DESIGNS FOR JEWELLERY AND THE DECORATIVE ARTS
Holbein as a practical designer for craftsmen in the different branches
of art workmanship—Architectural designs—The “Holbein Gate” at
Whitehall—The Porch at Wilton—Drawing of a royal chimney-piece in the
British Museum—Ceilings in St. James’s Palace and the Matted Gallery,
Whitehall—Sculptured capitals in the More Chapel, Chelsea Church—Glass
window in Shelton Church, Norfolk—Number of his designs for jewellers,
goldsmiths, and armourers—The Jane Seymour Cup—Other designs for cups
in the Basel Museum—Sir Anthony Denny’s clock—Sword and dagger hilts
and sheaths—Henry VIII’s love of jewellery—Pendants—Book
covers—Monograms—Panels of ornament—Designs for circular medallions or
_enseignes_ in the British Museum and at Chatsworth and Basel—The
leading English and foreign jewellers in London—Holbein’s probable
connection with some of them.
Holbein was a master in all crafts, and Erasmus’ description of him in
his letter to Peter Ægidius,[612] not as painter, or sculptor, but
simply as a fine workman (_insignis artifex_), was a true one. His great
technical powers in every department of decorative design, his practical
knowledge of the various processes employed in the different branches of
art workmanship for which he supplied the craftsmen with patterns and
working drawings, show him to have been a real master of arts in every
sense of the word.
Footnote 612:
See Vol. i. p. 255.
“The artistic quality he possessed in the highest degree,” says Mr. M.
Digby Wyatt, “was, I consider, the intensity with which he realised
‘form.’ Able master as he was of delineation, what gives the stamp of
enduring truth to his work is the feeling of assurance his delineation
conveys to the mind of the spectator, that what he has drawn from life
was the _vera effigies_ of what he saw—that what he designed could never
be executed with equal propriety in any other way than as his drawing
defined it. There is never any uncertainty as to his intention or
meaning—what he says was, was—what he says should be, should be. In this
precise conception of pure form and power of conveying his own sense of
it to others, he stood upon the same platform as the great men to whose
universal genius I have already alluded—Albert Dürer and Leonardo da
Vinci. The artist who possesses in a high degree any such power as that
I have attempted to define, must of necessity have the requisite
aptitude for success in either painting, architecture, or sculpture, or
all three; since the power in question lies at the root of and is
indispensable to the satisfactory practice of either or all. Architects
will do well to look earnestly at such reliques as time has spared of
the genius of Dürer, Da Vinci, and especially of Hans Holbein, since, so
far as I know, they were the best makers of working drawings who ever
lived. Of whatever they drew they gave every characteristic, and their
slightest sketches never fail to mark essentials and to omit secondaries
of form and expression.”[613]
Footnote 613:
M. Digby Wyatt, “Foreign Artists employed in England,” &c.,
_Transactions of the Royal Institute of British Architects_, 1868, p.
229.
Horace Walpole, speaking of the rise of Renaissance architecture in
England—“Grecian art plaistered on Gothic,” he calls it—says that “the
beginning of reformation in building seems owing to Holbein. His porch
at Wilton, though purer than the works of his successors, is of this
bastard sort; but the ornaments and proportions are graceful and well
chosen. I have seen drawings of his, too, in the same kind. Where he
acquired this taste is difficult to say; probably it was adopted from
his acquaintance with his fellow-labourers at court.”[614] Though
there is no doubt that Holbein would have been a fine architect had
his inclination led him to practise that branch of art—the backgrounds
of his designs for painted glass afford ample proof of his aptitude
for design in the new architectural manner of the Italian
Renaissance—Walpole’s assertion cannot be accepted as the truth. Henry
VIII had at least two good Italian architects in his employment—first,
Girolamo da Treviso, and afterwards John of Padua, as well as
sculptors and modellers of architectural detail such as Benedetto da
Rovezzano and Giovanni da Maiano, and it is the influence of such
Italians as these that is to be most clearly discerned in the
buildings which were erected in England at this period. Holbein
produced a few designs of an architectural nature, but no building
exists of which it can be said that he was the architect.
Footnote 614:
Walpole, _Anecdotes_, ed. Wornum, i. 128.
[Sidenote: “HOLBEIN’S GATE” AT WHITEHALL]
The gateway which, according to tradition, he designed, and hence known
as “Holbein’s Gate,” was one of Henry VIII’s additions to Whitehall, and
connected the tennis court, the cock-pit, and the bowling-green with the
palace, besides providing the King with a gallery into the park, from
which he could witness the sports which took place there on special
occasions. It was built, according to Walcott, of stone mixed with small
squares of flint, and tesselated, and was “very neatly set.” J. T.
Smith, in his _Antiquities of Westminster_, describes it as being in the
Tudor style of architecture, with battlements and four lofty towers, the
whole enriched with _bustos_ on the north and south sides. Pennant, who
had himself seen the gate, says: “To Holbein was owing the most
beautiful gate at Whitehall, built with bricks of two colours, glazed
and disposed in a tesselated fashion. The top, as well as an elegant
tower on each side, were embattled. On each front were four busts, in
baked clay, which resisted to the last every attack of the weather.” An
excellent idea of its appearance is to be obtained from the engraving by
G. Vertue (1725) in the “Vetusta Monumenta.”
The gateway was pulled down in 1759 in order to widen Parliament Street.
The materials were obtained by the Duke of Cumberland, Ranger of Windsor
Park, with the intention of re-erecting the gate at the end of the Long
Walk. In the end, however, they were worked up in several buildings the
Duke built in the park. Two of the medallions were put in front of the
park lodges, but most of them appear to have been stolen when the
gateway was pulled down. Three of them eventually came into the
possession of a coachbuilder named Wright, who, in 1769, employed John
Flaxman, the sculptor, then a boy, to repair them. They were in
terra-cotta, coloured and gilt, and the ornaments included the rose and
crown and the King’s initials. Wright had them removed to Hatfield
Priory, Essex, where they were still to be seen in 1803, in which year
J. T. Smith went down there to copy them. They were larger than life,
and were said to be representations of Henry VII, Henry VIII when
sixteen, and Bishop Fisher. The two which decorated the front of the
park lodges were afterwards removed to Hampton Court, where, says Allan
Cunningham, “they are made to do duty as two of the Roman emperors
described by Hentzner in his _Travels_.” It seems probable that they
were the work of Giovanni da Maiano. In its design there is nothing to
suggest that Holbein was the architect of this famous gateway, and it is
much more probable that one of the Italians employed by the King was
responsible for it; and the legend which connects Holbein with it may
have arisen from the fact that he had rooms in Whitehall, possibly in
the very gateway to which his name has been so long attached. It
contained, says Dallaway, “several apartments, but the most remarkable
was the ‘little study, called the New Library,’ in which Holbein was
accustomed to employ himself in his art, and the courtiers to sit for
their portraits.”[615]
Footnote 615:
Dallaway, notes to Walpole’s _Anecdotes_, ed. Wornum, p. 133.
[Sidenote: THE PORCH AT WILTON]
Tradition has also long associated the name of Holbein with the Porch at
Wilton, the seat of the Earl of Pembroke. This porch or loggia is of no
great beauty, but it is free from any admixture of Gothic detail, and is
a good example of the early adaptation in England of Renaissance
architecture and ornamentation. It originally formed part of the house,
but in the nineteenth century, when some alterations to the buildings
were made, it was removed to the end of a walk in the gardens. The
dissolution of the monastery of St. Edith, on the site of which the
house stands, took place in 1539, and the abbey and its rich possessions
were granted by the King to Sir William Herbert shortly afterwards. In
the erection of his mansion the first Earl no doubt employed one of the
architects then attached to Henry’s court, for there is little in the
design of this small porch to support the tradition that the man he
selected was Holbein, rather than one of the Italians whose business it
was to invent and embellish such buildings. It is, indeed, simpler in
design and less lavish in ornamental detail than those architectural
backgrounds to his windows which Holbein produced when in Basel, based
upon recollections of his visit to Italy. The size of the porch may be
gauged by the entrance-way, which measures 8 feet in height. Round the
three outer doorways runs an interlaced design cut in low relief, which
still retains much of its original colour, the ground a rich red and the
ornament yellow, from which the original gilding has worn away. In the
corners a wreath of fruit and flowers encircles a small wyvern on a blue
background. Above the capitals of the fluted pillars, and just below the
projecting mouldings that divide the upper and lower portions of the
porch, is a broad band filled with a pattern of intersecting circles,
painted on a flat surface in light blue and yellow, lined and touched
with darker blue and red. Probably the whole surface was originally
painted and gilded. In the upper part the double pillars are repeated,
but with rich acanthus capitals. On the three faces over the openings
are panels with the Pembroke coat of arms, with a circular medallion on
each side, containing heads of men and women in relief, those on the
front being apparently busts of the Earl and his wife. The vigorous
heraldic design supported by the Talbot dogs and wyverns forms a novel
finish to the crown. The interior has a ribbed and vaulted ceiling, and
brackets and other details in bold relief, including a number of figures
on pedestals. It is, of course, possible that Holbein provided drawings
for the building of this porch, but there is no real evidence of this,
and the style of the design does not suggest his invention. It is much
more likely to have been due to one of Henry’s Italians, such as Antonio
Toto. “The character of the whole,” says Woltmann, “as is shown
especially in the crowning, is far too feeble for us to think of Holbein
as its architect; and, besides this, the costume of the half-length
figures, introduced in several of the medallions, shows that the work
was executed near the close of the sixteenth century.”[616] Wornum also
calls attention to the lateness of the costumes, and says of the porch
itself that it displays “neither taste nor knowledge of the style.” He
adds: “As for the Whitehall Gate, it was a mongrel of Gothic and
Renaissance quite unworthy of Holbein, and, I should imagine, an
impossible design for him; it was similar in general character to the
gate of St. James’s Palace, at the bottom of St. James’s Street.”[617]
Waagen says that the medallions contain busts of Edward VI and the
Pembroke family.[618]
Footnote 616:
Woltmann, Eng. trans., p. 419.
Footnote 617:
Wornum, pp. 359-60.
Footnote 618:
For drawings of this porch and its various details, and a description
of it as it now is, see an article in the _Art Journal_, 1897, pp.
45-8, written and illustrated by Mr. G. Fidler.
Among the architectural works by Holbein, which, if they were ever
carried out, cannot now be traced, must be placed his very admirable
design in the British Museum for a magnificent chimney-piece[619] for
one of Henry VIII’s palaces, in all probability Bridewell. It is
conceived in the finest Renaissance taste, and is covered with elaborate
and beautiful ornamentation. It is in two stages, each flanked by a pair
of fluted pillars carrying richly-decorated entablatures. The upper part
is divided into six divisions, the three higher ones containing the
royal arms and motto, and the king’s initials and badges, the portcullis
and fleur-de-lis. The central panel of the lower range represents a
battle of horsemen, and the two on either side contain circular
medallions with figures of Charity and Justice, charming compositions,
in which beauty of form is rendered with all that freedom and life-like
accuracy which characterise everything Holbein produced, even his most
hasty sketches. The lower part of the fireplace, over the open hearth,
on which the logs are shown burning across two fire-dogs, is filled with
a semicircular lunette, with a second scene of horsemen engaged in
furious combat, in the centre of which is a wreathed medallion with
figures of Esther and Ahasuerus. In the spandrels are smaller rounds
with the heads of a lady and a helmeted warrior. On the bases of the
pillars on either side are blank tablets for inscriptions, surrounded by
scroll-work. This splendid fireplace was evidently intended to occupy an
important position in one of the King’s buildings, as the frequent
occurrence of his initials and the presence of the royal coat of arms
and badges indicate. Peacham, in his _Compleat Gentleman_, when speaking
of Holbein, says that he has seen “of his owne draught with a penne, a
most curious chimney-peece K. _Henry_ had bespoke for his new built
pallace at _Bridewell_,” and there is no doubt that this is the drawing
to which he referred. It is in pen and ink, with Indian-ink wash and
slight colour, 21¼ in. × 16¾ in., and was formerly in the Arundel,[620]
Richardson, and Walpole collections. It is possible that Holbein made
similar designs for Nonsuch Palace. In this drawing Mr. Digby Wyatt
thought he saw the same designer as the one who produced the beautiful
woodwork of King’s College Chapel, Cambridge. This important work, he
says, “I cannot hesitate to believe must have been executed from his
designs.... In its way it is a model of Renaissance wood-carving,
revealing in every arabesque, and especially in the ornaments of the
lunettes, the peculiarities of classical form as they were first, if I
may use the expression, _translated_ from the Italian into German by
Albert Dürer, Altdorfer, Peter Vischer, and others, including
Holbein.”[621] The ceiling of the chapel of St. James’s Palace has also
been attributed to Holbein, though without any evidence but that of
style. This ceiling, says Wornum, “is a curious work, a panelled
Renaissance design, and tastefully coloured. It was repaired in 1836 by
Sir R. Smirke; the general ground is blue; the panellings are defined by
ribs of wood gilt; there are also ornaments in foliage, painted green;
and there are many coats of arms emblazoned in their proper colours. A
small running open ornament, cast in lead, enriches the under sides of
the ribs. The date 1540 occurs in several places, and various short
inscriptions are scattered about, as—Henricus Rex 8—H and A, for Henry
and Anne of Cleves, with a lover’s knot between them.”[622] His work in
connection with the internal decoration of Whitehall, including the
great fresco in the Privy Chamber and the ceiling in the Matted Gallery,
mentioned by Pepys, has been already described.[623]
Footnote 619:
British Museum Catalogue, 16 (vol. i. p. 330). Woltmann, 197.
Reproduced by His, Pls. 48-50; Davies, p. 224. The work was probably
carried out by Nicolas Bellin, “maker of his Majesty’s chimneys.”
Footnote 620:
Countess of Arundel’s inventory—“Disegno per Ornamento d’un Camino.”
Footnote 621:
M. Digby Wyatt, _Transactions Royal Institute of British Architects_,
1868, p. 233.
Footnote 622:
Wornum, p. 309, note. A view of the ceiling is given in Richardson’s
_Architectural Remains of the Reigns of Elizabeth and James I_, 1838,
Pl. 12.
Footnote 623:
See pp. 93-98 and 185-188.
[Sidenote: MORE CHAPEL IN CHELSEA CHURCH]
One more work of an architectural nature, attributed to Holbein by Mr.
F. M. Nichols in his paper, to which reference has been already made,
read before the Society of Antiquaries in March 1898, must be noted. In
the design of the two capitals[624] supporting the arch which divides
the chancel of old Chelsea Church from the More Chapel he “recognised at
once the characteristic invention of Holbein.” Each capital is “founded
upon the suggestion of a classical capital of the composite order. But
the antique model is treated with a freedom which would scarcely have
commended itself to the taste of an Italian artist.” They are capitals
of half columns, there being only a single arch between the chapel and
the chancel, and each capital, like the pillars, has five sides, as the
columns, if completed, would be octagonal. In the eastern capital the
volutes terminate in a projecting human head, and in each hollow of the
abacus above is inserted the winged head of a cherub. The acanthus-leaf
design which covers the lower part has various objects introduced among
the foliage, such as a shield with More’s arms and his crest of a Moor’s
head, a sword crossed with a sceptre, a mace, and two ornamented
tablets, one of which bears the date 1528 in Arabic numerals. The
western capital is of a somewhat similar design. Human heads take the
place of those of the cherubs, and the five sides below display various
religious emblems and ornaments, such as crossed candlesticks, a bundle
of tapers, a pail of holy water with sprinkling-brush, a clasped
prayer-book or missal, and a blank shield. These objects clearly have
reference to the religious ceremonies in which More was accustomed to
take part in the chapel, while the ornaments on the other capital may
have reference to his secular employments. The Holbeinesque character of
the designs, combined with the locality of Chelsea, the association with
Sir Thomas, and the date 1528, during the earlier part of which year
Holbein was still in England, are sufficient, in Mr. Nichols’ opinion,
to prove that Holbein was the designer. Mr. Beaver, in his _Memorials of
Chelsea_, in discussing the authorship of these capitals, rejects their
attribution to Holbein on the ground that they have an Italian
character, and may be more probably ascribed to one of the Italian
artists then employed in this country; and most architects who have made
a close study of this period are in agreement with him. “But,” says Mr.
Nichols, “there are abundant examples in Holbein’s work of his fondness
for architectural details of a Renaissance type.... An Italian architect
would scarcely have dealt so freely with the just proportions of the
classic capital upon which his design was founded. And I am inclined to
think that there was only one artist in England at that time who
combined the fertility of invention and the graceful mastery of detail
shown in these capitals with the boldness and freedom with which the
classic model is treated.”[625] Mr. Reginald Blomfield is of opinion
that these carvings are of French origin. He says: “The names of French
artists or workmen scarcely ever occur in the State Papers, and there
are few instances of Renaissance work in England which can be attributed
to them. The capitals to the arch between the More chantry and the
chancel of old Chelsea Church are an unusual instance. They closely
resemble French work of the early sixteenth century such as is found
along the banks of the Seine between Paris and Rouen. The monument in
the Oxenbrigge Chapel in Brede Church, Sussex, dated 1537, is another
rare example. It is of Caen stone, admirably carved, and was probably
made in France and shipped to the port of Rye, some nine miles distant
from Brede.”[626]
Footnote 624:
Reproduced from photographs in Mr. Nichols’ paper, _Proceedings Soc.
of Antiq._, second series, vol. xvii. No. 1 (March 1898), pp. 132-45.
Footnote 625:
See Nichols, _Proceedings Soc. of Antiq._, second series, vol. xvii.
No. 1, p. 143.
Footnote 626:
Blomfield, _History of Renaissance Art in England_, 1897, i. 18. In a
letter to the present writer, in 1901, Mr. Blomfield, after his
attention had been called to Mr. Nichols’ paper, states that he
adheres to his opinion that the Chelsea capitals are of French origin.
In the same paper Mr. Nichols also draws attention to a two-light
stained-glass window in the south chapel of the village church of
Shelton in Norfolk, which contains figures of Sir John Shelton and his
wife, Ann, daughter of Sir William Boleyn and aunt to Henry VIII’s
second queen, a lady well known about the court, who at one time had
charge of the Princesses Mary and Elizabeth. The work, in Mr. Nichols’
opinion, is evidently of foreign origin, being totally different from
the English glass of the same period within a few feet of it, and the
faces and figures being executed more in the manner of a picture than of
stained glass. The foreign origin of the work is shown, among other
indications, by the peculiar treatment of the heraldry, which has a
decidedly German character. Both figures are represented kneeling, Sir
John in a crimson robe lined with fur, and his dame in a contemporary
dress of crimson, with the English angular head-dress. The heads appear
to have been carefully drawn from good portrait-studies supplied to the
glazier. Calculating from the known age and date of Sir John Shelton’s
death and his appearance in the window, Mr. Nichols holds that these
portrait-studies must have been made about 1527, and he is of opinion
that Holbein’s was the hand which supplied some foreign glazier with the
designs for them. Neither of the heads, however, is to be found among
the Windsor series.
[Sidenote: HOLBEIN’S DESIGNS FOR JEWELLERS]
It is when we turn to Holbein’s work for jewellers and silversmiths that
the extraordinary fertility and happiness of his invention and the
beauty of his design are seen to the greatest advantage. Some hundreds
of his working drawings in this branch of art still exist, the greater
number of which are in the British Museum and at Basel, those in the
latter collection being for the most part contained in a sketch-book of
his later English period; indeed, most of the drawings which have
survived were produced in England, though he must have carried out a
considerable body of work of the same nature while in Basel. When he
came to London he was already a master of decorative design as applied
to most of the handicrafts, and his influence soon made itself felt
among a number of the craftsmen employed by Henry and his court. His
wonderful skill in the production of fine Renaissance ornamentation of
the purest taste, combined with a happy use of the human figure, set a
fashion in jewellery and personal ornament, and inspired those who
carried out his designs to a greater beauty and delicacy of workmanship.
The impetus he gave was in the direction of fresh models of beautiful
form in place of the mannerisms of Gothic art into which the decorative
crafts had sunk in this country at the period of his first arrival in
England. Even at so early an age he already possessed, in addition to
his skill in painting and drawing and book illustration, a thorough
knowledge of the rules of composition and design according to the best
Italian traditions, and was well versed in the use of the forms and
proportions of classical architecture and ornament, in addition to
possessing practical skill in the true application of design to the
various art crafts and industries.
[Illustration:
VOL. II., PLATE 41
QUEEN JANE SEYMOUR’S CUP
_Pen-and-ink drawing_
BRITISH MUSEUM
]
[Sidenote: DESIGNS FOR CUPS AND GOBLETS]
Holbein’s most elaborate design for goldsmiths’ work which has survived
is the one known as the Jane Seymour Cup, which was evidently made to
the order of the King at about the time of his marriage with that lady
in 1536. Two drawings for this exist in pen and ink, the more
highly-finished one, which is washed with colour and gold, being in the
Bodleian Library, Oxford,[627] and the other in the British Museum,[628]
the latter (Pl. 41), which is 17¾ in. × 9½ in., showing slight
modifications. The cup is a covered one, of a very beautiful shape, the
lines of which are not disguised or confused by the lavish ornamentation
with which it is covered. The body is set with four circular medallions
containing busts of “antique heads” in high relief, the one facing the
spectator being a woman with bared breast. Above them is a deep band of
exceptionally beautiful interlacing ornament of floriated design; and
below a smaller band with the initials of Henry and his Queen, entwined
with true-lovers’ knots, alternating with square-cut precious stones set
as flowers, and similar bands of precious stones at the base, and round
the rim of the cover. The stem is decorated with hanging pearls and
dolphins, cupids’ heads, and wreaths, and a narrow band containing the
motto of the Queen, “Bound to Obey and Serve,” which is repeated on the
cover. The latter is of very light and graceful design, with two
grotesque figures terminating in fish-tails blowing foliated trumpets,
and above them two cupids supporting a shield surmounted by the royal
crown. When carried out in gold the general effect must have been one of
extraordinary richness and beauty. That it was so completed is proved by
the fact that the cup itself was still in the royal collection at the
accession of Charles I in 1625. In an inventory of that date it is thus
described: “Item a faire standing Cupp of Goulde, garnished about the
cover with eleaven Dyamonds, and two poynted Dyamonds about the Cupp,
seaventeene Table Dyamonds and one Pearle Pendent uppon the Cupp, with
theis words BOVND TO OBEY AND SERVE, and H and I knitt together; in the
Topp of the Cover the Queenes Armes, an Queene Janes Armes houlden by
twoe Boyes under a Crowne Imperiall, weighing Threescore and five ounces
and a halfe.” No further traces of this masterpiece of the goldsmith’s
art exist. In spite of its beauty, it was most probably melted down,
like much of the royal plate, to meet the demands of an impoverished
exchequer. It is, indeed, a matter of the keenest regret that, in spite
of the hundreds of designs with which Holbein furnished the London
goldsmiths or the Basel armourers, not a single example of work so
carried out remains, and his achievements in this branch of art can only
be judged from his working drawings.
Footnote 627:
Woltmann, 222. Reproduced by His, Pl. xlv.
Footnote 628:
Brit. Mus. Catg., 18. Reproduced by Davies, p. 204; Ganz, _Hdz. von H.
H. dem Jüng._, Pl. 47.
[Illustration:
VOL. II., PLATE 42
HANS OF ANTWERP’S CUP
_Pen and wash drawing_
BASEL GALLERY
]
His designs for cups with covers, goblets, tankards, and other table
vessels, which from the richness of their ornament were evidently
intended for ceremonious occasions, are numerous. Some of them are only
known through Hollar’s etchings, while the drawings for the remainder
are for the most part in the Basel Gallery. The most interesting of them
is the standing cup and cover in the Basel sketch-book, which Holbein
designed for his friend Hans von Antwerp (Pl. 42),[629] which may have
been intended by the latter as an addition to the collection of plate in
the guild-hall of the Steelyard merchants. The left-hand half has been
drawn with the pen, from which the other half has been transferred by
damping and pressure. The broad, flat body has a deep band of ornament
containing nude figures blowing trumpets amid foliage, and a somewhat
similar band round the base, and on the crest of the cover is the nude
figure of Truth holding a book and a lighted torch. By the side is an
alternative design for this figure. Round the rim of the cover is
inscribed HANS VON ANT[WERPEN]. Another cup and cover, or table
ornament, with a wide stand, of which only the left side is shown,
though much more hasty in execution, is a more highly elaborated piece
of decoration, in which small nude standing figures are combined with
leafage and festoons.[630] On the side of the sheet are a number of
alternative sketches for various details. There is no need to describe
at length the other designs for covered cups in the Basel Gallery, one
of which is surmounted by the nude figure of a woman with right arm
extended and the left hand resting on a shield;[631] while a second
design has a figure of Justice, and on the base a medallion with the
bust of a lady in sixteenth-century costume.[632] Several studies for
tankards are to be found among Hollar’s etchings. These etchings
indicate the existence at one time of a third sketch-book or set of
designs, which, at the time when Hollar worked from it, was in the
possession of the Earl of Arundel, but has since disappeared.
Footnote 629:
Woltmann, 110 (104). Reproduced by His, Pl. xxvii. 1. See Vol. ii. p.
11.
Footnote 630:
Woltmann, 110 (99). Reproduced by His, Pl. xxxi. 2.
Footnote 631:
Woltmann, 109. Reproduced by His, Pl. xxvi. 2.
Footnote 632:
Woltmann, 110 (100). Reproduced by His, Pl. xxvi. 3; Ganz, _Hdz.
Schwz. Mstr._, i. 12.
[Illustration:
VOL. II., PLATE 43
SIR ANTHONY DENNY’S CLOCK
_Indian ink wash and pen drawing_
BRITISH MUSEUM
]
One of the most important of Holbein’s designs in the British Museum is
the large drawing in pen and ink and Indian-ink wash, of an astronomical
clock, which was formerly in the Mariette and Horace Walpole collections
(Pl. 43).[633] This clock, the design for which must have been one of
Holbein’s last undertakings, was presented to Henry VIII by Sir Anthony
Denny on New Year’s Day, 1544, shortly after the painter’s death. It
consists of an hour-glass enclosed within a case, the doors of which
stand open in the drawing, with a terminal figure of a satyr in the
centre, which recalls the very similar figure in the full-length woodcut
portrait of Erasmus. The hour-glass rests on a pedestal with legs,
supported at the corners with other terminal figures of satyrs, and
having a circular space in the centre left blank in the drawing. On the
decorated crown of the case stand two nude boys—for which there is an
alternative design in the British Museum on one of the leaves of the
Sloane sketch-book[634]—each pointing to a sundial of metal curved
outwards in an arc, for which their fingers serve as gnomon. On their
heads rests a mechanical clock with a sun-face in the centre of the dial
with fiery locks, one of which forms the pointer, the whole surmounted
by a crown. On the left side of the sheet is a compass, probably
intended to fit inside the clock-case. The drawing is inscribed, in Sir
Anthony Denny’s own handwriting: “Strena facta pro anthony deny
camerario regio quod in initio novi anni 1544 regi dedit.” He was then
King’s Chamberlain, and was knighted in the September of the year in
which he made his royal master this handsome gift. Other notes occur on
the drawing, here and there illegible, made evidently for the guidance
of the craftsman who carried out Holbein’s design, which is simpler,
though no less characteristic in style, than his drawing for Queen Jane
Seymour’s gold cup.
Footnote 633:
Brit. Mus. Catg., 17. Woltmann, 193. Reproduced by His, Pl. xlvii.;
Ganz, _Hdz. von H. H. dem Jüng._, Pl. 48.
Footnote 634:
Brit. Mus. Catg., 22 (_a_); Woltmann, 194. Reproduced by His, Pl.
xlvi.
[Sidenote: DESIGNS FOR SHEATHS AND HILTS]
His designs for sword and dagger hilts, sheaths, and various ornaments
for sword-belts and weapons are numerous, and again display his
extraordinary fertility of invention and his power of combining the
human figure with conventional floral and grotesque Renaissance ornament
into a decorative whole of the utmost elegance and beauty. One of the
finest, and most elaborate, is the large pen-and-wash drawing, 17⅞ in. ×
4⅝ in., in the British Museum, which was purchased in 1874 from the Earl
of Wicklow’s collection (Pl. 44).[635] The handle has spiral bands set
with stones, and numerous pearls are also set in the sheath, the hilt,
and the guard. These gems are held or supported by a number of nude
figures of women, old men, satyrs, and children amid foliage, each one
full of individual character, and drawn as only Holbein could draw them.
It was evidently intended for execution in chiselled gold or silver, and
produces an effect of great splendour. Only the right half of the sheath
is drawn, as the design was to be repeated on the other side. There is
an alternative design for parts of the hilt in the Basel Gallery.[636]
In the latter collection there is also a study for the sheath of a short
sword or cutlass in which a somewhat similar arrangement has been
carried out.[637] It is an offset taken by Holbein from a pen-and-ink
drawing. Another of the Basel designs is for a powder-flask, possibly to
be executed in bone or ivory, in which naked cupids are intermingled
with the foliage.[638]
Footnote 635:
Brit. Mus. Catg., 19. Reproduced by His, Pl. xxix.; Davies, p. 206.
Footnote 636:
Woltmann, 110 (97). Reproduced by His, Pl. xxx. 3.
Footnote 637:
Woltmann, 110 (28). Reproduced by His, Pl. xxxi. 1.
Footnote 638:
Reproduced by His, xxxi. 3.
There is a splendid design for a dagger sheath in the Bernburg Ducal
Library, which is divided into four compartments, the three upper ones
containing figures in settings of Renaissance architecture.[639] In the
uppermost is a group representing the Judgment of Paris. The youth, in
sixteenth-century costume, reclines with his back against a pillar with
Mercury bending over him and offering him the apple, the three goddesses
standing in front of him, and Cupid aiming at him with a bow and arrow.
The next division shows the deaths of Pyramus, a cleverly foreshortened
figure beneath a fountain, and Thisbe, who is stabbing herself by his
body. Below is Venus within a scalloped niche, with the long ass’s ears
of a jester, and a blindfolded cupid at her feet. The lowest compartment
contains scroll-work, the whole terminating in a cherub’s head within
volutes, with the initial H. at the bottom. There is a slighter
preliminary pen study for this sheath in the Basel Gallery, which shows
a number of differences (Pl. 45 (3)).[640] Another dagger sheath at
Basel is of particular interest because it is dated 1529,[641] and so
must have been drawn in Basel after Holbein’s return from his first
visit to England (Pl. 45 (1)). The design consists entirely of
conventional foliage, seen against a black background, as though to be
executed in chiselled open-work over some black material such as velvet,
or to be filled in with niello. There are other sheaths in which the
subject stands out against a plain black background, one, in Berlin,
with a Dance of Death,[642] of which there is a repetition at Basel (Pl.
46 (1)),[643] which appears to be an impression taken from the Berlin
drawing, strengthened and finished with Indian-ink, by some other hand
than Holbein’s; and another in the British Museum, with a Triumph of
Bellona,[644] of which only the sheath is by him. The hilt is obviously
the work of some other designer, in all probability, according to the
British Museum catalogue, Peter Flötner of Nuremberg. It was formerly in
the Beckford Collection, and consists of two pieces of paper joined
together, the hilt on one and the sheath on the other. Another sheath in
the Basel Gallery is decorated with a Roman Triumph (Pl. 46 (2)),[645]
slightly drawn, in the manner of Mantegna, recalling the frieze in the
1517 portrait of Benedikt von Hertenstein; and a second of a like
quality, representing Joshua’s Passage of the Jordan (Pl. 46 (3)).[646]
Other designs for the knobs and cross-pieces of dagger hilts will be
found in the British Museum (Pl. 47).
Footnote 639:
Woltmann, 124. Reproduced by Woltmann, i. p. 434.
Footnote 640:
Woltmann, 60. Reproduced by His, Pl. xxiii. 3; Ganz, _Hdz. von H. H.
dem Jüng._, Pl. 40.
Footnote 641:
Woltmann, 56. Reproduced by His, Pl. xxiii. 2; Knackfuss, fig. 108.
Footnote 642:
Woltmann, 123 (Bauakademie-Beuth-Schinkel Museum).
Footnote 643:
Woltmann, 57. Reproduced by His, Pl. xxi. 3; Knackfuss, fig. 109.
Footnote 644:
Brit. Mus. Catg., 39. Woltmann, 196. Reproduced by Davies, p. 206.
Footnote 645:
Woltmann, 58. Reproduced by His, Pl. xxi. 1; Ganz, _Hdz. Schwz.
Mstr._, i. 41 (_a_).
Footnote 646:
Woltmann, 59. Reproduced by Ganz, _Hdz. Schwz. Mstr._, i. 41 (_b_).
[Illustration:
VOL. II., PLATE 44
DESIGN FOR DAGGER HILT AND SHEATH
_Pen-and-ink and Indian-ink wash drawing_
BRITISH MUSEUM
]
* * * * *
[Illustration:
VOL. II., PLATE 45
DAGGER SHEATH WITH FOLIATED ORNAMENT
Dated 1529
UPRIGHT BAND OF ORNAMENT
Piper and Bears
DAGGER SHEATH WITH THE JUDGMENT OF PARIS
BASEL GALLERY
]
* * * * *
[Illustration:
VOL. II., PLATE 46
1. DAGGER SHEATH WITH A DANCE OF DEATH
2. DAGGER SHEATH WITH A ROMAN TRIUMPH
3. DAGGER SHEATH WITH JOSHUA’S PASSAGE OF THE JORDAN
BASEL GALLERY
]
* * * * *
[Illustration:
VOL. II., PLATE 47
DESIGNS FOR DAGGER HILTS
1. B.M. 20 (_b_) 3. B.M. 20 (_a_)
2. B.M. 20 (_c_)
4. B.M. 20 (_e_) 5. B.M. 20 (_d_)
BRITISH MUSEUM
]
[Sidenote: DESIGNS FOR PENDANTS AND JEWELS]
The sketch-book bequeathed to the British Museum by Sir Hans Sloane in
1753 contains nearly two hundred drawings, almost all of them designs
for jewellery and other small objects for personal use or adornment,
such as belt tassels and buckles, book covers with rings for attachment
to girdles, seals, portable sundials, pendants and brooches. Henry VIII
was lavish in his use of jewellery, and the fashion he set was slavishly
followed by his courtiers. Dresses were loaded with gems and elaborate
specimens of the goldsmith’s art, and this delight in finery was carried
to such an extent that it was a topic for jest and sarcasm among
foreigners. More than one contemporary account gives details of the
King’s costume and the many jewels which adorned it, and the long
inventories of his clothes and personal ornaments which still exist
prove that continental visitors to his court did not exaggerate in the
descriptions of his person which they sent home. French and Italian
jewellers paid frequent visits to London, and sold him many gems and
beautiful specimens of gold and silver work and other art objects, while
he regularly employed a large number of English and resident foreign
jewellers. Their services were most in demand about New Year’s Day, when
gifts were showered upon his Majesty, and he in return made many
presents, often of great value. There is no doubt that some of these
gifts were designed by Holbein, and that he served as designer to
several of the leading London goldsmiths. The British Museum Collection
contains many designs for pendants and for jewels which were suspended
round the neck by a ribbon or chain, this attachment being shown in a
number of the studies (Pl. 48). In most of them table diamonds and other
flat stones, together with pearls, are arranged in geometric patterns,
the interstices being filled with strap, scroll, or ribbon-work, or some
conventional floral design. Occasionally at the top of the jewel there
is a small grotesque or nude figure (Pl. 49). Many of the designs have a
black ground indicating niello or champlevé enamel. In some instances,
however, the blackening may have been done merely to indicate the design
more clearly to the craftsman who was to carry it out. Some of them are
coloured and are often touched with gold, so that it is possible to tell
the jewels and materials it was intended to use. Several pendants are in
the shape of a cross, and others heart-shaped; one of the latter is of
gold, with three pendant pearls, and two doves billing on a green bough
in enamel, with the motto, TVRTVRVM CONCORDIA (Pl. 48 (3)).[647] Another
shows the bust of a woman in Tudor dress holding between her hands a
large table-cut stone, across which is written, apparently in another
hand, “Well Laydi Well” (Pl. 49 (9)).[648] Several pendants are in the
form of monograms, a very fine one consisting of the letters R. and E.
in gold, with two rubies, an emerald, and a garnet at the four corners,
hung by a ribbon above and with three pearls below (Pl. 48 (7));[649]
many of the designs, in fact, show one or more pearls suspended in this
fashion. A jewel very similar to the last-named, formed of the sacred
monogram, is worn by Jane Seymour in her portrait at Vienna. Another
pendant monogram, with the initials H and I and an emerald in the centre
(Pl. 48 (6)), was evidently designed for the King and his third
Queen.[650] Several of them have mottoes, such as QVAM ACCIPERE DARE
MVLTO BEATIVS (Pl. 49 (7)),[651] or PRVDENTEMENT ET PAR COMPAS
INCONTINENT VIENDRAS,[652] the latter on a round device of two horns of
plenty, two dolphins and a pair of compasses with serpents writhing
round them (Pl. 50 (8)). Among the brooches there is one consisting of
three diamonds enwreathed by a scroll, on which is inscribed, MI LADI
PRINSIS, and the same motto occurs on a second.[653]
Footnote 647:
Brit. Mus. Catg., 27 (_b_). Woltmann, 199 (30). Reproduced by His, Pl.
xliii.
Footnote 648:
Brit. Mus. Catg., 28 (_a_). Reproduced by His, Pl. xli.
Footnote 649:
Brit. Mus. Catg., 27 (_e_). Reproduced by His, Pl. xliii.
Footnote 650:
Brit. Mus. Catg., 27 (_f_). Reproduced by His, Pl. xliii.
Footnote 651:
Brit. Mus. Catg., 28 (_f_). Reproduced by His, Pl. xli.
Footnote 652:
Brit. Mus. Catg., 29 (_i_). Reproduced by His, Pl. xl.
Footnote 653:
Brit. Mus. Catg., 30 (_a_ and _b_). Reproduced by His, Pl. xxxiv.
[Sidenote: DESIGNS FOR MEDALLIONS]
There are two designs for book bindings with rings for suspension, no
doubt covers for a prayer book. They are decorated with metal and enamel
in arabesque patterns, and one of them has the initials T.W. in the
centre, which are repeated in the corners, T.W. above and W.T.
below.[654] On the second the same initials are combined with an I,[655]
and in both cases it is probable that they were intended for Sir Thomas
Wyat. Two very similar designs appear to be for a jewelcase, or perhaps
a portable reliquary.[656] There is also an interesting drawing of a
seal with the coat of arms of Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, within
the garter and its motto, and around the whole a circular band inscribed
CAROLVS DVX SVFFYCIE PRO HONORE SVO RICHEMOND (Pl. 50 (4)).[657] Among
the remaining studies are various devices, coats of arms, including
Holbein’s own (Pl. 50 (6)), book clasps, bracelets, chains (Pl. 51 (3,
4, and 5)), collars, rings, a number of monograms (Pl. 48 (1)), some of
them containing as many as eleven letters, probably concealing a
complete name or the initials of the words of some device, grotesque
figures, winged warriors, nude women, and satyrs—the latter in some
cases certainly intended for the foot of a vase, box, or salt-cellar, or
some such table ware—together with a variety of ornaments for which the
exact purpose is not indicated. These last are largely fragments of
circular borders or segments of discs, decorated with arabesques on
enamel (Pl. 52). In some of these designs for enamel the pattern is in
white on a ground of blue and red or blue and black.
Footnote 654:
Brit. Mus. Catg., 31 (_b_). Woltmann, 191. Reproduced by His, Pl.
xliv.; Davies, p. 226.
Footnote 655:
Brit. Mus. Catg., 31 (_a_). Woltmann, 191. Reproduced by His, Pl.
xliv.; Davies, p. 226.
Footnote 656:
Brit. Mus. Catg., 31 (_c_ and _d_). Reproduced by His, Pl. xliv.;
Davies, p. 226.
Footnote 657:
Brit. Mus. Catg., 29 (_a_); Woltmann, 199 (44). Reproduced by His, Pl.
xl.
Among the designs at Basel is a very charming and humorous upright band
or panel, for goldsmith’s work (#Pl. 45 (2):pl-45),[658] in which eight
bears are shown climbing among the leaves of a vine accompanied by a
little man with a high peaked cap blowing a trumpet and beating a drum,
a design no doubt suggested to Holbein by the sight of some travelling
showman with a troupe of performing animals. Two other bands of ornament
in the Basel Gallery, in which the design is arranged horizontally,
represent in one case a humorous frieze with nude children,[659] and in
the other similar children with dogs hunting a hare, chasing one
another, and blowing horns (Pl. 51 (1 and 2))[660] The latter is a
carefully-finished drawing, in which the small figures are arranged with
great decorative effect among curved Renaissance ornamentation of
conventional floriated design. In the same collection there are several
elaborately decorated mirror-frames.
Footnote 658:
Woltmann, 54. Reproduced by His, Pl. xxii. 2; Knackfuss, fig. 111.
Footnote 659:
Woltmann, 61.
Footnote 660:
Woltmann, 55. Reproduced by His, Pl. xxv. 4; Knackfuss, fig. 110.
[Illustration:
VOL II., PLATE 48
DESIGNS FOR PENDANTS AND ORNAMENTS
1. B.M. 33 (_f_) 2. B.M. 33 (_g_)
3. B.M. 27 (_b_) 4. B.M. 27 (_d_) 5. B.M. 27 (_c_)
6. B.M. 27 (_f_) 7. B.M. 27 (_e_) 8. B.M. 27 (_a_)
BRITISH MUSEUM
]
* * * * *
[Illustration:
VOL. II., PLATE 49
DESIGNS FOR PENDANTS
1. B.M. 28 (_m_) 2. B.M. 28 (_g_) 3. B.M. 28 (_e_)
4. B.M. 28 (_k_) 5. B.M. 28 (_l_) 6. B.M. 28 (_i_)
7. B.M. 28 (_f_) 8. B.M. 28 (_d_) 9. B.M. 28 (_a_)
BRITISH MUSEUM
]
* * * * *
[Illustration:
VOL. II., PLATE 50
DESIGNS FOR MEDALLIONS OR ENSEIGNES
1. B.M. 35 (_d_) 2. B.M. 35 (_e_) 3. B.M. 35 (_c_)
4. B.M. 29 (_a_) 5. B.M. 29 (_l_) 6. B.M. 29 (_e_)
7. B.M. 29 (_b_) 8. B.M. 29 (_i_) 9. B.M. 29 (_g_)
BRITISH MUSEUM
]
There remains one particular form of personal ornament for which
Holbein’s services as designer were in constant demand. This was the
circular medallion or _enseigne_ worn on the hat, and also, in the case
of ladies, as a pendant at the end of a chain or ribbon, or in the shape
of a brooch fastened to the front of the dress. They usually bore some
figure-subject, the earlier examples being, as a rule, religious, with
figures or emblems of saints or scenes from the Scriptures. In course of
time subjects taken from classical story or mediæval legend were used,
and designs of a fanciful and allegorical nature. They became highly
popular forms of personal adornment, and French and Italian jewellers
brought numbers of them over to London. “Every one, from the highest
rank downwards,” says Mr. H. Clifford Smith, “had his personal _devise_
or _impresa_, or more often a series of them. It was worn as an
emblem—an ingenious expression of some conceit of the wearer, the
outcome of his peculiar frame of mind. It usually contained some obscure
meaning, the sense of which, half hidden and half revealed, was intended
to afford some play for the ingenuity of the observer. The love of the
time for expressing things by riddles led to the publication of sets of
emblems, like those of Alciatus, which had imitations in all directions.
Every one, in fact, tried his hand at these ‘toys of the
imagination.’”[661]
Footnote 661:
H. Clifford Smith, _Jewellery_, The Connoisseur’s Library, 1908, p.
223.
[Illustration:
VOL. II., PLATE 51
1. BAND OF ORNAMENT Children at Play
2. BAND OF ORNAMENT Children and Dogs hunting a Hare
BASEL GALLERY
3. DESIGN FOR A COLLAR WITH NYMPHS AND SATYRS (35^{_h_})
4. DESIGN FOR A CHAIN (35^{_f_})
5. DESIGN FOR A BRACELET OR COLLAR WITH DIAMONDS AND PEARLS (35^{_a_})
BRITISH MUSEUM
]
* * * * *
[Illustration:
VOL. II., PLATE 52 DESIGNS FOR ARABESQUE ENAMEL ORNAMENTS
BRITISH MUSEUM
]
That these hat-badges and brooches were worn by almost every one at
Henry’s court is shown by their representation in many of Holbein’s
pictures and in a large number of the Windsor drawings. In the latter,
unfortunately, the subjects are so slightly indicated that it is
impossible in most cases to make them out. They are to be found almost
invariably in the portraits of courtiers, the learned doctors and the
more soberly-attired German merchants not using them. Those worn by the
more wealthy were generally of gold, with the design in repoussé work,
frequently enamelled in colours, and often with precious stones set in
them. They were, as a rule, surrounded by a border or framework of
similar workmanship, sometimes set with jewels. Some of them were
fastened with a pin, like a brooch, others had loops or small holes
round the edges so that they could be sewn to the hat. Henry VIII
possessed a large collection of these ornaments. In a list dated 1526
there is mentioned, among many others, a crimson velvet bonnet, double
turfed, with a brooch of St. Michael set with diamonds, and a white rose
on one side and a red rose on the other; and another of a buttoned cap
of black velvet with a diamond and a brooch of Paris work of St. James.
Other hats had brooches representing “three men and a pearl in the back
of one of them”; a lady leading a brace of greyhounds; Venus and Cupids;
a lady holding a heart in her hand; another lady holding a crown;
another with a cameo head and a hanging pearl; “a man standing on a
faggot of fire”; “a handful of feathers”; “a gentleman in a lady’s lap”;
and St. George, Hercules, and so on.[662] In another list, two years
later in date, there is mentioned “a brooch with a gentlewoman luting,
with a scripture over it.”[663] Occasionally these _enseignes_ are
described as “valentines of goldsmith’s work.” Most of the King’s hats
were also lavishly decorated with gold aglets.
Footnote 662:
_C.L.P._, vol. iv. pt. i. 1907.
Footnote 663:
_C.L.P._, vol. iv. pt. ii. 5114. See vol. i. p. 357.
[Sidenote: DESIGNS FOR MEDALLIONS]
None of the jewels included in these earlier lists can have been
designed by Holbein; but after he became attached to the court he
appears to have been constantly employed in this way, and it became, no
doubt, the fashion to wear an _enseigne_ or medallion of his devising.
Among his drawings, in the British Museum, at Basel, and at Chatsworth,
there are a number of small circular designs with figure-subjects which
were evidently intended for such purposes. Unfortunately, only in one
single case has a design been found among his sketches which corresponds
with the gold-and-enamel badge worn by the sitter in one of his finished
pictures—the beautiful little drawing of “Lot and his Daughters” in the
British Museum (Pl. 50 (2)), which, as recently pointed out by Mr.
Lionel Cust, was the design for the medallion shown in the portrait of
Catherine Howard.[664] Very possibly some of the other _enseignes_ or
pendant roundels represented in his portraits were of his own devising,
but they are painted on so small a scale that the subjects upon them are
difficult to decipher.
Footnote 664:
See pp. 195-196.
The medallion of “Lot and his Daughters” forms one of a numerous series
of roundels, usually about 2½ in. in diameter, with subjects taken from
the Old Testament, the greater number of which are in the Basel
sketch-book. Among the latter are three different studies on one sheet
for the subject of Hagar and Ishmael in the Wilderness,[665] and a
fourth with Sarah giving Hagar to her husband;[666] the Sacrifice of
Cain and Abel;[667] Jacob embracing Rachel;[668] Jacob causing the stone
to be removed from the well for Rachel,[669] a very beautiful little
drawing with an interesting group of buildings in the background; David
and the Woman of Tekoah kneeling before him;[670] the Sacrifice of
Elijah, in which a jewel is inset to depict the fire on the altar;[671]
and Moses and the destruction of Korah and his company.[672] This last
is set within an open-work border with mermaids and cupids amid
scroll-work. Several other subjects from the Old Testament, such as
Judah and Tamar, and David playing before Saul, are to be found among
the engravings made by Wenceslaus Hollar from drawings by Holbein, now
lost, when in the Arundel Collection. Among the subjects from the New
Testament at Basel are the Baptism of Christ,[673] the Last
Judgment,[674] and the Repentant Magdalen.[675] Two designs of the
Archangel Michael slaying the Dragon are for the badge accompanying a
chain of the order of St. Michael, and may have been drawn from the
badge belonging to Dinteville.[676] Another represents the kneeling
figures of a young couple in English dress holding a cup with a heart
over it, evidently for “a valentine of goldsmith’s work.”[677] Among the
unknown subjects is one in which a nude man is standing upon a prostrate
knight, who with one hand shatters Cupid’s bow and with the other breaks
the fallen man’s sword;[678] one which repeats one of the subjects of
the Basel Town Hall wall-paintings—the blinding of Zaleucus;[679] and
others representing Juno and Callisto, Pomona, Leucothea on a dolphin,
and two Centaurs.[680]
Footnote 665:
Woltmann, 110 (37-43). Reproduced by Ganz, _Hdz. Schwz. Mstr._, ii. 5.
Footnote 666:
Woltmann, 110 (67). Reproduced by Ganz, _Hdz. von H. H. dem Jüng._,
Pl. 45.
Footnote 667:
Woltmann, 110 (71).
Footnote 668:
Woltmann, 110 (68).
Footnote 669:
Woltmann, 110 (76). Reproduced by Ganz, _Hdz. von H. H. dem Jüng._,
Pl. 45.
Footnote 670:
Woltmann, 110 (70).
Footnote 671:
Woltmann, 110 (63, 65).
Footnote 672:
Woltmann, 110 (77). Reproduced by Ganz, _Hdz. von H. H. dem Jüng._,
Pl. 42.
Footnote 673:
Woltmann, 110 (73).
Footnote 674:
Woltmann, 110 (75).
Footnote 675:
Woltmann, 110 (55, 56).
Footnote 676:
Woltmann, 110 (64).
Footnote 677:
Woltmann, 110 (88).
Footnote 678:
Woltmann, 110 (62).
Footnote 679:
Woltmann, 110 (61).
Footnote 680:
Woltmann, 110 (53, 74, 81, 83).
The subjects of similar medallions in the British Museum include one of
the Annunciation,[681] with the legend “ORIGO MVNDI MELIORIS” round it,
with a border of daisies in yellow and green enamel; one of the
Trinity,[682] with the legend “TRINITATIS GLORIA SATIABIMVR” (Pl. 50
(5)), and a border of roses in enamel, both of which are in pen and ink
washed with water-colours; and a third with a standing figure of St.
John the Baptist (Pl. 50 (3)).[683] Yet another depicts Time extracting
Truth from the Rock (Pl. 50 (1),[684] also with a Latin quotation round
the edge, and a second, with the motto, “PRVDENTEMENT ET PAR COMPAS
INCONTINENT VIENDRAS,” already described.[685] Further designs for
_enseignes_ contain such subjects as a sleeping boy lying under a
fountain, which jets its water upon him (Pl. 50 (9));[686] and a woman
in flames, with her father and mother lamenting over her, which is said
by Woltmann to represent Dido on the funeral pyre.[687] Among other
roundels, two contain Holbein’s own coat of arms (Pl. 50 (6)),[688] and
two others a device with a hand issuing from a cloud and resting on a
book which lies on a rock, and the Italian motto, “SERVAR’ VOGLIO QVEL
CHE HO GVIRATO” (Pl. 50 (7)).[689]
Footnote 681:
Brit. Mus. Catg., 29 (_k_). Woltmann, 199 (19). Reproduced by His, Pl.
xl.
Footnote 682:
Brit. Mus. Catg., 29 (_l_). Woltmann, 199 (13). Reproduced by His, Pl.
xl.
Footnote 683:
Brit. Mus. Catg., 35 (_c_).
Footnote 684:
Brit. Mus. Catg., 35 (_d_).
Footnote 685:
Brit. Mus. Catg., 29 (_i_). Reproduced by His, Pl. xl.
Footnote 686:
Brit. Mus. Catg., 29 (_g_). Reproduced by His, Pl. xl.
Footnote 687:
Brit. Mus. Catg., 29 (_h_). Woltmann, 199 (15). Reproduced by His, Pl.
xl.
Footnote 688:
Brit. Mus. Catg., 29 (_e_, _f_). Woltmann, 199 (42). Reproduced by
His, Pl. xl.
Footnote 689:
Brit. Mus. Catg., 29 (_b_, _c_). Woltmann, 199 (22). Reproduced by
His, Pl. xl.
At Chatsworth there is a sheet of drawings containing six _enseignes_
and one larger design which appears to be for some kind of a
sheath.[690] They are among the very finest examples of Holbein’s work
in this field, drawn with the greatest delicacy, and admirable in
composition. They represent (1) Hagar and Ishmael (Pl. 53 (2)), a
variant of the Basel design, in which the angel is flying towards Hagar,
who is seated under a tree, with the naked infant asleep under a bush,
and on a scroll the names “Hagar” and “Ismael”; (2) The Last Judgment
(Pl. 53 (3)), with Christ seated on clouds, and men and women kneeling
below, with figures struggling out of graves, and on one side the
yawning mouth of a dragon representing hell; (3) Icarus falling into the
sea (Pl. 53 (1)), his wings melted by the sun, and Phœbus driving his
chariot drawn by four winged horses through the sky; (4) Diana and
Actæon (Pl. 53 (5)), with four nude women standing in water on the left,
and Actæon on the bank already turning into a stag, with his dogs
attacking him, and others rushing through the wood in the background;
(5) three beehives on a wooden stand under a roof of rushes (Pl. 53
(6)), with Cupid, blindfolded, his bow on the ground, holding up his
hands as though stung by the bees which are flying round him, and below
a shield for a coat of arms, coloured blue, and the motto, “NOCET EMPTA
DOLORE VOLUPTA,” on a ribbon scroll, the whole surrounded by a band of
conventional scroll pattern; (6) a man in sixteenth-century costume,
with folded arms, asleep on the grass, under an oak tree on a rocky
piece of ground (Pl. 53 (7)). On the right is a large clock with hanging
weights, the hands pointing to twelve o’clock, and the figure of a small
child pulling the rope of the hammer which strikes the bell. Round the
trunk of the tree is a scroll with the legend “ASPETTO LA HORA” (I await
the hour). This is possibly the design for a watch-back. These
medallions are in pen and bistre, with touches of red in some of the
figures, and green here and there in trees or grass. The remaining
design seems to be for a short, broad sheath, but not, apparently, for a
weapon (Pl. 53 (4)). It represents the Rape of Helen, who stands on the
seashore, seized by the arms by two men, one wearing a helmet. A boat
containing figures—some of them waving their hands—is coming towards
them over the water. There are some buildings on the left, and at the
bottom, in the foreground, two nude figures with long spades digging in
the sand. The leg of one of these two figures projects beyond the
boundary-line of the sheath, showing that the design was not intended
for a flat ornament, but was to be continued on both sides of the
object.[691]
Footnote 690:
Woltmann, 131-7. All reproduced by S. Arthur Strong, in his _Drawings
by Old Masters at Chatsworth_, and in _Critical Studies and
Fragments_, Pl. xviii. p. 132; and in _Burlington Magazine_, vol. i.
No. iii., May 1903, frontispiece.
Footnote 691:
In the _Burlington Magazine_ (vol. i. No. iii., May 1903, p. 354) some
doubt is thrown upon the correctness of the attribution of the
Chatsworth roundels to Holbein, but in every touch his handiwork is
unmistakable.
[Illustration:
VOL. II., PLATE 53
DESIGNS FOR MEDALLIONS, ETC.
1. ICARUS 2. HAGAR AND ISHMAEL
3. THE LAST JUDGMENT 4. THE RAPE OF HELEN
5. DIANA AND ACTÆON 6. CUPID AND BEES
7. “I AWAIT THE HOUR”
Duke of Devonshire’s Collection
CHATSWORTH
]
The wide range of subject shown in these badges affords remarkable proof
of the fertility of Holbein’s invention. The great number of them, too,
indicates that he must have found regular and lucrative employment in
work for the London jewellers and goldsmiths. Possibly those which
remain formed only a small part of his total output. It has been
suggested, indeed, that none of the studies which have survived were
actually carried out as ornaments, but were rather designs either
rejected by the goldsmith or the patron for whom Holbein was working, or
were merely drawn by the artist as part of his stock-in-trade, from
which clients could make their selection.[692] This supposition is based
on the fact that the drawings have always been carefully preserved in
the original sketch-books, and bear no traces of having undergone the
rough usage of a goldsmith’s workshop. It does not seem at all probable,
however, that this was the case; it is, indeed, absurd to suppose that
these designs, several hundreds in number, and many of them of the
greatest beauty, could have been rejected as not good enough by those
for whom they were prepared. It has been seen that the design for the
medallion with the subject of Lot and his Daughters was actually carried
out for the adornment of Catherine Howard, to say nothing of those
larger drawings for the Jane Seymour Cup and the Denny astronomical
clock, which, in any case, cannot have been rejected designs. A much
simpler explanation is that Holbein kept his original designs by him for
future reference, and made other versions or copies, possibly sometimes
more elaborate in detail, for the use of the craftsmen who carried them
out.
Footnote 692:
See R. E. D. Sketchley, “Holbein as Goldsmith’s Designer,” in _Art
Journal_, June 1910, p. 175.
With the exception of the cup designed for Hans of Antwerp, which shows
that the two men worked together, it is impossible to connect Holbein’s
name directly with that of any one of the many goldsmiths who served the
court; but it is probable that he was employed by at least several of
them, and almost certainly by Cornelis Hayes. There were an
extraordinary number of such craftsmen, both native and foreign, in
London at that period, and many others, more particularly Frenchmen and
Italians, who paid periodical visits to England in order to sell works
of art and jewels to the King and the nobility.
[Sidenote: THE KING’S JEWELLERS]
The leading London jeweller of the earlier part of Henry’s reign was
Robert Amadas, of Lombard Street, an alderman, who in 1526 was appointed
Master of the Jewel House, a post which he held until his death in 1532,
when he was succeeded by Thomas Cromwell. Other leading goldsmiths were
Alderman Sir John Mundy, appointed justice to the merchants of the
Steelyard in 1525,[693] Alderman Robert Fenrother, Gerard Hughes, Robert
Lord, Nicholas and Henry Wooley, Thomas Trappes, William Holland, John
Twiselton, John van Utricke, and Henry Holtesweller. Large sums were
spent in New Year’s gifts, the King both giving and receiving many very
valuable presents. Thus in 1520 £1208, 17_s._ 6_d._ was paid to Amadas,
Twiselton, and Holland for supplying such gifts, and in 1521 no less
than £1679, 15_s._ 10_d._, while smaller sums were received by other
goldsmiths.[694] There was also constant demand for gold and silver
plate for presentation to foreign ambassadors and envoys, and for
christening presents for the children of the King’s favourites. Amadas
supplied many of these, as well as seals, jewels, spangles and other
ornaments for the jackets of the King’s Guards, silver bells, bosses,
and nails for his Majesty’s use, and many other articles which need not
be specified. Amadas was dead before Holbein became attached to the
court, and it is not at all likely that the latter designed for him. He
must, however, have been well acquainted with the Dutchman, Cornelis
Hayes, or Heyes, who became a naturalised Englishman in January
1523,[695] and was afterwards one of the most regularly employed of the
goldsmiths specially appointed to the King’s service. He received
licence to keep six alien apprentices and twelve journeymen,
notwithstanding the statute of 14 & 15 Hen. VIII.[696] He supplied many
jewels for Anne Boleyn, including “a diamond in a brooch of our Lady of
Boulogne,” and was employed, after Wolsey’s downfall, to remove the coat
of arms from the Cardinal’s plate and place thereon the royal arms
instead. He was also frequently occupied in repairing and altering the
royal jewels and badges. His possible co-operation with Holbein, in
1534, in connection with the making of a silver cradle and figures of
Adam and Eve has been already mentioned,[697] and also that the piece of
plate given to Holbein by the King in return for the portrait of Prince
Edward was made by Hayes.[698] Holbein and Hayes had a common friend in
Bourbon, the French poet, who stayed with the goldsmith when in London.
Footnote 693:
_C.L.P._, vol. iv. pt. i. 1298.
Footnote 694:
_C.L.P._, vol. iii. pt. ii. pp. 1539, 1544 (King’s Book of Payments).
Footnote 695:
_C.L.P._, vol. iii. pt. ii. 2807 (28).
Footnote 696:
In May 1531. _C.L.P._, vol. v. 278 (8).
Footnote 697:
See pp. 92-93.
Footnote 698:
See p. 164.
[Illustration:
VOL. II., PLATE 54
HENRY VIII GRANTING A CHARTER TO THE BARBER-SURGEONS’ COMPANY
BARBER-SURGEONS’ HALL, LONDON
]
Another goldsmith of importance was the Welshman Morgan Wolf, Fenwolf,
or Phillip, one of the sewers of the chamber, and keeper of the castle
and lordship of Abergavenny. Both he and the Englishman John Freeman
supplied many New Year’s gifts and other goldsmith’s work to Henry. The
latter was a protégé of Cromwell’s, who found him much employment in
connection with the dissolution of the monasteries, and granted him a
number of fat appointments. Morgan Wolf engraved the Great Seal of
England in 1543.[699] Among the foreign jewellers who came frequently to
England, and some of whom eventually settled here, were Alart Plumier,
or Plymmer, as he is called in the royal accounts, of Paris, who had
frequent dealings with the King; Jehan Lange, of the same city, who came
over as the representative of several Parisian houses; Hubert
Morett,[700] Christopher Herrault, Peter Romaynes, Guillim Ottener, John
Crispin, Latronet, and Martin Garrard, the latter obtaining a patent of
denization in 1535. To prolong the list of names would be only tedious,
for it is impossible to connect Holbein’s name definitely with any one
of them, though there is every probability that Cornelis Hayes and John
of Antwerp both worked in conjunction with him.
Footnote 699:
_C.L.P._, vol. xviii. pt. i. 463 (f. 87).
Footnote 700:
See p. 68.
------------------------------------------------------------------------