Nottingham alabaster

tradition c. 1300-1530 England Europe

Nottingham alabaster is the name for the English industry of carved alabaster religious sculpture that flourished from the fourteenth century until the Reformation. Carvers worked in London, York and Burton-on-Trent, but the largest concentration around Nottingham gave its name to the whole output. Quarried near Tutbury and Chellaston in south Derbyshire, alabaster is a soft gypsum stone: easy to carve and well suited to standardized production, though it cannot stand weather. Workshops turned out single figures, tomb effigies and, most commonly, high-relief panels sold as ready-made sets for altarpieces, fitted into locally made surrounds on arrival. Brightly painted and comparatively cheap, these images furnished parish churches and noble chapels alike and were exported in bulk across Europe, above all to France, where many still remain in place.

In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, alabaster was a popular sculptural material in England, where it was in plentiful supply. The sof
In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, alabaster was a popular sculptural material in England, where it was in plentiful supply. The sofPublic domain (credit: Anonymous ( England ) Unknown author) · source

Defining characteristics

  • High-relief carved panels of near-standard sizes (often around 40 x 25 cm), made in sets for altarpieces
  • Soft, warm-toned alabaster cut crisply and deeply, with repetition from workshop models
  • Traces of bright painted and gilded color over the carved surface (much since lost or stripped)
  • Gothic canopies, angels and carved architectural framing crowning each panel
  • Formulaic devotional iconography: Passion and Life of Christ cycles, saints in courtly dress
  • Idealized, gentle faces beneath heavy drapery cut in deep, angular folds

Key figures

  • Peter Maceon (fl. 1371) — Nottingham carver paid 300 marks for the alabaster altarpiece of St George's Chapel, Windsor

Example works

Sources

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