Every Friday, Hitchin Nub News plans to take an in-depth look at an item from the brilliant North Herts Museum in Brand Street.

The museum is a treasure trove of information and artefacts relating to our town and area from days gone by.

We are delighted to have the brilliant Carys Breeze from the museum to talk us through an intriguing Hitchin satirical wooden panel from the 16th century.

For more from Carys visit our Hitchin Nub News Facebook page for video of Carys explaining the work in her highly engaging way.

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We have a satirical wooden panel found in the Biggin, which is situated near to Hitchin's covered market.

It dates from about 1625. We know this because of the wonderful fashion the gentlemen depicted are wearing.

It's an interesting piece – because we know the reason they are gathered. It's to talk about the horrible nature of lawyers and moneymakers.

We have lots of text saying: 'Yoke not thou daughter to a man of great wealth' - for he will essentially leave her in the dirt with no money.

In the top left of the panel (next to fireplace) we have two men talking about the greed of laywers, saying:

"Two [lawyers?] thus their clients doe up hold,

"Till they consume and their estates b[e] fold"

Meaning - this appears to be talking about greedy lawyers who will uphold their clients until they have 'consume'd all of their money and cause the clients estate to fold and enter bankruptcy'.

This painting was most probably produced during a highly fraught political climate

After the death of Elizabeth 1 in 1603, came the rule of James 1.

Both rulers were overseeing a population that saw the rise of many satirists and subversives, both of political and religious nature.

Meeting places such as alehouses grew massively in popularity at this time and the picture depicts a similar scene, the gathering of men to discuss important topics.

One section of speech references this directly, stating that this group of men gather for discourse pertaining to the actions of others and how they should be used to influence their own behaviour – in others words for a gossip!

Not only for drinking, these places were for the discussion of ideas, many of which tended towards the political.

Kings James I and his son Charles I thought they were above the law - prompting Hitchin satire

Depending on when this painting was produced it may well have fallen into the period of disruption that occurred when Charles 1 stepped in to rule after the death of his father in 1625.

Both James and Charles are reported to have thought themselves as being above the law due to their position as King.

Laws that were put into place during their reign angered both parliament, through various dissolvements, and the general public with the introduction of laws that appeared to profit only the royal purse.

The majority of the text in the painting discusses the influence of greed and avarice on the hearts and minds of men, acting as a social commentary to many of the ills common at the time.

Some of these include comments on royalty and other high standing members of society.

Mirror writing to disguise satire aimed at the monarchy

There's an especially interesting section to this Hitchin panel.

If we look at the gentleman sat next to the fireplace, he is speaking in 'mirror writing'.

So in order to understand what he is saying, you would have to put a mirror next to it.

He is the only one who specifically mentions the King – and the mirror writing may be to disguise indirect criticism of the monarch dressed as satire.

"I[n] [fyre?] [write?] to kings [comment? Contend?] and [?]

"The kings [friend?stand?] [?] commen[?]s they consume"

1625 was a tumultuous year because in March Charles I assumed the Crown following the death of his father, James I – with both being seen as haughty and aloof, with the subtext of the mirror writing essentially translating as: 'When foul ambition strikes the hearts of kings there is no remorse, as they will use their subjects to obtain what they want."

The story of the monkey and the cat is a story of manipulation and cunning

The character in the panel refers to a monkey and a cat situated near him in the carving. It's linked to an Aeosop fable.

The monkey and the cat are sitting next to an open fire and see some chestnuts roasting. They think 'that's tasty' and fancy some. The monkey says to the cat, 'you have quick paws, why don't you scoop some of the chestnuts away from the fire so we can have a feast – that would be marvellous.'

So the cat foolishly reaches in – but burns itself badly on the fire, only managing to scoop the roasted chestnuts out one at a time.

At which point the monkey quickly gobbles up all the chestnuts – leaving the poor cat with nothing to show for its efforts apart from burned paws.

And that is where the phrase 'a cat's paw' comes from. When somebody uses an innocent bystander to get what they want – leaving them with absolutely nothing in return.

The section could also be interpreted as referring to manipulative lawyers too...

History of the Hitchin panel

Although this piece is currently dated from between 1594-1606, looking closely at the fashion depicted in the painting suggests that it dates to a later period.

Male fashion during the late Elizabethan and early Stuart period was rapidly changing.

The high, starched ruffs associated with the Elizabethan period softened and changed to fall about the shoulders.

Sleeves went from tightly fitted, to puffed with slashes showing contrasting coloured fabric beneath.

The most identifying feature seen in the painting is the addition of decorative ribbon points at the knee. In combination, these stylings suggest that the painting was based upon the fashions of the mid 1620s or perhaps slightly later.

Did Robert Snagge, a renowned puritan lawyer from Hitchin, commission the piece?

It has been suggested that this piece was commissioned by Robert Snagge (d.1605) whilst he was in residence at the Biggin in Hitchin.

He was a puritan lawyer who held a particular dislike for Mary Queen of Scots, frequently petitioning for the execution of her and her allies.

His status as an opinionated lawyer corresponds with the subject matter of the painting.

However, his death in 1605 casts doubt on whether a commission would be produced more than 15 years after his death to be placed in a house that was potentially no longer in his family.

After his death the house in Hitchin was passed to his widowed sister, Anne Dallison - but then there is no further information on the ownership of the property until the arrival of the new resident Joseph Kempe.

Kempe converted the Hitchin property into a schoolhouse in the 1630s which places him in the correct time period.

However, he appears to be of a very different humour to his predecessor as, upon his death in 1654, he bequeathed the property for the benefit of the poor of the parish, creating a charitable site.

It may well be that the panels were inserted to act as teaching tools to his young charges and there is verbal mention of their presence whilst the property was still acting as a school in Hitchin.

Unfortunately, however, it appears that, for the moment, there is no way of determining who commissioned or produced the painting.

For more on the brilliant North HertsMuseum visit their website

For more from Carys visit our Hitchin Nub News Facebook page for video of Carys explaining the work in her highly engaging way.