{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O79063"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O79063/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AM2746/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AM2746/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2006AM2746","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O79063/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O79063","accessionNumber":"W.6C-1919","objectType":"Medallion","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"<b>Object Type</b><br>This plaster medallion depicts the nymph Egeria, reputedly the consort of Numa, an early king of ancient Rome. It  formed part of the decoration of Essex House, Putney, London, the residence of Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex (1566-1601).<br><br><b>People</b><br>The Earl of Essex was a favourite of Elizabeth I from about 1586 until he fell from grace in 1600, after his brief and unsuccessful posting as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. He then instigated a  rebellion against the Queen which  resulted in his execution in 1601. The ceilings of Essex House, built when he was very much in favour, were decorated with royal symbols, such as 'ER' monograms and the Queen's emblem of a falcon carrying a sceptre.<br><br><b>Place</b><br>Putney House was built in about 1590 and demolished in 1872. It  would have provided a convenient rural base, close to  London and the court. The medallion is modelled in a sophisticated style that reflects the tastes of the court.","physicalDescription":"Medallion with a head of a man, inscribed 'AEGERIA NYMPA SIVA DEA'","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Unknown","id":"A1848"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"plaster","id":"AAT14922"}],"techniques":[{"text":"casting","id":"AAT53104"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Plaster, mounted on a later plaster panel","categories":[{"text":"Architectural fittings","id":"THES48994"},{"text":"British Galleries","id":"THES48985"},{"text":"Interiors","id":"THES48933"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"FWK","id":"THES48597"},"images":["2006AM2746"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"57A (VA)","id":"THES49240"},"free":"","case":"SC9","shelf":"EXP","box":"4"}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Medallion","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"London","id":"x28980"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1596","earliest":"1596-01-01","latest":"1596-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Given by Messrs S. Sanders & Co. Ltd., through G. P. Long","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Diameter","value":"54","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"12","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"approx.","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"20 estimated by SK 15-20kg","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"Latin","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"'Egeria, Nymph or Goddess'","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"Latin"}],"objectHistory":"Made in London. \r\n\r\nPlasterwork from the ceiling of Essex House given as a gift by Messrs S Sanders & Co. per G P Long.\r\n\r\nNotes from R.P. 19/545\r\n\r\n7th January 1919 letter, Miss A C Hare to the Museum\r\noffers \"a fine old Elizabethan ceiling studded with medallions with E.R. on them\".  She explains that the ceiling is from Essex House, High Street, Putney - said to have been built and occupied by Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex.  When the house was taken down (more than 30 years earlier) the ceiling was used a jewellers shop that was built on the site at 127 High Street.  When the shop was altered \"a few years ago\" the ceiling was stored in the jewellers basement.  The proprietor wishes to dispose of it.\r\n\r\n11th January 1919 letter, Miss A C Hare to the Museum\r\nexplaining that the ceiling is no longer intact; only the medallions remain.  There is no wood in them; they are all plaster.\r\n\r\n17th January 1919, Oliver Brackett minute paper\r\nBrackett inspected one of the 8 medallions which had a head and inscription.  The others were in store and might possibly bear a date.  He reports that there were no photos taken before demolition of the ceiling but the proprietor (Mr Long) remembers it in position and could explain the arrangement.  Long told Brackett that the ceiling was described in Taylor's \"Putney Past & Present\" (1910?), a guide published by estate agents.  Brackett  attempted to locate a copy of Taylor's but it was out of print.\r\n\r\n7th February 1919, Cecil Smith minute paper\r\ndescribes the medallions as bearing the Royal Arms, the date 1596, the Tudor Rose and other heraldic devices.  \"They have a considerable amount of interest and would be acceptable for the Museum\".\n\nThe design of the ground-floor ceiling from which this roundel came is recorded  in a drawing of 1872 from the Dryden Collection, Northampton Central Library). See Dr Claire Gapper, British Renaissance Plasterwork, fig. 73  A narrow-rib quatrepetal design on the ground-floor ceiling at Essex House, Putney.\n\nFrom Claire Gapper Notes:\nAlthough this is the only surviving item from the original donation of items W.6-W.6l-1919, illustrations of the remainder can be found in drawings in the Dryden Collection held by Northampton Central Library. These include plans of the ground and first floors of the house, as well as details of many of the motifs. The presence of Elizabeth’s coat-of-arms and initials gives a date before 1603.\r\nThanks to Dorian Gerhold, FRS (pers comm 2015) it is now known that the house was built in the 1590s for John Parr, citizen and embroiderer (d. 1607); and has nothing to do with the Earl of Essex. In 1600 Parr was given permission by the manor court to erect a pale before his house lately built in Putney. Gerhold’s research has yet to be published (2019).\r\nMany of the motifs at Essex House were repeated in the plasterwork of other houses of the period both in London and by London plasterers beyond the city. \r\n\n","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Medallion from a plaster ceiling, English, 1596, from Essex House, Putney","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Dr Claire Gapper, British Renaissance Plasterwork, fig. 73  A narrow-rib quatrepetal design on the ground-floor ceiling at Essex House, Putney:\n\nhttp://web.archive.org/web/20230118101350/https://clairegapper.info/the-london-evidence.html\n\nMany of the motifs at Essex House were repeated in the plasterwork of other houses of the period both in London and by London plasterers beyond the city. A discussion of this context, Chapter V, The London Evidence:\n\nhttp://web.archive.org/web/20230118101626/https://clairegapper.info/\n\n"}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"British Galleries:\nThis medallion was part of a ceiling at Essex House, Putney, London.  The house was said to have been a home of Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex (1566-1601), a favourite of Queen Elizabeth. The ceiling decoration also included Tudor coats of arms and Elizabeth's personal device, the falcon and sceptre.","date":{"text":"27/03/2003","earliest":"2003-03-27","latest":"2003-03-27"}}],"partNumbers":["W.6C-1919"],"accessionNumberNum":"6","accessionNumberPrefix":"W","accessionYear":1919,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":["2019LM9388","2019LP6375","2019LV5498"],"recordModificationDate":"2025-04-25","recordCreationDate":"2003-03-27","availableToBook":false}}