A HISTORY OF NORFOLK North Face. — On the frieze at the top, a conventional tree in the centre, and foliage on each side issuing from the mouths of grotesque heads on the corners of the bowl. On the arcade below, going from right to left — 1. A man standing with a flail over his shoulder threshing corn ; inscription obliterated. 2. A man standing with an inverted bottle in his hand, pouring wine or beer through a funnel into a vat ; inscription obliterated. 3. A man standing and bending forward, killing a pig ; inscription obliterated. 4. Four men standing behind a table feasting ; inscription obliterated. East Face. — On the frieze at the top to the left a lion (?) with a floriated tail, and to the right foliage issuing from the mouth of a grotesque head at the corner of the bowl. On the arcading below, four conventional trees, one under each arch.' The font at Fincham has a bowl, square on the outside and round on the inside, supported on five round columns, resting on a low square base or step. The upper and lower edges of the bowl are ornamented with a pattern composed of four-pointed stars, and each face is sculptured with figures under an arcade of three round-headed arches springing from columns with cushion capitals. The subjects represented on the four faces are as follows : — North Face. — The Temptation of Adam and Eve. In the centre, the Tree of Life with the serpent coiled round the trunk and biting at the fruit ; on the right. Eve covering her nakedness with the left hand and receiving the apple from the Serpent with the right ; and on the left of the tree Adam covering his nakedness with the left hand and raising the right to his ear in a listening attitude. South Face. — The Nativity of Christ. Beneath the arch on the right the manger, with the heads of the ox and the ass appearing above it, and at the top the Star of Bethlehem ; beneath the central arch the Blessed Virgin standing ; and beneath the arch on the left St. Joseph also standing. East Face. — The Adoration of the Magi. One king under each of the three arches, holding their respective gifts in their right hands. fVest Face. — The Baptism of Christ. Under the central arch the Saviour immersed in the waters of the Jordan up to the waist ; under the arch on the right St. John the Baptist holding up his right hand in the attitude of giving the benediction, and having a book in his left ; and under the arch on the left a bishop standing with his book and crozier.' The font at Sculthorpe is of the same shape as those at Burnham Deep- dale and Fincham, but the bowl only is ancient. At each of the upper corners of the bowl is a grotesque head biting a three-cord plaited cable, which forms an ornamental moulding round the top. The lower edges of the bowl are decorated with narrow bands of geometrical patterns, those on each face being different. The bowl of the Sculthorpe font is sculptured on all four faces, thus : — East Face. — The Adoration of the Magi, the scene consisting of five figures under an arcade of intersecting round-headed arches springing from columns with cushion capitals. Each figure is under a separate arch. On the extreme right stands the Virgin and Child, next is St. Joseph also standing, on the left, and then the Three Kings kneeling in adoration and holding the gifts of gold, frank- incense, and myrrh. West Face. — In the centre at the top, a device composed of two square rings looped at the four corners and interlaced with each other ; on the right of this, a ring with four pointed loops interlaced with a circular ring ; on the left, a six-pointed star within a circle ; and below, a band of conventional foliage. North Face. — A geometrical pattern consisting of a row of circular rings interlaced with two horizontal bars and with a row of smaller rings. •o" ' The Burnham Deepdale font has been described and illustrated by the Rev. S. Pegge in Jrch. x, 177, and the subjects represented upon it are enumerated in a paper by Mr. James Fowler ' On Mediaeval Repre- sentations of the Months and Seasons.' — Ibid, xliv, 137.
- The Fincham font has been described and illustrated by Dr. A. C. Frjer in jirch. Joum. Ix, 10.
560
