Enquiry information

A MAGNIFICENT EARLY 16TH CENTURY ENGLISH OAK OVERMANTLE. EAST ANGLIA. CIRCA 1530.

THIS MAGNIFICENT OVERMANTLE IS BOLD AND DEEPLY CARVED AND THE QUALITY OF THE CARVING IS EXCEPTIONAL. THE CENTRAL TOP PANEL BEARS THE COAT OF ARMS OF SIR GEORGE HYDE (C1495-1553) WITHIN THE PARCHEMIN PANELS FLANKING THE COAT OF ARMS ARE SOME VERY UNUSUAL CARVINGS OF BOARS HEADS, TREFOILS,POMEGRANATES,SHIELDS AND GRAPES.

LITERATURE- THESES PANELS ARE ILLUSTRATED IN MARGRET JOURDAIN, ENGLISH DECORATION AND FURNITURE OF THE EARLY RENAISSANCE 1500-1650.

COAT OF ARMS.
Impaled arms of Sir George Hyde (c. 1495-c. 1553) of Throcking, Hertfordshire, and his wife, Alice (née Roper). C. 1527.
The arms are an impalement of Hyde and Roper, with the husband’s family arms shown on the dexter side (viewer’s left) and the wife’s family arms shown on the sinister (viewer’s right). The sinister arms are blazoned Per fess on a Pale, a Stag’s Head erased in chief between two Stag’s Heads erased in base. These arms (and variants on them) are borne by several branches of a family called Roper. Colours employed are usually blue and gold “counterchanged” (i.e., the colours alternate throughout the design).
The dexter arms, which are less well-recorded, are blazoned A Saltire engrailed a Chief Ermine. In the Visitation of Hertfordshire of 1634, The arms of a Sir George Hyde of Throcking are listed as 'Gules, a saltire engrailed Or, a chief Ermine' (The visitations of Hertfordshire : made by Robert Cooke, esq., Clarencieux, in 1572, and Sir Richard St. George, kt., Clarencieux, in 1634, p. 66). Although only the colour of the saltire is noted, the Heralds’ Visitation of London in 1633-1634 recorded that similar arms were confirmed to a family called Hyde or Hide (The visitation of London, anno Domini 1633, 1634, and 1635, p. 409). Here, the colour is described as a red shield with a golden saltire, also engrailed.
Both Roper and Hyde are families of considerable antiquity in Britian, dating back to the Norman Conquest. Notably, John Roper II (c. 1453-1524) – whose arms varied from those on the panel only in that two stag’s heads appear in chief, rather than in base – served as Attorney General to Henry VIII. Sir Goerge Hyde appears to have been a person of considerable means in Hertfordshire. His will (written in 1549 and proved in 1553) made bequests to his wife, Alice, of his mansion house in Throcking and £40 during her lifetime (The National Archives; Kew, Surrey, England; Records of the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, Series PROB 11; Class ROB 11; Piece: 36).
'My wife Alice shall have all that part of the mansion house of my manor in Throcking which my mother Elizabeth Bond lately had, as part of her jointure. And all those manors and hereditaments being of the value of £40 during her natural life, while granting agreement made between myself and George Hyde on one part and to John Roper esquire, brother of Alice on the other part.'
This document also confirms that Alice was born a Roper, as her brother was one John Roper, esquire. The panel must, therefore, represent the marriage of Sir George Hyde and Alice Roper, which probably occurred in 1527, the year before the birth of the couple's eldest son and heir, Leonard. The Enmeshed boughs and entwined ribbon above and encircling the arms strongly suggest that this is not just a marriage panel made after the fact, but a panel carved to celebrate the specific occasion of a marriage, at or around the date of its occurrence.

STOCK NO 2047.