King's Beasts, Hampton Court Palace
The King's Beasts are a series of 10 statues of heraldic animals that stand on the bridge over a moat leading to the great gatehouse of
The animals are: the lion of England, the Seymour lion, the royal dragon, the black bull of Clarence, the yale of Beaufort, the white lion of Mortimer, the White Greyhound of Richmond, the Tudor dragon, the Seymour panther, and the Seymour unicorn.
History
The moat over which the bridge passes is likely of a design of the house's original owner
In October 1536 the main work was completed, by which time Henry had married a new queen, Jane Seymour. Whatever the original design for the bridge's decorations might have been, the king now decided that the bridge should become a commemoration of his marriage. Orders were given for the carving of the king's and queen's beasts with shields to stand upon the bridge, with the carvers being Harry Corant and Richard Ridge from the neighbouring town of Kingston. Each statue cost 26 shillings apiece.[5]
The bridge and its beasts stood until about the year 1691, when during alterations by
Beasts
King's crowned lion
A crowned lion of England was used by Henry as a
Seymour panther
Jane's panther supports the Seymour family arms. As the heraldic panther closely resembles the heraldic Leopard, it was relatively simple to make the alteration from Anne Boleyn's beast.[8]
Richmond greyhound
The greyhound had become one of the most popular beasts of the
The beast at Hampton Court has a leash attached to its collar, unlike most depictions of the royal beast. This appears to be the result of a misunderstanding about the beast's origin.[9]
Beaufort yale
A
Tudor dragon
The
Mortimer panther
The queen's panther is duplicated, here holding the same conjoined arms carried by the king's lion.[11]
Clarence black bull
The black
Mortimer lion
A Lion with a
Royal dragon
A second royal dragon supports Henry's royal arms.[11]
Seymour unicorn
A unicorn holds the full un-maritaled arms of the Queen. It is possible that the unicorn had been used as an English royal badge at some point, perhaps for Edward III.[b][12][11] It was a symbol of purity and fertility, and it has been suggested that the little-used symbol was chosen as a symbol of Henry's hope that the marriage would lead to the son he wanted so badly.[11]
Gallery
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Clarence black bull and Mortimer lion
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Beaufort yale and Richmond greyhound
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Seymour panther and Tudor dragon
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King's crowned lion and Seymour unicorn
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Royal dragon and Mortimer panther
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View of the West Entrance with the King's Beasts on either side of the bridge
Other royal beast statuaries
Other series of King's or Queen's Beasts have been created, inspired by the Hampton Court beasts. Forty-two royal beasts sit atop
In 2009, to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the accession to the throne of King Henry VIII, a new Tudor garden was created by Hampton Court in the form of the Chapel Court. To decorate the garden eight small wooden King's Beasts were carved in oak and painted in bright colours, each sitting atop a six-foot-high painted wooden column.[15][16]
References
Notes
- ^ "no more was found than one embattled capital, a fragment of a dragon's wing, a good sized piece of a unicorn's head, and nearly the whole of one shield." (Dorling 1913, p. 43)
- ^ It is not the more familiar Scottish unicorn; it has a garland of flowers round its neck instead of a coronet.[12]
Citations
- ^ Peers 1910, Plate XXXIII.
- ^ a b Peers 1910, p. 310.
- ^ Thurley 1988, p. 28.
- ^ a b Dorling 1913, pp. 39–40.
- ^ Dorling 1913, p. 41.
- ^ a b Dorling 1913, p. 42.
- ^ Dorling 1913, p. 43.
- ^ a b c d Brooke-Little 1981, p. 18.
- ^ London 1959, p. 146.
- ^ Brooke-Little 1981, pp. 18–19.
- ^ a b c d e f Brooke-Little 1981, p. 19.
- ^ a b London 1953, p. 52.
- ^ London 1953, p. 15.
- ^ Brooke-Little 1981, p. 20.
- ^ Todd Longstaffe-Gowan
- ^ "Hampton Court Beasts". Historic Royal Palaces. Retrieved 9 April 2023.
Bibliography
- ISBN 0900594594.
- This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Dorling, Edward Earle (1913). Leopards of England, and other papers on heraldry. London : Constable.
- London, H. Stanford (1953). The Queen's Beasts: An Account with New Drawings of the Heraldic Animals Witch Stood at the Entrance to Westminster Abbey on the Occasion of the Coronation of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II., 2. June 1953. Newman Neame.
- London, H. Stanford (1959). "The Greyhound as a Royal Beast". Archaeologia. 97: 139–163. .
- .
- doi:10.2307/1568535.