Portsmouth (U.S.A.)

Noted in Aldrich (1893): "St. John's Church [...] is finely situated on the crest of Church Hill, overlooking the ever-beautiful river. The present edifice was built in 1808 on the site of what was known as Queen's Chapel, erected in 1732, and destroyed by fire December 24, 1806 [...] Within the chancel rail is a curious font of porphyry, taken by Colonel John Tufton Mason at the capture of Senegal from the French in 1758, and presented to the Episcopal Society in 1761." The font consists of an oval basin raised on a round pedestal base. The wooden cover is flat and oval. The font appears to be of a design introduced in France in the 16th century in many parish churches in need of a new font; these are usually oval to accommodate the double inner basins, one with drain, one without. What makes this font special is the type of stone, porphyry, which, though not unique, it is not a common one to be found in baptismal fonts.