CHATS ON OLD
COPPER AND BRASS
BOOKS FOR COLLECTORS
_With Frontispieces and many Illustrations._
CHATS ON ENGLISH CHINA.
By Arthur Hayden.
CHATS ON OLD FURNITURE.
By Arthur Hayden.
CHATS ON OLD PRINTS.
(How to collect and value Old Engravings.)
By Arthur Hayden.
CHATS ON COSTUME.
By G. Woolliscroft Rhead.
CHATS ON OLD LACE AND NEEDLEWORK.
By E. L. Lowes.
CHATS ON ORIENTAL CHINA.
By J. F. Blacker.
CHATS ON OLD MINIATURES.
By J. J. Foster, F.S.A.
CHATS ON ENGLISH EARTHENWARE.
(Companion volume to "Chats on English China.")
By Arthur Hayden.
CHATS ON AUTOGRAPHS.
By A. M. Broadley.
CHATS ON PEWTER.
By H. J. L. I. Massé, M.A.
CHATS ON POSTAGE STAMPS.
By Fred. J. Melville.
CHATS ON OLD JEWELLERY AND TRINKETS.
By MacIver Percival.
CHATS ON COTTAGE AND FARMHOUSE FURNITURE.
(Companion volume to "Chats on Old Furniture.")
By Arthur Hayden.
CHATS ON OLD COINS.
By Fred. W. Burgess.
CHATS ON OLD COPPER AND BRASS.
By Fred. W. Burgess.
CHATS ON HOUSEHOLD CURIOS.
By Fred. W. Burgess.
CHATS ON OLD SILVER.
By Arthur Hayden.
CHATS ON JAPANESE PRINTS.
By Arthur Davison Ficke.
CHATS ON MILITARY CURIOS.
By Stanley C. Johnson.
CHATS ON OLD CLOCKS AND WATCHES.
By Arthur Hayden.
CHATS ON ROYAL COPENHAGEN PORCELAIN.
By Arthur Hayden.
CHATS ON OLD SHEFFIELD PLATE.
(Companion volume to "Chats on Old Silver.")
By Arthur Hayden.
CHATS ON OLD ENGLISH DRAWINGS.
By Randall Davies.
CHATS ON WEDGWOOD WARE.
By Harry Barnard.
BYE PATHS OF CURIO COLLECTING.
By Arthur Hayden.
With Frontispiece and 72 Full page Illustrations.
LONDON: T. FISHER UNWIN, LTD.
NEW YORK: F. A. STOKES COMPANY.
[Illustration: FIG. 1.--FINE COPPER EWER.
(_In the Victoria and Albert Museum, South Kensington._)]
CHATS ON OLD
COPPER AND BRASS
BY
FRED. W. BURGESS
AUTHOR OF "CHATS ON OLD COINS," ETC.
WITH FRONTISPIECE AND ILLUSTRATIONS FROM
PHOTOGRAPHS AND WASH DRAWINGS
T. FISHER UNWIN LTD
LONDON: ADELPHI TERRACE
_First Published 1914_
_Second Impression 1925_
(_All rights reserved_)
PREFACE
The collection of old metal may at first sight appear a somewhat
unattractive hobby; a moment's reflection, however, brings to mind the
wonderful art treasures of metal in our museums, gathered together from
many parts of the world; not necessarily of the precious metals, for
many of the most cunningly contrived objects of antiquarian research
are of copper in one or more of its numerous forms of alloy.
Copper is the basis of so many alloys of which metallic curios are
formed, that in its combination with other metals it gives the
collector an almost inexhaustible field of research. It was the metal
of the ancients, which in combination with tin gave them that useful
metal with which to fashion weapons of offence and defence, and later,
as the Bronze Age advanced, utilitarian objects of household economy.
Collectors find the Age of Metals unfolding as they arrange their
collections with orderly sequence, and thereby trace the progress of
artificers throughout the periods which have intervened since the first
bronze celt was moulded to the present day. Although this is the Age
of Iron and the numerous materials which metallurgical research and
scientific skill have produced, copper, and brass in its varied forms,
are still prominent, and the almost inexhaustible supply of copper with
which Nature has provided us is still being drawn from.
In this work the curios and artistic objects of use and ornament which
have come down to us, contributed by craftsmen of many ages and of many
countries, are passed in review. The object of so doing has been to
awaken still greater interest--if that is possible--in the collection
of copper and brass, and to preserve to futurity metal objects from
which the utilitarian purpose of their manufacture is fast waning--if
not already gone.
Although the rarest and most costly objects are to be found in museums
and the galleries of the wealthy, there are many still in the homes of
the people, and there are many who seek and obtain pleasure and delight
from the collection of the curious and the beautiful who cannot afford
the unique specimens which are so costly. To such this book should
appeal, for the descriptions and the illustrations have been drawn from
many sources, and their selection has by no means been confined to the
rarer types.
The illustrations are reproductions of photographs which have been
willingly furnished by owners of collections and museum authorities.
A large number, too, have been specially drawn for this work by my
daughter, Miss Ethel Burgess.
I gratefully acknowledge the kindness of those who have allowed me
to make use of objects in their collections. I would especially bear
testimony to the courtesy of the Directors of the British Museum who
have authorized their printers, The University Press, Oxford, to
furnish blocks of some of the most interesting metal objects in the
Galleries. The Director of the Victoria and Albert Museum has granted
facilities for the reproduction of some of the beautiful metal-work at
South Kensington.
My thanks are especially due to Mr. Guy Laking, M.V.O., F.S.A.,
who, although in the midst of the removal of the London Museum from
Kensington Palace to its new home at Stafford House, has kindly
supplied several photographs of scarce metal objects. Special drawings
have been made of several representative objects in the Guildhall
Museum, through the courtesy of the Curator.
Permission has been granted to reproduce photographs and illustrations
of objects in several of the more important provincial Museums, and in
several instances some very interesting information has been given by
the Curators. Among others I should like to give the names of Mr. F. R.
Rowley, Curator of the Royal Albert Memorial Museum at Exeter; Mr. T.
Sheppard, F.G.S., F.S.A.Scot., Curator of the Municipal Museum, Hull;
Dr. Hoyle, Director of the National Museum of Wales, Cardiff; Mr. J.
A. Charlton Deas, F.R.Hist.S., Director of the Museum and Art Gallery,
Sunderland; Mr. Thos. Midgley, F.R.Met.S., Chadwick Museum, Bolton; Mr.
R. Rathbun, Assistant Secretary of the United States National Museum,
Washington; and the Town Clerk of Winchester.
I am further indebted to Messrs. Glendining & Co., Ltd., who have given
me permission to reproduce some beautiful Oriental metal-work which
has recently passed under the hammer in their London Galleries; also
to Messrs. Herbert Benham & Co., for a drawing of the copper ball and
cross of St. Paul's; and to Mr. Amor, of St. James's, S.W., The Edward
Gallery, of King Street, S.W., and Mr. Chas. Wayte, of Edenbridge, who
have given me photographs of rare pieces of art metal-work.
I have endeavoured to refrain from technicalities or dry descriptions;
but some of the chapters have necessarily a touch of the workshop and
the foundry about them. I can assure my readers, however, that the
"metallic ring" is inseparable from copper and brass, and that the
pleasures of possession will be added to by the better understanding it
will impart to those who collect and admire similar objects to those
referred to in this work.
FRED. W. BURGESS.
LONDON, 1914.
CONTENTS
PAGE
PREFACE 7
GLOSSARY 23
CHAPTER I
THE METAL AND ITS ALLOYS 35
Ancient bronze--The bronzes of Greece, Rome, and Eastern
nations--Copper for enamels--The brass of commerce--Bell
metal--The sources of copper--The making of brass--Copper
as an alloy--The characteristics of metal.