Ceilings.
Of all the architectural work of the time of Elizabeth and James, that which was peculiarly English is to be found in the ceilings. It was a development of native tradition, and although, like all other work of the time, it was influenced by Italian models, it retained its individuality with great tenacity, and in no other country can the same special development of design be found. The root-idea of an Elizabethan ceiling is to cover the space with a shallow projecting rib forming a more or less regular pattern. The ribs varied in section, and the patterns varied in form. The ribs and the panels they enclosed were sometimes perfectly plain, sometimes highly decorated with modelled work; and between these two extremes were infinite gradations—plain ribs and decorated panels, or plain panels and decorated ribs, the decoration varying from something quite simple to ornament of much elaboration. The plainest examples are sufficient to give character to a room, while the richest are bewildering in the intricacy of the pattern and the minuteness of the detail.
158.—Ceiling of the Presence Chamber, Hampton Court (cir. 1535).
The origin of the idea is to be found in the treatment adopted by the late Gothic joiners. When they had a large flat surface to deal with, they divided it into panels by moulded wood ribs, and they frequently covered the intersection of the ribs with a carved boss or with carved foliage. Their main lines, being formed of wood, were straight; their panels rectilinear and often rectangular, the whole treatment being suggested by the moulded constructional timber of earlier roofs. At Hampton Court, in the portions built by Wolsey and Henry VIII., there are several ceilings of this kind still left. The ribs are arranged in simple geometrical patterns with straight lines. In the watching chamber, at the end of the Great Hall, these ribs are of a fair size, both in width and depth, and at certain intersections they are bent downwards to form a pendant after the fashion prevalent in the stone vaulting of the time (Fig. [158]). Some of the panels thus enclosed are adorned with a kind of independent circular boss formed of a wreath surrounding one of the royal badges, or even the royal arms. These bosses are not carved, but modelled in papier mâché, or some similar substance, and they, together with the wood ribs, are secured to the joists above. Two of these bosses are illustrated in Fig. [159], and it is in the wreaths of these comparatively unimportant adjuncts that the only touch of the new fashion is to be found.
159.—Bosses from Ceilings at Hampton Court.
Other rooms have ceilings of which the ribs are much smaller in depth and width: the ribs are again arranged in patterns with straight lines, and at their intersections there are four small leaves of lead nailed on, the whole junction being covered with a small plain wood boss, which forms the centre of the flower. At other intersections each of the four angles of the flat ceiling is occupied with a small modelled head in foliage, all of papier mâché; one of these is also shown in Fig. [159]. The four insertions taken together form a circle, which is divided into four quadrants by the intersecting ribs (Fig. [160]); and the whole arrangement is the first step towards the elaborate decoration which was afterwards introduced, when the facility with which plaster can be worked was recognized and acted on.
Plate LXVIIa.
