Fig. 262.—Part of Iron Screen, Hampton Court Palace.
Fig. 263.—Iron Gateway, Stoneleigh Abbey, Warwickshire.
Tijou worked for Queen Mary at Hampton Court, where he placed some of the richest screens and gates which the country can boast. A portion of his work is illustrated in Fig. [262]. He also executed some splendid ironwork at Chatsworth, Burghley, and St Paul’s, London. The balustrade to the king’s staircase at Hampton Court (Fig. [264]) may also in all probability be assigned to him. He must have had assistants, among whom Huntingdon Shaw, of Nottingham, has been reckoned the chief, and indeed the actual work on the screens at Hampton Court has been claimed as his; but recent investigations show conclusively that the claim cannot be sustained.[83] Another of Tijou’s assistants was Robert Bakewell, who settled in Derby and was widely employed in the Midlands. To him, perhaps, we owe the gates at Stoneleigh Abbey, illustrated in Fig. [263], although tradition says that these were brought here from Watergate, a dismantled mansion beyond Southam.[84] The ironwork in and round London may be largely attributed to Thomas Robinson and his successors, and it would appear that skilful smiths settled in different centres in England, round which they influenced the work over a wide area. Bristol was the home of such a man, William Edney by name, and that he was an accomplished craftsman is proved by the magnificent gates at St Mary Redcliffe (Fig. [265]), which date from 1710.
Fig. 264.—Balustrade to the King’s Staircase, Hampton Court.
Fig. 265.—IRON GATES AT ST MARY REDCLIFFE, BRISTOL.
