Gothic Revival Wall Portrait Sculpture Sir Edward Massey Governor City Of Gloucester In the Manner of Sir George Gilbert Scott

🏰 Gothic Revival Carved Oak & Fruitwood Portrait Plaque – Colonel Sir Edward Massey, Governor of Gloucester & Sudeley Castle – From Earlier 18th-Century Oak In the Manner of Sir George Gilbert Scott

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

🧾 Overview
A bold and characterful carved oak and fruitwood wall plaque depicting Colonel Sir Edward Massey, the famed Governor of Gloucester (1642) and later Governor of Sudeley Castle (1644) during the English Civil War ⚔️

The piece is constructed from earlier oak boards (very likely 18th century or earlier) which were subsequently carved and assembled in the 19th century in a romantic, historic / Gothic Revival manner. The combination of genuinely old timber with later sculptural work creates a dramatic decorative panel with superb period atmosphere and presence.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

🎨 Subject & Design
At the centre is a high-relief portrait of Colonel Sir Edward Massey, shown in profile, gazing slightly upward. He is depicted with long, flowing hair and a curled moustache, with strong features and a clearly defined cuirass of armour 🛡️ The head and bust are carved in fruitwood, giving a warm, honeyed tone which contrasts beautifully with the darker, richly figured “tiger” oak surround.

The portrait sits within an architectural oak framework evoking battlements and castle masonry: an arched niche with carved foliage, vertical uprights with geometric detailing, a crenellated top rail and a lower arcade of small openings reminiscent of a fortified gateway.

Running around the outer frame is a deeply carved inscription reading:
“COLONEL EDWARD MASSEY – GOVERNOUR OF THE CITY OF GLOUCESTER 1642”

Across the upper border, in gilt lettering, is:
“GOVERNOR OF SUDELEY CASTLE 1644”

Beneath the bust hangs a heraldic shield with chevrons and roundels, echoing the traditional arms associated with the city of Gloucester. At each lower corner is a lively green-man / lion-mask style carving – full of personality and exactly the sort of flourish much loved by Gothic Revival carvers 🌿🦁

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

📚 Historical Interest
Edward Massey (c.1619–1674) was a prominent figure in the English Civil War. Serving first as deputy governor and then Governor of Gloucester, he became renowned for his vigorous defence of the city in 1643. Later appointed Governor of Sudeley Castle, he was involved in some of the most dramatic episodes of the conflict and its aftermath – wounded at Worcester, imprisoned in the Tower of London, escaping, and eventually returning to the Royalist side.

Following the Restoration he was knighted and sat as MP for Gloucester. This plaque celebrates his role as defender of Gloucester and commander at Sudeley, making it a particularly appealing piece for collectors interested in Civil War history, early English politics, military portraiture or heraldry 📜

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

🧑🏫 Maker & Collecting Context
As is typical for carved oak of this type, the individual sculptor is not recorded. Stylistically, the work sits comfortably within the Gothic Revival tradition of the 19th century, in the manner of Sir George Gilbert Scott– heroic historic heads set in architectural niches, enriched with heraldry and inscriptions to evoke the “Age of Oak” and a romantic medieval past.

The blend of genuinely old timber, Gothic ornament and an identified historical subject is precisely the sort of combination prized by serious oak enthusiasts and scholars. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, connoisseurs such as Percy Macquoid (A History of English Furniture) helped form the taste for early English oak and panelled interiors, illustrating carved oak from major country-house collections. Later, specialists like Victor Chinnery (Oak Furniture: The British Tradition) championed the field and advised important collectors.

On a grander scale, major collectors such as William Randolph Hearst amassed substantial quantities of medieval and Gothic woodwork, architectural fragments and carved panels to create evocative historic interiors 🏛️ While this plaque is not from those collections, it is exactly the kind of strongly carved, atmospheric panel that would sit perfectly in oak-lined halls, libraries and castle-inspired rooms.

Today, panels like this are sought after by collectors of early oak, Gothic Revival, heraldic carving and English Civil War memorabilia, as well as decorators and designers looking to introduce genuine “country-house” character.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

✅ Why You’ll Love It
✅ Genuine age and patina – earlier oak boards showing old tool marks, deep colour and wear, enhanced by later romantic carving.
✅ A named Civil War figure – not a generic portrait: you can introduce him to visitors and share his story.
✅ Serious decorative impact – at almost 70 cm high and weighing around 6 kg, it has the presence of a small overmantel or architectural fragment.
✅ Packed with visual interest – the warm fruitwood bust against figured oak, heraldic shield, corner masks and gilt lettering reward repeated viewing.
✅ Ideal for a period setting – perfect above a fireplace, on a stairway wall, in a hall, library, study or “gentleman’s room”; it immediately feels at home in a panelled or country-house interior 🕯️

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

📏 Dimensions
Height: 68.3 cm
Width: 52 cm
Depth: 4.5 cm
Weight: just under 6 kg

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

📝 Provenance & Notes
From an overseas private collection and a notable Channel Islands auction house; subsequently in the collection of Cheshire Antiques Consultant LTD 🌍

Offered as an antique decorative carved portrait plaque of Colonel Sir Edward Massey. As with all historic objects, prospective buyers are encouraged to study the photographs and rely on their own judgement.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

🔍 Condition Report
A decorative antique with genuine age and surface wear, in good, sound, usable condition with lots of character.

The surface shows scuffs, grazes and scratches consistent with long use and display. There are small chips and minor losses to some of the high points of the carving and edges. As is normal for old oak, there are age-related splits and slight separations in the boards; these appear stable and are viewed as part of its historic charm rather than a structural issue.

The colour is attractively varied, with old stains, darker areas and a rich, developed patina that only time can produce. The reverse reveals evidence of old repairs and later screws used to secure and stabilise the panel. A hanging wire is present; given the weight of the piece, the new owner may wish to check the wire and wall fixings and upgrade them to suit their chosen hanging location.

Please examine all photographs carefully, as they form an important part of the description.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

🌍 Worldwide Shipping Available
Professionally packed, fully insured worldwide delivery available for peace of mind.

🛒 Click “Buy It Now” to secure this evocative carved portrait for your collection.
Add this historic English Civil War–era inspired Gothic oak portrait to your interior today.