_This initial interchanges frequently with_ gu:—_as ward_, guard;
_wicket_, guichet, _&c._
=Wafters=, O. E. Blunted swords for exercise.
=Wain=, O. E. A wagon.
=Wainscot=, Arch, (from the German _Wand-Schotten_, wall-covering),
wooden panelling used to line the inner walls.
=Waist.= The central part of the upper deck of a ship, between the fore
and main masts.
=Wait.= An old English wind instrument resembling the SHAWM (q.v.). It
was used by the watchmen or _waights_, to proclaim the time of night.
=Waka-tana.= The war canoe of New Zealand; some of these are fifty feet
long, by four feet beam, with a high stern-post. This and the carved
prow are both richly decorated with a profusion of feathers.
(_Simmonds._)
=Wakes= (A.S. _wæcan_). Originally vigils or eves of Saints’ days. The
_late-wake_ of the Highlanders; the _lyke-wake_ of the early English,
and the _wake_ of the Irish are the remains of the ancient northern
custom of watching the body of a deceased friend before burial. (Consult
_Brand’s Popular Antiquities_.)
=Wales.= The strong side planks of the body of a ship, running fore and
aft.
=Walking-sticks.= (See BOURDON.) (See also Fig. 91.) Fairholt (_Costume
in England_) gives the following quotation from an inventory of
Greenwich Palace, _temp._ Henry VIII.
“A cane, garnished with sylver and gilte, with astronomie upon it. A
cane, garnished with golde, having a perfume in the toppe, under that
a diall, with a pair of twitchers, and a pair of compasses of golde,
and a foot rule of golde, a knife and a file the haft of golde, with a
whetstone tipped with golde.”
Under Charles II. bunches of ribands on the tops of canes were
fashionable.
=Wall Painting.= The GREEK temples were brilliantly decorated with
painting and gilding internally. “The method has been investigated and
is described to be the colouring of the body of the wall of a pale
yellow or golden colour, the triglyphs and mutules blue, the metopes and
the tympanum red, and some other portions of the building green, and
varying these tints or using them of greater or less intensity as the
judgment of the artist dictated.” (_Hittorf_, _Essay on the Polychromy
of Greek Architecture_.) The colouring of the EGYPTIAN bas-reliefs is
familiar. The buildings of HERCULANEUM and POMPEII were decorated with
_frescoes_ and _mosaics_, in the Augustan age of Roman art. In the
Middle Ages the custom was continued of decorating with colour the
architecture of sacred edifices; and many old palaces and mansions in
England show relics of the practice of decorating the walls with
tempera, especially under Henry III. (See FRESCOES, STEREOCHROMY,
WATER-WORK, &c.)
[Illustration: Fig. 696. Wallet—Badge of the Gueux.]
=Wallet.= The badge of the Gueux; two hands clasped through the handles
of a beggar’s wallet. (See GUEUX.)
=Wall-plates=, in building. Horizontal timbers, called _plates_,
_properly_ those at the top of a building under the roof.
=Walled=, =Muraillée=, Her. Made to represent brick or stone-work.
=Walling Wax.= The composition with which etchers make a _wall_ round
the plate upon which they are proceeding to pour the acid. (See
ENGRAVING.)
=Walnut=, Chr. In Christian iconography the walnut is the symbol of
perfection. (See NUT.)
=Walnut Oil.= (See NUT OIL.)
=Wambais= (Saxon _wambe_, the belly). A stuffing of wool in the quilted
tunic or GAMBESON. The best illustration is the conventional figure of
Punch.
=Wampum=, North American Indian. Strings of shells worn as belts and
used for money.
=Wang=, Chinese. Yellow. The sacred colour.
=Wapentake=, O. E. A hundred, or district. The term is derived from
_weapon-taking_ (or counting).
=Wapinshaw=, O. E. A review of weapons.
“Et fiat visus armorum, quod dicitur Wapinschaw.”
(_Scotch Statute._)
=Wappenrock=, Germ. A military cloak, with armorial charges. (See
TABARD.)
=Ward=, of a castle. The BAILEY or courtyard. (See BALLIUM.)
=Warnbrace.= (See VAUNT-BRACE.)
=Wassail= or =Wassel=, O. E. (Saxon _waes hael_, “to your health.”), (1)
A drinking-bout generally. (2) A drink made of roasted apples.
=Watchet=, O. E. Pale blue.
“The saphyre stone is of a _watchet_ blue.”
(_Barnfield’s Affectionate Shepherd_, 1594.)
=Water=, of a diamond; its lustre.
=Water-colour Painting= was gradually raised from the hard dry style of
the last century to its present brilliancy, by the efforts of Nicholson,
Copley Fielding, Sandby, Varley, the great Turner, Pyne, Cattermole,
Prout, &c., within the present century. The Water Colour Society’s
Exhibition was begun in 1805. (_Haydn’s Dict. of Dates._)
=Water-Colours.= The principal are _lemon yellow_, _gamboge_, _Indian
yellow_, _yellow ochre_, _chrome_, _vermilion_, _light red_, _Indian
red_, _rose madder_, _carmine_, _purple madder_, _Vandyke-brown_,
_sepia_, _brown pink_, _sap-green_, _emerald green_, _indigo_,
_ultramarine_, _smalt_, and _cobalt_.
=Water-gilding.= Gilding with a thin coat of amalgam.
=Water-mark=, on paper. A device resembling a transparency in the
texture, which is printed during the process of manufacture, by means of
wire or brass plates on the mould of the paper machine.
=Water-scape.= A fanciful term sometimes used to distinguish a sea view
from a _landscape_.
=Water-table=, Arch. A horizontal set-off in a wall, sloped to throw off
the wet.
=Water-work=, O. E. Wall painting in distemper.
“A pretty slight drollery, or the German hunting in _waterwork_, is
worth a thousand of these bed-hangings, and these fly-bitten
tapestries.” (_Shakespeare._)
=Watered= (=silk=) having a shaded or diversified surface; produced by
placing two pieces of silk lengthways between metallic rollers, where
they are subjected to different degrees of pressure.
=Watteau Pictures.= Idyllic scenes of imaginary Arcadian enjoyment, and
a certain fanciful style of costume characteristic of Watteau’s
pictures, called in French “scènes de la vie galante.”
=Wattle.= An Australian name for various woods of the Acacia species.
=Wattled=, Her. Having a comb and gills, as a cock.
=Wayn-cloutt=, O. E. A waggon-cloth.
=Wax.= Bleached bees’-wax is the vehicle in _encaustic_ painting.
=Wax painting.= (See ENCAUSTIC PAINTING.)
=Weathercock.= (See FANE.)
=Weathering=, Arch. The slope of flat surfaces, for drainage.
=Webbing Tape.= A kind of broad tape.
[Illustration: Fig. 697. Wedgwood Vase.]
=Wedgwood Ware.= The manufacture of Josiah Wedgwood begun in 1759, at
Etruria, in Staffordshire. A fine white, cream-coloured ware, having a
clear and hard body, with more compact glaze and more perfect substance
than the majolica. Many of the groups on Wedgwood vases and plaques were
designed by Flaxman. (Fig. 697.)
=Weepers=, O. E. Statues in niches round tombs, representing the
mourners.
=Welding.= The union of two pieces of metal together, by heat and
pressure.
=Welkin.= The sky; hence _welkin eyes_, blue eyes. (_Shakspeare._)
=Well-staircase.= A spiral staircase. (See NEWEL.)
=Welsh Hook.= A mediæval weapon, a kind of bill with a _hook_ at the
back, used to drag a horse-soldier from his saddle.
=Welt.= A joint or fold in a texture. The term is variously explained as
synonymous with _guard_, a facing to a gown; or _purfles_, i. e.
fringes. (Consult _Fairholt_, s.v.)
=Welted Brocades= and =Quilts=. Articles with folds in the texture;
lined and ribbed.
=Weued=, A.S. The altar.
“In chvrche to vore the _heye weued_ Constantyn hym sleu.”
(_Robert of Gloucester._)
=Whalebone= is the commercial name for the _baleen_ plates found in the
mouth of the whale, of which there are about 300 in each animal.
=What-not.= A modern piece of furniture, a light side-board or stand.
=Wheel.= In Christian art, the attribute of St. Catherine, in allusion
to the manner of her martyrdom.
=Wheel=, =Catherine Wheel=. Represented in heraldry with curved spikes
projecting from its rim.
=Wheel Engraving upon Glass.= (See GLASS.)
=Wheel-lock.= A crude invention in gunnery, of the 16th century, for
winding up the trigger of a gun with a hand-winch.
=Whinyard=, O. E. A sword.
=Whipping-tops= are represented in Anglo-Saxon manuscripts; the thongs
of the whips are _knotted_, which would add to the difficulty of the
game.
[Illustration: Fig. 698. Falling “Whisk.”]
=Whisk=, O. E. A _ruff_ or _band_.
“A woman’s _nec whisk_ is used both plain and laced, and is called of
most a gorget or _falling whisk_, because it falleth about the
shoulders.” (_Randle Holme._)
=Whisket=, O. E. A basket. S.
=Whistle.= Prehistoric specimens of whistles made of bones have been
disinterred among relics of the Stone Age. The Mexicans in antiquity
made curiously grotesque whistles of baked clay representing caricatures
of the human face and figure, birds, beasts, and flowers. (Consult
_Musical Instruments by Carl Engel_.)
=White=, in Christian art represented by the diamond or silver, was the
emblem of light, religious purity, innocence, virginity, faith, joy, and
life. (_J._)
=White= is in theory the result of the union of the three primary
colours. The principal white pigments are _white lead_, _Lake white_,
_Krems white_, _zinc white_, _constant white_ (q.v.). (See CARBONATE OF
LEAD, OXIDE OF ZINC, &c.)
=White Copper.= German silver.
=White Lead= is the white pigment universally used for oil painting; it
is considered a good dryer, and is used to render oil more drying.
(Consult _Merrifield’s Treatise_, &c., vol. i. cl.). (See CARBONATE OF
LEAD.)
=White Vitriol.= SULPHATE OF ZINC (q.v.).
=Whiting=, as used for wall painting, &c., is pure chalk, cleansed and
ground with water.
=Whittle=, O. E. A pocket clasp knife. (_Shakspeare._)
=Whole and Halves.= Proportional compasses used for the enlargement or
reduction of drawings.
=Whorler.= The wheel of a potter’s lathe.
=Wicker-work.= Texture of osiers, or small twigs; basket-work.
=Wicket= (Fr. _Guichet_). A small door perforated in a larger one.
=Wigs= (contraction of Periwigs, from Fr. _perruque_) were brought in
from France in the 16th century. They took their greatest proportions in
the time of Louis XIV. In the early 18th century also they are described
as of immense size, “large enough to have loaded a camel.” And of this
date is the celebrated wig-maker’s sign, in which Absalom was
represented hanging by the hair in a tree, and King David weeping
beneath, exclaiming,—
“O Absalom! O Absalom!
O Absalom, my son!
If thou hadst worn a _periwig_
Thou hadst not been undone.”
Smaller varieties were called _perukes_ or travelling-wigs; and the
_campaign wig_, which “hath knots or _bobs_, a _dildo_ on each side with
a curled forehead.” These _dildos_ or _pole-locks_ were the origin of
the pigtail. (See HAIR.)
=Wilton Carpets= are a kind of Brussels carpeting, with the yarns cut.
=Wimple=, O. E. A nun’s hood, covering the neck and shoulders, adopted
by ladies in general, _temp._ Henry VII.
=Winchester Bushel.= An ancient standard measure of capacity preserved
in the Town Hall at Winchester. It dates from the reign of King Edgar.
It is 18½ inches wide, and 8 inches deep.
=Windows.= The earliest of stained glass in Italy were painted by order
of Pope Leo III., at Rome, in 795. The windows of some churches were
closed with valves or shutters of stone, like those of the Duomo of
Torcello, erected in 1008. Others were filled with slabs of transparent
talc or alabaster. The earliest painted glass in York Cathedral is of A.
D. 1200. The use of glass windows in private houses was not general
until the 14th century. During the Middle Ages glass windows were in
movable wooden frames, and were taken away by families when they
travelled. (Consult _Hallam’s Middle Ages_, vol. iii.) Substitutes for
glass were thin parchment or linen, painted and varnished, or even
paper. (_Le Vieil_, _de la Peinture sur Verre_.) These paper windows may
still be seen in villages in the north of Italy.
=Winds= (Latin, _Venti_). The impersonations of the _winds_ were held in
high veneration, especially by the Athenians. The four principal were
Eurus or Vulturnus, the east or south-east wind; Auster, the south wind,
the Notus of the Greeks, pernicious to plants and men; Zephyrus, the son
of Aurora and father of Carpus (fruit), a genial, health-bearing breeze,
called also ζωηφόρος, life-bearing; and Boreas, the strong north wind,
usually represented with the feet of a serpent, his wings dripping with
golden dewdrops, and the train of his garment sweeping along the ground.
Inferior _winds_ were Solanus, in Greek Apeliotes, answering to the
east, and represented as a young man holding fruit in his lap; Africus,
south-west, represented with black wings and melancholy countenance;
Corus, north-west, drives clouds of snow before him; Aquilo, north-east
by north, equally dreadful in appearance, from _aquila_, an eagle, type
of swiftness and impetuosity.
=Windsor Chairs.= A plain kind of strong wooden chairs, so called.
=Wings=, from time immemorial, have been the Oriental and Egyptian
symbol of power as well as of swiftness; of the spiritual and aerial, in
contradistinction to the human and the earthly; also in Chaldaic and
Babylonian remains, in the Lycian and Nineveh marbles, and on the gems
and other relics of the Gnostics. In Etruscan art all their divinities
are winged.
=Wings=, in theatres. The shifting side-scenes on the stage. In costume,
the projections on the shoulders of a _doublet_. (See Fig. 91.)
=Wise Men=, Chr. The MAGI. (See EPIPHANY.)
=Wisp=, O. E. A broom.
=Woad.= A dye plant—_Isatis tinctoria_.
=Wolf.= In Egypt was worshipped at Lycopolis; it figures frequently
among hieroglyphic signs. The Greeks had consecrated the wolf to Apollo,
the Romans to Mars. In Christian (especially Spanish) art, an attribute
of St. Vincent, in allusion to the legend that wild beasts were driven
away from his body after his martyrdom, by a raven.
[Illustration: Fig. 699. Carved-wood mirror frame, belonging to Lord
Stafford at Costessy.]
=Wood-carving.= One of the most ancient manifestations of the art
instinct of humanity is found in the very earliest relics of every
nation. Especially in Egypt specimens remarkable for fidelity of
representation have been recently disinterred, and stand in the Boulac
Museum. Among Christian countries Germany is the most distinguished in
this branch of art, but Holland and Belgium closely rival it in
excellence and abundance of early specimens. Illustrious English carvers
in wood were mostly of Dutch or German extraction. The most famous of
them is Grinling Gibbons, employed by Sir Christopher Wren in the
decoration of St. Paul’s Cathedral. He excelled in carving flowers and
foliage.
=Wood-engraving= or =Xylography=. Box-wood is the only kind that can be
used. The blocks when smoothed and polished are prepared for drawing on,
by rubbing the polished surface with _bath brick_ in very fine powder
mixed with water. When this thin coating is dry, it is removed by
rubbing the block on the palm of the hand; its only use is to make the
surface less slippery. There are four descriptions of cutting tools used
in wood-engraving. The _graver_ is not very different from that used for
copper-plate, but has the point ground to a peculiar form by rubbing on
a _Turkey stone_. Eight or nine _gravers_, of different sizes, are
generally required commencing with a very fine one, which is called the
_outline tool_, and increasing in size or breadth. _Tinting_ is cutting
series of parallel lines, which, when engraved, form an even and uniform
tint. For this process there is a distinct set of tools called _tinting
tools_. _Gouges_ of different sizes are used for scooping out the wood
towards the centre of the block, and flat tools or _chisels_ for cutting
it away towards the edges. The earliest known wood-engraving, “The
Virgin surrounded by four Saints,” is dated 1418. A print of it is in
the Brussels Museum.
=Wood-skin.= An American name for a large canoe made of bark.
=Woof.= The _weft_, or cross-texture of fabrics.
=Woolsack.= The seat of the Lord Chancellor, in the House of Lords.
=Working Drawings= (Arch.) are enlarged portions of plans with details
of a building, for the practical artificers to work from.
=Worsted= (properly Worstead, spelt also “_worsett_” and “_woryst_”) was
the name given to the cloth woven of the hard thread produced by the
peculiar carding process that was invented at _Worstead_ in Norfolk;
14th century.
=Wou= or =Wouwou=, Egyp. The Egyptian name for the dog; it is evidently
an onomatopœia, like the name for a cat, which is written MAAOU. (See
CANIS.)
=Wreath.= Wreaths have at all times been prominent among symbolical
personal ornaments; always with an honourable or pleasant signification;
wreaths of ivy distinguished the votaries of Bacchus; appropriate
wreaths were invented for sacrifices at the altar for heroic or priestly
or literary distinction. (See ORLE, CREST, WREATH, &c.)
=Wrest=, O. E. An instrument for drawing up the strings of a harp.
(_Shakespeare._)
=Wyn=, O. E. A narrow flag.
[Illustration: Fig. 700. Wyvern.]
=Wyvern=, =Wivern=, Her. A fabulous creature, a species of dragon with
two legs, and represented having its tail nowed. (Fig. 700.)