N085
A carved Painswick stone chimneypiece, English gothic revival, circa 1840. The rectangular moulded shelf sits above a frieze carved with two recessed gothic panels and centred by a shield within a disc. The moulded, arched opening with squandrels is set with further shields and flanked by tall arched jambs that are headed by carved quatrefoils and raised on chamfered blocks. The soft yellow Painswick stone, an oolitic limestone, that has been used for this chimneypiece was quarried from Painswick Beacon in Gloucestershire. Stone from this quarry was used to build Gloucester Cathedral and many of the houses in the surrounding area. The origins of the gothic form dates back to 1140–1144 but enjoyed a number of revivals during the 17th, 18th, and the early 19th centuries. By the 1830s A.W.N. Pugin (1812–1852), had become an impassioned leader and propagandist of the Gothic taste; the publication of “Gothic Furniture in the Style of the 15th Century” in 1835 was to have a profound influence.
External Height 50 in (127cm) Width 68 1/2 in (174cm)
Internal Height 32 3/4 in (83.2cm) Width 40 1/4 in (102.2cm)
Depth 10 3/4 in (27.3cm)
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