METAL WORK.
GOLD, SILVER, BRONZE, PEWTER, AND IRON.
The early Egyptian, Assyrian, Phœnician, and Primitive Grecian metal
work has been noticed under the historic sketch of the art of these
nations in the former volume.
We read in the Bible of the great magnificence of Solomon’s Temple,
especially in the extreme richness and wealth of the gold, silver, and
brazen vessels, utensils, and architectural decorations, in which the
precious metals were used in the solid or plated manner on capitals,
pillars, doors, seats, thrones, and on the decorations of the Ark; but
no remains of all this magnificence have survived the wrecks of time or
the greed and spoliation of the conquerors of Jerusalem.
The sculptured decorations of the Arch of Titus at Rome afford us the
only tangible testimony as to the kind or shapes of the tables, vessels,
and seven-branched candlesticks which were carried off by the Romans
after the sacking of Jerusalem, A.D. 73. The workmanship and design of
these objects were probably a mixture of Egyptian and Assyrian forms,
passing through the hands of the probable Phœnician artificers.
Some of the earliest goldsmiths’ work that possesses a real artistic
value consists of personal ornaments, such as wreaths, earrings,
brooches, and diadems of Etruscan workmanship. Much of this work was
made very thin, in plates or scales joined together, and was generally
designed for funeral uses. Articles of personal adornment were very rich
and beautifully made, having the usual character of Greek design (Figs.
128, 129).
[Illustration: Fig. 128.—Gold Brooch and Earrings set with Garnets;
Etruscan. (J.)]
[Illustration: Fig. 129.—Head of Bacchus, part of Necklace; Etruscan
Jewellery. (J.)]
[Illustration: Fig. 130.—Etruscan Bronze Vessel.]
The Etruscans were greatly skilled in the making of all kinds of gold,
silver, and bronze vessels, jewellery, cups, goblets, and articles of
domestic use (Fig. 130). A remarkable bronze of a monster or chimæra was
found at Arezzo, in Italy, in 1534, which no doubt was a representation
of an Etruscan deity (Fig. 131). The art of the Etruscans was strongly
imbued with a decided Oriental character of mysteriousness.
We have noticed before the gold and other metal work of primitive Greece
that was found by Dr. Schliemann at Mycenæ and on the site of ancient
Troy. Most of this work was in beaten and inlaid metals, but in later
periods the arts of soldering grains and plates of gold, and fine wire
drawing for delicate filigree work were well known. Minute grains of
gold that had the appearance of frosted work were in reality soldered to
the plate. Statues were made in gold, but more often were plated.
Chryselephantine statues were common in the best days of Greek art, as
those of Athene and Jupiter by Phidias, and the statue of Bacchus in his
temple at Athens.
Crœsus made offerings of gold and silver vessels to the shrine of
Delphi, and both he and Darius had images of their wives made in gold by
Greek artists. Very few examples of Greek goldsmiths’ art have come down
to us, for owing to the valuable nature of the material, nearly all such
work has been, in the course of time, pillaged and melted down by the
barbarians or conquerors, and it is only in a few isolated cases such
valuables have been preserved by being buried or hidden purposely in the
earth, and in late years have been brought to light. We are, therefore,
indebted to the ancient historians for most of our knowledge concerning
the goldsmithery of Greece and Rome.
Some very valuable finds have been brought to light, such as that of the
Hildesheim treasures (Fig. 132), and the articles of bronze found at
Herculaneum and Pompeii give a good idea of the richness and beauty of
the metal work of ancient Greece and Rome. The wine crater (Fig. 132) is
exceptionally beautiful in its delicate lines of arabesque tracery.
[Illustration: Fig. 131.—Bronze Chimæra at Florence.]
There are some valuable examples in silver of the period of the late
Roman Empire in the British Museum, which are the treasures of another
“find.” They consist of a bridal casket 22 by 17 inches, and 11 inches
in height; another round bridal casket; dishes on a low stand
(_Scutellæ_); oblong-shaped dishes or trays (_lances_); horse trappings
and ornaments (_Phaleræ_); seated figures representing Rome,
Constantinople, Alexandria, and Antioch; various vases and vessels for
holding perfumes and unguents. This treasure was discovered in the
vaults of a house in Rome in 1793, where it was supposed to have been
hidden from the barbarians who invaded and captured Rome in the sixth
century.
[Illustration: Fig. 132.—Wine Crater in Silver; from the Hildesheim
Treasures. Antique Roman.]
The bridal caskets have the portraits of the bride and bridegroom in
hammered or repoussé work, and mythological marine subjects. The style
and execution is in the usual coarse manner that characterized the work
of the period of early Christian Art, with some of the antique
traditions still asserting their influence in the style of the design.
Tripods, candelabra, vases, bowls, caskets, spoons, besides articles of
personal adornment made in the precious metals, have been found in the
buried cities of Herculaneum and Pompeii, and in other places in Italy,
France, and Germany, of antique Roman design. (See Fig. 417 in the
previous volume of this work.)
The names of a few Greek and Roman goldsmiths occur in the writings of
Pausanias, Pliny, and Martial, one of the earliest of which is named
Mentor, who probably lived in a subsequent near period to Phidias.
Acragras and Mys were the names of two others of a little later time.
Stratonicus and Tauriscus are two others who lived in the third century
B.C. Antipater is mentioned as the name of a goldsmith by Pliny.
Pytheas was a famous worker in gold and silver, who engraved figure
compositions, and Posidanius of Ephesus excelled in hunting and racing
subjects. Praxiteles was a silversmith who executed animal
representations from the life, and “Alexander the coppersmith” is
mentioned in St. Paul’s Epistle to Timothy.
The metal work of the Byzantine period—from the fourth to the eleventh
century—is characterized by a subservience of the design to the material
employed; in other words, what was lacking in good drawing and modelling
was replaced by splendour and magnificence in the general effect.
The use of gold with enamels was a great feature in Byzantine art and
throughout the Middle Ages. When the great Church of Santa Sophia was
rebuilt by Justinian in the sixth century, the best artists were
employed to make the great altar screen, and to decorate the sanctuary
in resplendent works in gold, silver, and enamels. The altar was made in
marble plated with gold in which was set precious stones and crusted
enamels. It was supported by pillars thickly plated with gold. The
canopy or ciborium of the altar rested on four silver-gilt columns, and
this canopy was overlaid with plates of silver, on which were figures
wrought in niello work. The canopy had an orb surmounted by a cross made
of gold and inlaid with large precious stones. The screen in front of
the altar had its dado or lower part of gilt bronze, and the pillars and
architrave silver-plated. It had also statues and panels of silver, the
latter being engraved with figures of saints in niello work. The ambo or
pulpit had a canopy of plated gold set with precious stones. The
sanctuary of Santa Sophia contained forty thousand pounds weight of
silver, and the altar vessels were made of gold set with stones of the
greatest value.
The above description is given by Mr. J. Hungerford Pollen, in his
handbook of “Gold and Silver,” to whom we are indebted for many of the
illustrations and some interesting information on the subject of the
precious metals.
It will be seen from this that Justinian had established a great school
of goldsmiths and enamellers at Byzantium, and when Leo the Iconoclast
in the eighth century, and Theophilus in 832, finally drove out the
image-makers and many other goldsmiths from Constantinople—checking in a
great degree the art of the metal-worker in the Eastern Empire—they were
received with great welcome in Italy, Germany, and France, where they
followed the practice of their art under more favourable auspices.
Under Basil the Macedonian, who died in 886, the images were restored,
and a great encouragement given to all kinds of art; and during the
reign of Constantine, his grandson (912-959), Constantinople was again a
great art centre from which Italy and Germany procured their chief
artists. The celebrated Pala d’Oro, or Altar of St. Mark’s, Venice, and
the bronze gates of San Paolo, near Rome, were made in Constantinople.
The splendour and treasures of the imperial city remained intact until
its capture by the French and Venetians in 1204, when a general sacking
of nearly all of its treasures took place.
The Byzantine style of the scroll-work and acanthus was of the Greek
type, and was admirably suited to show to advantage the rich quality of
the precious metals, and a modified character of this leafage appears in
the Romanesque metal work. The vine-leaf, grapes, and twisting tendrils
were first used in a symbolic sense in the Byzantine style and
subsequently in the Romanesque. The acanthus and the vine are treated
very much alike in the conventional ornament of the latter style, which
is really a connecting-link between the Early Gothic foliage and the
Byzantine. This may be seen in the illustration (Fig. 133) of a portion
of the base of the great candlestick at Milan, a work of the twelfth
century.
A celebrated “find,” known as the “treasure of Petrossa,” was brought to
light in 1837 by some peasants who were digging on the banks of Argish
River, a tributary of the Danube. It consists of vessels of pure gold,
vessels made of slices of garnet and other stones, a torque or collar of
gold, a great dish, and some brooches of a large size. They have all
been inlaid with precious stones, and have simple but well-designed
ornaments. The workmanship is Byzantine, or it may have been done by
Gothic artists after Byzantine models.
This treasure is now in the museum at Bucharest. The influence of the
Byzantine school of metal workers spread, not only over the continent of
Europe, but as far as England and Ireland; and many portable altars,
shrines, and reliquaries were made to order in Constantinople, or given
as presents to foreign churches.
During the seventh, eighth, and ninth centuries it was customary for
kings and queens to present votive crowns to their churches: these
crowns were treasured with other precious articles, and hung up in the
sanctuaries.
[Illustration: Fig. 133.—Base of Candlestick, Milan Cathedral. (P.)]
There is still preserved in the Cathedral at Monza the Iron Crown of the
Lombard kings. It was given to the cathedral by Theodolinda the Lombard
Queen in 616. The Iron Crown is so called from its having a thin band of
iron encrusted in the inside, said to have been made from a nail from
the Cross. It is really a band or collar of gold, studded with
tallow-cut precious stones.
St. Eloi, who rose from the rank of goldsmith to a bishop (588-659) made
crowns and other articles for church uses for the Church of St. Denis at
Paris.
The bronze-gilt chair of St. Dagobert (Fig. 134) is ascribed to him. He
founded the Abbey of Solignac, near Limoges, where he established a
school of working goldsmiths, which supplied many important works for
various churches in France.
[Illustration: Fig. 134.—Chair of Dagobert; Seventh Century.]
In the year 1858 at Guarrazar, near Toledo, in Spain, another valuable
“find” was discovered, consisting of no less than eleven votive crowns
or diadems, with other valuables, all buried close to the surface of the
ground. The crowns are of pure gold, and are set with precious stones,
such as sapphires and pearls. The rest of the treasure consists of three
crosses, a large emerald stone, and several fragments of gold plates
with chains attached.
[Illustration: Fig. 135.—Votive Crown of King Suinthila; Seventh
Century.]
The stones in these crowns, like those in the Charlemagne and Lombard
crowns, and other jewellery of the Middle Ages, were “tallow-cut,”
that is, they were polished in the round or oval shapes, without
facets, and were also known under the name of “_Cabochons_.” On one of
the crowns of the above treasure—which is now in the Cluny Museum—is
the name of “Beccesvinthus Rex” (A.D. 649-672), and another has the
letters forming the name of King Suinthila (A.D. 621-631) (Fig. 135).
Others of a smaller size were probably those of Spanish queens. The
design and work of the articles forming this treasure are in a kind of
Romanesque-Gothic. The crown of Charlemagne has already been described
under the head of enamels (see Fig. 96). The art of the goldsmith was
fostered to a great degree under the rule of Charlemagne. This
monarch’s great friend and adviser, the prelate Alcuin (735-804), was
the chief spirit of his times in founding monasteries, which were,
apart from their religious character, also great schools of art,
especially in metal working, where all such articles as were required
for church uses, as well as shields, swords, and jewellery for the
king and nobles, were also made. Charlemagne was buried with most of
his treasures about him, but his enamelled sword and crown are the
only objects which belonged to him that now remain, both of which are
at Vienna. Gold, silver, and bronze were worked in by Franks on the
Continent and by the Saxons in England as early as the fifth and sixth
centuries, many examples of which, consisting chiefly of articles of
personal adornment, are now in our museums. That the goldsmith’s art
was practised in England in the days of Alfred (871-900) we have
evidence in the famous ring belonging to this king which is described
on page 121.
[Illustration: Fig. 136.—Shrine of St. Patrick’s Bell. (S.)]
Another gold ring belonging to Ethelwulf, of the early ninth or eighth
century, the enamelled vase or situla found in Essex, the golden altar
of St. Ambrose at Milan, and the beautiful Irish chalice found at Ardagh
have been described in the chapter on enamels, all of which show
evidence of the great skill of the European goldsmiths from the seventh
to the tenth centuries.
[Illustration: Fig. 137.—The Tara Brooch. (S.)]
[Illustration: Fig. 138.—Tara Brooch (reverse). (S.)]
The tenth century was a barren one for Art in Europe, except in some of
the monasteries of France, Italy, and in Ireland. In the latter country
a great deal of good work was produced—in metals especially—in the ninth
and tenth centuries. The amount of personal ornaments, such as torques
or collars of gold, bracelets, brooches, belt-clasps, and croziers,
shrines for sacred bells, and covers for the Gospels, that were wrought
in gold, silver, or alloys must have been prodigious. The astonishing
delicacy and intricacy of the Celtic ornamentation bear eloquent
testimony to the great skill of the early Irish artists.
[Illustration: Fig. 139.—Irish “Trumpet Pattern.”]
The shrine of St. Patrick’s bell, or the bell of Armagh, is a splendid
specimen of Irish art (Fig. 136). It forms the cover of the ancient
square-mouthed iron bell that formerly belonged to the patron saint of
Ireland, and is plated with silver-gilt ornamentation and gold filigree
work in both high and low relief. The ornamentation is composed of
twisted and interlacing scrolls and knot-work, with some elongated
animal forms in the composition. It has crystals and coloured gems set
in the angles and other places. The large central stone is set in
imbricated work.
There are five of these bells in Ireland and two in Scotland, but none
of them are so fine as the St. Patrick bell. Another beautiful example
of Irish metal work is the Tara brooch (Figs. 137 and 138). It is made
of white metal, a hard bronze composed of tin and copper.
[Illustration: Fig. 140.—Cumdach or Case of Molaise’s Gospels. (S.)]
The gold and silver ornamentation on this brooch and on the Ardagh
chalice are of the same style of design and workmanship, which would
point out that these two fine examples of Irish art were made about the
same date, perhaps anterior to the tenth century. The “trumpet pattern,”
which is not found on Irish work after 1050, occurs on the reverse side
of the Tara brooch (Fig. 138). The ornamentation is of an extraordinary
beauty, both in variety of style and pattern and in the execution. It is
riveted or fastened with pins and held by means of slender bars to the
foundation.
[Illustration: Fig. 141.—The Crozier of Clonmacnois. (S.)]
[Illustration: Fig. 142.—Irish Crozier of Bronze, Edinburgh Museum.
(S.)]
The _Cumdachs_ or book-cases used as covers for the books of the Gospels
were also important works of the Irish goldsmith’s art. The illustration
of the book-case or shrine for the cover of Molaise’s Gospels is a
unique example (Fig. 140). This cumdach is made of plates of bronze, and
on this foundation is riveted plates of silver with gilt patterns. In
the panels may be seen rude and quaint figures or symbols of the four
Evangelists, and in the centre is a cross in a circle. It dates from the
first quarter of the eleventh century, and is one of the oldest of these
Irish book shrines. Crosses and croziers were also made of bronze, with
gold and silver inlays or relief ornamentation.
The Cross of Cong, of the twelfth century, now in the museum of the
Royal Irish Academy, and the croziers of Lismore (end of eleventh
century) and that of Clonmacnois (Fig. 141) are the most important
examples of this kind of work, the latter being a very rich example. A
simpler Irish crozier in bronze (Fig. 142) is in the Edinburgh Museum.
SPANISH METAL WORK.
During the Arab rule in Spain metal work was an important branch of the
Moorish arts. The Arab rulers had in their train many accomplished
Eastern artists in metal work, and such objects as caskets, jewellery,
bracelets, rings, sword and dagger handles, and scabbards.
[Illustration: Fig. 143.—Sword of Boabdil, Madrid. (R.)]
[Illustration: Fig. 144.—Spanish Monstrance, 1537. (S.K.M.)]
The Moorish caskets are often made of wood, covered with silver or gold
plates, the ornamentation being similar to that of the ivory carvings.
The Arab or Saracenic metal work of Spain is executed in repoussé, or is
chiselled niello work, filigree, or enamelled, and the ornament is
usually mixed with the Arab laudatory inscriptions.
The treasure found at Guarrazar, already noticed, shows something of the
early metal work of the Spanish Visigoths.
Moorish arms, such as sword sheaths and hilts, are very artistic, as may
be seen in the illustration of the sword of Boabdil (Fig. 143), the last
of the Moorish kings. The hilt of this sword is made of solid gold, and
is enamelled in blue, white, and red. The axle is made of ivory, and is
elaborately carved.
Triptychs, altars, processional crosses, and other church furniture were
made in Spain in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, of Gothic
design.
[Illustration: Fig. 145—Spanish Chalice. (R.)]
In the fifteenth century there was an astonishing quantity of
silversmiths’ work produced. This was owing to the discovery of America
and the consequent power and wealth of Spain at this time. The silver
throne of the King Don Martin de Aragon belongs to this period, which
still exists in the Cathedral of Barcelona. It is covered with a chased
ornamentation in the metal work, and has rich embroidered work of gold
and precious stones. Many silversmiths came from Italy, Germany,
Holland, and France at this period and settled in Spain owing to the
great demand for their services. Riaño gives the names of Enrique de
Arphe, Jacome Trezzo, Mateo Aleman, Hans Belta, and others who were
employed at this time, besides many Spanish goldsmiths.
[Illustration: Fig. 146.—Spanish Pax. (R.)]
[Illustration: Fig. 147.—Spanish Jewel; Seventeenth Century. (R.)]
A special feature of church furniture of this period in Spain was the
_Monstrance_, or _Custodia_, an object of architectural design made in
gold, silver, or bronze-gilt metals, which has a central part—the
_lumule_ or _viril_—generally made of rock-crystal, in which the
sacrament was exposed; sometimes a sun with rays is represented on the
monstrance, and usually it is surmounted by a cross in gold and set with
jewels (Fig. 144). The designs are in the Renaissance and sometimes in
the Gothic style, and they are often eight feet in height. Some of them
are carried in procession on Corpus Christi Days. Many works in gold and
silver are in Spain that have been made in Mexico, but of Spanish
design, in which forms of American flora and fauna are worked into the
designs.
A Spanish chalice of Gothic outlines with some Renaissance details is
shown at Fig. 145. A beautiful pax of Renaissance design in the
Kensington Museum is shown at Fig. 146.
The pendant jewel of the seventeenth century shows the beginnings of the
decadence in design (Fig. 147), and the silver dish (Fig. 148), though
very rich in effect, is a pronounced step in the direction of
unrestrained space-covering that characterizes the design of the late
seventeenth century in Spain as well as in other European countries.
[Illustration: Fig. 148.—Spanish Silver Dish; Seventeenth Century. (R.)]
[Illustration: Fig. 149.—Moorish Lamp, Bronze; Fourteenth Century. (R.)]
Bronze-casting was practised in Spain by the Moors as well as the
Spanish themselves. The Moorish hanging lamp (Fig. 149) is a beautiful
specimen of bronze-working in pierced open-work. It bears the date of
the Hegira, 705 (A.D. 1305). Important works in bronze of the
Renaissance period, such as candelabra, monstrances, &c., are still
preserved in many of the churches.
From the earliest historic times Spain has been celebrated for the
excellent quality of its iron and steel arms and armour. The Romans
patronised the Spanish armourers extensively for their swords and other
arms after the Carthaginian War. The best swords were made at Bilbilis
or Calatayud in Aragon, and were short and wide, with double edges—about
15 to 19 inches in length. A sickle-shaped sword was also made 22 inches
in length.
Toledo blades were proverbial for their excellent tempering, and were
famous as early as the days of the Romans. Seville was also noted for
the excellence of its steel blades, and the Arabs, as we have seen, were
highly skilled in metal working, and especially in the making of all
kinds of arms and armour, including its ornamentation.
The celebrated sword of Boabdil had a Toledo blade, and including the
hilt was 39 inches in length.
The Spanish warriors of the eleventh century had dresses, arms, and
armour not unlike the Normans, as represented on the Bayeux Tapestry,
which were in imitation of or borrowed from the military habits of the
Saracens.
The sword manufactory at Toledo was in its most flourishing state during
the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries; it was re-established in the last
century, and is in existence at the present day.
[Illustration: Fig. 150.—Spanish Rapiers. (S.K.M.)]
Two rapiers of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries are represented
at Fig. 150.
Muskets, crossbows, saddles, coats of mail, knives, scissors, and many
other objects in steel have been made in Spain from the earliest
periods, and many Spanish goods in manufactured steel even at the
present day still preserve the Moorish forms.
METAL WORK IN ITALY, GERMANY, FRANCE, AND ENGLAND.
In Italy during the eleventh century an endeavour was made to revive the
art of the goldsmith, and many objects of Byzantine workmanship were
brought from Constantinople, and also many articles for church uses were
made within the walls of the great Benedictine monasteries throughout
Italy. An important Romanesque example of metal work of the time of the
Emperor Henry II. (1003-24) is now in the Cluny Museum. It is a golden
altar front (Fig. 151) that was given by this Emperor to the cathedral
of Bâsle, and is nearly 6 feet in width. Figures of the Saviour, three
archangels, and a figure of St. Benedict, are in relief of beaten gold
and stand each under Romanesque arches.
In England we read of reliquaries being made in the eleventh century
having images of gold, the work of Richard, an abbot of St. Albans.
Brithnodus, an abbot of Ely, Leo, and Elsinus are names of others who
made reliquaries and objects in metal.
Hildesheim in Hanover was a centre of great activity in metal work in
the eleventh century, and in the Cathedral of Hildesheim there are
candlesticks, crucifixes, and chalices of this period.
At this time in Germany were made great coronas or crowns of light that
sometimes spanned the nave of the churches, like that made by Bishop
Bernaward (992-1022), and his successor Hezilo for the Cathedral of
Hildesheim, a cast of which is now in the Kensington Museum.
The twelfth century was very fertile in important works in gold, silver,
bronze, and copper. Metal work was carried to a high degree of elaborate
finish and intricacy of design.
[Illustration: Fig. 151.—Golden Altar Front; from Bâsle. Cluny Museum.
Eleventh Century.]
Some wonderful achievements in casting, plating, and gilding of metals
have been performed during this prolific period. The celebrated
Gloucester candlestick, now in the Kensington Museum, is a good example
of the elaborate style of the twelfth-century metal work (Fig. 152).
This is one of the most elaborate and intricate examples of
ornamentation that could well be seen in the metal work of any period.
Nothing could exceed the fanciful ingenuity of its design: it would,
perhaps, have been better if some parts of the design had been left
plainer, as a foil for the others. The material of its composition is a
kind of white bronze, with a good proportion of silver in the alloy.
[Illustration:
Fig. 152.—Gloucester Candlestick;
Twelfth Century.
]
The churches of this century were, as a rule, furnished with large
standing candlesticks or coronas for holding lights, many of which were
of good design, were made of silver, and sometimes enamelled. The large
seven-branched candlestick of the Cathedral of Milan—before mentioned—is
an important work of this period, a copy of which is in the Kensington
Museum. The material is gilt bronze, and the candlestick is over 14 feet
in height; the design is extremely rich (Fig. 153), the base being
composed of four winged dragons with voluted tails; the spaces between
the dragons are filled with elaborate scroll-work, and symbolic subjects
fill the volutes (Fig. 154). The lower boss is richly ornamented, but
the other five are plain. Three pairs of graceful branches spring from
the central stem to hold the lights.
The whole design is a reminiscence of the Jewish seven-branched
candlestick. One smaller in size is in the Brunswick Cathedral, and
another one is at Essen.
Censers, reliquaries, and shrines were made at this period in the shape
of little churches (Fig. 155). The reliquaries contained the bones of
saints or other precious relics. Sometimes they were made in the form of
a human head, with a band or ribbon around it set with gems. This kind
of reliquary was called a “chef”; one of this description is in the
Cathedral at Bâsle.
[Illustration: Fig. 153—Seven-Branched Candlestick in Milan Cathedral.]
The bronze censer (Fig. 156) of the twelfth century is a good specimen
of the architectural design in the Romanesque metal work of this time.
The reliquaries are usually of copper-gilt and enamelled, or are
occasionally in gold. These objects have been noticed in the chapter on
enamels. The larger coffer-shaped ones with sloping roofs are called
_châsses_, some of which are six and seven feet in length. Most of them
are of copper-gilt and enamelled, and are German work, made for the most
part at Cologne and in the Rhenish Provinces, and were generally of
Romanesque or Gothic design even up to the sixteenth century.
[Illustration: Fig. 154.—Lower Boss of the Milan Candlestick; Twelfth
Century.]
[Illustration: Fig. 155.—Shrine or Reliquary, Copper Gilt; Twelfth
Century.]
The shrine of St. Sebaldus by Peter Vischer already mentioned is a
curious mixture of Gothic and Italian forms. The celebrated shrine or
silver reliquary of the Church of Orvieto is made to represent the
church itself; it is said to weigh 600 pounds, and is enriched with
panels of translucent enamel and small statuettes. It is the finest work
of the Italian goldsmith’s art of the fourteenth century, and was made
by Ugolino (1338), an artist of Siena. Heads of the croziers and
bishops’ pastoral staffs were often designed in elaborate architectural
compositions, and generally speaking Gothic ornamentation is enthralled
by architectural forms even to the smallest details when the plan of the
object to be decorated is architectural, which happens in most cases;
when, however, the plan is not so, the freedom and fancy of the designer
revelled in the beauty of the curving, twisting, foliage, and grotesque
work, as may be seen in the metal work of the eleventh and twelfth
centuries. The Gloucester and Milan candlesticks will afford examples of
this.
In the twelfth century Limoges was very active in the making of articles
for secular purposes as well as for religious uses. Common jewellery of
enamelled bronze was exported to all parts, such as brooches or morses,
buckles, armour decoration, and monumental plates with effigies, one of
the latter being that of Aylmer de Valence in Westminster Abbey, made at
Limoges and brought to England.
The monastic establishments were the schools and workshops of all the
art produced in the Middle Ages, and not only splendid examples of metal
work, but manuscript illuminations, wood and stone carving, and many
other kinds of works were produced within their walls. After the
beginning of the thirteenth century the arts were passing into the hands
of the laymen, and artists were at the same time beginning to receive
greater encouragement from the patronage of wealthy persons.
[Illustration: Fig. 156.—Censer; Twelfth Century.]
Almost every kind of article was now made in gold, silver, and bronze,
such as cups, jugs, bowls, standing cups, mazer and wassail bowls,
articles for the table, such as salt-cellars, ewers, basins, and nefs,
etc.
[Illustration: Fig. 157.—Mazer Bowl; 1450; Ironmongers’ Hall.]
The _Nef_ was a kind of table ornament or sweetmeat dish in the form of
a fully-rigged ship, and was sometimes mounted on wheels: the modern
épergne corresponds to the nef. A _mazer_ bowl was so called because it
was made usually of maple wood—_masere_ being the old word for maple.
[Illustration: Fig. 158.—Hour-glass Salt, given 1493, at New College,
Oxford.]
These bowls have usually a silver or gold rim, and were often lined with
silver, but the name is wrongly applied to bowls made entirely of metal,
as it sometimes is. Fig. 157 is an illustration of a mazer bowl of the
fifteenth century belonging to the Ironmongers’ Company of London.
Salt-cellars were also important table decorations. The salt was put on
the table in such a position as to mark the dividing line between the
guests of different rank. There is a salt in the form of a giant, a work
of the fifteenth century, at All Souls’ College, Oxford, and some other
salts of this period and earlier were often made in form of hour-glasses
(Fig. 158).
Very few specimens of household plate have come down to us from the
thirteenth or fourteenth centuries, although we have many records of the
great quantities of jewels and plate that belonged to the kings and
feudal lords.
Spoons and knives were made and used at a very early period of the
world’s history, but forks do not seem to have come into general use
until some time in the fourteenth century. Sacramental cups and
chalices, and all kinds of drinking cups, were made at this time. The
beautiful cup of Gothic design with translucent enamels, now in the
Kensington Museum, is probably a work of the fourteenth century, and of
Burgundian origin. (See Fig. 103.)
Three sacramental chalices are illustrated at Fig. 159, and belonging to
the fourteenth century, and two at Figs. 160 and 161, of the fifteenth
century, all of which are Gothic in design; two also are given of the
sixteenth century (Figs. 162 and 163), the latter being of Spanish
origin designed in the style of the Renaissance, which is interesting as
showing the development of the standing cup from the chalice, this
example being in the transitional stage.
[Illustration: Fig. 159.—Gothic Chalices; Fourteenth Century.]
The difference between the Gothic and Renaissance cups is very marked,
the foot of the former being either trefoil, or more often hexagonal in
plan (Fig. 164), with the distinctive central knot or boss on the plain
upright stem for grasping purposes, while the Renaissance cups are
usually round in the plan of the foot, or sometimes octagonal, and have
a horizontal character which is obtained by the use of mouldings cutting
the cup into parts. (See Spanish chalice, Fig. 163.)
[Illustration: Fig. 160.—Chalice; Fifteenth Century.]
[Illustration: Fig. 161.—Chalice; Fifteenth Century.]
This upright character of the Gothic cup is well emphasized in the
beautiful enamelled cup belonging to the corporation of King’s Lynn
(Fig. 166), and the horizontal features in the foot, stem, and bowl may
be seen in the standing cup of Renaissance design in the Corpus Christi
College, Cambridge (Fig. 165).
[Illustration: Fig. 162.—German Chalice, with Paten; 1520.]
[Illustration: Fig. 163.—Spanish Chalice; 1549.]
The base of the Gothic cup splays outwards from the knot downwards,
while the Renaissance base mouldings may be enclosed by a line of the
opposite curvature, forming a dome of a semicircular section; and lastly
the calyx of the bowl of the latter cups is always a richly ornamented
feature, in opposition to the plain or almost plain bowl and calyx of
the Gothic varieties. Many Gothic cups and hanaps show decided
architectural constructions, as may be noticed in some of the
illustrations, and some have quite a landscape treatment, as in the
curious gilt metal hanap (Fig. 167), which is probably of Nuremberg
manufacture.
[Illustration: Fig. 164.—English Chalice, Corpus Christi College,
Oxford; 1507. (C.)]
Clocks were also objects which received a pronounced architectural
treatment. A favourite design was a church tower, or a fortified tower,
embattled, and having a spreading base, in which were open archways.
[Illustration:
Fig. 165.—Standing Cup, Corpus
Christi College, Cambridge;
1599. (C.)
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 166.—Enamelled Cup at King’s
Lynn; 1350. (C.)
]
The goldsmiths of Italy in the sixteenth century were painters and
architects as well, and a decided architectural construction is clearly
seen in most of the gold and silver-smithery of this period. The
monstrance (Fig. 168) is a good illustration of this, and another is the
pax (Fig. 169). The church altar furniture and silver plate of the
period also partook of the prevailing architectural features.
[Illustration: Fig. 167.—Hanap; German. (S.K.M.)]
Benvenuto Cellini (1500-71) is the greatest name among the many great
ones of the sixteenth century in the art of the goldsmith. Some of his
work has already been noticed in the chapter on enamels. Cellini
represents the art of the Italian goldsmith and enameller at its best
period. He was famous for his designs in jewellery, in which he set
precious stones in cartouche work combined with griffins, masks, and
well-modelled little figures (Fig. 170). Many cups made in lapis-lazuli,
sardonyx, and rock-crystal are attributed to him. He was also a
successful worker in bronze, the best of his works in this metal being
the statue group of Perseus and Medusa, and the colossal bas-relief of
the Nymph of Fontainebleau, copies of which may be seen in Kensington
Museum. A graphic and very interesting account of the casting of the
Perseus group is given in his autobiography. A fine shield in damascene
work by Cellini is in Windsor Castle. His smaller works in gold and
jewellery probably exist in greater numbers than can be verified owing
to the absence of his signature or other identifying marks. According to
his own account, when besieged with the Pope, Clement VII., in the
Castle of Angelo, by the Spanish, he unset the precious stones and
jewellery, and melted down at the command of the Pope about two
hundredweight of gold and silver crowns, tiaras, cups, and reliquaries
of ancient workmanship in order to convert them into money and medals as
required by the Pope. This gives us a good idea of how the fine
treasures of the Middle Ages must have been destroyed under similar
circumstances, and excites our wonder how any valuable piece of
goldsmith’s work has escaped the melting-pot, which was generally the
sequel to the pillaging of conquering troops or the exigencies of war.
Cellini’s visit to France and his work in that country gave a great
impulse to the style of the Renaissance, and his countryman, Primaticcio
the sculptor, spread the style still further in France.
[Illustration: Fig. 168.—Monstrance; Italian; Fifteenth Century.
(S.K.M.)]
Some names of Italian goldsmiths about or immediately after Cellini’s
time are—Luca Agnolo, Valerio Vicentino, Pilote, Piero di Mino, Vincenzo
Dati, Girolamo del Prato. The latter was a native of Lombardy. Benedict
Ramel, François Desjardins, Delahaie, and François Briot are names of
French goldsmiths of the sixteenth century. Many models of vases, ewers,
plates, cups, and tankards were made by Briot in pewter that are still
in existence. These pewter models were usually made by goldsmiths, no
doubt, as models for their gold and silver work, or in some cases were
casts taken from the finished works, and kept as mementos or as replicas
in design of their more costly works, and were also sold to those whose
means would not permit them to indulge in the more costly gold and
silver plate. Briot’s pewter models are among the best examples of
design and workmanship in metal of the sixteenth century.
In Germany the art of the metal worker flourished in the sixteenth
century in its greatest perfection at Nuremberg and Augsburg.
The German goldsmiths’ work, especially at the end of the century, was
almost identical with that of the Italian school. The similarity is seen
in the details of the ornamentation, the masks and figures; the
difference may be noted in the extraordinary development of the
cartouche and strap-work of the German work, more especially in that of
the Netherlands.
Many German artists of this time, who were chiefly engravers, designed
for the goldsmiths and produced engravings from which goldsmiths’ work
and enamel paintings on metal were executed.
[Illustration: Fig. 169.—Pax; Italian; Sixteenth Century. (S.K.M.)]
[Illustration: Fig. 170.—Pendant, attributed to Cellini, in the Library
at Paris.]
Virgil Solis, of Nuremberg, Theodor de Bry, of Liége, the
Collaerts—father and son—of Antwerp, are some of the principal engravers
who designed very largely for jewellery and other goldsmiths’ work.
These German engravers and designers of ornament went under the
designation of the “Little Masters,” but in point of fact some of their
work would compare favourably with the compositions of many of the
so-called “Great Masters.” Generally speaking, they were pupils or
followers of Albert Dürer.
As a designer and engraver of figure work, Hans Sebald Beham must be
placed first in the rank of the “Little Masters,” and for ornament
purely the name of Heinrich Aldegrever must head the list.
Albert Dürer, whose great name overshadows all German art, though he
tried his gifted hand at ornament, as in the car of the “Triumph” and in
the “Book of the Hours,” designed for the Emperor Maximilian, was not
altogether successful in the matter of ornament, for his work in this
line is much too loose and florid, with much unrestrained and
naturalistic flourishing.
Hans Burgkmair, of Nuremberg, his contemporary, was better at ornament
than Dürer, and was the chief artist of that great work, the “Triumph of
Maximilian,” in which he strove to unite the Gothic and the style of the
Renaissance. His work generally takes the form of elaborate heraldry.
Hans Holbein, as well as being a great painter, was also a famous
designer for goldsmiths’ work, and was a master in ornament, especially
in the application of the figure to ornamental purposes. He was in some
measure a pupil of Hans Burgkmair, and was thoroughly imbued with the
spirit of the Renaissance. Holbein the elder—his father—was a well-known
artist, who worked in the old German Gothic style.
The younger Holbein began his artistic career as a goldsmith, and his
designs of sword and dagger handles, in which the figure forms so
admirably follow the lines of the composition in a remarkable degree of
ornamental fitness, reveal his fine sense and feeling for ornament.
In Italy the sculptor, Luca Signorelli, employed the figure and animal
forms with an equal degree of skill, and with the same feeling for
ornament. Both artists thoroughly understood the correct laws of
ornamental composition, which was not by any means a universal gift with
the artists of the Renaissance period.
Holbein designed many cups, one of which was a rich example of a
standing cup and cover which was designed for Jane Seymour, one of the
wives of Henry VIII. of England. The drawing for this cup is preserved
in the British Museum.
During the sixteenth century the art of metal working in Germany,
especially at Nuremberg, Swabian Augsburg, and Lübeck, reached a high
state of perfection under the great patronage of wealthy families, such
as the Fugger family, of Augsburg, and others. Holbein, and other
German, Dutch, and Flemish artists, worked in England, and besides much
German and Flemish Renaissance work found its way into England, and
influenced in a great degree the style of the metal work of this
country.
In addition to the gold and silver plate of the kings’ palaces and of
private families, corporations and colleges accumulated great quantities
of plate, and before banks were properly established, gold and silver
plate and jewellery were the chief store of wealth that could, when
necessary, be easily converted into money.
King Henry VII. had a service of plate valued at twenty thousand pounds.
This monarch employed the Italian sculptor and goldsmith, Torrigiano,
and other foreign artists.
Henry VIII. also employed many Italian and German artists and
goldsmiths, and it is believed that Cellini executed some of his finest
jewellery for this king.
Not only Henry VIII., but his great lords and ministers, had extensive
collections of plate. Cardinal Wolsey had a large safe or cupboard,
barred all round for protection, in which was displayed a goodly show of
gold cups and other sumptuous vessels for use at his table.
[Illustration: Fig. 171.—Apostle Spoons; 1566; at Corpus Christi
College, Cambridge. (C.)]
“Apostle spoons” were made at this and subsequent periods, and were so
called from their having little figures of the Apostles modelled on the
tops of the handles (Fig. 171).
[Illustration: Fig. 172—Silver-gilt German Cup; Sixteenth Century.]
The silver, gold, and bronze work in Queen Elizabeth’s time in England
was made in the style of the Renaissance, like that of Germany. Italian
and German work at this time was almost identical (Figs. 172 and 173);
and even when the Rococo decadence was prevalent in architecture, both
on the Continent and in England, goldsmiths’ work was the last industry
that fell under its influence, especially when we compare it with the
contemporary pottery, furniture, and other decorative art. Of course, at
the latter end of the seventeenth and during the eighteenth century, the
design in metal work in France, and also in England, was sacrificed to
display and ostentation; but at the same time a comparative purity of
style is seen in much of the plate made in the reigns of William and
Mary, James II., and Queen Anne, of English manufacture. The silver and
gold plate of the “Queen Anne” period (1702-14) is highly prized for its
beauty of design and massive character, some examples of which will be
noticed presently.
[Illustration: Fig. 173.—Bronze Candlestick; Italian; Sixteenth
Century.]
In the metal work, especially in gold and silver of the seventeenth
century, towards the middle of the century a certain heaviness of design
gradually crept in; although a good deal of fine work was still produced
by the artists who belonged to the older schools, and, as a matter of
course, the best work belonged to the earlier part of the century.
A fine freedom of line and handling is seen in the Flemish salver (Fig.
174) of Renaissance design. The French example of a silver-gilt cup and
cover is unusually simple for French work of this century (Fig. 175),
and an English silver casket of the same date (Fig. 176) shows a
similarity of style: the serpent handles and covers are almost
identical.
About the middle of the seventeenth century silversmiths’ work in
Germany began to assume a bulbous or lobed character, and gradually
became more florid in design (Fig. 177). This bulbous or gadrooned work
was carried out to a greater degree in English work of this period, of
which the gold cup rat Exeter College (Fig. 178) is a good example. The
decoration of metal work in England at this time consisted of flowers
and foliage chased on the repoussé surfaces, and often large rich
acanthus-leaves were used, especially on the vases and silver furniture
of Charles II.’s time. The lobed panel work of Germany was developed in
England into lozenge and pine-shaped raised surfaces, and the details of
the French Louis Quatorze were added as decoration.
[Illustration: Fig. 174.—Flemish Salver; Seventeenth Century. (S.K.M.)]
Tankards were made in silver, or sometimes in pottery richly mounted in
silver or pewter. The tankard has a wide base, the body narrowing
towards the mouth, and has usually a cover (Fig. 179), while the beaker
or drinking cup is the reverse in shape—narrow in the base, and widening
towards the mouth, and is without a handle or cover.
[Illustration: Fig. 175.—Cup with Cover, Silver-gilt; French;
Seventeenth Century. (J.)]
The English silver tankards were straight-sided, with naturalistic
decoration. Modern tankards for beer-drinking uses are made in pewter or
Britannia metal.
[Illustration: Fig. 176.—Silver Casket; Seventeenth Century.]
[Illustration: Fig. 177.—Nuremberg Tankard.]
In the Rhine Provinces, in Germany, and in Switzerland stoneware
tankards with metal covers and mountings are still in use. Tankards in
the seventeenth century were made with pegs inserted in the sides at
regulated distances, so that each drinker might quaff his measured
portion when the vessel was handed round.
[Illustration: Fig. 178.—Cup of Gold, _circa_ 1660-70, at Exeter
College, Oxford. (C.)]
In the reign of James I. many sumptuous objects in services and toilet
furniture were made in gold and silver. The baronial halls in England
were extremely rich in large pieces of plate: huge salvers, vases,
basins, jugs, cups, toilet services, and even tables, chairs,
mirror-frames, and fire-dogs were made in silver.
[Illustration: Fig. 179.—English Tankard; Seventeenth Century.]
In France, during the reign of Louis XIV., similar gold and silver
vessels and sumptuous furniture were made in the rich and massive style
of the period. Balin and Delaunay are mentioned among others who were
skilful goldsmiths to that monarch, and who worked under the directions
of the chief painter and tapestry designer, Lebrun.
England not only made a good deal of this silver furniture, but also
imported it largely from France; most of it, however, was melted down to
pay for the wars of Charles I.
A few remaining examples are still at Knole Park, in Kent, consisting of
silver tables, mirror-frames, fire-dogs, &c. (Fig. 180). Similar objects
of this period are now at Windsor Castle (Fig. 181), of which copies in
electrotype are in the Kensington Museum.
Some of the gold plate preserved in the Tower of London with the regalia
is of this period.
After the date of 1660 gold and silver-smithery becomes fluted and less
florid in decoration, but some of it still keeps the gadrooned and
bulbous character.
[Illustration: Fig. 180.—Silver Fire-Dog at Knole Park.]
Towards the end of the century, in the time of William III., the
flutings were less in number, and consequently became larger in scale,
and in the early part of the eighteenth century the metal work in
England became plainer, depending more on the lines of its contour for
effect than on its decoration (Fig. 182). Mouldings were plainer, and
broad spaces of convex and concave shapes producing a massive and, in
many cases, an elegant appearance (Figs. 182, 183), which gave to the
Queen Anne plate a mark of great distinction.
[Illustration: Fig. 181.—Silver Table at Windsor Castle.]
About 1750 the forms in silver work partook, in many instances, of the
prevailing fashion in the chinaware of that date, though without the
extravagance in the decoration. From 1770, and for about ten years
later, the designs became more attenuated, and were peculiar in having
the dividing lines of the design composed of fillets of beads (Figs. 185
and 187). The beaded style of silversmiths’ work and in all metal work,
pottery, and furniture of this period was due to the development of
classic design that took place in France and in England consequent on
the discovery of the buried city of Pompeii in 1770.
The brothers Adam in England designed a good deal of silversmiths’ work,
of which the three illustrations given are examples of their style.
Light wreaths, medallions, fillets of beads, festoons, masks, feet and
legs of animals composed the decoration of the Adams’ style.
The brothers John and Robert Adam had travelled in Italy, and had
brought with them pronounced classic ideas which not only influenced
their own and other contemporary work in architecture and furniture
designs, but in silversmiths’ work also their influence was widely felt
(Fig. 188).
[Illustration: Fig. 182.—Wine Fountain; 1710. (C.)]
In France the classic ideas were also very prevalent about this period
in silversmiths’ work. The “Louis-Seize” candlestick (Fig. 189) is one
of a pair from the Jones Collection in the South Kensington Museum, and
is an admirable example of the style; though it is said to have been
made at Turin in Italy in 1783, it is certainly of French design. It has
the square base so peculiar to French work of this period, with the
wreaths and medallions so characteristic of the style in question, that
of Louis XVI.
[Illustration: Fig. 183.—Candelabrum, Haberdashers’ Hall, London. (C.)]
Another candlestick (Fig. 190) from the Jones Collection is probably
Italian in style and manufacture, and belongs to the early part of the
eighteenth century.
[Illustration: Fig. 184.—Eighteenth-Century Bowl. (S.K.M.)]
[Illustration: Fig. 185.—Tureen at Windsor Castle, 1773.]
[Illustration: Fig. 187.—Silver Vase; 1770.]
[Illustration: Fig. 186.—Chocolate Pot; 1777. (C.)]
[Illustration: Fig. 188.—Vase by Adam.]
At the time of the Revolution, and immediately after, the style of the
silver work deteriorated in France. Vast quantities of plate were seized
and sent off to the Mint by the Revolutionary army, and naturally an art
like the goldsmith’s, that ministered to the needs of luxury, was in
those times at a low ebb.
[Illustration: Fig. 189.—Candlestick, Silver-gilt; Louis Seize.
(S.K.M.)]
[Illustration: Fig. 190.—Candlestick, Silver-gilt; Italian; Eighteenth
Century. (S.K.M.)]
In England in the early part of the nineteenth century some good work
was executed from the designs of Flaxman and Stothard, chiefly in the
classic style; the Wellington Shield may be mentioned as an example; but
about the middle of this century gold and silver work was characterized
by even a greater degree of naturalism in design than that of the French
debased style from which it was copied. Nothing could exceed the
vulgarity and bad taste in the design of silversmiths’ work made about
fifty or forty years ago. All architectural principles that should guide
the design of relief modelling and construction were thrown to the
winds, and naturalism unnaturally applied and mixed in any heterogeneous
way was quite fashionable. For instance, we have huge épergnes where
stags and other animals from the Highlands of Scotland or the Welsh
mountains are decorating silver rock-work from which the tropical palms
of Africa are seen to grow out of their clefts, affording grateful shade
to the natives of the British moorland. The art of the silversmith in
England about this period had suffered more than any other artistic
industry, and in the matter of design it seemed to have reached the
twilight state of semi-insanity, and was utterly devoid of any artistic
merit.
A great improvement is, however, to be seen in the work of respectable
firms and in that of many private craftsmen of to-day, but many shop
windows are still filled with costly work in the precious metals that
are worthless from an artistic point of view.
NIELLO-WORK AND DAMASCENING.
Niello-work has been mentioned on a previous page. It was an important
branch of the goldsmith’s art, as well as that of damascening. From the
earliest times the nations of antiquity have engraved on metals and
filled up the lines or grooves of the engraving with a black species of
enamel composition—_niello_—or with other metals such as silver, gold,
and electrum; the latter process has been called _damascening_, from
Damascus, where gold and silver inlaid in iron or steel was practised in
the tenth and eleventh centuries.
It was a favourite method of decorating metals during the Middle Ages
throughout the countries of Persia, Syria, and in most European
countries, especially on such objects as arms, armour, and different
kinds of vessels.
[Illustration: Fig. 191.—Italian Damascene Work; Sixteenth Century.]
The celebrated Italian metal-worker, Maso Finiguerra, worked extensively
in niello, and to him is ascribed the discovery of the art of engraving
on copper and printing from the copper plate. He was a goldsmith and a
native of Florence, and was the pupil of Ghiberti and Masaccio. In the
year 1452 he made a pax, on the flat panel of which he engraved a design
to be filled in afterwards with the black composition of niello, but
before he had completely finished his work he took a “squeeze” in clay
of the engraving in order to judge of the progress he had made, and from
this squeeze he made a mould in sulphur, and filled it with a black
pigment, and on pressing this sulphur block on a sheet of damp paper the
pattern appeared similar to the niello effect. This led him to fill the
lines of the actual silver plate with a more durable ink, and to print
off impressions on paper. It was by thus experimenting that Finiguerra
discovered the art of engraving and printing from the metal plate. The
original pax with its impressions are preserved at Florence.
Damascening is executed in three ways. First, where the steel or copper
is engraved with an undercut line and a thread of gold or silver is
forced in by hammering or pressed by a burnisher into the grooved lines.
Second, the plated method, where the plate of metal to be encrusted is
enclosed between slightly raised walls in the foundation metal. Third,
where the foundation metal is roughened by a sharp tool in all
directions and the gold or silver is laid on thinly and pressed or
hammered in. The last method is the latest and least durable. Sometimes
the lines of the engraving are punched with holes at regulated
distances, which serve as keys to hold the inlaid metal when hammered
in.
[Illustration: Fig. 192.—Shield Damascened in Gold; Indian. (B.)]
The famous bowl called the “Baptistery of St. Louis,” now in the Louvre,
is made of copper inlaid with figures of horsemen and hunting scenes. It
is an example of “Mosil work,” or Mesopotamian damascening, of the
thirteenth century, in which silver only is used as the inlaid metal.
A delicate design in Italian damascene work is shown at Fig. 191, and an
Indian example at Fig. 192. The Italian example shows the Arabian
influence in some of the details of the ornament. The Japanese are
perfect masters in the art of damascening. Sword-blades of the
thirteenth and later centuries have beautiful designs inlaid as
intaglios or in damascene work; sword-guards of the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries are remarkable for this kind of decoration, and for
the exquisite chasing of the iron, which in some cases is cut out like
fret-work, and in others are carved as delicate as decorative ivory
work.
INDIAN JEWELLERY.
The jewellery of India is one of the most important art industries of
that country, and the trade of the gold and silver smith is an
established institution in every village and district. The variation in
style and method of fabrication has very marked features, according to
the fashion that finds favour in each locality. The extreme love for
trinkets of a brilliant and dazzling nature amongst all grades of the
people has in a great measure directed the fabrication of Indian
jewellery, which tends to make the most of the precious metals by using
them in thin plates or in a filigrain work, and in order to get the
flashing effect and rich colouring, scales or flakes of diamonds are
more often used than the more valuable and solid gems, and inferior
gems, or even coloured glass, are set to the best advantage, and used
indiscriminately: anything, in fact, is used in order to get the
gorgeous variety of brilliant colouring and dazzling effect. Much of the
Indian jewellery is of a flimsy character as regards its lightness and
thin nature of the material; but the latter is generally of the best
quality, and the artistic workmanship lavished on most of the jewellery
more than makes up for its want of inherent solidity.
[Illustration: Fig. Fig. 193.-Primitive Silver Bracelet: Dinajpur,
Bengal. (B.)]
Jewellery ought to be light in character and of good design and
workmanship if it is intended to fulfil its use in decorating the
person, as nothing is uglier than heavy jewellery, which can only be
valuable in the light of representing the wealth of the owner.
Some of the Indian jewellery is, however, fairly solid and heavy, as in
the chopped gold form of cubical, octahedron, and oblong shapes of the
metal which are strung on silk cord as necklaces, and the nail-head
variety of earrings made at Ahmedabad and Surat in Western India.
[Illustration: Fig. 194.—Silver Neck Ornament, from Sindh. (B.)]
Girdles, torques or neck collars, bracelets, and anklets are made of
twisted gold wire, which are common throughout India, and in the western
provinces are made in the twisted form of the Matheran knotted and woven
grass collars.
[Illustration: Fig. 195.—Native Silver Jewellery of Cuttack. (B.)]
[Illustration: Fig. 196.—Filigrain Jewellery of Cuttack. (B.)]
Some of the native jewellery in many parts of India still keeps its
primitive character and bears a great likeness to the very early Celtic
jewellery found in Ireland and in other countries of Europe, which would
probably suggest the same Celtic origin for all (Fig. 193).
[Illustration: Fig. 197.—Native Jewellery of Trichinopoly, Madras. (B.)]
The silver filigrain work of India, especially the designs of the Sindh
jewellery and that made at Cuttack, Trichinopoly, and Travancore,
recalls the methods of fabrication and design of the ancient Etruscan
jewellery. (See Figs. 194, 195, 197.)
A certain analogy may also be noticed in the native jewellery from the
above places to the Phœnician, primitive Grecian, and even Scandinavian,
which goes a long way to prove the intercourse between, and the
migrations of, the people of India, Thibet, Turkestan to Asia Minor and
the continent of Europe.
Some Indian jewellery, though possessing shapes common to other
countries, has very distinctive national characteristics in the
decoration, which may be seen in the illustration (Fig. 198) of the gold
plate from Bombay. In these cases the design is usually symbolical.
[Illustration: Fig. 198.—Native Gold Jewellery of Bombay. (B.)]
The Indian jewellers of the Mogul period have produced some exquisite
work in the setting of gems on jade carvings and on small vases of jade.
The deftness and cunning of the Indian jeweller may have been equalled
by the Etruscans and ancient Greeks, but he has not been surpassed in
his delicate workmanship by any nation of modern times.
IRON WORK IN FRANCE, GERMANY, BELGIUM, ITALY AND ENGLAND.
Ornamental iron work was executed in France and in England before the
Roman occupation of these countries, but any early remains of this work
that have been found in either country are supposed to be of the Roman
period. The Romans were not skilled in the working of iron, although
well conversant with the manufacture of bronze objects.
Remains of iron hasps, escutcheons, window grilles, candlesticks,
folding chairs, &c., have been found in France and in England, of the
Romano-Gaulish and British periods, that have a great similarity of
style, and, indeed, up to the fifteenth century the style and design of
iron work in both countries were pretty much alike.
The most interesting examples of the blacksmith’s art of the Middle
Ages—in England especially—are the hinges to the church doors. The first
hinges were simple single straps of iron that passed from back to front
of the door, the socket being formed out of the solid piece at the angle
on one side. The front side of this strap by degrees was clawed out, or
otherwise elaborated, to cover as much of the door as possible, so as to
form an armour of defence against predatory robbers, such as the
barbarous Norse pirates who were continually invading the British
shores.
A favourite form of the hinge was the crescent shape; sometimes the
hinge branched out in a simple crescent with curved and bifurcated
endings that may have symbolized the snake or birds’ heads, and often
two or three of these crescents branched out from a central bar. Between
the hinges additional bars or straps were sometimes run across the door
to strengthen it, and elaborate foliated crosses often occupied the
central part, as in Fig. 199.
[Illustration: Fig. 199.—Hinges, &c., to Haddiscoe Church.]
On some of the old Norman doors, in addition to the hinges, as at
Stillingfleet Church, there are designs in iron work which consist of
mystical signs of Danish origin, such as a viking ship or sun ship, the
swastika or fylfot, moon signs, and rude images of the human figure.
The crescent hinge may have had a symbolical meaning, perhaps
Scandinavian, or it may have originated in the Saracenic crescent, and
may have been brought from Sicily, the birthplace of Norman
architecture.
The art of the blacksmith in the Middle Ages was more developed in
France than in any other country of Europe, and the art of stamping the
leaves, stems, and rosettes with steel or chilled iron dies and punches
was practised there earlier than the thirteenth century, and at a period
a little later in England. The ornament was in style very little more
than the Romanesque type of the conventional vine, or other leaf of a
like nature—the cinquefoil, trefoil, rosettes, and scrolls, but these
few elements were used in the most effective manner (Fig. 200).
The magnificent hinges on the Porte Ste. Anne of Notre-Dame at Paris
show to perfection the French stamping on the leaves and other parts.
These unrivalled hinges (Fig. 201) are of the Early French style of the
thirteenth century. Nothing, however, is known of their origin, nor even
the name of the smith who forged them. Each hinge is composed of six
large scrolls springing from the central bar or stem, all of which are
richly clothed with spirals, foliage, birds, and dragons; the whole
design is supposed to represent the terrestrial Paradise.
Exceedingly rich, but not so elaborated as the hinges of the Church of
Notre-Dame, is the herse, or grille, of English work of the same period,
which surmounts the tomb of Queen Eleanor in Westminster Abbey (Fig.
202). This fine example of English smithery was made by Thomas de
Leghtone in the year 1294. It is a clever adaptation of hinge-work to
the design of a grille. Mr. Gardner supposes Leghtone to be connected
with Leighton Buzzard, as the same kind of iron work as the Eleanor
grille occurs in the hinges of the parish church door of that place, and
also from the fact that similar work is found on many other church doors
of the same period in Bedfordshire—at Eaton Bray and Turvey, for
instance; also at Norwich, Tunstall, Windsor, Lichfield, and Merton
College, Oxford, are examples of the same kind of work, which no doubt
was executed by Thomas de Leghtone and his assistants.
[Illustration: Fig. 200.—Press Door in the Church of St. Jacques, at
Liége. (G.)]
After the end of the thirteenth century examples are scarce of genuine
wrought-iron work, for the fashion changed at that time in the manner of
working the metal. Sheets and bars of iron were cut in the cold state
into various patterns by the use of chisels and files, the pieces being
fastened together by rivets and small collars or ties of metal. Much of
this work, was done in Italy, in imitation of marble and wood panelling,
and a very common method consisted in making the grilles in Italy of
riveted quatrefoils. A fine grille of this character is in the Church of
Santa Croce of the date of 1371. In the churches and palaces of Venice,
Florence, Verona, &c., there are many good examples of grilles that
resemble in a great degree joinery work in iron.
[Illustration: Fig. 201.—One of the Hinges to the Porte Ste. Anne of
Notre-Dame, Paris. (G.)]
[Illustration: Fig. 202.—Grille or Herse on Queen Eleanor’s Tomb,
Westminster Abbey; 1294. (G.)]
In Germany the love for iron work was not developed so early as it was
in France and England, and it was not until Gothic architecture took a
firm hold in that country in the end of the thirteenth century that the
first serious attempts were made in the use of decorative iron work,
and, like their architectural forms, the German wrought-iron work was
inspired by French examples.
German work in iron of the thirteenth century is very scarce: one of the
best-known examples occurs in the iron work on the doors of the Church
of St. Elizabeth at Marburg, near Cassel, which consists of branching
scroll-work clothed with vine-leaf endings.
In the fourteenth century the Germans developed the French vine-work
into lozenge-shaped leaves, and for a change interspersed them with
fleurs-de-lis, and occasionally some tracery patterns, all of which were
borrowed from the French. The stamped work of the English and French
blacksmith was not developed in Germany.
In the fifteenth century German iron work was greatly influenced by the
fine work which was being produced at this period in the Low Countries.
Brussels had been noted for its extensive works in iron and steel from
the fourteenth century. The brawny Flemish smiths were celebrated
throughout Europe for their great achievements in moulded and hammered
iron, such as in the spires of the cathedrals of Antwerp, Ghent, and
Bruges, well-covers, railings, fonts, cranes, and grilles. The
historical well-cover in front of the Cathedral of Antwerp has usually
been ascribed to Quentin Matsys the painter, but as he was only twelve
years old when this work was completed, it could hardly have been made
by his hands. The explanation is that he has been confounded with
another Quentin, a blacksmith and the son of Josse Matsys, the
architect, smith, and clockmaker of Antwerp. The well-cover is more
likely to have been the work of Josse Matsys. The design is Gothic in
feeling and is very picturesque with its interlacing stems and
vine-leaves, flowers, and figures. A rich font crane in iron work in the
Cathedral of Louvain is said to be the authentic work of Josse, and a
twelve-branched corona in the same church is ascribed to his son,
Quentin Matsys. To the hand of the latter is also ascribed the rich
Flemish gates of Bishop West’s Chapel in Ely Cathedral.
Brabant was celebrated for its iron work, particularly in pierced and
filed work in such things as locks, hinges, candelabra, tabernacles, and
_guichets_ (little windows or wicket gates), most of these objects
taking pronounced Gothic architectural forms, for the most part being
composed of flamboyant tracery and little buttresses (Fig. 203). Much of
the Brabaçon iron work found its way into England and Germany. This work
is characterised by its flamboyant tracery, which is found on locks of
doors and Flemish coffers, and in the design of the guichets, a fine
specimen of the latter now being in the Kensington Museum. The locks of
the doors in St. George’s Chapel, Windsor and in some other places are
of Brabaçon workmanship. This Flemish style of lock work was imitated
very much in England, but the workmanship was less refined although of a
stronger character than the Flemish.
The Germans, especially of Augsburg, Nuremberg, and in the Rhine
Provinces, more particularly at Cologne, developed the chiselled iron
work to an astonishing degree of elaboration.
While the shapes of the lock-plates were of a decided Saracenic
character, the design of the pattern ornamentation was either of an
elaborate architectural composition, as in the large lock in the
Klagenfurt Museum (Fig. 204), or of designs mainly developed from the
thistle-plant.
[Illustration: Fig. 203.—Tabernacle Grille from Ottoberg, Tyrol;
Fifteenth Century. (S.K.M.) (G.)]
The thistle was distinctly characteristic of German iron work, and also
the trellis-work pattern as seen on the doors of the fifteenth and
sixteenth centuries (Fig. 205). Armorial bearings fill the panels
between the trellis-bands, with richly forged rivets or nail-heads on
the lozenge intersections. Sometimes the decoration was gilt or
silvered, and the ground underneath painted red or black. In the
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the iron work in Europe and England
partook of the character of the Renaissance, and towards the end of the
former century had all the foliated character of that style.
[Illustration: Fig. 204.—Lock, 18 inches high, in the Klagenfurt Museum;
German; Fifteenth Century. (G.)]
The illustration (Fig. 206) shows a typical example of French work of
the end of the sixteenth century.
[Illustration: Fig. 205.—Iron-bound Door in the Monastery of Krems; Late
Fifteenth Century. (G.)]
In Flanders, Holland, and in England, especially during the eighteenth
century, decorative iron work was again in great demand, and some
beautiful work in gates, grilles, and railings were executed. Among the
finest works of this period are the celebrated gates or screens designed
in the style of the Renaissance and made by Huntingdon Shaw for King
William III. for his palace at Hampton Court. These gates, which are
fine examples of hammered work, are now in the Kensington Museum. The
iron gates and railings made in the reign of Queen Anne and later were
often of beautiful design, in which the capabilities of the material
were excellently expressed. Some fine examples still exist in the gates
and railings of the old houses in Cheyne Walk, Chelsea, and some good
ironwork of this type may be seen in the screens in St. Paul’s
Cathedral. This beautiful style died out during this century, when a
more extended use of cast iron crept in, and if we except the work of
the late Alfred Stevens and of a few other designers and architects,
there has been nothing of an artistic value that one can point out in
England in the domain of cast-iron productions. In fact, it is a curious
but common expression to say of a bad design for almost anything that it
“looks like cast iron.” Designers for cast-iron work might take some
good hints from the old Roman or Pompeian bronzes.
[Illustration: Fig. 206.—Mirror, Wrought Iron; French Work; Sixteenth
Century.]