fact to which reference was made a moment ago, the addition of new fronts to the more ancient structures. The houses, as scen from the street, present no features of interest; at the back they exhibit their true Elizabethan character. In No. 19, Widegate Street, hard by, is a portion of a ceiling of the time of the first Charles. The design consists of intersecting circles with fleurs-de-lis, and a shield bearing a religious emblem, an arm and hand holding a cross. A few steps bring us, on the opposite side of the street, to by far the finest edifice of the kind in London, the well-known house of Sir Paul Pinder. It has been figured in various architectural and antiquarian works, but with little accuracy, and no attempt has been made to furnish minutely correct copies of the various decorations with which it abounds. This desideratum, so far as its exterior panels are concerned, I have now endeavoured to supply. (Plates II.-VII.) The front towards the street, with its gable, bay windows, and matchless panel-work, together with a subsequent addition of brick on its northern side, is one of the best specimens of the period now extant. The edifice was commenced in one of the closing years of the reign of Elizabeth, on the return from his residence in Italy of its great and good master. It was originally very spacious, and extended for a considerable distance both to the south side and to the rear of the present dwelling. The adjoining tenements in Half-Moon Street, situated immediately at the back of the building, which faces Bishopsgate Street, though manifesting no external signs of interest, are rich beyond expression in internal ornament. The primary arrangement, indeed, of the mansion is entirely destroyed. Very little of the original internal woodwork remains, and that of the plainest character. But in several of the rooms on the first floors of the houses just referred to there still exist some of the most glorious ceilings which our country can furnish. They are generally mutilated, in several instances the half alone remaining, as the rooms have been divided into two or more portions to suit the needs of later generations. These ceilings are of plaster, and abound in the richest and finest devices. Wreaths of flowers, panels, shields, pateras, bands, roses, ribands, and other forms of ornamentation, are charmingly mingled, and unite in producing |