27.4 



GARDENS OLD slND 





Copjiight. 



Life.' 



THE HOUSE FROM THE NORTH-EAST. 



chiefly with splendid works of the Spanish masters. Sir John 

 Bankes, who from Attorney-General became Lord Chief 

 Justice of the Common Pleas the purchaser of Corfe Castle 

 began to fill his gallery there, and several pictures which 

 lie admired are now at Kingston Lacy. Successive members 

 of the family have possessed the same fine tast2 and 

 discriminating judgment, and have been men of well-known 

 attainments, who in extensive foreign travel have gathered 

 many beautiful things for the'r home. 



A perfect unity of character exists between the house 

 and the garden. The terrace is extremely rich and beautiful, 

 and it is 

 supremely de- 

 lightful to look 

 thence over the 

 lawns, to note 

 the beautiful 

 trees, and feel 

 the fragrance of 

 the flowers. 

 There are beauti- 

 ful urns of bronze 

 upon highly- 

 wrought 

 pedestals, and 

 upon the south 

 lawn, sheltered 

 by the long, over- 

 hanging limbs 

 of noble cedars 

 of Lebanon, or 

 strewn with the 

 bl ossoms of 

 venerable limes, 

 are disposed 

 large vases of 

 various forms 

 and rich 

 materials, some 



Copt-right. 



THE 



of them of ancient pozzi, and " well-heads " or cisterns brought 

 from the courts of Italian palaces, or fashioned out of the 

 marbles from the parti-coloured quarries in the mountains 

 above Verona. Sculpture by the late Baron Marochetti, 

 too, is here to give further adornment, and the broad 

 terraces and marble steps have dignity and character that 

 is very delightful. 



The Kingston Lacy sculptured cisterns are very note- 

 worthy. In many fine English gardens will be found superbly 

 wrought capitals of classic columns, sometimes wrongly 

 described as coming from Venice, where, strange as it may 



seem, there are 

 no we Is, and 

 consequently no 

 "well - heads." 

 The mouths or 

 openings of these 

 cisterns are 

 usually circular, 

 a n d not in- 

 frequently 

 e I a h o r a t e 1 y 

 sculptured. The 

 finest example 

 still remaining is 

 the noble one in 

 the courtyard of. 

 the monastery of 

 San Sebastiano, 

 by Sansovino, 

 which has often 

 been copied 

 in various 

 materials, from 

 marbletocopper, 

 an admirable 

 receptacle for 

 ry uf,.- very large 

 FERNERY. plants. Anotliei 



