used for fastening hooks to curtains are still constructed in the same
way. Occasionally gold safety-pins of a plain and even ornamental
character were made and used as brooches by ladies for fastening
lace, or by men for securing their ties in the place of the straight
scarf-pins. It would seem therefore that a brooch is a development of
the safety-pin rather than the reverse; but if we study the brooches
or fibulæ of the Romans, we shall find that the pin, instead of being
hinged, was often made in one piece with the rest of the structure.
A coil or two in the metal acted as a spring, as in the case of the
safety-pin, and prevented breakage. We may even find an Etruscan fibula
of such simple construction (see Figure 98) that it is to all intents
and purposes a safety-pin. All sorts of devices have been invented for
the better protection of the points in modern safety-pins, as well
as for rendering the opening and closing more easy; but this is the
development which has taken place along practical lines. Such pins are
for use only, and are not intended to be seen. When, on the other hand,
safety-pins are not hidden, they retain their more simple character
as regards their fastenings, though they themselves again become
decorative, and are ornamented in various ways. We have therefore a very
good illustration of the evolution of one thing along two different
lines, and of the survival of the fittest types in each case.
[Illustration: FIG. 98.--An Etruscan brooch or fibula, resembling a
safety-pin. (In the collection of Major W. J. Myers in Eton College
Museum.)]
The ornamental safety-pin in recent years has changed its habits, and it
is interesting to note its vagaries. A little while ago its sphere of
action was extended, and instead of figuring under the chins of ladies
it took up a position in the back of their waistbands (see Figure 99),
where it occupied itself with the duty of keeping blouse and skirt
together. Then, as if this situation were not important enough, the
safety-pin migrated to the head and usurped the place of the straight
hat-pin (see Figure 100), just as in the case of men it has sometimes
ousted the tie-pin proper.
[Illustration: FIG. 99.--The safety-pin in the waistband.]
During the process which we have described the safety-pin has become
stronger and larger, until in the last stage it has grown almost out of
recognition.
[Illustration: FIG. 100.--The safety-pin grown larger and used for
fastening on a hat.]
Straight pins have developed along the same two lines, and we have the
strictly useful pin and tie- or hat-pins, which are often quite as
important as fastenings, but which may also be highly ornamental. These
small articles have a special claim to our attention, as they have been
taken as being emblematical of clothes, or at least of female attire.
Even now the allowance which a lady is given for dress is called
"pin-money." Moreover, it is possible to illustrate by means of pins
the various phases of culture through which mankind has passed in the
process of civilization. We meet with pins of bone, in the stage of
stone, before metals were used. In the stage characterized by bronze we
have pins made of this alloy. Such pins occurred in Egypt before the
historic period, and they have been found in the Swiss lake dwellings as
well as in our own country.
[Illustration: FIG. 101.--A muff-chain.]
Although we now live in the iron, or perhaps more correctly steel, stage
of culture, the familiar pin of to-day is still usually made of brass;
but nevertheless we find steel pins of the ordinary form which are
plated with brass, and glass-headed steel pins are very common. In early
times also gold, silver, and precious stones were pressed into service
for making ornamental pins, and very handsome pins are represented on
effigies of the fourteenth century in Westminster Abbey. These, no
doubt, have for their descendants the scarf-pins of to-day.
[Illustration: FIG. 102.--A hawker, illustrating the primitive way of
carrying a burden.]
[Illustration: FIG. 103.--A courier-bag supported by a baldric.]
A muff-chain is a thing which is very often seen at the present day, and
this simple arrangement, coupled with the way in which it is worn (see
Figure 101), may lead us along a very interesting line of research,
which we may follow for a short time. If we look once again at the muff,
we shall see that it is supported by a chain which goes round the back
of the neck, allowing the muff to rest against the front of the body.
This is a primitive method of carrying a burden. Pedlars of old made use
of it, and it is still adopted by the hawker (see Figure 102), because,
if necessary, the hands can remain free, while a modification of the
same principle is seen when the strap takes the form of a baldric, and
passes over one shoulder and under the arm on the other side. In this
way travellers carry their courier-bags (see Figure 103), the school-boy
or girl supports his or her satchel, the fisherman his creel, and
the sportsman his field-glasses. To a baldric also was attached the
quiver of the archer, and sometimes such a band was merely worn as a
decoration. (See Figure 104.) In the illustration which we give, and
which is of the time of Henry V, the baldric is hung with bells like
those which were worn by horses. Possibly a survival of the ornamental
use of the baldric is to be seen in the ribbons of various orders and in
military sashes, though no doubt the bandoleer which carries the pouch
or cartridges of a modern soldier represents the useful baldric. It is
of interest to note that the red or blue cord worn over the cross-belts
of the Life Guards and Horse Guards is a survival of a cord by which the
horn containing powder for priming muskets used to be suspended. In this
connection we might also mention the leather sling of a rifle and the
strap by which the itinerant harpist, in common with the organ-grinder,
carries his instrument.
[Illustration: FIG. 104.--An ornamental baldric of the early fifteenth
century. (Royal MSS. 15 D. 5, after Fairholt.)]
The ordinary belt should not be overlooked, as from it many things, such
as weapons, may be suspended, not to mention pouches, which may carry
ammunition, flint and steel, and so on.
[Illustration: FIG. 105.--A lady's dress, showing the part which is
called a yoke, and recalls a primitive method of carrying burdens.]
Even more intimately connected with dress are pockets, and they may be
touched upon here, for they are intended for carrying small objects. We
have seen how the flaps of pockets which have become ornamental survive
after the pockets themselves have disappeared (see Figure 21), and it is
worthy of note that clothes in various countries lend themselves to the
transportation of commodities. It has been pointed out by Mr. Otis T.
Mason[9] that the Oriental, especially the Korean, has pockets in his
sleeves having the capacity of half a bushel; while the Turk and Arab
can stow an equal amount in the ample folds of their robes. The writer
also remembers hearing the account of a journey in Asia from a traveller
who, when riding in wide trousers fastened at the ankle, used to keep
all his clean linen in one trouser-leg and his dirty clothes in the
other.
We are reminded by the name given to the upper part of a lady's dress,
namely, the yoke (see Figure 105), of another means of carrying burdens,
which still survives in London, where a few milk-women even now carry
round their pails on a yoke. Their costume, which includes a small shawl
and an apron, can be compared with that of the barge-girl, though the
picturesque sun-bonnet of the latter is lacking.
XII
ORNAMENTS
PRIMITIVE NECKLACES--FINGER-RINGS--THE ORIGIN OF THE HAIR
COMB--BUTTONS--STUDS--FLOWERS--FEATHERS--AMULETS
We have touched upon one or two objects which may have a decorative
character, but we now come to a consideration of ornaments themselves.
Roughly speaking, they owe their survival to one of two reasons: either
the deep-rooted instinct which exists in even the lowest races for
adorning their person, or, secondly, the adoption of various objects
which have been worn as charms or amulets.
Dr. E. B. Tylor[10] has pointed out the tendency of higher civilization
to give up savage ornaments. Not the most primitive possibly, but
seemingly the most barbarous, are the ornaments which are fastened into
the body in special orifices which are pierced to receive them. It is
true that in this country we do not make holes in our lips for the
insertion of wooden plugs two or three inches across, and the only nose
ornaments which we see are on the faces of the Hindu ayahs who have come
over from India with their white nurselings; but still many among the
population pierce their ears for the reception of earrings. In the
higher social ranks ear-drops are now worn which do not require the ear
to be perforated for their reception; but among the lower orders--as,
for instance, those who live in canal-boats--the ears of men, women, and
children are still pierced.
Of ornaments which can be attached to the person without injuring it
there are more in use, but they are practically confined in civilized
countries to the neck, arms, and head. Of those which are fastened to
clothes we will not for the moment speak. Beads, which at the moment of
writing seem to be greatly in fashion, or their representatives, take us
back to the very earliest men of whose work we have any knowledge. In
the caves where the Stone Age men of the mammoth period lived there have
been found periwinkle shells, which were bored to form bracelets or
necklaces, just as nowadays native tribes and æsthetic ladies still make
use of the more ornamental and beautiful exotic shells. The prehistoric
Egyptians who, it has been calculated, flourished about 6000 B.C., had
necklaces of beads cut out from pieces of shell, and others made of many
different materials. Among the earliest remains in our own country beads
are found, and throughout the historic period everywhere they seem to
have held their sway.
We have already mentioned how easy it is for ornaments to be used as
currencies, owing to the facility with which they may be carried on the
person, and beads for many centuries have been used--as in Africa for
instance--in the place of money. There are on the west coast of that
continent still to be seen "aggries" similar to those which the Arab
traders brought with them from Egypt as early as the seventeenth
dynasty. At the present day beads of various kinds--for only particular
varieties will buy certain commodities--are made and exported to Africa
to be used in trading.
While speaking of Egyptian beads, it might be said that, as in other
matters of art, the Egyptians excelled in the making of beads.
Some--known as blue popo beads, which found their way to West
Africa--are worth more than their weight in gold at the present day, and
the most skilful of the Venetian beadmakers are unable to imitate them
sufficiently well to induce the natives to accept them.
Chains for the neck in our time do not assume very massive proportions,
except those which are used as symbols of office in the case of mayors
and by the members of various knightly orders. These take us back to the
time of Richard II, when such ornaments came into vogue.
Among savage races metal rings find much favour as ornaments, and they
illustrate the fact that the lady who wears the minimum of clothes will
put up with the height of inconvenience, not to say pain, just as her
over-dressed and more civilized white sister will do, in order to be in
the height of fashion. The Padaung women put metal collars round their
necks when they are young children till these number between twenty
and thirty, and the necks of the wearers are stretched out in the most
grotesque and uncomfortable fashion. (See Plate VI.) African belles will
wear great copper rings on their limbs, which get so hot in the sun that
an attendant has to carry water with which to occasionally cool them
down. The wearing of armlets and bracelets has never been confined to
women. Men among the Greeks did not wear them, but among the Romans they
did. Armlets were conferred on soldiers for heroic deeds, and even
now the rank of non-commissioned officers in the army is indicated by
stripes on their sleeves.
[Illustration: TWO PADAUNG WOMEN, SHOWING THE NUMEROUS METAL COLLARS
WHICH THEY WEAR ROUND THEIR NECKS.
(_See page 114._)
_PLATE VI._]
Dr. Tylor hints that ordinary finger-rings have originated from those
used as signets in Egypt and Babylon. In this case the modern signet
ring, which we have already discussed in connection with heraldic
devices, is a survival from the earliest times. Most rings are now
merely ornamental, though a few are symbolical--the episcopal ring of
the bishop, the engagement ring of the betrothed damsel, and the wedding
ring of the wife.
As early as the seventh century a ring was among the distinctive
insignia of a bishop, and one was found on the finger of Bishop Agilbert
of Paris (who lived at this time) when his coffin was opened. The ring
was of gold and, as is usual, had a jewel set in it, on which, in the
particular case mentioned, was a likeness of Christ and of St. Jerome.
The origin is no doubt to be found in the fact that in Roman times rings
were used as an insignia of rank.
The episcopal ring proper was only one of many other rings which a
bishop might wear as ornaments. It was borne on the third finger of the
right hand, above the second joint, and was usually kept in place with a
plain guard ring.
The Greeks and Romans used betrothal rings as pledges, but not wedding
rings. There is a good deal of interesting symbolism in connection with
rings, and it is said that the third finger of the left hand was chosen
because in old times it was thought that a vein came to that finger
direct from the heart. The practical point is that the finger in
question is not very much used, and on it the rings would not be so
liable to be worn out as on some of the others.
It is also supposed that the left hand was chosen as it was the less
important, and the wearing of a ring on this hand signified servitude.
An interesting form of early wedding rings was that called the gimmal
ring, which consisted of two links, each having a hand upon it, which
when brought together formed a single ring with the hands clasped
together. The ring was used at betrothal, and the man and woman each
kept a half until their wedding day. Perhaps the old custom of breaking
a coin upon engagement so that each of the contracting parties may have
half, is a relic of the same custom. In Ireland the peasantry still use
a ring, though a solid one, bearing clasped hands. We have possibly a
survival of the interesting posey rings in those which bear the word
Mizpah. This originally signified "a watch-tower," but it is now taken
as expressing the following sentiment: "God watch over thee and me when
we are apart." In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries the couplet
or line was, as in the case mentioned, put on the outside of the ring,
while later, in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the words were
engraved inside the ring. Occasionally we see a necktie held in place
with a ring, and this may well be connected with the custom of wearing
rings round the neck on a ribbon. It is recorded that the Duke of
Burgundy, who died in 1476, carried his signet ring in this way.
A custom is still sometimes followed which dates back to the sixteenth
century. It is that of choosing stones on account of the first letters
of their names and setting them in a ring in such an order that the
initials spell a word or words. For instance, the following--Ruby,
Emerald, Garnet, Amethyst, Ruby, and Diamond, indicate REGARD; while a
lover's exhortation is produced by such a combination as Lapis-lazuli,
Opal, Verdi-antique, Emerald, Malachite, Emerald.
Many of the Egyptian rings are made of blue pottery or faïence, and some
of them show highly ornamental and pierced work. The lotus flowers and
other figures upon them point to their being symbolical. Others bear the
sacred eye in the place where the seal would be in a signet ring, and
were probably used as amulets; but of ornaments worn on account of their
supposed virtues we will speak in a moment.
An ornament for the head, with which we will deal, is the crown. Mr.
Elworthy, in a paper to the British Association at Ipswich in 1895,
derived the crown from horns of honour. He maintained that the symbols
found on the head of the god Serapis were the elements from which were
formed the composite head-dress called the crown, into which horns
entered to a very great extent. The panache in heraldry is derived from
the horn, and it may be recalled that the deer-skin cloaks worn by the
Bronze Age people over the woven dresses that have been described on
pages 18 and 73, bore the horns of the animal from which they were
taken.
Though the comb used as an ornament in the hair is also worn on
the head, it is on a very much lower plane than the crown, and has
presumably a very much less exalted origin. Professor Boyd Dawkins[11]
has expressed the opinion that the old loom comb (see Fig. 106), such as
one found in the prehistoric lake dwellings which have been excavated
at Glastonbury, is the ancestor of the comb worn as a head-dress at the
present day (see Fig. 107). Combs were used to push down the weft on
a hand loom, the warp being kept taut by means of weights. The long
hair-combs used by the natives of the West Carolines are also of very
much the same shape as the old loom combs.
[Illustration: FIG. 106.--A loom comb found in the Glastonbury lake
dwellings (after Boyd Dawkins).]
[Illustration: FIG. 107.--A modern comb for the hair.]
Already in the safety-pin and scarf-pin we have had instances of
fastenings which at times are ornamental. The button and its relative
the stud afford another case in point. A stud is in reality a button
which appears on both sides of the stuff through which it is put. It
is obvious that it is most convenient to use when the material to be
fastened is of a stiff texture. At present we use studs in our starched
linen, and they are also adopted for fastening parts of leather
accoutrements, as they evidently were in the times of the later bronze
folk. This will be seen from Figure 108. One of these is adorned with
the triskele, which is allied to the swastika, and no doubt gave rise to
the three-legged charge on the coat of arms of the Isle of Man and of
Sicily.
[Illustration: FIG. 108.--Two studs of bronze, seen from above and from
the side. Later Bronze Age (after Worsaae).]
Buttons have from time to time done a great deal in the way of
decorating clothes, in addition to the part which they have played as
fastenings. We saw in an earlier chapter how many of our buttons, which
are now only ornamental, were once of use, and any history of costume
which goes into details will show how largely, superfluous buttons have
figured as ornaments. The older Quakers, of course, refused to wear any
buttons that were not needful, and brought down upon them the criticisms
of Cobbett, who referred to other things which they lacked besides
buttons. Although at the present time we may be inclined to appreciate
some of our purposeless buttons, on account of their historic
associations, we cannot say the same for many of those which now appear
on ladies' dresses. There is little sense in having on the front of a
bodice a series of buttons of which the first member is very large and
the last very small, with the others graduated in size between them,
while there seems to be no rhyme nor reason in many other individual
buttons or patches of them which are dotted here and there over the
costume. It is not as if these additions were really handsome. Not long
ago they looked as if the wearer had saved up all her old glove buttons,
and then had sewed them to her frock, for they were quite tiny and made
of brass. Now, though they are larger, they are merely covered with the
cloth of which the dress is made and are usually quite plain.
In some cases buttons show great beauty of design, and for this reason,
if not on account of the material of which they are made, may be
exceedingly valuable.
Bearing on the antiquity of buttons, we may say that they are found
among prehistoric remains in this country, and though they were foreign
to the ancient Egyptians, we learn (through the kindness of Professor
Flinders Petrie) that engraved buttons or seals were usual from the
sixth to the nineteenth dynasty, probably among foreign immigrants,
for the designs are never true Egyptian. In the present year, 1907,
Professor Petrie found a cornelian button with a copper shank which
belongs to the twelfth dynasty.
The use of flowers, whether artificial or natural, on the person, and
more particularly the wearing of feathers, also takes us back to the
primitive instinct of early or uncivilized man.
In our own country the custom of wearing feathers is an exceedingly
old one. The single upright specimens worn by the knights of the
fourteenth century have been characterized as being preposterous in
size. The plumes afterwards worn in helmets in the fifteenth and
sixteenth centuries were also immense. In 1606, according to Nichol's
"Progresses," on the occasion of the visit of Christian IV, some of
the knights "wore strange feathers of rich and great esteem which they
called Birdes of Paradice," and, unfortunately, ladies of the present
day wear them still. In the reign of Edward IV, we learn, only men,
practically speaking, wore feathers. They still survive in the army,
but otherwise in the twentieth century, with the exception of an
occasional small and modest instance amongst civilians, the wearing of
plumes is confined to ladies.
Many flowers and feathers are exceedingly beautiful, and from an
artistic point of view there seems little reason why we should allow
civilization to sweep them away. We are quiet and colourless in our
clothing, and if we are not careful the same element of dulness may
creep into our lives. At the same time, however, to wear feathers which
can only be obtained at the cost of cruelty or of depriving others of
the sight of beautiful birds, or, again, of bringing any species to
extinction, savours too much of barbarousness and thoughtlessness to be
in any way condoned.
Ostriches are reared for their feathers, and the plumage of many birds
that are killed for food is always at hand.
Men have much less opportunity now of showing any great individuality in
their dress than heretofore, but sometimes they may be known by always
wearing a buttonhole, even if that does not always consist of the same
kind of bloom. The language of flowers, though now seemingly considered
to be a dead letter, was hardly invented for nothing.
Of the brooch and its connection with the safety-pin we have already
spoken. In many ornaments we find remnants of religious ideas; for
instance, all brooches showing a crescent pattern or bearing the design
of a hand are connected with the old phallic worship. The cross, it may
be mentioned, is of much more ancient origin than Christianity, and is
connected intimately with the swastika or fylfot.
The locket and other pendant ornaments must in many, if not all, cases
be the descendants of amulets. The Arab women at the present day wear
a little metal box containing a written talisman. An ancient Egyptian
buried, with his mummies, many amulets and charms so that the soul, in
obedience to various precepts, might enter into complete union with Ra,
the solar god, and so accompany him on his journey round the world, and
secure his everlasting protection.
It is due to these ideas that we owe the beautifully modelled figures
of glazed pottery found in the Egyptian tombs. Many of them depict the
various gods and goddesses acknowledged in Egypt, and they are usually
pierced for attachment to the person. These were also carried on the
person during life, and children especially were accustomed to wear
them.
Old religious beliefs and superstitions that have not yet died out, have
elsewhere given rise to the wearing of charms, and it is interesting to
note that flint arrow-heads, under the name of "elves' arrows," were
made into pendants by races who had reached the metal stage of culture.
Precious stones, upon which a word may be said here, no doubt at first
were prized for their beauty alone, and then imagination gradually
endowed many of them with fictitious properties and virtues, though
doubtless the supposed attributes of some and the value and beauty of
others have kept many precious stones in favour until the present day.
Fashion is now particularly fickle as regards them, and craftsmen who
deal with gems, feel her decrees[12] more keenly perhaps than any
one else. Some half-dozen kinds of stones--such as diamonds, rubies,
emeralds, sapphires, opals, and turquoises--never go completely out of
fashion, but even among these, one or other becomes paramount from time
to time.