Maximilian Colt (alias Maximilian Coult) (died after 1641) was a

Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium ...

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable ...

who settled in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

and eventually rose to become the King's Master Carver.

Life

Colt was a

Calvinist Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...

, born in

Arras Arras ( , ; pcd, Aro; historical nl, Atrecht ) is the prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais department, which forms part of the region of Hauts-de-France; before the reorganization of 2014 it was in Nord-Pas-de-Calais. The historic centre of the ...

apparently as Maximilian Poultrain, who settled in England in the closing years of the reign of

Queen Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". Eli ...

. He lived in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, in Bartholomew Close ( Smithfield). When

King James I James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until hi ...

came to the English

Throne A throne is the seat of state of a potentate or dignitary, especially the seat occupied by a sovereign on state occasions; or the seat occupied by a pope or bishop on ceremonial occasions. "Throne" in an abstract sense can also refer to the mon ...

, Colt was commissioned to produce an extravagant

monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, hist ...

to the memory of Queen Elizabeth. This was followed by smaller monuments to James' infant daughters, the Princesses Mary and

Sophia Sophia means "wisdom" in Greek. It may refer to: *Sophia (wisdom) *Sophia (Gnosticism) *Sophia (given name) Places *Niulakita or Sophia, an island of Tuvalu *Sophia, Georgetown, a ward of Georgetown, Guyana *Sophia, North Carolina, an unincorpor ...

. All three can be seen in

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...

. On 28 July 1608, he was appointed the King's

Master Carver The Master Carver or Hereditary Carver is a member of the Great Officer of State, Royal household of Scotland. A Crown Royal Charter, Charter of 1704 ratified by Parliament of Scotland, Parliament in 1705, erected Sir William Anstruther's land int ...

. He was employed decorating several Royal barges in 1621. The carvings were painted by John de Critz and detailed in his bill. Colt provided two wooden effigies of King James in 1625 for use in his funeral ceremonies at Denmark House and

, the latter with articulated limbs, which would be dressed with the king's clothes and posed in a catafalque designed by

Inigo Jones Inigo Jones (; 15 July 1573 – 21 June 1652) was the first significant Architecture of England, architect in England and Wales in the Early modern Europe, early modern period, and the first to employ Vitruvius, Vitruvian rules of proportion an ...

. Colt also produced fine sepulchral monuments for many of the English

nobility Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy (class), aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below Royal family, royalty. Nobility has often been an Estates of the realm, estate of the realm with many e ...

and

gentry Gentry (from Old French ''genterie'', from ''gentil'', "high-born, noble") are "well-born, genteel and well-bred people" of high social class, especially in the past. Word similar to gentle imple and decentfamilies ''Gentry'', in its widest c ...

, for example Robert Cecil, Earl of Salisbury at Bishop's Hatfield in Hertfordshire, whose adjoining

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air ...

he also decorated, and the Countess of Derby at

Harefield Harefield is a village in the London Borough of Hillingdon, England, northwest of Charing Cross near Greater London's boundary with Buckinghamshire to the west and Hertfordshire to the north. The population at the 2011 Census was 7,399. Ha ...

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbourin ...

. For Scottish patrons, he designed the tomb of

Viscount Stormont Viscount of Stormont is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1621 by James VI for his friend and helper Sir David Murray who had saved him from the attack of the Earl of Gowrie in 1600. Murray had already been created Lord Scone ...

Scone Palace Scone Palace is a Category A- listed historic house near the village of Scone and the city of Perth, Scotland. Built in red sandstone with a castellated roof, it is an example of the Gothic Revival style in Scotland. Scone was originally the ...

and George Home at

Dunbar Dunbar () is a town on the North Sea coast in East Lothian in the south-east of Scotland, approximately east of Edinburgh and from the English border north of Berwick-upon-Tweed. Dunbar is a former royal burgh, and gave its name to an ec ...

.Pearson, Fiona ed., ''Virtue and Vision, Sculpture and Scotland'', National Galleries of Scotland (1991), 28. Colt was briefly imprisoned in the Fleet Prison, late in his life. He was not the

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

Wadham College, Oxford Wadham College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is located in the centre of Oxford, at the intersection of Broad Street and Parks Road. Wadham College was founded in 1610 by Doroth ...

, as is sometimes stated, this was Sir Thomas Holt of

York York is a cathedral city with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many hist ...

Family

By his wife, Susan, Maximilian had at least two sons, John (also a sculptor) and Alexander, and a daughter who died young.

Notes

References

* *Esdaile, K.A. (1946). English Church Monuments 1510–1840. Batsford. Flemish sculptors (before 1830) British sculptors British male sculptors Renaissance sculptors Inmates of Fleet Prison 17th-century English artists {{UK-sculptor-stub