A Large 18th Century English Antique Gilt Lead Armorial Plaque / Coat of Arms

A striking cast lead armorial achievement of the Georgian period, modelled in bold relief and raised upon a painted blue-ground panel within a moulded and parcel-gilt frame.

The arms are fully marshalled: a quartered shield bearing numerous charges, set within a scrolling cartouche and surmounted by a barred helm with flowing acanthus mantling, a grotesque mask at its centre. Above stands the crest — a cockerel upon the torse, alert and finely modelled. The quartering of the shield records the union of several families through marriage, the coat assembled over generations to proclaim lineage and inheritance.

Lead was the favoured medium for heraldic display throughout the 18th century, taking the mould crisply and enduring well, while the gilded surface lent the arms the richness and authority their statement demanded. Here, the metal has worn to a soft, silvery patina, the gilding mellowed by age. The supporting panel, painted in faded blue with a gilt-decorated dark moulding, is itself a survival of real character, the distressed surface lending the whole an arresting, time-worn presence.

Cast armorials of this kind were displayed over the doorways and gateways of the country house, in the panelled hall, or above the chimneypiece, declaring the standing of the family within. An unusual and evocative piece of English heraldic craftsmanship.

Provenance: England. 18th century.

Material: Lead mounted upon an associated, framed, wooden panel.

Condition: Honest country-house condition. An unusual survival with general marks and surface wear consistent with age. The cast lead achievement retains good, crisp relief, the gilded surface worn to a soft silvery tone in places. There are losses to the painted decoration of the frame, and the lower horizontal of the frame is missing, the distressed surface wholly in keeping with the piece's age and character. Offered as found.

Dimensions: 35¾ in (91 cm) high by 28¾ in (73 cm) wide