Grinling Gibbons (1648–1721)

John Dawson Watson (after) 1832 - 1892

Summary

British Carpenter Grinling Gibbons (1648-1721) is depicted here in green and white dress. In his right hand there is a chisel and in his left hand a piece of wood. The inscription on the bottom reads “Grinling Gibbons carver in wood”. Acquired as 'one of 10 copies of mosaic wall decorations at the South Kensington Museum'. The construction and decoration of the South Court of the Victoria and Albert Museum by Godfrey Sykes between 1860 and 1862 was further embellished 1862-71 with a series of life-size full-length portraits in mosaic of great artists which came to be known as the 'Kensington Valhalla'. The mosaics were in the paired niches above the main arches. Several leading contemporary artists supplied the full-size designs (which are in the V&A collections), including Cope, Leighton, Poynter, and Watts.