138 EXAMPLES OF CHIMNEY-PIECES 



during a large part of the reign of Charles I. The excellent 

 panelling by Webb at Thorpe Hall has already been illus- 

 trated (see Fig. 48). It embodies a still greater departure from 

 the old manner. 



This departure is also very noticeable in the designs of 

 chimney-pieces which Jones and Webb have left behind them. 

 Fig. 91 shows one of those designed for the Queen's House at 

 Greenwich in 1637 : in the panel below the pediment is inscribed 

 " Henrietta Maria Regina." Fig. 92 is " for Greenwich," and 

 bears the cipher H.M.R. It is very characteristic of Jones's 

 way of sketching his details ; he has bestowed more care (and 

 more affection) upon the little children at the side than upon 

 the principal object itself. It is evident that the large panel over 

 the chimney-piece was to be occupied by a picture, as also 

 psrhaps was that in the preceding example. In Jacobean times 

 such a space would have contained the owner's arms. Webb's 

 chimney-pieces follow those of his master in general conception, 

 and they are the precursors of the type prevalent in the 

 eighteenth century, largely used by Kent, who had access to 

 these very drawings. Of the examples selected, one was for 

 Drayton House, in Northamptonshire, and it is signed by Webb 

 and dated 1653 (Fig. 94); the other was for " D r George Price 

 his great chamber" (Fig. 93). The whole series affords a good 

 idea of the style of the period as compared with that of earlier 

 times. 



It is interesting to compare with these drawings of Jones and 

 Webb a contemporary chimney-piece at Ford Abbey, in Dorset, 

 attributed to Jones (Fig. 95). It must be confessed, however, 

 that the treatment is widely different in the two cases. This is 

 not to say that the Ford Abbey example has no merit ; on the 

 contrary, there is a refreshing playfulness about the way in 

 which the staid classic detail is bent from its usual au stere lines. 



