancient.[29] The cathedral was gutted by fire in 1402, and the stalls were
not re-erected till 1471-1495.
Fifty years later than the Carlisle stalls were put up those of Ripon
Minster (60). As two of the misericords are inscribed 1489 and 1494, they
cannot be earlier than the latter year. Just as the Chester stalls were a
criticism of those of Lincoln, and the Lincoln stalls of those of Ely, so
the stalls of Ripon are a criticism of those of Nantwich and Carlisle. In
the latter the upper story had been emphasised; at Ripon the bottom story
is given the dominance; compared with the simplicity of the Carlisle
design, the lower stage at Ripon, as at Nantwich, is surpassingly rich;
gables and pinnacles and window tracery are loaded with beautiful detail,
cusped arches are added below; finally figure sculpture is called in, and
capitals and corbels are beset with tiny angels. In the string-course
between the two stories quatrefoils are abandoned; it is molded, foliated
and battlemented. In the upper story reappears the forest of pinnacles of
Carlisle and the window tracery of Lincoln. Here, as elsewhere, the design
suffers grievously from the loss of the statuettes which once ranged
continuously in the upper story. {62}
[Illustration: Manchester]
{63}
[Illustration: Beverley Minster]
Some twenty years later, stallwork was put up in the collegiate church of
Manchester. On the north side of the choir is a curious shield with the
initials of Richard Beck, a Manchester merchant, by whom all the stalls on
that side were erected: the southern stalls were erected by Bishop Stanley,
and at the west end of them is the shield of Stanley with the Stanley
legend of the eagle and child. At Manchester craftsman ambition had to
surpass Ripon and Nantwich. But the lower stages of Nantwich and Ripon were
unsurpassable; so they were copied, angelettes included. The string-course
is strengthened and improved by additional battlements; but undue emphasis
is prevented by making it discontinuous. In the upper story, by way of
change, there is a reversion to the single niche, flanked by window
tracery, of Lincoln and Chester; finally, originality is asserted by
surmounting the whole, in somewhat doubtful propriety, with a continuous
tester, so that the canopies that cover the stalls are themselves covered
and protected. This tester has a horizontal cornice with brattishing above
and cornice braces between pendant pieces below. To make room for this the
spirelets so much in vogue are replaced, as at Nantwich, by canopies with
horizontal cresting--taking it altogether, a magnificent design, if only
the Ripon stalls had not existed (62).
{64}
[Illustration: Beverley Minster] [Illustration: Beverley Minster]
{65}
[Illustration: Beverley Minster] [Illustration: Beverley Minster]
Then come the stalls of Beverley Minster, misericords of which are
inscribed with the dates 1520 and 1524; the stalls are therefore about a
dozen years later than those of Manchester. They are modelled closely on
those of Manchester and Ripon. It is quite conceivable that some of the
carvers may have worked successively at Ripon (1500), Manchester (1508) and
Beverley (1520). As at Ripon, the lower story is made predominant, the
little angels being replaced, however, by human busts--no great
improvement; not that they are not full of life and interest (27, 63). The
string-course is that of Manchester. The upper story has single niches
flanked by window tracery, as at Manchester. The horizontal canopy of
Manchester now remains over the return stalls only. On the whole it must be
admitted that these stalls mark no advance. A bit of original design indeed
appears at one point, where low, heavy straight-lined gables are introduced
quite out of harmony with the curving ogee arches (64).
{66}
[Illustration: Durham]
Then comes the Dissolution; a long list of Tudor monarchs reign and pass
away; Stuarts take their place; Civil War follows; at length at the
Restoration of 1660 the Church comes to her own again, and John Cosin
ascends the episcopal throne of Durham. True to the Church of England and
loyal to Gothic Architecture, he reverts to the consecrated form, and
tabernacled stalls are reared once more--one of his many contributions to
the cathedral and diocese of Durham (22). Nor is the design an unworthy
one; nay, rather it is a distinct improvement on that of Carlisle, Ripon,
Manchester and Beverley; for by abolishing the string-course, he reduces
the design to the unity with which it started at Lincoln. Moreover, tall
pinnacles had flanked the spirelets of Ely, Lincoln, Chester, Carlisle,
Ripon and Beverley, so that really one could not see the wood for the
trees; these pinnacles are now omitted, and the spirelets get their full
value. Altogether a very fine design; and the little bits of Renaissance
detail which here and there creep in, as in the bishop's {67} magnificent
font cover,[30] only add to its charm (66). Other examples of John Cosin's
time are to be seen at Brancepeth where he was formerly rector from 1626 to
1633; the stalls, screens and pulpit of that church are simply delightful
(93). More of this work is to be seen in the chapel of the Bishop's palace
at Bishop's Auckland; in the church of his son-in-law at Sedgefield and at
Sherburn hospital. So Gothic in spirit is this work that it has been again
and again ascribed to Elizabethan times, _e.g._, by Billings in his _County
of Durham_. In spite of the coarseness of some of the detail and that here
and there a bit of Classical detail creeps in, it is most interesting and
enjoyable; would that we had more of these delightful admixtures of Classic
and Gothic forms; plentiful in Spain and France, they are rare with us.
[Illustration: Dunblane]
The stalls in Dunblane cathedral are thought by Messrs Macgibbon and
Ross[31] to have been put up in the time of Bishop James Chisholm
(1486-1534). In that case they would be _c._ 1520. "The work is rather
rough in execution, not to be {68} compared with the more characteristic
woodwork of King's College, Aberdeen"; nevertheless it is very picturesque
and interesting. The introduction of the centaurs indicates Renaissance
influence; the foliage carving is a rather curious mixture of late Gothic
and Classic forms, such as we find elsewhere in Scottish carved work of
this period. The Scottish thistle is one of the chief motifs (67).
In the chapel of King's College, Aberdeen, is a considerable amount of fine
oak carved work, by far the most extensive and best of its kind in
Scotland. The chapel itself, in some of its features, bears the character
of the parish church at Stirling and other Scottish works of the beginning
of the sixteenth century. The carved stalls, monuments, and decorative work
of the interior are of the same period, but may possibly have been brought
from a distance, or executed by foreign workmen engaged (like the English
plumber) by the bishop. The panels are all of different design, and shew a
great deal of variety combined with a sufficiently uniform effect when the
work is viewed as a whole. In some of them the details are based on floral
forms--thistle, vine, oak, &c.--while the conventional French fleur-de-lis
is also introduced.[32]
At this point arises the question how far our stallwork was influenced by
foreign design. It may be stated at once with confidence that of the great
majority of the stalls the design is as thoroughly English as the oak of
which they are built. We have seen that the flowing and ogee forms of the
Ely tracery were designed not later than 1338, which is at least sixty
years earlier than any work of the sort in France. We were able to see how
by gradual modifications of the Ely design the craftsmen were able to
advance slowly but assuredly to the stallwork of Lincoln, Chester,
Nantwich, Carlisle, Ripon, Manchester, Beverley, Durham; the glorious chain
of artistic success is complete; every link is there. But there are facts
on the other side which, at any rate at Melrose, are beyond dispute or
controversy. In 1846 a document was communicated to the Society of
Antiquaries, London, from West Flanders, relating to a dispute at Bruges
between William Carebis, a Scotch merchant, and John Crawfort, a monk of
Melrose, on the one hand, and Cornelius de Aeltre, citizen and master of
the art of carpentry of Bruges, on the other hand. The latter had
contracted to supply certain stalls and to erect them in the abbey church
of Melrose, after the fashion of the stalls of the choir of the abbey
church of Dunis in Flanders, with carving similar to that existing in the
church of Thosan near Bruges. The stipulated price had been paid, and the
master carpenter was called to account for delaying to complete the work;
whereupon he pleaded various excuses, stating that the work had been
impeded by popular commotions at Bruges, during which he had been deserted
by his workmen and had suffered heavy losses. It was decided that Melrose
abbey should bear the cost of its transport to the town of Sluys and
embarkation there for Scotland, and should make some allowance to Cornelius
towards his journey to Melrose; and that they should give him and his chief
carver (_formiscissori_) a safe-conduct for their journey and return. This
document was dated 7th October, 1441.[33] {69}
[Illustration: Windsor]
{70}
No such wholesale example of foreign design occurs in England; nevertheless
there are two important instances in which Flemish design is to be
suspected; viz., in the Royal chapels at Windsor and Westminster. As
regards the stalls in St George's chapel, Windsor, it is known that the
tabernacled canopies were begun in 1477 and were completed in 1483; thus
they took six years to make (69).[34] The canopies are known to have been
made in London; the carvers being Robert Ellis and John Filles, apparently
Englishmen. On the other hand the great Rood, with the statues of St George
and St Edward and others, was made by Diricke Vangrove and Giles
Vancastell, who are just as evidently Dutchmen; for four images the two
Dutchmen were paid at the rate of 5s. per foot; for six canopies the two
Englishmen received £40, say £480; _i.e._, about £80 of our money for each
canopy. Now here we have Dutch and English carvers engaged together on what
was practically one work: moreover the more artistic and difficult part of
the work, the figure sculpture, is entrusted to the Dutchmen. It is to the
latter probably that the general lines of the design are due. The detail is
sufficiently English; not so the general design. For the Windsor stallwork
is intermediate between that of Chester (_c._ 1390) and Carlisle (1433) on
the one hand, and Ripon (_c._ 1490) and Manchester (1508) on the other. But
it is not a development arising out of either of the earlier designs, nor
was the stallwork of Ripon and Manchester in any way a development from
that of Windsor. {71}
[Illustration: Windsor]
{72} All the larger stallwork of the fifteenth century was, as we have
seen, designed in two stories, rising into spirelets and pinnacles; at
Windsor the double story, the spirelet and the pinnacle are all alike
lacking. It is true that the original canopies were designed quite as much
for the Knights of the Garter as for the Windsor Canons, and in the case of
the former the design had to be accommodated to provide supports for the
knights' helmets, mantles and swords; nevertheless this might have been
accomplished without utterly breaking away from current design. The Windsor
design, so far as English work goes, has no ancestry; its origin no doubt
is to be found in the Netherlands. The Windsor stalls have been much
tampered with. As Hollar's engraving in Ashmole's _Institution of the Order
of the Garter_ (1672) shews, over the westernmost bay on either side of the
choir the canopies contained imagery and had a horizontal cresting; and all
the other canopies consisted alternately of towers and spirelets; the
knights being seated under the towers and the canons under the spirelets;
but since the enlargement of the Order in 1786 all the spirelets have been
converted into towers (71). All these towers are surmounted by wooden
busts, of which the earliest go back to the time of Edward IV.; on the bust
were placed the knight's helmet, crest and mantlings, which hid the busts
from view; lower down, in front, hung his sword; banners were not added
till a later period. At first the real sword and helm were put up; later,
they were theatrical properties.
[Illustration: Bishop Langton's Chapel]
In Winchester cathedral is stallwork of rare beauty in the Lady Chapel,
which was built in the time of Bishop Courtenay, 1486-1492. In some of its
details it resembles the Windsor stalls, which were completed in 1483; it
is therefore feasible that some of the Windsor carvers went on to
Winchester (73). South of the Lady Chapel is the chantry chapel of Bishop
Langton, 1493-1500, where also the screen and coved panelling are of great
excellence (72); there are no stalls. {73}
[Illustration: Winchester Cathedral] [Illustration: Westminster Abbey]
{74}
Henry the Seventh's chapel at Westminster was built partly as a Lady
Chapel, partly to be the mausoleum of Henry VII. and his Queen, and of
Henry VI.[35] Here the canopies with tower-like form and single story and
with the absence of pinnacle are plainly reminiscent of those of Windsor,
and as plainly distinct from current English design, as seen at Manchester
in 1508 and Beverley Minster in 1520; the Westminster and Manchester
canopies were being made together; but those of Westminster have no
connection with the grand Northern series of consecutive designs (131).
Besides Windsor influence there may be direct influence from the
Netherlands; for some of the misericords are evidently from the design of a
painter or engraver, the subjects being too crowded to be properly carved
in wood in so limited a space. Mr J. Langton Barnard says,[36] "While
looking over some engravings on copper of Albert Durer, I came across one
which strikingly resembled the third misericord in the upper row on the
north side; the resemblance was extremely close, especially in the
arrangement and folds of the woman's dress; this is stated by Bartsch in
his _Catalogue_ (vii. 103 and 93) to be one of his earliest plates. Another
plate of Albert Durer closely resembles the corresponding misericord in the
lower row on the south side, as regards the position of the limbs and the
folds of the drapery; while the seventh misericord of the lower row on the
south side almost exactly resembles a plate by Israel van Meckenern, of two
monkeys and three young ones." These stalls formerly occupied only the
three western bays of the chapel; another bay was filled with stalls when
the Order of the Bath was revived by King George the First; the
canopy-fronts for an additional bay on each side being got by sawing off
canopy-backs and putting them up as fronts. The tabernacle work is of the
richest and most diversified character, varying in every canopy (73).
* * * * * {75}