Westhall

Image copyright © Simon Knott, 2005
Standing permission
Results: 29 records
B01: sacrament - baptism
B02: sacrament - confirmation
B03: sacrament - marriage
B04: sacrament - penance - confession
B05: sacrament - extreme unction
B06: sacrament - eucharist
B07: New Testament - public life of Christ - baptism of Christ - in a font
B08: sacrament - holy orders
B09: design element - architectural - arcade - round arches - 8
B10: design element - architectural - buttress - canopied - 8
BBU01: design element - patterns - crenellated
BS01: design element - motifs - floral or foliage
BU01: angel - holding musical instrument - 8
LB01: design element - architectural - arcade - blind - trefoiled arches - 8
R01: design element - motifs - moulding
view of basin
view of basin
view of basin
view of basin - detail
view of basin - detail - Eucharist
view of basin - detail - Eucharist
view of basin - detail - Marriage
view of basin - detail - Penance
view of basin - detail - baptism
view of basin - detail - baptism
view of basin - detail - confirmation
view of font
view of font in context
view of font in context

Scene Description: in the context of the south doorway
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Trustees of the British Museum, 2013
Image Source: digital image of an 1821 etching printed by Henry Davy, in the British Museum collections [ref.: 1870,0514.1512 -- PPA120782]
Copyright Instructions: Reproduced under the British Museum's terms of use
INFORMATION
FontID: 00772WES
Church/Chapel: St. Andrew's (Cathedral vicarage)
Church Patron Saints: St. Andrew
Church Location: Church Hill, Halesworth IP19 8NU, United Kingdom -- Tel.: +44 1502 714786
Country Name: England
Location: Suffolk, East Anglia
Directions to Site: Located off the B1124 Halesworth to Beccles road, just S of Brampton
Ecclesiastic Region: Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich
Font Location in Church: In the nave, through the arcade
Date: ca. 1500?
Century and Period: 15th - 16th century, Perpendicular
Workshop/Group/Artisan: Seven-Sacraments font
Credit and Acknowledgements: We are grateful to Simon Knott, of www.suffolkchurches.co.uk, for his photographs of this font.
Font Notes: Click to view font notes
Illustrated in the context of the south door of the church a 1821 etching printed by Henry Davy, in the British Museum collections [ref.: 1870,0514.1512 -- PPA120782]. Described in Parker (1855): "Font, an octagon, with groups of figures in square panels; the whole of the colour on this is very perfect." Described and illustrated in Bond (1908). Noted in Cautley (1949). Studied in detail in Nichols (1994), who dates it to ca. 1500. Octagonal mounted Seven-Sacrament baptismal font raised on a two-step plinth. The basin has a moulding at the upper rim and a band of crenellated pattern below; the sides are ornamented with an arcade of round arches containing the Sacrament scenes. The chamfer is ornamented with musical angels. The octagonal pedestal base has a blind arcade of trefoil arches. The font is covered in brilliant gilding and bright paint, which Nichols (ibid.) cites Cautley and Pevsner for identifying it as original paint; Nichols (ibid.) gives the scenes around the basin as:1)Baptism; 2)Confirmation; 3)Marriage; 4)Penance; 5)Extreme Unction; 6)Eucharist; 7)Baptism of Christ; 8)Holy Orders. The corners of the bottom towards the underbowl have angels holding musical instruments. Both Nichols (1994) and Knott (2006?) mention the gesso figures. Knott calls this font "the most moving and romantic of the series of 14 [i.e., Seven-Sacrament fonts] in Suffolk."
COORDINATES
UTM: 31U 401028 5804077
MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS
Material:
stone, type unknown
Font Shape: octagonal (mounted)
Basin Interior Shape: round
Basin Exterior Shape: octagonal
REFERENCES
Anderson, M.D., The Imagery of British churches, London: John Murray, 1955
Bond, Francis, Fonts and Font Covers, London: Waterstone, 1985 c1908
Cautley, Henry Munro, Norfolk Churches, Ipswich: Norman Adlard & Co., 1949
Cautley, Henry Munro, Suffolk churches and their treasures, Woodbridge: The Boydell Press, 1982
Cox, John Charles, English Church Furniture, New York: E.P. Dutton & Co., 1907
Friar, Stephen, The Sutton Companion to Churches, Thrupp, Stroud (Gloucs.): Sutton Publishing, 2003
James, M. R., Suffolk and Norfolk, London, Toronto: Dent & Sons, 1930
Knott, Simon, The Suffolk Churches Site, Simon Knott, 1999-. [standing permission to reproduce images received from Simon [February 2005]. URL: www.suffolkchurches.co.uk.
Nichols, Ann Eljenholm, Seeable Signs: The Iconography of the Seven Sacraments 1350-1544, Woodbridge: The Boydell Press, 1994
Parker, John Henry, The Ecclesiastical and architectural topography of England [...] Suffolk, 1855
Tasker, Edward G., Encyclopedia of Medieval Church Art, London: B.T. Batsford, 1993