MEDIÆVAL HEAD-ORNAMENTS AND NECKLACES
Head-ornaments from the tenth to the sixteenth century belong for
the most part rather to the general history of costume than to that
of jewellery proper; and it will be unnecessary to follow those
extravagances of fashion which, especially during the fifteenth century,
were presented by the head-dress of women. More germane to the subject
are the fillets, bands, and chaplets worn throughout the Middle Ages by
women when their heads were uncovered, and during a more limited period
by men also. The original form of these was a ribbon, which encircled
the brow, held back the hair from the face, and adjusted the veil; while
wreaths, either of natural flowers or of plain gold, were a frequent
decoration for young women. Hence the bands or chaplets, which took
their motives from those more simple ornaments, were made either wholly
of metal (_cercles_), or of gold flowers sewn upon an embroidered band
(described in inventories as _chapeletz_), both forms being enriched
with pearls and precious stones. The fillet later on became a heavy band
composed of separate pieces of metal joined by hinges, and showed such
close resemblance to the broad belts of the knights, that in the
inventory of Edward II, quoted above, _tressoures_ and _ceintures_ are
entered together under one heading. The wearing of such head-ornaments
was not confined exclusively to the nobility, for the receipt of a sale
of jewels by Agnes Chalke, spicer of London, to a certain John of
Cambridge in 1363, includes a "coronal of gold, wrought with stones,
that is to say, with rubyes, saphirs, emeralds, and pearls."[51]
Exquisite circlets set with these gems are worn by the choir of singing
and music-making angels on the wings of the Van Eycks' famous "Ghent
Altar-piece" in the Berlin Museum. The fillet, whether a complete circle
or hinged, received about the fourteenth century additional enrichments
in the form of trefoils, fleurs-de-lis, crosses, and foliations, erected
on cuspings upon its upper edge. A simple but charming example of a
circlet, dating from the fourteenth century, is preserved in the Musée
du Cinquantenaire at Brussels. It is of silver gilt, formed of hinged
plaques, each mounted with from three to four collets set with pearls,
and with pastes in imitation of precious stones, while additional
ornaments in the form of fleurs-de-lis are fixed erect upon it
(Pl. XVII, 9).
[51] Riley (H. T.), _Memorials of London_, p. 313.
From the diadem of this character originated the coronets worn by those
of high or noble rank; the use of these, amid the ceremonies of later
courts, crystallised into a system of class privilege. Such diadems or
coronets approach the form of the regal crown, which in England, as
early as the eleventh century, was enriched with rays and floriations.
The regal crown, with which we are not immediately concerned,[52] by the
addition of arches, was converted about the fifteenth century into what
is technically known as the "close" crown.
[52] No attempt will here be made to enumerate the various forms of
crowns and coronets. A general outline of the subject is set forth in
chapter XXVI of Mr. Fox-Davies' _Art of Heraldry_.
Round the helmets of knights in the fifteenth century ornamental wreaths
called _orles_ were worn; these, originally composed of two bands of
silk twisted together were afterwards richly jewelled. One of the most
famous of jewelled hats was that of Charles the Bold, thickly encrusted
with huge pearls and precious stones, which was captured by the Swiss
after his death at the battle of Nancy in 1477.[53]
[53] Lambecius, _Bib. Caes. Vindobon._, II, p. 516; Laborde,
_Ducs de Bourgogne_, Pt. 2, II, p. 113, no. 3100.
Of female ornaments of the same period it need only be stated that
the elaborate head-dresses, such as the _cornette_, _escoffion_, and
_henin_--it is sometimes difficult to imagine how women had sufficient
strength to keep them balanced on their heads--were profusely adorned
with pearls, gold spangles, and precious stones, and in some cases with
crowns or crown-shaped combs of elaborate goldwork enriched with gems.
The Italians, with more refined taste, seem, as will be observed
(p. 171), to have escaped from such extravagances sooner than the rest
of Europe, and to have been content for the most part with a simple
_bandeau_ encircling the forehead.
Among the most interesting varieties of personal ornaments in the Middle
Ages are certain jewels or brooches worn in the hat and known as
_enseignes_. From the lead signs or ornaments worn by pilgrims there was
gradually evolved a special class of jewels on which the great artists
of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries exercised their utmost skill,
and which at the present day are among the most highly prized of all
early articles of personal jewellery.
Rivers near large cities have supplied us with much of the knowledge we
possess of the manners and habits of those who in former times dwelt
upon their banks. Whenever dredging or digging disturbs the beds of such
rivers, objects of antiquity, which seem to have gravitated there, are
sure to be discovered. The municipal museum of many a city of ancient
foundation preserves choice works of antiquity recovered from its
river's bed.
Among the most remarkable objects brought to light in this manner are
certain curious mediæval ornaments, which belong to the age that has
bequeathed exceedingly few examples of articles for personal use. The
ornaments referred to are the small badges or signs of lead, given or
sold, as tokens, to mediæval pilgrims to the shrines of saints or
martyrs, and known as "Pilgrims' Signs." They were obtained from the
attendants at shrines and exhibitions of relics, who kept ready a large
variety bearing the effigy or device of some particular saint, or the
symbol that had reference to his acts of worship. Each sign or token was
pierced with holes, or more frequently had a pin cast in one piece with
it, making it available as a brooch. It was thus fastened to the hat or
other portion of the pilgrim's dress as a testimony of his having
visited the particular shrine indicated by the token. These badges,
which date from about the thirteenth to the fifteenth century, were
manufactured at the churches or monasteries to which pilgrimages were
made. Moulds for casting them are preserved in the British Museum and
the Guildhall Museum; and a forge was found at Walsingham Priory where
the sacristan melted the metals employed for their manufacture.[54]
[54] Several writers on Pilgrims' Signs state that a furnace destined
for the same purpose may still be seen in an upper chamber in Canterbury
Cathedral. Inquiry on the spot has failed to confirm the truth of this
statement. The furnace in question has been used solely for the purpose
of casting leadwork for repairing the roof. The badges were probably
made somewhere in the Cathedral precints.
It will be outside the present purpose to enumerate all the varieties
of form assumed by these interesting and historically most valuable
objects. Important collections of them are preserved in the British
Museum and Guildhall Museum in London, and in the Musée Cluny, Paris
(Pl. XVII, 1-4).
In England the most popular relics were those of Our Lady of Walsingham
Priory, and particularly those of St. Thomas of Canterbury, whose
signs, according to a statement of Giraldus Cambrensis, were worn as
early as the twelfth century. The anonymous author of the supplement
to Chaucer's _Canterbury Tales_ speaks of the purchase of signs by
Chaucer's party on the occasion of their pilgrimage to Canterbury, and
remarks that on their departure from the Cathedral "they sett their
signys upon their hedes, and som upon their capp." And Erasmus, in his
_Colloquy of the pilgrimage for religion's sake_, notes that pilgrims
were "covered on every side with images of tin and lead." Judging from
the number and variety of the badges relating to the murdered
archbishop, Becket, his shrine must have enjoyed a widespread
popularity, though the scallop-shell of St. James of Compostella was
perhaps more universally recognised as a pilgrim's sign than any other.
These signs or _signacula_ were worn not only on a pilgrimage, but also
formed a customary decoration for the hat. Some, even in early times,
perhaps as early as the thirteenth century, though partaking of a
religious character, do not seem to have had reference to any particular
shrine, and referred simply to incidents in popular religious legends.
Others were merely symbols or emblems; yet, like the majority of
mediæval trinkets, they nearly all displayed religious motives and
were supposed to possess talismanic powers. Louis XI, the cruel and
superstitious King of France, commonly wore such signs, particularly
those of the celebrated Notre-Dame d'Embrun, stuck round his hat; and on
a visit to Henry, King of Castile, he wore, so Philip de Comines informs
us, a very old hat with leaden images upon it.
It is very evident that we have here the origin of the hat-ornaments or
_enseignes_ of gold and silver, and enriched with precious stones and
enamels, which, coming first into use in the fifteenth century, became
extremely popular in the sixteenth, and were worn on almost every man's
hat, and sometimes on those of women, until the middle of the
seventeenth century. Like those obtained at the shrines, they bore at
first the figure of a saint--generally a patron saint--or a figure of
the Virgin. Of signs such as these, some came to represent the actual
badge of the wearer or of some one to whom he was affectionately
attached, while others took the form of badges of livery, and were worn
in the hats of the retainers of great families. Philip de Comines
records that Lord Bourchier, Governor of Calais, 1470, wore a ragged
staff of gold upon his bonnet. This was the badge of the Earl of
Warwick, and all his attendants had ragged staves likewise. A leaden
enseigne of a bear and ragged staff (the House of Warwick), a crowned
ostrich feather (Duke of Norfolk), a hound (Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury),
and a dolphin (badge of the Dauphin--afterwards Louis XI--and his
faction, the Armagnacs), together with others of a similar nature, are
in the British Museum (Pl. XVII, 5-8). The badges of the Kings of
England were employed in the same manner: and among the British Museum
collection is a hart lodged--the badge of Richard II, and in the
Guildhall a broom-pod (_genista_) of the Plantagenets, and a crown of
fleurs-de-lis--the badge of Henry V.
A considerable number of small shield-shaped bronze and copper pendants,
enamelled with coats of arms, and having a ring above for suspension,
seem also to have served as badges. There is the possibility that some
were worn by the servants of nobility as enseignes upon the hat, or
perhaps on the left arm or breast. But the majority appear to have been
employed for the decoration of horse-harness.[55]
[55] Compare, An "Esmail d'Arragon," by A. Van de Put
(_Burlington Magazine_, VIII, p. 421, 1906; X, p. 261, 1907).
[Illustration: _PLATE XVII_ MEDIÆVAL HEAD-ORNAMENTS]
Mediæval hat-badges of gold are of extreme rarity. The Franks
Bequest in the British Museum contains a choice example. It is a
fifteenth-century Flemish jewel of gold, representing a "pelican in her
piety" standing upon a scroll, and set with a ruby and a small pointed
diamond (Pl. XVII, 11). In the Victoria and Albert Museum is a circular
gold enseigne of open-work enriched with Gothic foliations. The outer
rim is set with seven small rubies. In the centre is an antique onyx
cameo representing a lion. It is Spanish work of the second half of the
fifteenth century (Pl. XVII, 10).
These two jewels are clearly hat-ornaments; but it is often difficult
to distinguish between a brooch or _nouche_ intended to be worn upon
the dress and a hat-brooch, though the latter can, as a rule, be
distinguished by its form or by its subject. The enseigne was sometimes
employed like a brooch for fastening a plume decoration, but as a rule
served as an independent ornament, and appears on the paintings,
sculpture, and tapestry of the fifteenth century attached to the side
of the head-gear. It became a jewel of still greater importance in the
sixteenth century, and will be further dealt with among the jewellery of
the Renaissance.
The talismanic properties associated with the _signacula_ procured at
the shrines were extended to many objects of base metal, as brooches and
finger-rings, which had been placed in contact with relics of saints, or
blessed at their shrines. Brooches and rings also of gold and silver
bear talismanic inscriptions. A common inscription is the names of the
Three Kings--as on the Glenlyon brooch--which originated in pilgrimages
to the shrine of the Kings of the East in the church of Sant' Eustorgio
at Milan, or more probably to that in Cologne Cathedral. The names of
the "Three Kings of Collein" were considered to be a charm against
epilepsy or the "falling sickness." Many personal ornaments of base
metal, however, are quite unconnected with any religious practice or
with pilgrims' signs; for objects of pewter are often merely replicas
of more precious jewels in gold and silver, and must have been worn by
the poorer classes. The fact that several are plated or washed with
silver shows that they were intended to pass for the real objects. Yet
they are of considerable importance, since we find among them types of
ornaments which do not exist in the precious metals. It may be suggested
that some were made as models for real articles of jewellery; but we
are, unfortunately, not in possession of evidence (such as can be
produced in connection with the jewellery of the Renaissance) which can
offer any likelihood that this is actually the case with these mediæval
ornaments.
EARRINGS
Though common in the Merovingian and Carlovingian epoch, earrings
appear to have been worn only to a limited extent, and that at the
commencement of the period at present under discussion. Pendants formed
of quadrilateral prisms set on each side with cabochon garnets and hung
with small strings of garnet beads are attached to the ears of the
tenth-century figure of St. Foy in the treasury at Conques; though it is
not impossible that these, like many of the gems that adorn the statue,
may be of earlier workmanship. That the Byzantine style of earring, of
crescent form, was worn during the eleventh and twelfth centuries is
evident from a twelfth-century bronze ewer, in the shape of a head of
a woman, of Flemish work, in the Museum of Budapest.[56] Earrings,
however, enjoyed no great popularity during the Middle Ages, and the
cause of this must be traced to the fashion which prescribed for women
a style of coiffure by which the hair fell down at the sides, or was
covered by a veil, which would have effectively hidden any ornaments
for the ear. It was only at the end of the fourteenth century that
fashion again allowed the hair to be worn high. Pendent rings of gold
for ladies' ears are mentioned in the _Roman de la Rose_, and statues
occasionally exhibit short earrings, pearls attached to the lobe of the
ear, or stones in the form of drops. Earrings, indeed, did not come into
very common use until the close of the fifteenth or the beginning of the
sixteenth century.
[56] Figured in _Exposition de Budapest, 1884, Chefs-d'oeuvre
d'orfévrerie_, I, Pl. I. There is a reproduction of this remarkable
specimen of _Dinanderie_ in the Victoria and Albert Museum.
NECKLACES AND COLLARS
The custom of wearing necklaces and neck-chains was much more limited
during the Middle Ages than it had been in antiquity and at the time of
the great migrations. Women's necklaces can hardly be proved to have
been in general use before the end of the fourteenth century, and during
the Middle Ages seldom attained the exaggerated style they exhibited at
the period of the Renaissance. They consisted mostly of plaited cords of
gold wire, and probably of single or double chains of pearls. These
originally encircled the throat, but at a later date were worn more upon
the breast. Though many forms of personal ornament are mentioned in
early wills and inventories, we rarely meet with a reference to the
necklace until the fourteenth century; nor is it pictured on monumental
effigies or brasses until the beginning of the century following. If
worn at all prior to this date, it must simply have served the purpose
of supporting pendants of various forms known as _pentacols_.
These neck-chains, or collars as they were termed, soon began to receive
additional enrichment, and the inventories of the fifteenth century
contain frequent descriptions of necklets adorned with enamels and
precious stones. Eleanor, Countess of Arundel (1455), bequeathed to her
daughter "a golden collar for the neck, with a jewel set with precious
stones hanging thereat." The fashion for rich necklaces was especially
in vogue at the luxurious Court of the Dukes of Burgundy; nor had the
Court of Richard II been behindhand in the display of this species of
ornament, for the magnificent wedding presents of his wife, Isabella of
France, included a collar of gold set with precious stones of immense
value.
The word _carcanet_ seems to have come into use about this time for rich
necklaces of precious stones, and to have been applied a little later to
the bands of jewels commonly entwined in ladies' hair.
Though never so generally worn as in the sixteenth century, a
considerable number of these jewelled ornaments are represented in the
exquisite paintings of the fifteenth century. One of the most elaborate
of all is the superb gold necklet, brilliantly enamelled with small
and many-coloured flowers, shown on the portrait of Maria, wife of
Pierantonio Baroncelli, in the Uffizi Gallery at Florence, by an unknown
Flemish painter of the latter part of the fifteenth century. Close by,
in the same gallery, is Van der Goes' celebrated triptych, presented to
the Spedale di Santa Maria Nuova by Tommaso Portinari, agent of the
Medici in Bruges. Upon the right wing is Maria, wife of the donor, with
her daughter. The former wears a magnificent necklace of exquisite
design, its interlacing goldwork shaped into the form of roses enamelled
red, white, and blue, each set respectively with a sapphire, a ruby, and
a large pearl. The latter is adorned with a necklace composed of a
double row of pearls connected by oval jewelled ornaments; beneath is
hung a trefoil-shaped pendant set with rubies, to which is attached a
large drop-pearl (p. 117). A precisely similar ornament is seen in
another work by Van der Goes, painted about 1473--the well-known
portrait of Margaret, queen of James III of Scotland, now at
Holyrood.[57] This picture was probably executed in Flanders from
material supplied by the donor, and the artist appears to have adorned
Queen Margaret with the same beautiful necklace, probably of Florentine
workmanship, which he had seen round the neck of Signorina Portinari.
[57] Shaw (H.), _Dresses and decorations_, Pl. 60.
Jane Shore, the beautiful and unfortunate mistress of Edward IV, and
wife of the rich jeweller of Lombard Street, is represented in her two
portraits, one at King's College, Cambridge, and the other at Eton,
wearing elaborate necklaces. Around her throat are two strings of
pearls, with a necklet below of circular pieces of Gothic pattern,
supporting a lozenge-shaped pendant of similar design adorned with
pearls. Among sculptured representations of the necklet the most
interesting is that on the monument of Sir John Crosby (d. 1475) and his
wife in St. Helen's Church, Bishopsgate, where the latter wears a very
handsome necklace of roses, to which is attached a cluster of three
roses with three pendants below. Sir John's collar is somewhat similarly
formed of rosette-shaped ornaments. An early instance of a heavy
neck-chain of gold, worn upon the breast, is to be seen upon the famous
tapestry, considered to represent Henry VI and his Queen, in St. Mary's
Hall, Coventry.
Collars of extraordinary richness seem to have been worn by Henry IV;
for among the miscellaneous documents preserved at St. Paul's
Cathedral[58] is a list of various jewels set with diamonds both large
and small, with balas rubies, sapphires, and clusters of pearls, which
were to be employed for making collars for the king and queen. The
Inventories of the Exchequer contain frequent reference to what is
termed the _Iklyngton Coler_. This magnificent collar, which was
frequently pawned by Henry VI, was enriched with four rubies, four large
sapphires, thirty-two great pearls, and fifty-three pearls of a lesser
sort.[59]
[58] _Hist. MSS. Comm._, IX, p. 56.
[59] _Kalendars and Inventories_, II, p. 165, etc.
In addition to the purely ornamental necklaces, collars or chains of
"livery"--bearing the heraldic devices of the day--were assumed by
various royal and noble families, and were bestowed as marks of favour
or friendship on persons of various ranks, and both sexes, who wore them
as badges of adherence to those families. An instance of the bestowal of
a chain of this kind occurred in 1477 after the siege of Quesnoy by
Louis XI, who, witnessing a great feat of gallantry on the part of Raoul
de Lannoy, is reported to have placed on his neck a chain of great
value, and to have thus wittily addressed him: "Mon ami, vous êtes trop
furieux en un combat; il faut vous _enchaîner_, car je ne veux point
vous perdre, désirant me servir encore de vous plusieurs fois."
Richard II, as shown by the Earl of Pembroke's remarkable picture of
that monarch at Wilton, wore, in addition to his device the white hart,
a collar of broom-pods. Henry IV employed the well-known collar of SS,
derived from his father John of Gaunt. The collar of Edward IV was
composed of two of his badges, the sun in its splendour, and the white
rose; while a third, the white lion of March, was added as a pendant.
Richard III retained the Yorkist collar, substituting for the lion
pendant a boar.[60] Private family collars were also worn, and an early
instance of one occurs in the brass of Thomas Lord Berkeley (1417) in
the church of Wootton-under-Edge, Gloucestershire; the band round the
neck being charged with mermaids, the badge of the Berkeleys.
[60] _Archæologia_, XXXIX, p. 264.
The SS collar is the best known of all. It is composed of the letter S
in gold repeated indefinitely, either fixed on velvet or some material,
or forming the links of a chain. The letters are generally united by
knots; they sometimes terminate with portcullises and have a pendent
rose. The collar is still worn by the Lord Chief Justice, the Lord Mayor
of London, and the chief heralds--that belonging to the Lord Mayor being
an original and beautiful example of English jewellery of the sixteenth
century. Despite all that has been written upon the SS collar no
conclusive explanation has been offered as to its origin and
meaning.[61] Several representations of livery collars appear upon
monumental effigies of the latter half of the fifteenth century, and
there is frequent mention of them in the inventories of the same period,
but, with the exception of the SS collar, they are not met with at all
in the sixteenth century.
[61] Mr. Hartshorne (_Arch. Journ._, XXXIX, p. 366) considers the
origin of the letters SS--_par excellence_ the "crux antiquariorum,"
he terms it--to lie between the words Seneschallus, Souverayne, and
Sanctus, and of these he appears to be in favour of the first.
[Illustration: Necklace worn by the daughter of Tommaso Portinari in
Van der Goes' triptych in the Uffizi Gallery, Florence.]