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Date and location: 1721-2021, various locations in England and beyond
Grinling Gibbons' highly distinctive style is characterized by carved botanical elements in extremely naturalistic detail, in very high relief
He received his first royal commission in 1675, when he was hired by Charles II to produce decorative sculptures for Windsor Castle. Over the next 25 years, he completed major commissions for Whitehall Palace, St. Paul's Cathedral, and Hampton Court Palace. In 1693, he was appointed master sculptor and woodcarver by King William III.
Grinling Gibbons produced his decorative sculptures through a large workshop in which different parts of a single design were completed by different carvers - many different hands would work on each commission. His carving style, though unusual in Britain in the mid-seventeenth century, was very quickly imitated by a large number of his contemporaries.
