John Bacon, obit 1437

Brass rubbing of John Bacon, 1437, All Hallows by the Tower, London. Wax on paper, laid on linen support. A pencilled note on the reverse suggest that it may well have been made in 1945.

Image size: 28 3/4" x 10" - plus frame.

Condition: beautifully worn.

Note: A pleasant, full length effigy of John Bacon is represented as bare-headed, his hair cut short and cropped above the ears, his hands raised in prayer, and his feet resting on a woolsack. He wears an ankle-length tunic belted at the waist, with bag sleeves narrow at the wrists, a high standing collar, and edgings of fur at the neck, wrists, and hem. The opening of the tunic in front for better movement reveals that it is also fur-lined. A tight-fitting under-tunic is visible only at the wrists. Hose and shoes are clearly differentiated, the pointed footwear covering the ankles and being laced on the inner sides.

As the woolsack on his effigy makes clear, John Bacon was a wool merchant. Apparently, he was from Northamptonshire originally, for in his will he provided money for the rebuilding of the body of the Church of St. Mary in Easton Neston, the Chapel of the Holy Trinity there, and the bell tower should he not have completed this task during his lifetime. He asked, too, to be buried in that church were he to die in Easton Neston since that was where his parents were buried; otherwise, he wanted to lie in All Hallows.

From his will, one gathers that Bacon was a man of substantial worth. He left all his London properties - houses, shops, cellars, etc. - to his daughter Margerie and her husband John Poutrelle and their children, and transferred to his nephew lands in Easton Neston, Towcester, and Holcote in Northamptonshire. He left, too, annual rent money of eight marks sterling from four parcels of London properties to have a chaplain say daily prayers for ten years at Easton Neston for his father, his mother, his brother Laurence, all his other brothers and sisters, and all the faithful dead. Finally, he asked his daughter to dispose of all his other goods, and having paid all his debts, to use the remainder for the betterment of his soul.

John Bacon may have been connected with the family of Sir Nicholas Bacon, the Lord Keeper and father of Sir Francis Bacon. Interestingly, Sir Nicholas's younger brother James was a salter, and his eldest brother a merchant.

£135.00 - framed. Plus P&P if required.