Left: Font and cover. Right: Closer view of carving.
Font, at the Queen's Chapel of the Savoy, designed by Edward Blore (1787-1879) and executed by James Forsyth (1827-1910). Materials: "Caen stone, with a canopy of carved wainscot oak" (Redgrave 98-99). Among Blore's many commissions were those to design fonts and font-covers for this chapel, in 1865, and also St Thomas's in Worcester, in 1867. This one served as a replacement for an earlier memorial in a different form, and is intricately carved to match the reredos or altar-screen, which was restored at this time — this was done using as much as possible of the original screen after a recent catastrophic fire. William John Loftie rightly describes the screen (the north side of which is shown on the right below) as being one "of great beauty and intricacy of design," with trefoils, quatrefoils, rose and portcullis carvings, pinnacles and so on, and continues,
Before entering the chancel, we pause to observe, facing the entrance door, the font, which is in a style harmonising with the reredos; it was designed by Mr. Blore, and behind it is a tablet bearing this inscription: "This font was presented to the Chapel Royal of the Savoy by Harriet de Wint in place of a Monument previously erected to the memory of her brother, William Hilton, R.A., her husband, Peter de Wint, and other members of her family, whose remains are interred in the adjoining cemetery. The Monument was destroyed by the fire, July vii. MDCCCLXIV. May this tribute of earthly affection be long preserved to the glory of God." [238]
The tablet is still there on the panelled wall beside the font, and notable because it commemorates the two artists, William Hilton and Peter de Wint. Blore was a close and long-term friend of them both, and the last works he completed, here and at Lincoln, were in memory of them, after he had already retired (see Lord 89, and Redgrave 98).
Photographs and text by Jacqueline Banerjee [You may use these images without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the photographer and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite it in a print one. Click on the images to enlarge them.]
Bibliography
Loftie, William John. Memorials of the Savoy; the palace: the hospital: the chapel. With an appendix of original documents contributed by Charles Trice Martin and a pref. by Henry White. London: Macmillan, 1878. Internet Archive. Contributed by Robarts Library, University of Toronto. Web. 2 May 2017.
Lord, John, ed. Peter De Wint 1784-1849: "For the Common Observer of Life and Nature". London: Lund Humphries, 2007.
Port, M. H. "Blore, Edward (1787-1879)." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Online ed. Web. 2 May 2017.
Redgrave, Gilbert Richard. David Cox and Peter de Wint. London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle & Rivington, 1891. Internet Archive. Contributed by the Getty Research Institute. Web. 2 May 2017.
Created 2 May 2017