Manual Ref* SUwaRI001 Show 7 images 952
Title*

Memorial monument of Princess Caroline Murat

County Suffolk   District Council Waveney District Council 
Civil Parish or equivalent Ringsfield  Town/Village* Ringsfield 
Road Redisham Road 
Precise Location North side of nave of All Saints 
OS Grid Ref TM405883  Postcode NR34 
Previous location(s)  
Setting Churchyard  Access Public 
Artist/Maker Role Qualifier
Sanders of London  Stonemason(s)   

Commissioned by

Jacqueline Eugenie and Frances Harriet Doucha Garden 

Design & Constrn period

1902 

Date of installing

 

Exact date of unveiling

 

Category

Abstract Animal Architectural
Commercial Commemorative Composite
Free Functional Funerary
Heraldic Military Natural
Non-Commemorative Performance Portable
Religious Roadside, Wayside Sculptural
Temporary, Mobile Other  

Object Type

Building Clock Tower Architectural
Coat of Arms Cross Fountain
Landscape Marker Medallion
Mural Panel Readymade
Relief Shaft Sculpture
Statue Street Furniture War Memorial
Other Object Sub Type: Memorial

Subject Type

Allegorical Mythological Pictorial
Figurative Non-figurative Portrait
Still-life Symbolic Other

Subject Sub Type

Bust Equestrian Full-length
Group Head Reclining
Seated Standing Torso
Part Material Dimension
Angel with trumpet  Stone  2 metres high x 78 cm wide and deep 
2 kneeling angels  Stone  1 metre high, 48 cm wide and deep 
base and cross  Red granite  78cm high x 300 long x 230 wide 

Work is

Extant Not Sited Lost

Owner/Custodian

All Saints Ringsfield Parochial Church Council 

Listing status

Grade I Grade II* Grade II Don't Know Not Listed

Surface Condition

Corrosion, Deterioration Accretions
Bird Guano Abrasions, cracks, splits
Biological growth Spalling, crumbling
Metallic staining Previous treatments
Other  
Detail: Cleaned about thirteen years ago by the ladies of the church, and in the last three years by English heritage, the figures are once again dirty

Structural Condition

Armature exposed Broken or missing parts
Replaced parts Loose elements
Cracks, splits, breaks, holes Spalling, crumbling
Water collection Other
Detail:

Vandalism

Graffiti Structural damage Surface Damage
Detail:

Overall condition

Good Fair Poor

Risk

No Known Risk At Risk Immediate
Signatures/Marks  
Inscriptions Inscribed: In loving memory of/ Her Highness the Princess Caroline Letitia Murat/ and of her husband/ John Lewis Garden of Redisham Hall/ This monument is placed by their daughters/ Jacqueline Eugenie and Frances Harriet Doucha/ The Princess was the elder daughter of H.R.H. Murat/ Grand-daughter of Joachim, King of Naples/ And great niece of the Emperor Napoleon Ist/ Married first Charles Baron of Chassiron/ And second John Lewis Garden. There are further smaller inscriptions to members of the Garden family 

Description (physical)

The group is set on a striking red granite base as a beautifully realised (female) angel, with elegantly curved wings, has just alighted on the rock in front of a large cross. Her drapery suggests movement as she holds the trumpet of the last judgement in her left hand while pointing to the heavens to the two smaller kneeling angels. The gender of the angels, as well as the pious clasped hands of the two younger kneeling angels reflect the commission from Princess Murat’s two daughters. Although said to have been supplied by Sanders of London, Pevsner rightly noted that it was Père Lachaise in style and Philip Ward-Jackson suggested that the angel of the last judgement is Italian. A youthful, brooding, angel of the last judgment had been introduced into funerary sculpture by the sculptor Giulio Monteverde in his Francesco Oneto monument in Genoa of 1882. The statue was widely copied, but here the unknown sculptor while retaining the drapery and silhouette, set the figure striding forward with renewed energy, and with a gesture and features which reflect reflect the slightly later angel designed by Gino Niccoli (1873-1928) for the 1909 Augusto Forti Monument in the Cimitero della Certosa, Ferrara (Berresford, S., Italian Memorial Sculpture 1820-1940. A Legacy of Love, London, 2004, pp. 58, 208-209, pls 71 and 437). 

Description (iconographical)

Princess Caroline Murat died on the 23rd July 1902 at Redisham Hall, and following the funeral at Ringsfield on the 28 July, her remains were placed in the family vault. John Lewis Garden had died on 2nd January 1892, and is commemorated in the window on the north aisle by Bell and Beckham, dedicated to St John the Baptist and Elijah. The princess is commemorated in the adjoining window, also by Bell and Beckham, showing the Virgin (in a pose strongly inspired by Dürer) flanked by Mary Magdalene and Mary of Bethany. Princess Caroline Murat was born on 31 December 1832 at Bordentown, New Jersey, U.S.A. She married Charles Martin de Chassiron on 6 January 1850 at Paris, France and John-Lewis Garden in 1872 at London, England. John Lewis Garden’s grandfather had acquired the site of Redisham Hall, which he rebuilt in 1823. It was considerably enlarged and refaced by John Lewis Garden c.1880. The house was sold on the princess’s death and was further added to by Thomas De la Garde Grissell in 1904.  

Photographs

Date taken:  27/9/2009
Date logged: 

Photographed by:
Sarah Cocke

On Site Inspection

Date:  27/9/2009

Inspected by:

Sources and References

Brought to our attention by Simon Knott; BOE III, 405; www.foxearth.org.uk/BecclesAreaNewspapers/ Compendiums LOCAL CHRONOLOGY FOR 1902; www.thepeerage.com/Princess Caroline Murat; www.british-history.ac.uk/report Little Redisham, Alfred Suckling,The History and Antiquities of Suffolk, 1846, 61-67 all accessed 26/09/2009  

Database

Date entered:  28/9/2009

Data inputter:
Richard Cocke