Lectern
1903-1904 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
The lectern rests on two lateral supports each formed by two vertical members set diagonally to the front and back planes of the piece. These vertical members which curve gradually inwards towards the top are connected at the bottom stage by unframed panels of wood, narrow and straight at the sides, wide and straight at the back, and wide and curved at the front. To the faces of these panels is affixed, at the bottom, a based moulding, formed as a narrow cavetto surmounted by a deep shallow curved base. Towards the top the panels are decorated with squares of inlaid mahogany. Four squares at the front and the back, two at each side. Above these are broad but shallow oak dentils, three at the front and back and two on each side. These support a narrow cornice with a cavetto below a straight edge, and a top which slopes gently upwards. On this cornice rests the flat roof of the base. The two side vertical members are connected above this base by narrow flat unframed panels set back from the place of lower side panels. The top of the lectern is separated from this central stage by a shallow moulded cornice above which the front vertical members rise higher than those of the back. The shallow curve on the outside edge of all four members returns sharply below the top and above this return the edge rises vertically. The side panels, square at the bottom and sloping towards the back at the top are set in a plain forward of the side panels in the central stage. The front panel in an equivalent plane is rectangular with inlaid decoration of nine mahogany squares of five across the top, two below on each side. Above the panels on the front and sides is a convex cornice similar to that above the bottom stage. The back is open to provide storage for books. The book rest itself is a square panel of oak projecting at the sides, the front and back, it is covered with brass affixed by screws along the outer edges. The front edge projects below the front of the panel and terminates in a simple scroll. The back edge has a projecting brass book rest.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Oak inlaid with walnut, copper top with brass screws |
| Brief description | Oak lecturn inlaid with walnut with a copper book rest, designed by Charles Harrison Townsend for the Union Free Church, Woodford Green, Essex, British 1903-1904 |
| Physical description | The lectern rests on two lateral supports each formed by two vertical members set diagonally to the front and back planes of the piece. These vertical members which curve gradually inwards towards the top are connected at the bottom stage by unframed panels of wood, narrow and straight at the sides, wide and straight at the back, and wide and curved at the front. To the faces of these panels is affixed, at the bottom, a based moulding, formed as a narrow cavetto surmounted by a deep shallow curved base. Towards the top the panels are decorated with squares of inlaid mahogany. Four squares at the front and the back, two at each side. Above these are broad but shallow oak dentils, three at the front and back and two on each side. These support a narrow cornice with a cavetto below a straight edge, and a top which slopes gently upwards. On this cornice rests the flat roof of the base. The two side vertical members are connected above this base by narrow flat unframed panels set back from the place of lower side panels. The top of the lectern is separated from this central stage by a shallow moulded cornice above which the front vertical members rise higher than those of the back. The shallow curve on the outside edge of all four members returns sharply below the top and above this return the edge rises vertically. The side panels, square at the bottom and sloping towards the back at the top are set in a plain forward of the side panels in the central stage. The front panel in an equivalent plane is rectangular with inlaid decoration of nine mahogany squares of five across the top, two below on each side. Above the panels on the front and sides is a convex cornice similar to that above the bottom stage. The back is open to provide storage for books. The book rest itself is a square panel of oak projecting at the sides, the front and back, it is covered with brass affixed by screws along the outer edges. The front edge projects below the front of the panel and terminates in a simple scroll. The back edge has a projecting brass book rest. |
| Gallery label |
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| Object history | This lectern was acquired from the United Free Church, formerly the Union Free Church, Woodford Green, Essex. The new Union Free Church was designed by the architect, Charles Harrison Townsend and opened in 1904, when it was described in The Builder, Vol. LXXXVI, no. I, May 21st 1904, page 556. The leading spirit behind the new church was its minister from 1901 to 1910, Rev. Joseph Hocking, a prolific novelist whose works included The Woman of Babylon (1906) and The Trampled Cross (1907). Townsend, who designed seat furniture for his other ecclesiastical commission in Essex, the Church of St. Mary The Virgin at Great Warley, probably also designed this lectern. Reorganisation of the interior of the church made the lectern redundant and it was offered to the Museum by the United Free Church in 1978. |
| Association | |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | W.45-1979 |
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| Record created | April 2, 2001 |
| Record URL |
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