Can you help locate two lost Angels?
In the south wall of the Southampton Chapel of St Peter's Church is a beautiful Jacobean monument to the memory of Lady Mary, fourth daughter of the third Earl of Southampton, who died on January 5, 1615. Her little recumbent figure in the dress of the period, completed in white marble, upon a base of, and surrounded by, black marble, lies with her feet to the West instead of the East. The monument is thought to have been made by Epiphanius Evesham, the fourteenth son of a Hereford squire who learned his art with the Anglo-Flemish sculptors of Southwark.
This monument was restored in 1909 by Wriothesley descendants the Duke of Portland and Lord Montagu of Beaulieu. Another conservation effort was carried out in 1984 by the Chichester Cathedral Works Organisation. The current Lord Montagu of Beaulieu is leading an appeal to restore this monument further and would be grateful to receive any information, early drawings or photographs of the monument and any information regarding the whereabouts of the two missing angels/figures described and depicted flanking the recumbent child in 1717 and 1840.
In 1717 William Pavey recorded his observations of the monument: 'Against the south wall is a beautiful mural monument of curious black marble with the figure of a small child finely dressed lying at length in white marble, angels with other neat ornaments in white marble; the head lies to the east.'
In 1840 R.H.C. Ubsdell created a beautiful watercolour of the Lady Mary Monument, complete with the two, now missing, Angels. On the back he provided this description: 'Monument to Ladie Marie Wryotheslye. Titchfield Church, Sept. 1840. Drawn by R.H.C. Ubsdell. The figures are much defaced, and only one hand remains, which appears to have held a palm branch. The figure above the monument probably held a trumpet. The figures of the Angels measure 25 inches in height.'
In 1943 C.J.P. Cave Esq. F.S.A. photographed the figures/angels and it is presumed they were photographed in the Church, but not in situ. A photo from 1944 shows another, now missing, stone fragment to the left of Lady Mary.
The current whereabouts of the two angels and the fragment are unknown.
The Southampton Monument & Vault Initiative (SMVI), in partnership with the Skillington's Workshop, endeavors to restore the Wriothesley monuments as accurately as possible. Please direct inquiries, responses, or donations to SMVI, Attn. Laura Matthias at mail.smvi@beaulieu.co.uk. SMV is enabled through the generous support of Lord Montagu of Beaulieu and welcomes public and private donations. Please contact SMVI Gifts to make a donation or to become a patron alongside Lord Montagu. Email: mail.smvi@beaulieu.co.uk.
Image:- Ubsdell, R.H.C.,1840, Watercolour drawing of the Lady Mary Wriothesley Monument, Collection of Prints & Drawings of the Society of Antiquaries of London, Sepulchral Monuments and Tombs, Hampshire, SAL/238A/5-7