The only known wood carving of the Wolsey coat of arms

The polychrome oak panel relief of the coat of arms of Cardinal Thomas Wolsey has been identified as the only surviving wood-carved coat of arms made during the cardinal’s lifetime. This is one of only two sculptures of the Wolsey coat of arms known to exist. The other is a terracotta relief fixed to the wall of the central courtyard of Hampton Court Palace.

It consists of two panels from the same Baltic oak tree, mounted in an oak frame. Dendrochronological analysis found that all three were felled around 1520. At the time, Wolsey was at the height of his power and still a decade away from his swift downfall. Born into a merchant family, Thomas Wolsey became royal chaplain to King Henry VII in 1507 and cardinal and chancellor to King Henry VIII in 1515.

In 1525 he was awarded a coat of arms. As a cardinal, he had the right to use in his coat of arms the red galero cardinalizio, a red rope sombrero with 15 tassels on each side, a symbol of his clerical office. This version has only 10 tassels on each side, possibly a reference to his archbishopric, just as the cross at the top of the shield is an archbishop’s cross. The coat of arms on the shield is a silver cross with a red lion in the center and four blue leopard faces. The top area of ​​the shield features a red Tudor rose flanked by two Cornish choughs, the black birds also known as ‘beckets’, symbolizing Wolsey’s namesake St Thomas Becket.

The panels are carefully carved in relief. It was clearly not the work of a provincial craftsman but of a skilled sculptor, designed to be displayed in a splendid setting. Although it may have been set up as siding at some point, this panel serves as a unique piece of art. This would enhance its status as a work of art in its own right (rather than an element in a decorative architectural scheme) and, as a movable object, would undoubtedly ensure its survival. Its high status is once again reflected in the sculptor’s meticulous care, including the presence of two griffins, whose talons support it Roman hair And touch the escutcheon. These details distinguish this panel from other, more perfunctory carvings that undoubtedly existed during the cardinal’s time.

Contemporary records and inventories record dozens of items – tapestries, quilts, chairs, irons – decorated with Wolsey’s coat of arms, but all of them disappeared after he fell from favor in 1529 and died of dysentery less than a year later. Henry VIII deliberately covered Wolsey’s arms at Hampton Court Palace. The only known sculptures of his coat of arms survive the Royal Arms in masonry relief, and the Iron Crown covers the gallery of original terracotta reliefs. Henry covered it when he captured the palace in 1531, and the original was not rediscovered until 1845, when Henry’s coat of arms was removed for conservation purposes.

The item has traceable ownership dating back to the 18th century. There is a handwritten note on the reverse which reads: “Coat of arms of Cardinal Wolsey of Christ Church, Oxford, 29 November 1530.” It is signed PBD Cooke, indicating that it belonged to Philip Bryan Davies Cooke (1793 – 1853) of the manor of Gwensany, North Wales, and Allston, Yorkshire. The panel was sold at the Gwensany Hall Art and Interiors Auction earlier this year. It is advertised as a “Victorian carved, painted and gilded rectangular wooden panel”. The pre-sale estimate was £300-500 ($400-$665), but there were apparently suspicions that this was more than just a 19th-century replica, as the hammer price was £13,000 ($17,300).

Art dealer Simon Dickinson acquired the work from a private collector who bought it at a Gwynsaney Hall auction. His team researched the piece’s history and conducted scientific studies to discover its true age. They also have a theory as to whose hand kept it safe when all other Wolsey emblems were destroyed.

Wolsey’s most famous and important disciple, and the man who eventually replaced him as Henry’s first minister, was Thomas Cromwell. Cromwell was a businessman, lawyer and parliamentarian. In 1524 he entered the Wolsey household and initially served as Wolsey’s solicitor. In 1527 he became one of Wolsey’s personal advisers. We can see in a list of Thomas Cromwell’s household goods, dated 26 June 1527, that Cromwell prominently displayed his association with his chief patron, at the height of his power and influence. Cromwell had in his drawing-room, probably at Austin Friar (the house does not specify), a “table of my lord cardinal, paid and gilded”, and in his hall “the arms of my lord cardinal, gilded at Carnos”.[5] In modern English, the two objects are a board (table) depicting a cardinal’s arms, painted and gilded, and a canvas depicting Wolsey’s arms. It is impossible to know from this perfunctory description whether this “table” is identical to our panel. However, it does show that Cromwell owned two coats of arms, one of which sounds identical to ours, and displayed it publicly in his home.