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Dimensions: 54cm. high, 200cm. wide, 24cm. deep; 1ft. 9 1/4 in., 6ft. 7in., 9in.

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Provenance: Gabriel Olive, Wincanton, purchased 10th October 1975 as 'Gothic Oak Bench'

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Notes: There are three fine long boarded benches of the same early date in the Victoria and Albert Museum collections these are illustrated by Charles Tracy, English Medieval Furniture and Woodwork, London, 1988, pp. 195 - 196. Perhaps the closest stylistically is illustrated in Tracy's text as plate 124 (catalogue number 263-1908) with its elongated and narrow Gothic stepped side panels and ogee arched feet. This example was from Broadway near Ilminster in Somerset and is dated as being early 16th century or later.

Aside from what the brass plaque may or may not have stated, the high quality and sophistication of this bench would suggest that it was made for an important religious foundation. At the time of the dissolution of the monasteries furniture and other objects inevitably found their way into secular settings. This quality is conveyed not only through the bench's very survival but in its size, the moulded lines to the seat, the chamfering to the edge of each frieze and the incised cruciform motifs on this frieze.

Ralph Edwards, Dictionary of English Furniture, London, 1954, p. 70, discussion on benches and forms refers to inventories from the Essex monastries drawn up in 1536 (see Essex Archæological Society Transactions, Vol. IX.). He writes of the word 'trestyll' occurring frequently when reference is made to the forms in the halls and parlours. Edwards also writes that 'movable forms [benches] preserved from the 15th century are as scarce as Gothic chairs'.

For another high quality comparable example sold at auction and of the same quality see The Peter Gwynn Collection, these rooms, 27th November 2001, lot 24, also see The Clive Sherwood Collection, Sotheby's Olympia, 22nd May 2002, lot 82.