Regency Period English School Ink On Plaster; Long Live Phil Davies. Cooke Esqr.

The unique ink on plaster under protective film, being unsigned, with an ode hand inscribed reading; “If any one ask by whom were this done / Name a poor Under Gardener, John Richardson, / He did it by Charles Strong Bronning's desire / To show the birth day of our noble young Squire / So long as a letter sticks to this old plaster / And you have good liquer allowed by your master / You see when the day is - the eleventh of August / Push round the gay bend - the above, the grand trust”, the whole being glazed in its original painted pine box frame and in stunning untouched order.

The work is unusual in that is in ink on plaster, being of good size, and the film has preserved it well as has the glazing. There is some bubbling to the surface as photographed.

Gwysaney is situated in wooded parkland between Mold and Northop. It has been in the same family’s possession, by descent, since at least the time of Cynric Efell (fl. 1200) who succeeded to the Lordship of Ystrad Alun on the death of his father Madog ap Maredudd, Prince of Powys, in 1160. Grade II listed, Gwysaney Hall has a colourful and well documented history and it remains one of North Wales’ finest and most historic residential houses. Links to Rhodri Mawr the King of all Wales in the 9th Century, and continuous family ownership since 1550, are just some of the highlights. The house is recorded in the Doomsday Book in the 9th Century and the present Hall as built on the current site in 1603 by Robert Davies. Perhaps Gwysaney’s most notable moment was in 1645 when the Hall was besieged and taken by Oliver Cromwell’s Roundheads: all that remains from the scars of the battle is damage to the front door caused by a cannon ball!

Philip Davies Cooke (1793-1853) was the first of his family to inherit both Owston and Gwysaney. The Gwysaney estate was in a poor condition due to eighteenth century neglect, money on improving agricultural practices and the maintenance of buildings having been concentrated upon Llannerch. Elsewhere, On August 11, 1814, British forces were actively preparing for and executing the Burning of Washington D.C. during the War of 1812.

Worthy of further research, a unique ode to an important figure of Welsh history and a hugely decorative piece of Regency period calligraphy and typography.