London No. 81 / Holborn

INFORMATION

FontID: 13654LON
Object Type: Baptismal Font1
Church/Chapel: Parish Church of St. Andrew
Church Patron Saints: St. Andrew
Country Name: England
Location: Greater London, South East
Directions to Site: Located on the S side of Holborn, corner of Shoe Lane
Font Location in Church: [cf. FontNotes]
Date: ca. 1687?
Century and Period: 17th century(late?), Stuart
Workshop/Group/Artisan: Christopher Wren?
Font Notes:
Allen (1839?) notes that this was "a rectory, and was originally in the gift of the dean and canons of St. Paul's, London […] the largest and the most regular of the many built by sir Christopher Wren […] In a spatious pew beneath the western gallery, is the font, a handsome circular basin of white marble, enriched with four cherubic heads, and sustained on a pillar of the same material". Blatch (1995) explains that "St. Andrew's escaped the Great Fire [1666] but, by that time, was so decayed that it had to be rebuilt under Wren (in 1684-7)", and describes the font as "a chaste furnishing of white marble".

MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS

Material: stone, marble
Font Shape: round (mounted)
Basin Interior Shape: round
Basin Exterior Shape: round

REFERENCES

Allen, Thomas, The History and Antiquities of London, Wsetminster, Southwark, and parts adjacent, London: published by George Virtue, 26 Ivy Lane, Paternoster Row, [1839?]
Blatch, Mervyn, Guide to London's churches (2. ed.), London: Constable, 1995