Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Medieval & Renaissance, Room 9, The Dorothy and Michael Hintze Gallery

Corbel Head

Corbel Head
1250-1270 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This type of head sculpture developed from the late twelfth century and was prominent throughout the thirteenth, and although found on the continent the production in England was more prolific. Head sculpture varies in form from grotesques and "masks" to faces which appear to be actual portraits, and this variety may be a reflection of the new interest in physiognomy encouraged by the availability of translations of classical treatises on the subject.

The shape and depth of the block to which the head is attached indicates that perhaps it came from a hood mould of a doorway, where it would have been positioned facing an accompanying head, in the same manner as the heads of a bishop and prince above the north doorway of the Chapter House vestibule of Salisbury cathedral.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleCorbel Head (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Carved limestone
Brief description
Corbel in the form of a bishop's head
Physical description
Limestone corbel in the form of a bishop's head, projecting from narrow shoulders and facing right. The bishop is clean shaven with a tuft of hair protruding from beneath his mitre. He has high arched eye-brows and a protruding upper lip. The nose has been badly damaged.
Dimensions
  • Height: 26.5cm
  • Width: 17cm
  • Depth: 17.8cm
Measured for the Medieval and Renaissance Galleries 2006.
Style
Credit line
Given by the Architectural Association
Object history
Royal Architectural Museum, Architectural Association, London, until 1916 (inv no. 142; date of acquisition unknown, but certainly in the collection by 1877) transferred to the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1916.
Historical context
This type of head sculpture developed from the late twelfth century and was prominent throughout the thirteenth, and although found on the continent(e.g. at the cathedrals of Reims and Burgos) the production in England was more prolific, reflecting a taste which was widespread throughout the country. There are notable examples at Wells, Worcester, York Westminster Abbey, Rochester and particularly Salisbury where heads were used to terminate mouldings in the main arcading of the building, on hoodmoulds over doorways and on the choir screen (the remains of which is now housed in the north-east transept). Head sculpture varies in form from grotesques and "masks" to faces which appear to be actual portraits, and this variety may be a reflection of the new interest in physiognomy encouraged by the availability of translations of classical treatises on the subject.

The size and style of this head and the accompanying king's head A.92-1916, indicate that they were carved as part of the same ensemble; both have a slightly prominent upper lip and a tuft of hair on the forehead which is swept back over the headdress, similar to that on the head of a bearded man on Salisbury choir screen. Their small scale suggests that they could have come from such a screen, but the shape and depth of the blocks to which they are attached indicates that perhaps they came from a hoodmould of a doorway, where they would have been positioned facing each other, in the same manner as as the heads of a bishop and prince above the north doorway of the Chapter House vestibule of Salisbury (These are Victorian replacements but presumably reflect the original arrangement). Both heads are angled slightly forward and it is therefore likely that they were intended to be viewed from below.

The provenance of the heads is not known, and such sculptures were found in cathedrals and small parish churches throughout the country during the thirteenth century. However, corbel heads are virtually always carved from the same stone as the surrounding architectural mouldings, probably executed by masons along with the wall stones and as the present example are made from a minor variety of Oolitic limestone they probably come from a parish church local to the quarry.
Production
Paul Williamson dates the object to about 1260 on the basis of a reasonable similarity to the more generalised heads of the Salisbury choir screen and a head of a king in the nave.
Subject depicted
Summary
This type of head sculpture developed from the late twelfth century and was prominent throughout the thirteenth, and although found on the continent the production in England was more prolific. Head sculpture varies in form from grotesques and "masks" to faces which appear to be actual portraits, and this variety may be a reflection of the new interest in physiognomy encouraged by the availability of translations of classical treatises on the subject.

The shape and depth of the block to which the head is attached indicates that perhaps it came from a hood mould of a doorway, where it would have been positioned facing an accompanying head, in the same manner as the heads of a bishop and prince above the north doorway of the Chapter House vestibule of Salisbury cathedral.
Bibliographic reference
Williamson, P. assisted by Evelyn P Northern Gothic Sculpture (Victoria and Albert Publications, 1988) p.48 cat no.9
Collection
Accession number
A.93-1916

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Record createdOctober 30, 2006
Record URL
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