Background
Gibbons was born on April 4, 1648 in Rotterdam, Netherlands. It is sometimes thought that his father may have been the Englishman Samuel Gibbons, who worked under Inigo Jones.
Gibbons was born on April 4, 1648 in Rotterdam, Netherlands. It is sometimes thought that his father may have been the Englishman Samuel Gibbons, who worked under Inigo Jones.
Gibbonds was educated in Holland, but it is not known by who.
Gibbons moved to Deptford, England around 1667. He early displayed great cleverness and ingenuity in his art, on the strength of which he was recommended by Evelyn to Charles II, who employed him in the execution both of statuary and of ornamental carving in wood. By 1693 had accepted commissions from the royal family and had been appointed as a master carver. By 1680 he was already known as the "King's Carver", and carried out exquisite work for St Paul's Cathedral, Windsor Castle, and the Earl of Essex's house at Cassiobury. His carving was so fine that it was said a pot of carved flowers above his house in London would tremble from the motion of passing coaches. In the early part of the 18th century he worked for Sir Christopher Wren. In statuary one of his principal works is a life-size bronze statue in the court of Whitehall, representing James II in the dress of a Roman emperor, and he also designed the base of the statue of Charles I at Charing Cross. It is, however, chiefly as a sculptor in wood that he is famous. He was employed to execute the ornamental carving for the chapel at Windsor, the foliage and festoons in the choir of St Paul's, the baptismal fonts in St James's, and an immense quantity of ornamental work at Burleigh, Chatsworth, and other aristocratic mansions. An example of his work can be seen in the Presence Chamber above the fireplace, which was originally intended to frame a portrait of Queen Mary II after her death in 1694. Also in the Orangery at Kensington, you can see some his pieces. Many fine examples of his work can still be seen in the churches around London - particularly the choir stalls and organ case of St Paul's Cathedral. Some of the finest Gibbons carvings accessible to the general public are those on display at the National Trust's Petworth House in West Sussex, UK. At Petworth the Carved Room is host to a fine and extensive display of intricate wooden carvings by Gibbons. The finest of all his productions in this style is believed to be the ceiling which he devised for a room at Petworth. His work can be seen in the London churches of St Michael Paternoster Royal and St James, Piccadilly, where he carved the wood reredos and marble font. The Anglican dislike of painted altarpieces typically left a large space on the east wall that needed filling, which often gave Grinling's garlands a very prominent position, as here. In 1682 King Charles II commissioned Gibbons to carve a panel as a diplomatic gift for his political ally Cosimo III, Grand Duke of Tuscany. The Cosimo Panel is an allegory of art triumphing over hatred and turmoil and includes a medallion with a low relief of Pietro da Cortona, Cosimos favourite painter. The panel is housed in the Pitti Palace in Florence. His subjects are chiefly birds, flowers, foliage, fruit and lace, and many of his works, for delicacy and elaboration of details, and truthfulness of imitation, have never been surpassed. He, however, sometimes wasted his ingenuity on trifling subjects; many of his flowers used to move on their stems like their natural prototypes when shaken by a breeze. In 1714 Gibbons was appointed master carver in wood to George I. He died at London on the 3rd of August 1721.
Member of the Drapers' Company of London
