Jesse Reredos, Christchurch Priory, England, circa 1907

Subjects: Churches Religious & Devotional Life
Card type: Real photo
Date: c. 1907 (Golden Age)

Back of Jesse Reredos, Christchurch Priory, England, circa 1907, The Castle Tea House, England, c. 1907 real photo postcard — Back

About this postcard

The carved stone reredos fills the view with tiers of Gothic niches and sculpted figures. The iconography follows the Tree of Jesse: Jesse reclines at the bottom with a stem rising from him, David and Solomon flank the lower tier, the Virgin and Child with Joseph and the Magi appear above, and shepherds with sheep top the composition. The note records that the reredos was much mutilated in 1539 during the Dissolution of the Monasteries, when the priory was suppressed, and that the Lady Chapel reredos was almost entirely destroyed, though a stone altar remains.

Postcard Details

Message · English, in pen

Jesse Reredos At the bottom Jesse lying down with stem growing out of him. On the left, David, on the r. Solomon. Above the Virgin & Child with Joseph, the Three Wise Men, and above the Shepherds with sheep. Much mutilated in 1539 – at Dissolution of the Great Monasteries Ch. Ch. was one (£320) the Reredos in the Lady Chapel has almost entirely destroyed A stone altar still remains.

Addressed to

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Postcard record

Publisher	The Castle Tea House
Condition	Very good
Publisher	The Castle Tea House, 11 Church St., England
Notes	Black-and-white real photo postcard; printed caption in red at bottom. No postmark or stamp. Divided-back card printed in Germany; handwritten pen description of the Christchurch Priory reredos. Imprint of The Castle Tea House, 11 Church St. Christchurch.

Cite this card

Jesse Reredos, Christchurch Priory, England, circa 1907, postcard, c. 1907. PostalPast Collection. https://postalpast.com/postcard/jesse-reredos-christchurch-priory-england-circa-1907. Accessed November 2, 2026.