Melton Constable, Norfolk
Church of St Peter
Memorial to Sir Philip †1739 and Dame Elizabeth †1738 Astley, Marble. Astley family pew or chapel West Wall, in the centre of the south wall. Signed: Rob. Page Norvici Fecit.
This, the earlier of Page’s two Astley monuments at Melton Constable, was presumably commissioned shortly after the death of Sir Philip. Page has placed the apex of the triangular pediment at the top of the wall, disguising the curve of the ceiling by angling the cartouche with coat of arms forward. It is further masked by the putti, one of whom points to the heavens, while his companion looks down at the spectator entering the chapel. This is carried through in the medallions with the portrait busts, perhaps best seen from the entrance, although from the front their poses are complementary as they turn to each other. Medallions, introduced into church monuments early in the eighteenth century, by Francis Bird among others, rapidly became the norm, but these appear to be the earliest in Norfolk. This sense of experiment was continued in another innovation, to which Page would return, the splendid bulging dark veined funeral chest resting on lions feet of white marble. A type which breaks with the more established ones with straight sides and in its use of coloured marble. Here, too, Page shows his awareness of developments in London. Francis Bird’s Monument in Westminster Abbey to Dr John Grabe †1711 for example, shows Grabe sitting on a comparable tomb chest (without the lion’s feet). Page framed the chest flanked by curving asymmetrical flaming urns and the simple inscription is supported by two winged angel heads.
Brian Kemp, English Church Monuments, London, 1980, pp.129-131;
Margaret Whinney, revised John Physick, Sculpture in Britain, 1530 to 1830, London, 1988, pp. 154-155;
detail of the top of the monuments with putti and coat-of-arms
Melton Constable, Norfolk
Church of St Peter
Memorial to Sir Philip †1739 and Dame Elizabeth †1738 Astley, Marble. Astley family pew or chapel West Wall, in the centre of the south wall. Signed: Rob. Page Norvici Fecit.
This, the earlier of Page’s two Astley monuments at Melton Constable, was presumably commissioned shortly after the death of Sir Philip. Page has placed the apex of the triangular pediment at the top of the wall, disguising the curve of the ceiling by angling the cartouche with coat of arms forward. It is further masked by the putti, one of whom points to the heavens, while his companion looks down at the spectator entering the chapel. This is carried through in the medallions with the portrait busts, perhaps best seen from the entrance, although from the front their poses are complementary as they turn to each other. Medallions, introduced into church monuments early in the eighteenth century, by Francis Bird among others, rapidly became the norm, but these appear to be the earliest in Norfolk. This sense of experiment was continued in another innovation, to which Page would return, the splendid bulging dark veined funeral chest resting on lions feet of white marble. A type which breaks with the more established ones with straight sides and in its use of coloured marble. Here, too, Page shows his awareness of developments in London. Francis Bird’s Monument in Westminster Abbey to Dr John Grabe †1711 for example, shows Grabe sitting on a comparable tomb chest (without the lion’s feet). Page framed the chest flanked by curving asymmetrical flaming urns and the simple inscription is supported by two winged angel heads.
Brian Kemp, English Church Monuments, London, 1980, pp.129-131;
Margaret Whinney, revised John Physick, Sculpture in Britain, 1530 to 1830, London, 1988, pp. 154-155;
detail of the top of the monuments with putti and coat-of-arms