Monday 18 January 2010

Stationers' Hall, Ave Maria Lane EC4


Stationers' Hall is one of those secluded yards that make the City of London so attractive. The hall was rebuilt after the Fire and rebuilt on the existing footprint by Robert Mylne in 1800, who included these attractive panels in Coade stone.
The panels include four chubby little boys representing the seasons and their associated signs of the Zodiac. First is Spring, with Aries the ram, then Summer with Cancer the crab, Autumn with Libra the scales and Winter with Capricorn the goat.
The other panels have a fan with a lion's head and an urn with griffons. They don't seem to be particularly associated with the Stationers, so perhaps Mylne just popped round to Coade's Artificial Manufactory in Lambeth and ordered some designs out of the catalogue.

2 comments:

BobR said...

Stationers Hall was rebuilt after the Great fire of 1666 and opened for a dinner in November 1673. The interior of the Hall is still very much as it was in 1673 but in 1799/1800 on the recommendation of Robert Mylne (also surveyor to St Paul's), it was refaced in stone to correct defective brickwork and to restyle it in the manner of the late 18th century.

BobR said...

Stationers' Hall was rebuilt after the Great Fire of 1666 and first opened again for a dinner in November 1673. On Robert Mylne's recommendation it was refaced in 1799/1800 to correct defective brickwork and to restyle it in the manner of the late 18th century. The interior with the exception of the addition of some stained glass, remains virtually unchanged since 1673