DOI issue:
No. 82 (December, 1903)
DOI article:Browne, G. Ulick: Some remarks on the work of S. Pepys Cockerell
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.26230#0141
77^ ^77^ ^
seated in a sheli, being towed on the sea by flying
peacocks, escorted by cupids in the air and by
dolphins in the water. The Right of the peacocks
with their piumage and vast taiis, the little chubby
cupids with their wings, and the dolphins by their
diving, roHing, and tumbling, afford, in conjunction
with the waves, great opportunities of graceful com-
position which have been most happiiy seized and
made use of.
In the same room the jambs of the marbie
mantelpiece consist of two female Rgures in high
relief, clad in classical draperies, which, by their
attitude and form indicate the capability of support-
ing the shelf; whereas in the overmantel the three
female Rgures, in iow reiief with diaphanous
draperies, are lightly executing a dance.
The small statuettes of the cupids, one sitting
on a hare, holding a heart on fire, and the other
asleep on a tortoise, both on
bases of Connemara marbie, are
fine pieces of compact composi-
tion and skilful execution.
All these, whether as a whole
or in detail, are appropriate to the
purpöse for which they are made,
and being intended for cheerful
living rooms are treated in a
lighter, easier style than the
mural monument for the church.
In the hunting frieze, which is
in red brick, cut out of one of
the walls of the entrance court-
yard of Lythe Hill, Haslemere,
one of the riders coming a
cropper over a Stile, a rustic
giving a "view halloa," and the
rabbits dodging in and out of
their burrows, introduce, by their
treatment, a light, comic element,
which is suitable to their sur-
roundings, but which does not
militate against the composition
or design.
Marbie, stucco, and brick have
hitherto been dealt with. To
turn now to Pepys Cockerell's
work in other materials — the
same striving to keep strictly to
the purpose of the subject is
found, the determination to
keep the design simple, in-
teresting, and appropriate with-
out losing reßnement, beauty,
and delicacy.
Take a door-knocker designed by him. Now the
primary object of a door-knocker is to knock well,
and to achieve this object it should be possible for
the operator to grasp it easily. The Venetian
artists of the Renaissance, who may be said to be
the chief exponents of this form of art, and who
were very fond of elaborate knockers, were sadly
at fault in these desiderata, and, fine as they
often were in execution, the designs of most
of their knockers of that period are, as a rule,
superlatively witless. Large, almost colossal
groups of Neptunes and dolphins—Venus rising
from the sea surrounded by cupids or mermaids
—Diana with or without attendant nymphs,.
but nearly always with wild beasts or dogs
running all around her, while she Rourishes
a spear over her head instead of plunging
it into one of the formen In the knocker,
I 20
seated in a sheli, being towed on the sea by flying
peacocks, escorted by cupids in the air and by
dolphins in the water. The Right of the peacocks
with their piumage and vast taiis, the little chubby
cupids with their wings, and the dolphins by their
diving, roHing, and tumbling, afford, in conjunction
with the waves, great opportunities of graceful com-
position which have been most happiiy seized and
made use of.
In the same room the jambs of the marbie
mantelpiece consist of two female Rgures in high
relief, clad in classical draperies, which, by their
attitude and form indicate the capability of support-
ing the shelf; whereas in the overmantel the three
female Rgures, in iow reiief with diaphanous
draperies, are lightly executing a dance.
The small statuettes of the cupids, one sitting
on a hare, holding a heart on fire, and the other
asleep on a tortoise, both on
bases of Connemara marbie, are
fine pieces of compact composi-
tion and skilful execution.
All these, whether as a whole
or in detail, are appropriate to the
purpöse for which they are made,
and being intended for cheerful
living rooms are treated in a
lighter, easier style than the
mural monument for the church.
In the hunting frieze, which is
in red brick, cut out of one of
the walls of the entrance court-
yard of Lythe Hill, Haslemere,
one of the riders coming a
cropper over a Stile, a rustic
giving a "view halloa," and the
rabbits dodging in and out of
their burrows, introduce, by their
treatment, a light, comic element,
which is suitable to their sur-
roundings, but which does not
militate against the composition
or design.
Marbie, stucco, and brick have
hitherto been dealt with. To
turn now to Pepys Cockerell's
work in other materials — the
same striving to keep strictly to
the purpose of the subject is
found, the determination to
keep the design simple, in-
teresting, and appropriate with-
out losing reßnement, beauty,
and delicacy.
Take a door-knocker designed by him. Now the
primary object of a door-knocker is to knock well,
and to achieve this object it should be possible for
the operator to grasp it easily. The Venetian
artists of the Renaissance, who may be said to be
the chief exponents of this form of art, and who
were very fond of elaborate knockers, were sadly
at fault in these desiderata, and, fine as they
often were in execution, the designs of most
of their knockers of that period are, as a rule,
superlatively witless. Large, almost colossal
groups of Neptunes and dolphins—Venus rising
from the sea surrounded by cupids or mermaids
—Diana with or without attendant nymphs,.
but nearly always with wild beasts or dogs
running all around her, while she Rourishes
a spear over her head instead of plunging
it into one of the formen In the knocker,
I 20