Astley Hall Contemporary Art

Just before the lockdown for the coronavirus pandemic I was trying out test casts for my knife handle (see blog posts below about Judith and my knife making). 

As I want to have rose and bramble thorns running through the handle, I collected loads of plants (from my allotment) and dried them over a number of weeks, then did some little test casts submerging the thorns and twigs in clear resin. 

There are a number of burn taper marks on the wooden panels and beams at Astley Hall. I’d not heard of these type of marks until starting the residency at the Hall and they have really piqued my interest. 

Some are more obvious than others, but quite a few are hidden and i’ve enjoyed hunting around to try and find them. Looking into this further and why they are in the hall I found a great website on burn taper marks and other apotropaic marks:

https://sites.google.com/site/charlesfaireyhistorian/home

Of burn taper marks it says this:

 “They were originally thought to have been unintentional, however in recent years their protective attributes and intentional use has been verified, through the evidence of experimental archaeology... Their deliberate form, made by charring the wood with a candle or taper, often the gouging out of the charred wood with a tool, and then the rubbing of them with the finger, to form a droplet or tear shape like groove, in a patient ritual, is the symbolic use of fighting fire with fire. But they are also thought to guard against lightning too...It is also thought that these symbols may have been burnt into timbers which existed in areas of shadow within rooms, where demonic forms may hide in the darkness.”

It is a great website with loads of information about burn taper marks, and also other symbols and ritual protection marks.

I was given permission to take rubbings of the burn taper marks found in Astley Hall. These images give another layer of detail to the marks and reveal the outline of the teardrop shape and also the surrounding grain in the wood. 

I love that these drawings are connected to people hundreds of years ago. Such a long time ago a mark was made with a flame and then rubbed with fingers over and over again. Where they were made must have been important to the person who made them - each location chosen specifically, but for reasons we don’t know.

With finding out more information about the use of burn taper marks I decided to try and make my own. I have some very long thin candles and used them to burn pieces of oak I have. It took a while to make the marks (a few minutes) and the wood caught alight with a little blue flame in the burn mark, that briefly flickered before going out. 

Looking at the representation of Judith in connection to my residency at Astley Hall (see blog posts below) I have started to look at other images of Judith and how she is portrayed. Last week I made a visit to the Bowes Museum in Barnard Castle, County Durham as i’d seen on their website that they hold a number of items connected to the story of Judith. 

I went especially to see The Triumph of Judith by Luca Giodarno which is hanging in one of the the main galleries. A fabulous oil on canvas, it was painted in Naples, Italy in 1703. The label in the gallery states:

“Luca Giordano depicts the Jewish heroine displaying the head of the Assyrian general, Holofernes, to her people. Her maid, Abra, stands behind her while the body of Holofernes is shown lying on the rocks in the foreground. The Israelites, who were on the point of surrender, are shown in amazement whilst the Assyrian soldiers flee in terror. The walls and towers in the background belong to the town of Bethulia, which had been besieged by Assyrian troops.”

The Bowes Museum is an extraordinary place with a wonderful collection - you should go if you get the chance.

Here are a couple more items in the Bowes Museum collection connected to Judith and Holofernes. The top image shows a little Flemish painted panel from 17th century - it doesn’t look like Judith has cut Holofernes head off yet, with him still lying drunk on the bed. The second image is quite difficult to make out - but it’s a carved brick (also Flemish C17th) showing Judith in the tent of Holofernes with a sword in her hand. It is one of a number of carved bricks in their collection.

These two items are not on public display and I was lucky to be given access to them behind the scenes in the Museum stores. What a treat!

Thinking of Judith at Astley Hall (see blog post below) I have decided to make my own knife for the exhibition at the Hall in summer. It’s not something i’ve done before so I’ve found a knife maker to teach me how to make one. 

I spent time designing the shape of the blade and handle and with my designs the knife maker has helped me translate them into metal, wood and resin. 

There is an absolutely fabulous representation of Judith at Astley Hall. She is carved in wood on the fireplace in the Morning Room. Half naked and with her hair down she is depicted lifting her skirt to reveal the decapitated head of Holofernes.

The Book of Judith from the Old Testament tells of how Judith saved the Israelites from the troops of the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar by seducing the Assyrian general Holofernes. After a lavish banquet she waited for him to pass out in a drunken slumber then took his sword and cut his head off. She gave the head to her maid servant who put it in her food bag.

In the sixteenth century the Catholic Church appropriated Judith, with her heroism triumphant over unbelievers. She was represented in literature, paintings and sculpture as the conqueror of heretics and as a symbol of Catholic resurgence.

Still trying to find out who the unknown woman is in the portrait in Astley Hall (see blog posts below) I went to visit St Laurence Church in Chorley, where the Brooke family were baptised and buried (its presumed so far that the portrait of the women is Peter Brooke’s wife). It’s a beautiful church, but the burial ground is no longer accessible, so I was only able to look inside the church itself. Here I found only one reference to a Brooke (image above). It is for a Peter Brooke, but not the one i’m looking for. All the text is in Latin and when put into Google translate comes out with “Here, lies Peter Brooke Knight, of wisdom and uprightness. Sixth oldest son of Thomas Brooks from Norton in the county of Cheshire. The life and activities, for which he earned an epitaph. To the gods, the thirtieth of November in the Year of 1685. Mabella wife in a lifelong faith. This memory monument by her expense willingly and happily.” I appreciate it’s not quite right, but you get the gist (Google translate did struggle a bit: a ‘silent kettle’ and ‘ham’ were both mentioned in the translation, but i’m presuming that’s not quite right?!!)

After my visit I sent an email to the church historian to ask if he had any more information about Peter Brooke 1673 - 1721. This is his reply:

“After delving into the church records of the time I am sorry to say that I haven’t come up with much info. What I have got is that Peter was born as you say in 1673. He was baptised at St Lawrence on 2nd July 1673.

There is no record of a marriage so I assume he was a single man.

The church records have an entry for his death but with huge spelling mistakes. Hence the delay.  It is spelt as Petter Brouckes, son of Richard. He was interred in the family vault 29th of March 1721. I cannot give an accurate number of family members in the vault either, I am very sorry to say. Hope that this little extra history of him helps you a little in your quest . Kind Regards, David.”

So, he thinks that Peter Brooke was single. And if Peter Brooke was never married, who is the woman in the portrait?

Could it be his sister? Peter had six sisters but only one survived past the age of 4: 

Alice was baptised 13 October 1668 and buried 20 March 1672

Eleanor was baptised on 3 July 1678 and buried 8 November 1680

Frances was baptised 3 August 1680 and buried 8 December 1680

Mabel was baptised 21 January 1690 and buried 23 July 1690

Mary was baptised in 1690 (no specific date given) and buried 4 October 1693 

In the quest to try and find the unknown woman whose portrait is hanging in Astley Hall (see blog post below) I decided to go to Lancashire Archives and see what i could find out. 

As she is described as being ‘Peter Brooke’s wife’ I wondered whether his will might give any more information. It was written in 1720 (the year before he died):

“I Peter Brooke of Astley in the County of Lancaster Esq being somewhat indisposed of body but of sound and perfect mind and memory praised be almighty God for the same, do make and ordaine this my last will and testament”

It’s beautifully written, but Peter Brooke’s signature is very wobbly revealing he was indeed ‘somewhat indisposed of body’. The will is an interesting text showing he left land to his ‘loving brother William Brooke of the City of London woolendraper’; and he ‘bequeath to Thomas Sclator (?) of Donham Esq my green shagg coat, my brown fustian coat, waistcoat and breeches and four holland shirts’ and ‘to Mr Rog Prichard of Chorley all my wiggs and sword.’ 

Everything else was left to his brother William. 

One of the portraits hanging in Astley Hall is described as ‘Peter Brooke’s wife’.

It’s bothered me a bit that she’s remembered only as a wife, so i decided to try and find out more about her. I’ve been told there is no information on the back of the painting and that it’s been presumed she is ‘wife of Peter Brooke’ because her portrait is one of a pair - the other being of Peter Brooke (1673 - 1721). 

I found a great website that has all parish records for the county of Lancashire:

https://www.lan-opc.org.uk

It’s not just the windows at Astley Hall that have graffiti on them (see blog posts below): the wooden window sills in the Oak Bedroom do too. Although the room dates from 1600′s the graffiti looks far more recent. I was given permission to do rubbings of the sills to capture the graffiti in pencil on paper. I didn’t find any hidden messages - just initials, lines and a few names scratched into the wood. 

The ceiling in the room with the tapestries at Astley Hall differs slightly from the one in the main hall in that it is a lot lower, so you can get a closer look at the details in it. However, because of how delicate the tapestries are the window shutters are always kept closed and the light in the room is very low. I was lucky to see the ceiling for a few minutes with the window shutters open so I could view it a bit more clearly and take some photographs.

The extraordinary plaster ceilings in Astley Hall were installed in 1660 to celebrate the marriage of the Hall’s owner at the time, Margaret Charnock to Richard Brooke. 

Decorated with flower garlands, ribbons, and ugly looking bacchanalian cherubs fooling around, the ceiling is a sight to behold. An expression of decadence, it’s not very elegant, but I see something new in it every time I go to visit the Hall.

Some of the glass graffiti at Astley Hall is easier to read than others... (see blog posts below) and they were all quite difficult to photograph clearly. The images here show a few examples of the graffiti I found.