Face with a faraway facial expression: golden mask above an ornate gilded wrought iron panel in the Tijou Screen at Hampton Court, the historic royal palace in the London Borough of Richmond-upon-Thames, England, UK. The screen, made in 1690, separates the Privy Garden from the banks of the River Thames. It was commissioned from French Huguenot master blacksmith, Jean Tijou, by joint English monarchs William III and Mary II.
Hampton Court Palace, in the London Borough of Richmond-upon-Thames, England, UK: square format view of an enigmatic face in gilded hammered iron looking down from the top of an elaborate panel in the Tijou Screen, a late-17th century wrought iron divide between the River Thames and the re-created Privy Garden at Hampton Court Palace, former home of English royalty. The 12 panels, separated by railings, either symbolise different parts of the British Isles (in this case, Ireland), or represent the institution of the English monarchy or Crown. The screen is named after French Huguenot master blacksmith Jean Tijou ( - ). He made it in 1690 for his new royal patrons, joint English monarchs William III and Mary II, and it was installed in 1701 in the Fountain Garden before being moved to the southern or river end of the Privy Garden. Tijou came to England in about 1689. Away from Hampton Court, he made screens and grilles for London's St Paul's Cathedral and also worked at Kensington Palace and at country houses such as Easton Neston, Burghley and Marlborough. At Chatsworth, he made a grand staircase balustrade and the Golden Gates. His designs and technique of overlaying iron structures with lavish Baroque sheet metal greatly influenced English metalworking. His 'A new Booke of Drawings, Invented and Desined by John Tijou', published in 1693, was the first English book on ironwork. The Tijou Screen at Hampton Court has been stripped, repaired, repainted and re-gilded many times, although modern research has revealed that the ironwork was originally painted grey, with no gold traces among samples of the original layers. Since Tijou's day, his screens have also been painted dark green or black.
Size: 2824px × 2823px
Location: Hampton Court, East Molesey, Surrey, England, UK
Photo credit: © Terence Kerr / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
Keywords: 1600s, 1690, 17th, art, baroque, blacksmith, borough, british, century, court, created, , decorative, detail, east, england, english, face, format, french, garden, garland, garlanded, gilded, golden, hammered, hampton, historic, huguenot, ii, iii, image, ireland, iron, ironwork, ironworker, jean, joint, kerr, king, kingdom, kings, late, leaves, london, mary, mask, master, metal, metalworker, molesey, monarchs, monarchy, ornate, palace, palaces, privy, queen, residence, richmond--thames, riverbank, riverside, royal, royalty, screen, sheet, square, staring, surrey, symbolising, terence, thames, tijou, uk, united, william, work, wrought
