Tudor rose panel

The timber-framed outer court of Henry VIII’s Nonsuch Palace was covered with stucco panels framed by plaques of carved and gilded slate. The slate plaques protected the timber-framing from the weather, but also provided a contrasting border for the stucco panels. This plaque is decorated with the design of a Tudor rose. In one of the building payments, Nicholas Bellin of Modena and his team of slate carvers received 1 shilling and 4 pence per square foot for a total area of 64 square feet (about 6 square metres), which included 48 batons, 31 roses and other carved devices. The quality of the slate carving at Nonsuch was extraordinary. Some 750 fragments have survived and were recovered from the palace site during excavation in 1959 and 1960. The best pieces demonstrate the highest level of skill in the execution of the design and the fineness of the carving. The slate was used to clad the timber framing on the southwest facade and filled the interstices between the moulded stucco panels. The resulting effect of stark creamy white with the dark grey and gilded slate was calculated to impress all who saw it.