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Description
A carved and painted half-length angel at the junction of the roof timbers. It faces forward, with dark curling hair, pale outspread wings and a pale robe with a red collar. Both hands support a pointed shield. The dark shield bears a broad pale diagonal band and six pale roundels, three on each side of the band.
Heraldry
Blazon: Sable, a bend Or between six fountains proper.
Plain English: On a black shield is a broad gold diagonal band, running from the bearer’s upper right to lower left, with six heraldic fountains—three on either side. A “fountain” is conventionally a circular disc of alternating wavy blue and white bands, representing water.
These are the arms of the Stourton family of Wiltshire, whose ancestral home was Stourton—now the Stourhead estate. The fountains form a visual play on the family name, referring to the springs or sources of the River Stour.
In the carving, the gold bend has faded to cream or white, while the blue wavy markings within the six fountains appear to have disappeared almost completely. The surviving circles therefore resemble plain white roundels, or “plates,” but the overall arrangement identifies the coat very convincingly as Stourton.
Identification: RCHME: Stourton; Buckeridge: STOURTON
Tap for more details about the Stourton family
Condition
The carving retains the head, both wings, hands and shield. Facial paint is worn, especially around the nose and cheeks, and the pale surface of the robe and wings is abraded. Several small holes and chips are visible, particularly at the wing roots and on the shield. The principal shield design remains readily legible.