CENTURIES OLD

Evening Post, Issue 82, 6 April 1936, Page 11

CENTURIES OLD

ENGLISH ART FIND

Recent discoveries on the site of Clarendon Palace, Wiltshire, were described by Dr. Tancred Borenius and Mr. John Charlton in a lecture before the Society of Antiquaries recently (says the "Daily Telegraph").

Clarendon, originally a Norman hunting-box, later became a favourite country home of Plantagenet kings'.

The most notable of Dr. Borenius's finds is the sculptured head of a young man, dating from about 1230.

"Except for an old break of the nose, this head is in almost perfect condition, and even displays considerable remains of the original colouring," Dr. Borenius said.

"The hair is coloured a light brown, the lips are a faint pink,: and the modelling of the teeth is remarkably detailed. It shows Gothic art in its earliest and finest stage, and is a revelation of the potentialities of early twelfth century English sculpture, of which there are all too few examples."

The head is believed to have been part of a door ornament in the King's own apartment. Thousands of inlaid floor tiles of the same period have been discovered under several feet of earth. In the Queen's room a very fine tiled floor has been found in exceptionally good condition.

Fragments of wall pictures from the so-called "Antioch Chamber" were also shown, depicting the hand-to-hand struggle between Richard I and Saladin.

, The Ifalace is the only example of an unfortified medieval building found in England, and marks the period of transition between castles and manor houses.

C. W. Price and Co., Dixon Street, well sell household furniture and sundries in the Mart tomorrow, commencing at 1.30 p.m.

Discs made of ice were used to operate the meter by one London gas consumer. The quantity of gas used and the amount of money collected differed so greatly that an investigation followed. The dampness of the meter finally gave the clue.