Gibbons’ Seventh Apprentice (Drapers’ Company Bindings Book 1655-89)
Creator(s): Worshipful Company of Drapers
Date: Entry on 25 February 1684/5 (contained in book dated 1655-89)
Accession Number: DR/FB4
Materials: Work on paper (book)
Location: Drapers’ Hall, Throgmorton Avenue, London EC2N 2DQ
Credit Line (copyright notice for material) : © The Drapers' Company
NOTES ON THE ARTWORK
Just nine months after taking on his sixth apprentice, Gibbons took a seventh, John Byng (son of Thomas Byng of Hurst, Wiltshire), on 25 February 1684(5). Although the date is given as 1684 this is due to the old-style calendar usage in which the new calendar year did not begin until 25 March (Lady Day) rather than 1st January.
The indenture (contract) for taking an apprentice was in effect made between the the craftsman, the apprentice and, generally, the apprentice’s parents (apprentices started anywhere between the ages of ten and fifteen), hence why all three names are listed for each entry in the Drapers’ Company Bindings Book. Apprentices usually lived in the craftsman’s household meaning that Gibbons with his large family of children (12 by the end of the 1680s, although it would appear not all survived to adulthood) would have kept very busy establishments at Ludgate Hill and Covent Garden.
Further reading: David Esterly, ‘Grinling Gibbons and the Art of Carving’, V&A Publications, 1998, pgs 60 and 174-6.
John Byng's indenture to Gibbons as his sixth apprentice is recorded in 1684/5 © The Drapers' Company
