Lincoln No. 1 / Lincolia

There are thirteen entries for Lincoln [variant spelling] in the Domesday survey [https://opendomesday.org/place/SK9771/lincoln/] [accessed 6 May 2019], five of which report a church in them. Gough (1792) notes the "correspondence" [i.e., similarities] between the fonts at East Meon, Lincoln and Winchester. Carte (1792) writes in a letter dated 21 January 1755 to 'Archaeologia': "in the cathedral of Lincoln there is now a very noble and large font of porphyry, standing on the side of one of the pillars in the row between the middle and south ailes [sic], but by whom provided, or why placed in such a manner, I have not yet been informed." [NB: it is interesting that Carte can be so accurate on the location of the font inside the cathedral, and yet mistake the dark red of porphyry with the blue-black of Tournai stone]. Described and illustrated in Simpson (1828) as an early-Norman font; at his time [ca. 1828] the font was located "in the Morning Prayer chapel, which opens into the north aisle of the nave, near the west entrance", but adds that thirty-five years earlier [i.e., ca. 1793] "it stood in the nave, from which place it was then moved to its present location." Allen (1833) referes to the stone of the font as porphyry, and mentions the fonts at Winchester and East Meon as somewhat similar. Noted in the The Mirror of Literature, Amusement and Instruction (no. 969, vol. xxxiv, 21 September 1839: 186). Illustrated in Ruprich-Robert (1884) and in Romilly Allen. Hannah (1886) quotes Praecentor Venables, who remarks that the lions here "remind one distantly of the animals of the Niniveh marbles", an interesting idea; Venables identification of the font stone is, however, less felicitous: "The whole is made of black basalt". Cloquet (1895) mentions the similarity with the font at Deux-Acren. In Enlart (1902). Described and illustrated in Bond (1908), who dates it to the late 12th century and cites from a "Latin poem describing ecstatically the Purbeck shafts of the thirteenth century work at Lincoln, which, says the writer, 'dazzled the eyes like a looking glass.'" [Unfortunately Bond does not cite the source]. Tyrrell-Green (1928) points out that "among the griffons carved upon the font at Licoln Cathedral are two creatures whose feet rest upon books, and which are probably intended to stand for the lion of St. Mark and the ox of St. Luke." Ronse (1929), on the other hand, advises on the futility of trying to read the symbols of Mark and Luke on the north side of the basin ["on ferait donc peine inutile à vouloir chercher dans les monstres ailés du côté Nord le lion de S. Marc et le boeuf de S. Luc"]. Eden (1909) elaborates on the cover, "given by the late Dean Butler about twenty years ago, at the same time that the font was placed on the three steps, and it is of oak with scroll work of wrought iron upon it", noticing also that it is "the only one of the seven [Tournai fonts studied in his book] that is kept padlocked". Described in the Lincoln Cathedral guide (1989): "Rare example of Tournai work from Flanders has been dated to the mid 12th century[…] The very dark stone is limestone marble quarried from the banks of the river Escaut/Scheldt, near Tournai. Mythical dragons and griffins, medieval symbols of evil and vigilance, circle the font, which is still used for baptisms, though the deep lead-lined basin is no longer filled. Those who know Winchester Cathedral's font will recognise the same style and material. The more modern steps, placed there in 1890, are of Ashford Black limestone from Derbyshire." The basin is square with a round well. The four sides of the basin show animal and symbol ornamentation: 1)the north side has three winged beasts, at one end a griffin, the other two could be the lion of St. Mark and the winged ox of St. Luke; 2)the south side has two lions with raised paw and a griffin; 3)the east side has (L->R) two winged lions face to face, and a griffin whose tail is a a monster head biting one of the griffin's wings; 4)the west side has two pairs of animals, the centre ones are birds or bird-like while the ones at the extremes are quadrupeds, probably lions. The basin rests on a wide central cylindrical stem and four thinner columns, one at each angle of the square basin, all resting on a square platform whose flat surface is approximately the same size as that of the basin. Dated in Oursel (1994) to the first quarter of the 12th century. Described and illustrated in Drake (2002). In King (2002).