The Stalls in St Catherine's Church at Preston

THE STALLS IN ST. CATHERINE'S CHURCH AT PRESTON By OLGA MATTHIESEN ONE of the most interesting features of the small church at Preston, near Faversham, are the stalls, which to the best of my knowledge have never attracted the attention of archaeologists. Sir Stephen R. Glynne in his Churches of Kent1 makes only a cursory remark about them, but otherwise they have never been discussed in print. The aim of this paper is to provide a short description and stylistic analysis of this fine work of art, as well as a few photographs, which will, it is hoped, bring it to the notice of both the specialists and the general public. The stalls (PI. I) are placed, as was customary, on the south, or epistle, side of the altar. They are divided by two armrests, thus making provision for three seats. The stalls are crowned by a canopy, which rests on four slender columns. The canopy is vaulted with sexpartite ribs joined by bosses and the ribs are supported by four carved corbels, placed at the back of the stalls, which is entirely covered with carved flowers in compartments arranged in diamond pattern. To the east of the stalls and adjoining them is a contemporary piscina, equally richly decorated. The most conspicuous feature of the staUs is the canopy in the form of three gables, flanked and divided by ornamental pinnacles. The gables rest on trefoil arches, enclosed by a semicircular moulding and they are pierced by trefoil openings surrounded by circular frames. The spandrels of the gables are carved with naturalistic plant motives, whne the edges of the gables are enriched by feathering and are crowned by finials. Through the openings of the gables peep three male heads, shghtly recessed. The middle figure (PI. HA) shows head and neck only, while the other two (PI. IIB) have shoulders as well. The heads are smoothly carved and have short, curly hair, high cheekbones and fleshy, sensuous mouths. Of the four corbels at the back of the staUs three also represent human heads, while the fourth is carved with foliated decoration. The first to the left is a female head, coiffed, and probably representing a nun. At the opposite end is a male, hooded head (PI. IIIA), shghtly grotesque through its exaggerated realism, particularly that of nose and mouth 1 R. Glynne, Churches of Kent, London (1877), p. 17. 77 THE STALLS IN ST. CATHERINE'S CHURCH AT PRESTON and wrinkled forehead. The second head from the right (PI. IIIB) is a particularly fine carving. It represents a head with corkscrew beard and moustache, hair roUed up on both sides of the face, and a fringe. The capitals of the columns supporting the canopy are carved with undulating fohage ; the bases are plain, octagonal. The piscina (PI. I) consists of a canopy with an ogee opening, richly feathered, resting on two slender colonnettes with foliated capitals. The eastern colonnette is engaged to a jamb carved with rosettes enclosed by square frames. The jamb is crowned by an ornamental pinnacle carved on the surface of the canopy. When Glynne mentioned the Preston sedilia in 1877 he stated that they were badly mutilated.1 A footnote added during the publication of his book adds, " since restored by the Dean and Chapter of Canterbury, the impropriators ". And indeed a close examination of the staUs reveals that some reearving has been carried out, especially on the canopy and the capitals. The background and the heads are, however, untouched by any restoration. Even a brief examination of the Preston stalls is sufficient to make one realize that the forms of their decoration and the style of their carving belong to a period round about 1300, but only a detailed study wUl allow us to suggest a more precise date. Furthermore, the comparison of the staUs with other monuments will allow us to suggest the centre which produced this outstanding work, so unexpected in a small parish church. The motive of heads in trefoils carved on the gables of the Preston stalls provides an interesting clue in tracing their artistic connections, since it is not very common. More frequent was the use of quatrefoils. It was employed in manuscript decorations in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries,2 and also in sculpture this motive became frequently used from the end of the twelfth century. Some of the most important examples of this exist in Canterbury,3 in the Cathedral Ubrary relief with prophet, and on the so-called tomb of Archbishop Walter (PI. IVA).4 At Wells, as is well-known, quatrefoils were used in profusion on the west front and also at Lincoln on the Judgement Portal. Also at Amiens and other French cathedrals of the thirteenth century quatrefoUs were frequently employed ; at Sens the quatrefoil is prominently placed on the tympanum. But in all French examples the relief is 1 Ibid., p. 17. 2 An interesting example of the use of quatrefoils containing a bust is found in the thirteenth century Lambeth Palace Apocalypse (MS 434, fol. 7R). 3 G. Zarnecki, Later Romanesque Sculpture in England, 1140-1210, London (1953), plate 111. 4 This tomb is usually dated c. 1205, the date of the death of this Archbishop, but this on stylistic grounds is unacceptable.. The tomb is certainly later. 78 THE STALLS IN ST. CATHERINE'S CHURCH AT PRESTON comparatively flat and carved on the same surface as the frame. At WeUs, on the other hand, the relief is deeply recessed. Similar treatment is also found at a later date in the quatrefofls on the Fyndon Gate of St. Augustine's Abbey in Canterbury.1 Trefoils, as has been pointed out, are far less frequent. We find them on thirteenth-century seal of CombweU Priory, while the Faversham Abbey seal of the same period shows two quatrefoils with figures, set under gables.2 The celebrated tombs of Edmund Crouchback (d. 1296) and Aymer de Valence (d. 1324), both in Westminster Abbey3 show in their canopies a trefoiled frame containing a figure. At Preston the heads looking through the trefoil openings are carved in the round and the effect achieved is both illusionistic and picturesque, with strong contrast between hght caught on the faces and the dark background. The modelling of the heads is bold and the features, in spite of the stylized almond-shaped eyes, full of power and character. There is some similarity between these heads and the works of the thirteenth century in Westminster Abbey. The closest resemblance, however, is with the head from Fyndon's Gate at Canterbury, now in the Lapidarium of St. Augustine's. This head was carved by a sculptor from the London school of the Purbeck marblers who worked alternatively in Westminster and at Canterbury.4 The Preston heads, Uke their counterparts in London and Canterbury, show strong influence of the French style. It is instructive to compare the Preston heads, for instance, with the corbels in Notre Dame at Cluny (PI. IVB), treated in a similar naturalistic manner, tempered by conventional details such as the almond shaped eyes, for instance. French influences, so strong in Enghsh Gothic art of the late twelfth and the thirteenth centuries, received a fresh impulse during the reign of Henry I I I due to the King's taste and deliberate attempt to compete with St. Louis art patronage. The soffits of the gables in the form of trefoil arches are placed within so slightly pointed moulded frames that at first sight they appear semicircular. This was unusual at this period when pointed arches were so much in fashion. However, similar almost semi-circular arches are employed on the tomb of Archbishop John Peckham (d. 1292) at Canterbury. On the same tomb are found ogee arches as well, and it is significant that at Preston a similar combination of the two forms of arches is found, though the ogee arch is used not on the staUs but on the adjacent piscina. Similar use of both forms of arches is found on some 1 J. Harvey, English Mediaeval Architects, London (1964), p. 52. 2 The Victoria History of the Counties of England. Kent. London (1926), Vol. II. Plates on pp. 114 and 160. 3 Royal Commission on Historical Monuments, Westminster Abbey, London (1924). Vol. I. Plates 34 and 35. 4 Harvey, op. cit., p. 52 sq., English Medimval Architects, London (1954), p. 52 sq. 79 THE STALLS IN ST. CATHERINE'S CHURCH AT PRESTON other tombs,1 aU of which are ascribed to the London School of Purbeck marblers, whose head was Master Michael of Canterbury, active between 1275 and 1317.2 The diaper work with rose petals at the back of the Preston stalls is undoubtedly of French origin. It was extensively used for instance at Amiens and from there it was introduced to Westminster Abbey and later to the decoration of the Eleanor Crosses.3 In England as in France, the foliage sculpture of the last quarter of the thirteenth century and the first years of the fourteenth century is characterized by a strong naturalistic trend. Real plants were taken as models, the oak, the maple, the rose, the vine and others.4 This fashion was shorthved, and the fourteenth century as a whole favoured more conventional foliage of a wavy, lumpy quality, often called the sea-weed foliage. Although much of the Preston foliage has been recarved, there are sufficient traces of the original work to aUow us to attribute it to the fourteenth century. The sea-weed forms here, although not fully developed, are unmistakable. Similar foliage is found profusely used at Exeter in the first years of the fourteenth century. It is interesting to find that some of the corbel heads at Exeter5 also provide a close stylistic parallel to the Preston corbel heads supporting the ribs of the canopy. These last differ shghtly from the round and softly modelled heads in the trefoils above : the faces are puffier and the cheekbones are more modulated, harder, and sharper in detail. In describing the Exeter heads Professor Pevsner6 mentions their " shghtly stuffed tauntness ". The heads of this style are the work of WiUiam de Montacute and his work shop, active at Exeter in the early part of the second decade of the fourteenth century. All Preston corbels including the veiled lady show such close resemblance to the Exeter sculptures of the early fourteenth century that their date must indeed be very similar, about 1310. No records came to light to teU us who commissioned the staUs nor who was the sculptor, but it is obvious that the artist was closely connected with the London-Canterbury workshops and had at least seen Exeter. It is clear that he was not a viUage carver but one who was active in the capital or at Canterbury. Preston was the property of the See of Canterbury until it passed into the possession of Faversham in 1341,7 so it is quite probable that the work was commissioned from 1 For instance Bishop Louth's (d. 1298) at Ely and Aymer de Valence (d. 1324) at Westminster Abbey, see Royal Commission on Historical Monuments, London, Westminster Abbey, Vol. I., plate 34. 2 Harvey, op. cit., p. 52. 3 J. Evans, English Art 1307-1461, Oxford (1949), plate 1. 4 N. Pevsner, Leaves of Southwell, London (1945), pp. 23 sq. 6 J. P. Cave, Medimval carvings in Exeter Cathedral, London (1953), plate 26 and 35. 6 N. Pevsner, Mediaeval Carvings in Exeter Cathedral, London (1945), p. 27. 7 E. Hasted, History of Kent, Canterbury (1798), Second Edition, p. 548, Vol. VI. 80 PLATE I B Preston Church. General view of stalls. [face p. 80 PLATE II A. Preston Church. Head in central gable. * \ * Photos: 0. Matthiesen. B. Preston Church. Head in left (east) gable. PLATE III . * • ' Photo: 0. Matthiesen. A, Preston Church. The westernmost corbal under canopy. Photo: a. Zarnecki. B. Preston Church. Second corbal from west under canopy. PLATE IV A. Canterbury Cathedral. Detail of tomb of Archbishop Walter. B. Cluny, Notre-Dame. Corbel-head. Photo; 0. Mnlthitsrn. THE STALLS IN ST. CATHERINE'S CHURCH AT PRESTON Canterbury and executed by a sculptor in the service of the archbishops. This assumption is justified not only by styhstic considerations but also by the geographical position of Preston ; being on the direct route from London to Canterbury, it must have been in contact with both. 81 on