The Digital Ark: Early Modern Collections of Curiosities in England and Scotland, 1580-1700
Carved oak mantle belonging to Browne
The Oak Carving in the Drawing-room of Sir Thomas Browne’s Residence [Photograph].Click image for full-size. In Print: Sir Robert Cotton, 1586-1631: History and Politics in Early Modern England , n.p. Description:"This consists of a handsome and elaborate piece of wood work carved in the style of the revived classical taste which prevailed in the earlier part of the 17th century, it is seven feet in breadth by five feet in depth, and occupied the entire space from the mantelpiece to the ceiling.
It decorated one of the principal chambers in the residence in which Sir Thomas Browne lived. Simon Wilkin says it was placed in the drawing-room, and without doubt he is correct, as he must have frequently seen it.
In the centre is a richly ornamented carving in oak of the Royal Arms of Charles II, unquestionably placed there by Sir Thomas Browne to express his feeling of loyalty, and to commemorate the Knighthood which was conferred on him by the King on his visit to Norwich, September 28th, 1671. At the base of the carving the following words occur, "O God arise, and scatter our enemies." On each side of the central piece is placed a large boss of yellow onyx, said to have been sent to Sir Thomas by his son Edward when on his travels.
On the demolition of the house in 1845, this piece of carved work was purchased by the late Henry Birkbeck, Esq., and placed in the library of the Hall at Stoke Holy Cross, near Norwich, where it still remains" (Williams, n.p.).