58 
are charmingly posed. No. 4, from Penshurst, came originally from old Leicester House, London. 
On Plate .09 are shown two examples of leaden vases from Wilton House, of rather an unusual 
type and two from Chiswick House, Middlesex, of pleasing form. 
The leaden cisterns, of which many good examples exist, show a particularly appropriate use of this 
metal. These cisterns were used to catch water for use in the garden, and were so ornamented as to 
form pleasant features, whether in large grounds or the smallest of gardens. The octagonal cistern from 
Charlton in Kent has nicely modelled shields, heads of angels, and other devices within ribbed borders. 
The examples from Enfield shown on Plate 112 are in very good preservation; one dated 1791 has 
ribbed patterns and small figures emblematical of the seasons ; another is adorned with wreaths, and has 
ribbed panels formed of interlacing squares and semicircles ; a third, dated 1769, with the initials F. S. 
has quaint floral decorations, with a fish and a crown, set within a ribbed panel. 
Mr. Lethaby, in his interesting book on leadwork, speaking of these cisterns, says : “ The ribs, with 
the stock enrichments in new combinations, the date and initials, were attached to a wood panel the size 
of the cistern front; this was moulded in the sand, and the casting made of good substance ; stout strips 
were soldered across the inside as ties.” 
STONE VASES. 
PLATES 113 and 114. 
4 almost every formal garden stone vases are to be found, and it would not be 
difficult to make a large collection of examples, differing in design, from all parts of 
the country. On Plates 113 and 114 several suggestive types are shown. The 
four handsome examples from Sion House, Isleworth, the seat of the Duke of 
Northumberland, are part of a series of ten vases arranged in front of the large 
conservatory, on a raised terrace overlooking the beautiful flower garden. They are 
of Portland stone, very richly undercut, and surmounted by bouquet of flowers. 
They are said to have been the work of Grinling Gibbons, and although direct evidence of this is not 
forthcoming, it is certain they must have been executed by a master possessing no less skill than 
that great carver. 
The four subjects illustrated on Plate 114 show different types of pedestal vases. No. 1 is from 
Stoneleigh Abbey in Warwickshire, and stands amidst the stately gardens laid out in 1720, overlooking 
a classic terrace on the banks of the River Avon. It stands on a square pedestal about three feet in 
height. The second example is from the garden at Drummond Castle, more fully illustrated on Plates 
88 and 89 ; the square form is very unusual and the top is supported by caryatid figures at either angle, 
between which are oval spaces ; the square base is perhaps hardly satisfactory, and apparently does not 
form part of the original composition. 
The vase from Wrest Park stands alone, in a grassy glade, among the French groves laid out about 
the middle of the eighteenth century. It is a well proportioned example about eight feet in height, 
including the pedestal, and is ornamented with swags of fruit and flowers and with two masks. The 
remaining example from Melbourne Hall dates from the middle of the eighteenth century. In this case 
the vase is somewhat simpler in form, and the circular pedestal which supports it has received more 
attention than the vase itself, being richly ornamented with amorini and garlands of flowers. 
