A blurry snapshot of the bulging leaf rope in position in the dim King's Drawing Room, where I have gone to investigate why I do not feel vindicated by the new evidence I have found (p. 273):
Part of the mutilated Gibbons-era composition at Winchester Cathedral mentioned on pp. 274 and 278. The main part of the cartouche, together with the right hand drop and some forward work on the left hand drop are missing.
And here, incidentally, is the piece with the replacement work I provided, which was painted and gilded to match. As at Hampton Court, some of the areas where the carving could not be documented were left unfinished.
The "letter rack" sculpture mentioned on p. 280 is inspired by paintings such as this 1671 still life by Cornelius Gijsbrechts:
The carving has just been completed:
P. 280: "Columns of rain...blurring the hill".
Here is a larger color shot of the peonies image that ends the book.
