Interior, principal floor, dining-room, detail of carved wooden panel above fireplace. Digital image of D 41636/cn

Description Interior, principal floor, dining-room, detail of carved wooden panel above fireplace. Digital image of D 41636/cn

Date 16/11/1998

Collection Records of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS), Edinbu

Catalogue Number SC 764686

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of D 41636 CN

Scope and Content Detail of Carved Panel above East Fireplace in Dining Room, Drumlanrig Castle, Dumfries & Galloway This late 17th-century oak carving is applied to the overmantel of the east fireplace, one of two identical fireplaces set in the north wall of the dining room. The carving is superbly executed and forms cascades of fruit, flowers, leaves, corn, dead birds and other fruits of the countryside, around a centrepiece containing the Douglas emblem, a winged heart surmounted by a crown. The work is thought to be by the master English wood-carver, Grinling Gibbons, and was probably moved from another room in the house and re-applied in its present position some time after the room was remodelled c.1840. The Douglas emblem appears everywhere at Drumlanrig - in stone, lead, iron, wood, leather and carpeting. Its origins are founded in the story of Sir James Douglas, 'The Good' or 'Black' Douglas who was one of the foremost supporters of Robert Bruce, King of Scots in the early 14th century. When Bruce died in 1329 before going on crusade, Sir James was entrusted to carry the king's heart to Jerusalem for burial. Douglas, unfortunately, was mortally wounded in Spain before he reached the Holy Land, but before he died is said to have hurled the royal heart, contained in a silver casket, before him with the epic cry 'Forward, brave heart!'. From that time the Douglas motto became 'Forward' and the family emblem, a winged heart surmounted by the crown of Robert Bruce. Drumlanrig Castle, one of the great Renaissance courtyard houses of Scottish domestic architecture, was built between 1679 and 1690 for William Douglas, 1st Duke of Queensberry, on the site of a late 14th-century Douglas stronghold. The castle passed to the Dukes of Buccleuch in 1810, and is now the home of the 9th Duke (11th Duke of Queensberry). It houses many great family treasures and important works of art, including magnificent carvings and a fine collection of paintings. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/764686

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap