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Metropolitan Useum Of THE ETROPOLITAN NEWS MUSEUM OF ART RELEASE At Wl11 FIFTH AYE.at82 STREET • NEW YORK STAIRCASE CARVED BY GRIN LING GIBBONS NEW FEATURE AT THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM A magnificently carved 17th century staircase from a great English country house, Cassiobury Park, has been newly installed in one of the decorative arts galleries on the first floor of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Rising in three flights to a balustraded landing above, the staircase constitutes an extraordinary sculpture in wood, each part richly carved, in elegant designs of abstract foliage. This brilliant woodcarving was made between 1677 and 1680 by Grinling Gibbons whose chisel gained him the title of Master Carver in Wood to the Crown (Charles II). It is a unique example of Gibbons's staircase oarving; no other such work by the master carver now survives in any English house. The staircase was acquired by The Metropolitan Museum in 1932 and has now been installed in the gallery next to the Kirtlington Park room with special attention to displaying Gibbons's handiwork to best advantage, given the limitations of the Museum gallery walls and ceiling, without departing from 17th century architectural principles. "In the naturalistic and exquisitely detailed carvings of flower, fruit and game arrangements," James Parker, Assistant Curator in the Department of Post- Renaissance Art, notes in an article in the Museum's June Bulletin, "Gibbons attempted to reproduce in wood the feats of the Dutch still-life painters. For the acanthus flowers and foliation, the bursting seed pods of the staircase balustrade, he may have turned to the plates of French ornamental designs, such as the foliage friezes engraved by Jean Lepautre. The oak leaves and acorns, as displayed on the string, were a royalist device alluding to the twenty-four hours which Charles II spent hidden in the Boscobel 'Royal Oak' in 1651 during the Civil War." (more) Grinling Gibbons Staircase at Metropolitan Museum—2 The scrollwork of the balustrade as well as pine cone finials are carved of solid ash, the handrail and the oak-leaf-and-acorn string are of pine, and the risers, treads and landings are of oak. A covering of stain and varnish was removed from the wood before the staircase came to the Museum and it now appears, as Gibbons originally intended, in light, natural tones. The Museum's staircase is from a house of a long and remarkable history. Cassiobury Park, an estate of 500 acres now in the suburbs of London, took its name from a tribe of ancient Britons called the Cassii who used the acreage as a camp site. During the Middle Ages the land was farmed for the monastic orders of Saint Albans. In 1541 the land was granted to one of Henry VIII's officials, who built a house on it, and in the 17th century the property became the seat of the Earls of Essex. The first earl rebuilt and remodeled the house at Cassiobury. His architect was Hugh May, who served at the time as architect to the Crown at Windsor Castle. Working with him was the wood-carver, Grinling Gibbons, who also assisted May at Windsor Castle. The staircase was among the elegant interior fittings designed for Cassiobury at this time. After the first World War the tenor of life changed for the inhabitants of English estates. A sale was held in June, 1922 which lasted ten days and dis­ persed the contents of the house in 2606 lots. Some of Grinling Gibbons's carvings for the rooms were acquired for the Hearst and Wernher collections. Three paintings from the house reached The Metropolitan Museum from several sources, Two of these—portraits of the first earl's brother, Sir Henry Capel, and a double portrait of his sisters, both painted by Sir Peter Lely-- came to the Museum in the bequest of Jacob Ruppert. In the fifth earl's great house these paintings hung in the main library, one room from the staircase. They are now displayed on the walls of the Museum gallery where the staircase has been installed. 000 .
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