Carver
Perhaps the most flamboyant expression of the virtuosity of late 17th century carving are the remarkable series of open-work staircases found in Britain and Ireland. This example, now in the Metropolitan Museum in New York, is from Cassiobury, Hertfordshire (demolished 1927) and attributed to Edward Pearce. Other examples of such staircases can be found in Dunster Castle, Somerset, Tyttenhanger Hall, Hertfordshire, Thorpe Hall, Cambridgeshire, Durham Castle, Durham, Eltham Lodge, SE London, Tredegar Park, South Wales.
Photos: Metropolitan Museum, New York
Eyrecourt, Co. Galway
The best surviving example of this kind of work in Ireland is the staircase formerly at Eyrecourt, Co. Galway, which was bought by William Randolph Hearst in 1926; now in the Detroit Institute of Arts.
Photo: Detroit Institute of Arts