2-699-041 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

'Sir R. Whittington's House, Crutched Friars, 1803', (1897). View of the building of late sixteenth century style known as the mansion of Sir Richard Whittington, (born 1350) in Hart Street, City of London. 'The whole front of the house, which had originally formed three sides of a square, was of carved oak. The tradition was that the cats' heads carved on the ceilings always had their eyes directed on the spectator wherever he stood, and that even the knockers had once been shaped like cats' heads. Two sides of the outer square were nearly all glass lattice, and above and below ran wild-beasts' heads and crouched goblins, that acted as corbels. The doorway panels were richly carved, and above and below each tier of windows were strings of carved shields, including several arms of the City companies.' From Old and New London, Volume I, by Walter Thornbury. [Cassell and Company, Limited, London, Paris & Melbourne, 1897]