Interior, principal floor, dining-room, detail of carved wooden panel above door to courtyard. Digital image of D 41638/cn

Description Interior, principal floor, dining-room, detail of carved wooden panel above door to courtyard. Digital image of D 41638/cn

Date 16/11/1998

Collection Records of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS), Edinbu

Catalogue Number SC 764688

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of D 41638 CN

Scope and Content Detail of Carved Panel above North Door in Dining Room, Drumlanrig Castle, Dumfries & Galloway This late 17th-century oak carving, thought to be the work of the master English wood-carver, Grinling Gibbons, is set on the panel above the door in the north wall of the dining room. It is superbly executed with leaves, flowers and fruits of the countryside which overflow from cornucopia, a symbol of plenty shaped like a goat's horn. In the centre is the Douglas emblem, a winged heart surmounted by a crown, and a ducal coronet. The carving is thought to have come from another room in the house, and re-applied in its present position some time after the room was remodelled c.1840. Grinling Gibbons (1648-1720), probably the most famous English wood-worker of all time, had an extraordinary talent in woodcarving. His trademarks were cascades of fruit, foliage, fish and birds, symbols of abundance and fruits of the earth which could be applied to panelling, furniture, walls or even chimneys. Much of his work was filled with symbolism which would have been apparent to an educated observer of the day, and very often each object in the carving would have a particular meaning or reference to a Classical Greek or Roman ideal or legend. He was commissioned by wealthy landowners and royalty including William III, the reigning monarch when the house was built. Drumlanrig Castle, one of the great Renaissance courtyard houses of Scottish domestic architecture, was built between 1679 and 1690 for William Douglas, 1st Duke of Queensberry, on the site of a late 14th-century Douglas stronghold. The castle passed to the Dukes of Buccleuch in 1810, and is now the home of the 9th Duke (11th Duke of Queensberry). It houses many great family treasures and important works of art, including magnificent carvings and a fine collection of paintings. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/764688

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap