142.—Part of Reredos (removed) at Stowe-Nine-Churches, Northamptonshire.
At Benthall Hall, Shropshire, is another instance where the monotony of the panels is relieved by the introduction of pilasters, and it is also lessened by the presence of the large centre panels (Plate [XLIII].) with their greater freedom of treatment. The variation caused by adapting the same design to the narrower panel of the door in the middle bay is also a pleasant relief. The intention here was to rely upon the panelling itself for the decoration of the room; there was no thought of hanging pictures on it, which, indeed, would be out of place, and would spoil the effect both of themselves and the panelling. It may be doubted whether any of the panelling of the time, even the simplest and the most regularly disposed, was intended as a background for other ornament. It was itself the decoration, although, when perfectly simple, it could be used in a restricted way as a background for pictures. But the fashion of hanging up framed paintings and prints had not yet arisen; when it did arise it rendered wood panelling an inappropriate means for the general decoration of rooms. In the church at Stowe-Nine-Churches, Northamptonshire, are the remains of some good panelling which once served as a reredos, but which the reforming and restoring zeal of a late incumbent has now relegated to the vestry. There are fluted pilasters here, dividing panels which increase in richness as they ascend, the upper ones containing boldly projecting heads amid the usual strap-work curls (Fig. [142]). Sometimes the panels were made with semicircular heads, which rested upon pilasters furnished with imposts and bases, all the margin being highly ornamented, while the panels themselves were plain, as in the Court pew at Chelvey, in Somerset (Fig. [143]). There are many instances of the use of these arched panels: the long gallery at Haddon has them in wide and narrow widths alternately; and there is a room in the Red Lodge at Bristol where every panel is arched, the effect thus produced being very rich. At Chelvey the frieze is carved with a continuous pattern, as it was in very many instances, but sometimes it was decorated in a more mechanical way with ovals and oblongs, as at Benthall Hall (Plate [XLIII].), and occasionally it was pierced in a very charming manner into a kind of filigree work, as in the remains of a screen at Stowe-Nine-Churches, which has shared the fate of the reredos (Fig. [144]). The effect of the frieze in this instance is enhanced by its being slightly curved outwards.
143.—Part of the Court Pew, Chelvey Church, Somerset.
In later days, instead of cutting down the substance of the wood in order to get carving in relief, the projection was obtained by cutting the ornament out of another piece of wood and applying it to the surfaces that were to be decorated. Some of the ornament at Benthall Hall appears to be treated in this manner. But whatever means were adopted, the end aimed at was the same—namely, an extreme richness of effect: indeed, in some of the panelling and in many of the chimney-pieces the result is bewildering in its intricacy of line.
144.—Part of Screen (removed), Stowe-Nine-Churches, Northamptonshire.
Plate XLa.
