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This oak
paneling originally was carved for the formal reception room of
Grange, a house in the village of Broadhembury in the county of
Devon in southwestern England. The paneling is dated 1619 above
the fireplace.
The elaborateness
of this carved paneling sets it apart from other existing English
paneled rooms of the period, as few contain such rich carvings.
Perhaps most impressive is the sense of design evident on the
west wall, where every surface is decorated, and in the repetition
of arches throughout the room, which unifies the complex architectural
and narrative schemes.
The house
that contained the paneling was named Grange, for a granary or
barn that previously stood on the site. Edward Drewe, a prominent
judge and Parliament member who was appointed to the prestigious
position of sergeant to Queen Elizabeth, most likely began constructing
Grange in the 1590s. After he died in 1598, his son Thomas, also
a prominent citizen who was knighted at the coronation of King
James I in 1603, completed the house by 1610 and established it
as his family’s home, where members of the Drewe family continued
to live for nearly 300 years.
In the early
1900s, the house was sold, and in the 1920s, the paneling was
removed and sold separately to William Randolph Hearst, noted
American newspaperman and art collector. In 1944, Dr. Preston
Pope Satterwhite purchased the paneling and gave it to the Speed
Art Museum.
The carved
scenes in the paneling suggest an overall theme of the importance
of making good moral choices. This subject was common among 16th-
and 17th-century English artists, who often were inspired
by emblem books containing illustrations with moral interpretations.
Visitors to Grange familiar with these books would have understood
these carvings and their implications.
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