English, circa 1520-30

Probably Henry VIII, King of England and France (1491-1547), Dartford Palace, Kent, or Hampton Court Palace, Middlesex, circa 1520-30;
recorded outside an Inn at Worcester Park, Surrey, by 1985;
Saint-Geours-de-Maremne, France, after 1985;
acquired by the present owner in 2009

London, Hampton Court Palace, September 2009 - February 2011 (exhibited in the Great Hall);
London, Victoria and Albert Museum, Treasures of the Royal Courts. Tudors, Stuarts and The Russian Tsars, 9 March - 14 July 2013

O. Dmitrieva and T. Murdoch, Treasures of the Royal Courts. Tudors, Stuarts and The Russian Tsars, London, 2013, pp. 60-61, no. 56;
'From a pub to a palace', The Art Newspaper, 24 August 2009
M. Kennedy, 'V&A shows Henry VIII's stone leopards - complete with telling tails', The Guardian, London, 6 March 2013

There is weathering, wear and dirt to the surface consistent with age and placement outside. There are a number of chips and losses. Areas at the front of the statues have greening. Both lions are missing part of their standard and their proper left front paw. There are chips to the ears. The back corner of the beast with the taller standard is lost. There are two light grey bases with slightly open joints and some splitting consistent with material. There is some wear and dirt to the paint, particularly at the corners.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

This impressive pair of heraldic beasts are a remarkable survival from Tudor England. They provide a sense of the lost grandeur of the court of King Henry VIII, in which fantastical creatures served as important heraldic devices to convey a sense of the monarch's power, wealth and rank. When they were exhibited in the recent Victoria and Albert Museum exhibition Treasures of the Royal Courts, they were juxtaposed next to the celebrated Dacre Beasts, which were commissioned by Thomas, Lord Dacre (1467-1525) to celebrate his position as one of the most powerful magnates in 16th-century England, with a long established and revered family lineage.

Olga Dmitrieva and Tessa Murdoch have argued that these two snarling leopards may have been made for Henry VIII's palace at Dartford in Kent, where a pair of elaborate heraldic beasts are recorded as flanking the main staircase (Howard and Murdoch, op. cit., p. 60). With their large scale and noble attitude, they would certainly have been appropriate for such an important setting. However, it has also been noted that they were discovered only several miles away from the famous palaces of Hampton Court and Nonsuch, indicating that they may have been commissioned for one of these two royal residences (Kennedy, op. cit).

Henry VIII is known to have adorned his palaces with representations of mythical beasts. At Hampton Court, he filled the Privy Orchard with carved, polychromed and gilt wood royal beasts, including dragons, harts, lions and greyhounds, whilst the whole spectacle could be enjoyed from the vantage point of an opulent pavilion adorned with further sculptures of fantastical creatures above the Mount Garden. Significantly, the present beasts are carved from Taynton stone, quarried in Oxfordshire, which was frequently used by Henry VIII's craftsmen. Despite clearly being leopards, they have the tufted tails of lions, which were one of Anne Boleyn's emblems, suggesting that they may have been installed during the reign of Henry's infamous second wife.

RELATED LITERATURE
S. Thurley, The Royal Palaces of Tudor England. Architecture and Court Life 1460-1547, New Haven and London, 1993; R. Marks and P. Williamson, Gothic. Art for England 1400-1547, exh. cat. Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 2003, pp. 292-293, no. 156