While the objects of ancient art contained in the Castellani
collection, recently placed on exhibition in the Metropolitan Museum
of Art in this city, are individually of great rarity and
archæological value, they derive additional importance from the fact
that, viewed conjunctively as a collection, they represent connected
histories of two great industrial arts extending over many centuries.
Both in the work of the goldsmith and of the potter, we are enabled to
trace progress from the earliest stages up to a period when the
greatest skill was attained, and even subsequently into the era of
decadence. In both industries, we find that ancient and mediæval
workmen possessed knowledge which we do not possess; and among Signor
Castellani's treasures may be seen handiwork which is the embodiment
of two lost arts, the secrets of which the modern world, with all its
infinitely superior wisdom, has not yet rediscovered.
The productions, in the Castellani collection, of precious metal
workers dating from prehistoric epochs, the exact dates of which are
wholly unknown, and covering the long period ending in the thirteenth
century, are represented by the contents of some twenty cases. The
first three of these receptacles bear no dates. The ornaments which
they contain are of bronze, amber, silver, and glass (the latter
having become converted into opalescent silicic acid), and were found
in Præneste (modern Palestrina, Italy), and in the territory which was
ancient Etruria. Case No. 4 bears date 700 B.C., and here is a rich
treasure of primitive Etruscan and Phoenician ornaments of gold,
adorned with granulated work. Signor Castellani considers that the
workmanship of these objects is so perfect that it is impossible at
the present time to explain the process of execution, and very
difficult to imitate it. The ornaments are of two kinds--those for
ordinary use and those for funereal purposes. The first are massive,
and might be worn for years without injury; the others are extremely
delicate. All are made of the purest gold, and their decoration
evinces the most consummate skill and taste on the part of the artist.
There is, for example, a small flask, shaped something like an antique
wine jar, and about five inches in height. It is of beaten gold, and
is covered with a pattern intended to imitate the similarly shaped
designs of variegated glass of the Græco-Phoenician period. This
pattern is entirely produced by minute globules of metal soldered to
the surface in tiers of zigzag or Vandyke patterns. Another specimen
is a strip of gold covered with granulated lines and bearing a row of
birds in relief. On other ornaments are exquisitely carved heads and
flowers, produced apparently by hammering on the reverse of the
object, but with a delicacy and precision of touch which is simply
marvelous.
The closest students of this ancient handiwork are entirely at a loss
to understand how the processes of melting, soldering, and wire
drawing, which were employed in the art, were performed. Modern
workmen have failed in their attempts exactly to imitate the old
ornaments; and it is certain that the secret of the mechanical agents,
whereby it was possible to separate and join pieces of gold hardly
perceptible to the naked eye, is lost. Signor Castellani has taken
great pains to solve the problem, reading all the treatises of
mediæval goldsmiths, inquiring of all classes of Italian jewelers, and
experimenting with all kinds of chemicals, in the hope of finding the
solder wherewith the minute grains were attached to the surface of the
metal. At last he found some of the old processes still employed in a
remote district, hidden in the recesses of the Apennines, far from the
great towns. Bringing away a few workmen, he gave them much more
instruction, and at last succeeded, not perhaps in equalling, but
certainly in rivalling the ancient productions.
We question whether the Etruscans used fire at all in their soldering,
as it would be almost an impossibility to keep the excessively fine
tools necessary for the work at a proper heat. Mr. Joshua Rose offers
the plausible suggestion that a cold flux was employed, with which the
workman followed the lines or dots of his pattern. Then the gold
granules were possibly sprinkled over the surface, and adhered only to
the solder, the superfluous grains being brushed off after the solder
had set.
There is also a fragment of a finely woven fabric, made of threads of
pure gold, found on the body of a woman in a tomb at Metapontum. This
is without doubt the material to which the Psalmist refers in speaking
of "the King's daughter" having "clothing of wrought gold;" and in the
Pentateuch there is reference to gold threads being used upon looms.
As we follow the various objects in the twenty cases above mentioned,
the decline of the goldworker's art when the use of enamels came into
vogue is evidenced. Continuing on to later periods, the decadence is
more marked under the successors of Alexander. In Rome, under the
emperors, we find gold used as a mere setting for precious stones, and
finally the collection terminates with examples of workmanship of the
time of Charlemagne, when the workmen had lost their cunning, and the
noble metal had been altogether debased to secondary uses.
The second instance where a lost art is exemplified in Signor
Castellani's collection is in the glazing of the Gubbio majolica. We
have not space here to review the magnificent series of ancient
specimens of pottery in detail; and thus it will suffice to say that,
beginning with some of the earliest pieces made by the Arabs when they
occupied Sicily, from the twelfth to the sixteenth century, the
collection presents examples of all the finest types of later mediæval
art. Gubbio, where the peculiar kind of majolica above noted was made,
is a small town once in the territory of the dukes of Urbino; and in
the sixteenth century it became famous for its pottery. This was
attributable to the talent of one man, Giorgio Andreoli, who is
reputed to have invented the wonderful luster characteristic of the
Gubbio ware. The body of majolica is mere common clay; and after the
piece is finished on the wheel, it is dried and burnt in a furnace.
After the biscuit thus prepared has been dipped in the glaze, the
colors are applied on the soft surface of the latter, and the
vitrifying process fuses all into a glossy enamel of the color of the
pigment. This is still the common practice; and we mention it merely
to show that to his pigment and glaze Andreoli must have added some
third substance, which rendered the enamel capable of reflecting white
light as blue, red, green, or yellow light--in other words, of giving
the object a luster of a color wholly different from the tints of the
pigment. He evidently could produce any desired color at will, and the
effects gained are indescribably beautiful. The Castellani collection
contains 130 superb specimens, which glow like jewels. In one, the
scene of the nativity of Christ is provided with the figures in low
relief, and the exquisite cerulean lustre is imparted to give the
effect of moonlight. The rarest pieces are those of which the luster
is a delicate green. Some blaze with yellow, as if of gold; others
exhibit the brilliancy of the ruby; while others resemble the interior
of the pearl oyster shell. Whether this sheen is produced by
polarization of the light in some manner, or whether it is at all
analogous to fluorescence, is yet to be decided. The impression of the
surface with fine microscopic lines might produce an iridescence, but
not separate and clearly defined hues. The ware was intended for
ornamental purposes, not for household use; and it was suspended
against the rich, dark tapestries of the period with which walls were
covered, thus aiding, as it were, in illuminating the apartment with
its exquisite radiance.
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