EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY JEWELLERY
The jewellery that came into fashion towards the close of the
seventeenth century and flourished during the greater part of the
eighteenth follows the style known as "rococo." Rococo ornament with its
assemblage of rich fantastic scrolls and crimped conventional shellwork
wrought into irregular and indescribable forms, though overcharged and
inorganic, yet possesses certain beauty and artistic quality. Like most
objects in this style, rococo jewellery has a real decorative charm. But
the title of baroque or rococo is really less adapted to jewellery than
to other art productions of the time, for jewellery itself never
indulged in the same extravagant use of this form of ornament.
Except for slight changes in design, eighteenth-century jewellery, as
far as its general form is concerned, does not at first display any
marked variation from that of the previous century. A charming but
somewhat superficial sentimentality expressed by means of pastoral
subjects results in ornaments on which tokens of friendship are
represented in all manner of forms. The naturalistic tendency in
ornament is still strong, but is less striking than it was before, since
feather, ribbon, and other conventional designs make their appearance,
mingled with flowers and leaves. These rococo jewels, on account of the
setting and arrangement of the precious stones which entirely govern
their composition, are in their way masterpieces both technically and
artistically. Unlike the earlier jewels, one cannot help regarding them
rather more as accessories to costume than as independent works of art.
The general character of the jewellery of the period with which we are
now dealing may best be judged by a notable series of original designs
in colour for such objects executed by the Santini family of Florence,
and now preserved in the Library of the Victoria and Albert Museum. This
remarkable collection comprises upwards of 382 separate designs, which
are mostly constructed in a manner best calculated to show off the
brilliant character and size of the stones and pearls, on which their
effect mainly depends. A large proportion of the drawings take the form
of what at this period constituted a parure, or set of jewels, composed
of three items of similar design--a bow-shaped breast ornament hung with
a cross, and a pair of earrings _en suite_. In place of the breast
ornament is sometimes a V-shaped corsage in imitation of hooks and eyes
or braidwork, set with various precious stones. The whole work shows
that in the eighteenth century the stone cutter and stone setter had
practically supplanted the artist in precious metals. In the metal-work
of the settings--in most cases a matter of minor consideration--gold is
employed for coloured stones and silver for diamonds.
The general tendency is towards the rococo, but this type of ornament is
here by no means strongly marked. In other directions, however, it is
more apparent, and already in the seventeenth century we meet with
traces of it in engraved designs for jewellery. The best work of this
kind is that of Friedrich Jacob Morisson, a draughtsman and jeweller
who worked at Vienna from about 1693 to 1697. He was one of the most
popular jewellers of the day, and his plates, which are rich in motives
for ornaments in precious stones and fine metal-work, found a wide
circulation. They comprise aigrettes, earrings, brooches, pendants,
bracelets, rings, étuis, and seals. Other Germans who have left designs
in the same style are F. H. Bemmel (1700) of Nuremberg, D. Baumann
(1695), Johann Heel (1637-1709), and J. F. Leopold (1700)--all of
Augsburg.
French designers led European taste in jewellery as in furniture, and
published a number of important designs. The most remarkable are those
of the master-goldsmith Jean Bourguet of Paris, whose models for
earrings, pendants, and clasps, dated 1712 and 1723, are set with large
faceted stones, and have their backs chased or enamelled with flower
designs. His _Livre de Taille d'Épargne_ with designs for enamel-work
published as models for jewellers' apprentices, contains amongst other
patterns a series of twelve rings set with large faceted stones; beside
each ring is a design for the enamel decoration of its shoulder: "Petits
morceaux" he calls them, "de taille d'épargne facile à coppier."
Contemporary with Bourguet was Pierre Bourdon, of Coulommiers en Brie,
who worked at Paris. His designs, dated 1703, are for seals, scent
cases, and watch covers of rococo work, and pendent medallions and
miniature frames set with precious stones. Among other Parisian
designers are the master-goldsmiths Briceau (1709), and Mondon (_c._
1730-1760) whose _Livre de Pierreries, Pour la Parure des Dames_
contains patterns for earrings, brooches, and aigrettes set with
brilliants, and for enamelled and jewelled watches. Of Italian designs
for jewellery set with precious stones in the rococo style we may note
those of G. B. Grondoni of Genoa, who worked at Brussels about 1715,
Carlo Ciampoli (1710), and D. M. Albini, whose _Disegni moderni di
gioiglieri_ were published in 1744.
The publication in London of several series of designs proves that
England was not far behind the Continent in the production of high-class
personal ornaments. Among the most important pattern-books for
jewellery, are those of Simon Gribelin, who was born in Paris in 1662,
and worked chiefly in London, where he died in 1733. His work includes
_A book of seuerall Ornaments inuented and ingraued by S. Gribelin,
1682_, and _A Book of Ornaments usefull to Jewellers_, etc., 1697. These
were republished in 1704. Gribelin's productions were followed by those
of J. B. Herbst, who issued in 1708 _A book of severall ornaments fit
for Juweler, made by J. B. Herbst_, and in 1710 _A Book of Severall
Juwelers work, ... Sold by Mr. Eymaker, Juweler in Earls Court drury
lane London_. The patterns are chiefly for seals, and for breast
ornaments and clasps set with rose-cut stones in rococo settings. About
the same time similar pattern-books were published by J. Smith and
Thomas Bowles. In 1736 appeared _A book of jeweller's work design'd by
Thomas Flach in London_, engraved by J. Fessey. It contains designs for
buckles, seals, watch-keys, a chatelaine with a watch and another with
an étui, pendants and bow-shaped breast ornaments hung with drop pearls.
In 1762 J. Guien published in London a _Livre de jouailleries--A book of
Ornaments for Jewellers_, containing various designs in precious stones
in the manner of Morisson and Grondoni.
An isolated phenomenon in the midst of the universal love for precious
stones that then dominated the productions of the jewellers, there
stands out Johann Melchior Dinglinger, who carried the traditions of the
sixteenth century far into the eighteenth. Born at Biberach, near Ulm,
in 1665, Dinglinger worked first at Augsburg, and, having visited Italy,
was summoned to Dresden in 1702 by Augustus II, Elector of Saxony, where
he lived until his death in 1731. During these thirty years, aided by
his brother Georg Friedrich (d. 1720) and his son Johann Melchior
(1702-1762), he was employed as court jeweller to the Elector, whom he
assisted in planning and arranging the Grüne Gewölbe at Dresden, which
marvellous assemblage of precious objects contains the best examples of
his work. All the processes of the Cinquecento craftsmen, of whose
technique he possessed a fine knowledge, were employed by Dinglinger
with wonderful care and exactitude--though his productions naturally
betray in design the period of their execution. He exercised
considerable influence on his contemporaries, more especially with
regard to the revival of the art of enamelling in the second half of the
century, when jewellery made a notable advance in the time of Louis XVI.
A change in style was first experienced on the arrival in power of
Madame de Pompadour, who led the way in that coquettish return to simple
conditions of life which showed itself in the pastorals of the Louis
Quinze epoch. It resulted in a preference for simple gold; this metal,
coloured by alloys such as platinum and silver, and popular under the
name of _à quatre couleurs_, being at most only set off by enamel
painting. This later rococo period, as far as its technique is
concerned, is one which has never been equalled either before or
since.
An event of importance in the history of jewellery, as of art generally,
was the discovery in 1755 of the city of Pompeii, succeeding that in
1713 of Herculaneum, buried for centuries beneath the ashes of Vesuvius.
The journeys of artists to Italy and to Naples, and the interest aroused
thereby in ancient art, a weariness with the mannerism of rococo
ornament, and the whim of fashion, gradually transformed jewellery like
other decorative arts, and resulted in the classicism of the style of
Louis XVI. Antique forms as they then were known showed themselves in a
very charming manner in well-balanced jewels, where different coloured
gold took the form of classical motives in the midst of ribbons,
garlands, and the pastoral subjects dear to the previous epoch. Enamel
returned into fashion, and accomplished its chief triumph with painting
_en plein_ in fine transparent tones over _guilloché_ gold. In
conjunction with the art of gem setting and cutting, and metal chasing,
this species of enamel produced effects which were all the more
surprising, seeing that it was often confined to the smallest of spaces.
Among the first craftsmen who created, or followed the fashion, was the
jeweller Lempereur. Some of his designs were published by his pupil
Pouget the younger in 1762 and 1764, in a treatise entitled _Traité des
pierres précieuses et de la manière de les employer en Parure_, the
plates of which, mostly coloured, and representing models of jewellery
of all kinds set with precious stones, were engraved by Mlle. Raimbau.
Another pupil of Lempereur, August Duflos, published in 1760 a similar
work entitled _Recueil de Dessins de Joaillerie_. Other French designers
of jewellery at this time were: Maria, a jeweller of Paris, who issued
about 1765 an important series of plates, thirty-five in number, of
pendants, brooches, clasps, chatelaines, aigrettes, seals, rings, and
buckles; P. Moreau (1740-1780) and J. B. Fay (1780-1790), both of Paris;
and L. Van den Cruycen (1770) of Brussels.
In 1770 was published in London by T. D. Saint _A new book of designs
for jewellers' work_ containing eleven plates of ornaments of various
kinds in the style of Pouget and Duflos. One of the last English
jewellers of the old school was George Michael Moser (1707-1783), one of
the founders of the Academy--like Fuseli, a Swiss by birth, and a native
of Schaffhausen. He was originally a gold chaser--"the first in the
kingdom," so Sir Joshua Reynolds described him; but when that mode of
decorating jewellery was put aside in favour of enamels, he turned his
attention to enamel compositions of emblematical figures, much in vogue
for the costly watch-cases of the day, for chatelaines, necklaces,
bracelets, and other personal ornaments. He succeeded so well in this
class of work that the Queen patronised him, and he executed a
considerable number of commissions for the King.
Another eminent jeweller, who was likewise a painter and enameller, was
Augustus Toussaint. He worked principally with his father, a noted
jeweller of Denmark Street, Soho, and exhibited at the Royal Academy
from 1775 to 1778, sending in both miniatures and enamels. He died
between 1790 and 1800. Several of the fine open-work jewelled frames
which held the choice miniatures of the day, were made in the workshop
of Toussaint the elder, and on his death his son Augustus is said not
only to have retained for his own use all the examples of these frames
which were in stock, but to have continued to supply a few
fellow-artists, with whom he was on terms of intimacy, with the
celebrated Toussaint frames.[186]
[186] Examples of these jewelled frames are preserved in Mr.
Pierpont Morgan's collection of miniatures. For the information
respecting them I am indebted to the kindness of Dr. Williamson,
author of the catalogue of that collection.
The excess of ornamentation and the desire for jewellery formed of
precious stones had, since the seventeenth century, favoured the use of
imitations. Rock crystal or quartz had long been employed to imitate
diamonds. Forgeries and imitations which were intended to pass as
precious stones will be spoken of in another place. But at this time
even people of great wealth wore imitation jewels, such as certainly
would not be worn by persons in a corresponding position nowadays. These
made no profession of being real stones. They were recognised as
imitations. The credit of the production of the first satisfactory
substitute for the diamond is due to a German--Stras or Strass by
name--who about 1758 established himself at Paris on the Quai des
Orfévres, where he met with great success as a vendor of paste
imitations of diamonds, which still bear his name. Competitors were not
slow in making their appearance, and one Chéron also gave his name for a
considerable time to the false diamonds that issued from his workshop.
So large and flourishing did the industry in imitations become that in
1767 a corporation of _joailliers-faussetiers_ was established in Paris.
Imitation pearls were likewise very largely worn; even ladies of high
position did not disdain to wear them--"Un collier de perles fausses"
occurs in the inventory of the jewels of Madame de Chamillart made on
her death in 1731. False pearls first appeared in Paris about the time
of Henry IV, the production of one named Jaquin, whose descendants
carried on a large business in them in Paris till the middle of the
eighteenth century. "So well have pearls been imitated," writes Pouget
the younger, in 1762, "that most of those of fine Orient have found
their way back from Europe to Asia, and are so rare in France that
nowadays one scarcely sees any good specimens."
Productions such as these were rendered necessary to satisfy the luxury
which from the nobility had extended over the whole middle classes, and
also on account of the strained condition of French finance. Étienne de
Silhouette, Controller of Finance, endeavoured to cut down expenses, and
issued in 1759 an invitation to the wealthy to bring in their jewels to
be converted into cash for the benefit of the Treasury. Such attempts at
economy, though rewarded only by ridicule, so that portraits henceforth
executed in the commonest manner were _à la Silhouette_, yet met
with this result, as Pouget observes, that since the time of M. de
Silhouette marcasite had become very much the fashion in France. In
Switzerland, too, since it was forbidden to wear diamonds, ladies, he
tells us, wore no other ornaments than marcasite, and spent a good deal
of care and money in the setting of it. The mineral known as marcasite,
a word which was spelled in many ways, is a crystallised form of iron
pyrites cut in facets like rose diamonds, and highly polished. It was
used for a number of ornaments. Steel, likewise cut in facets, was
similarly employed.
Steel jewellery appears to have been invented in England, and from
Birmingham, the centre of its manufacture, found its way all over
Europe, reaching France by way of Holland. It was carried out largely
by Boulton and Watt and other firms of Birmingham, Sheffield, and
Wolverhampton. This steel jewellery, which was in high favour in the
latter half of the eighteenth, continued to be worn until the second
quarter of the nineteenth century, when it finally went out of fashion.
Even after that, cut steel was still made at Birmingham, and the firm of
Hipkins, one of the most prominent, continued for many years to supply
the Court of Spain with buttons and buckles ornamented with it
(Pl. LI, 1, 2). Steel was largely employed as mounts for the fictile
cameos of Wedgwood, Tassie, Adams, and Turner, which were in considerable
demand for rings, brooches and buttons. Mountings for these were also made
in silver or Sheffield plate, principally the work of Thomas Law & Co., of
Sheffield. In the latter part of the century England occupied a unique
position with regard to the production of objects of this kind, which
were eagerly sought for throughout the whole of the Continent.
Another characteristic of the changed condition of the times was the use
in jewellery, together with strass, false pearls, and marcasite, of
various substitutes for gold. The best-known of these substitutes was
"pinchbeck," so called after its inventor, Christopher Pinchbeck (d.
1732), a clock and watch maker, of Fleet Street. This pinchbeck gold was
an alloy of copper and zinc. When fused together the metals assumed the
colour of fine gold, and preserved for a time a bright and unoxidised
surface, though in some cases objects thus fashioned received a washing
of gold. Pinchbeck was much used for cheaper jewellery of all kinds. The
larger articles made of this metal were chatelaines, snuff-boxes, and
étuis, while watch-cases, miniature-frames, buckles, clasps, and so
forth, are to be found for the most part ornamented in relief and
carefully chased. These several articles to which pinchbeck was suited,
went in those days by the name of "toys". The term "Toyman" was employed
by Pinchbeck himself, but the title had, of course, no reference to what
are now known as toys. In France and Germany a metal composition like
gold, in imitation of pinchbeck, called _Similor_ or "goldshine," was
produced, first by Renty, of Lille, about 1729, and subsequently
improved by Leblanc, of Paris. But the name of the English inventor of
the metal was well known in France, where it was retained in such forms
as "pinsebeck" or "pinsbeck."
* * *
The head-ornament--the aigrette--was still an important jewel in the
eighteenth century. Generally a kind of delicately formed bouquet of
precious stone in very light setting, it continued long in fashion,
together with strings of pearls among the hair. For a while the aigrette
was set aside for bows, small birds, etc., made of precious stones
mounted upon vibrating spiral wires which were then attached to the
hair-pin. These went under the name of "wasps" or "butterflies." In the
days of Marie Antoinette they were supplemented by hair-pins and
aigrettes set entirely with diamonds, which about 1770 had almost
entirely superseded coloured stones. Many designs for these
head-ornaments were published by Pouget the younger and Duflos, the
latter of whom complains in the preface to his work of the tendency
shown in his day to do away with the admixture of coloured stones with
diamonds; a proof that up to this date, in spite of the general
preference for the diamond, taste had not yet learned to do without
colour effect in jewellery.
[Illustration: _PLATE XLVI_ EIGHTEENTH CENTURY JEWELLERY, FRENCH
AND ENGLISH]
Earrings, as has been noticed in reference to the Santini designs, were
in particular favour at this period. The majority were composed of large
faceted stones or of pearls, formed _girandole_ fashion--that is to say,
of a large circular stone above, with three _briolettes_ or pear-shaped
pendants below. A pair of earrings of this form, said to have belonged
to Madame du Barry, are in possession of Lady Monckton. They are set
each with four sapphire pastes of very fine quality; the three
drop-pendants being separated from the upper stone by open spray-work of
silver set with white pastes (Pl. XLVI, 5, 6). Similarly elaborate
pendent earrings in seven sections composed of brilliants are seen in
an original mezzotint portrait of Queen Charlotte by Thomas Frye (_c._
1760). Drop-shaped pendants, mostly diamonds, were then very highly
esteemed. Marie Antoinette had a pair of diamond earrings with stones of
this form hanging from a perpendicular line of large brilliants. The
designs of Ciampoli, Mondon, Guien, Pouget, Van den Cruycen, and Fay,
all contain varieties of earrings, mostly _girandole_ fashion.
For necklaces the engravings of these same designers supply many
patterns. Like the _carcan_ of the fifteenth century, they are often
in the form of a band about an inch in width, composed of precious
stones--rubies, emeralds, pearls, and diamonds--in open-work, or
attached to velvet. They are generally constructed so as to reach only
half-way round the neck, the back part being a band of black velvet.
Portraits of the time frequently exhibit ropes of pearls, and finally
rows of large diamonds, like the renowned _collier_ of Marie Antoinette
composed by the Court jewellers Boehmer and Bossange. Numerous
circumstances connected with it, too lengthy to relate here, gave to the
_affaire_ of the diamond necklace a world-wide celebrity, making it one
of the chief events of the century. Though historically one of the
world's most famous pieces of jewellery, the necklace itself, described
in quaint but vivid language by Carlyle in his _Miscellanies_, calls for
no special comment, being on the whole of comparatively small artistic
importance. Its value--£90,000, a great sum for those days--lay in the
size and quality of the brilliants and _pendeloques_ of which it was
composed.
A favourite point of adornment in female attire was still the breast,
where, in the first part of the century, jewelled ornaments, or
_sévignés_, in the form of bows and rosettes, hung with pendants and set
with table-cut stones or rose diamonds, continued to be worn. Generally
they assumed the _girandole_ shape hung with pear-shaped pendants. About
1770 a large bunch of flowers, or a bouquet-shaped ornament formed of
precious stones, was worn in the breast. For the latter the jeweller
Lempereur enjoyed a great reputation. Upon the stiff bodice, which came
into fashion at the end of the seventeenth century, scope was afforded
for a goodly use of ornament, and soon we find the corsage literally
covered with jewels, in a manner similar to that in which the ladies of
the Renaissance almost completely covered the upper part of their
dresses with pendent chain-ornaments. At the time, however, of which we
now speak the ornaments are single pieces mounted upon the dress and
arranged symmetrically in the form of a jewelled "stomacher" or _devant
de corsage_. The Santini drawings contain many examples of this kind of
open framework composed of precious stones; and several interesting
designs for the same are figured on Plates 16, 17, and 18 of Maria's
_Livre de Dessins de Jouaillerie et de Bijouterie_. At this period also,
when luxury reached its climax, even the _panier_ or tucked-up upper
skirt had the whole of its exaggerated dimensions sprinkled with pieces
of jewellery, so that of this time again it may be said that the ladies
of the Court displayed the whole of their wealth, and often enough of
their credit too, upon a single dress.
Fashion endeavoured to fill a corresponding part in gentlemen's attire
by adorning coat and waistcoat with buttons of artistic workmanship. To
match the beautiful embroidered garments of the time, buttons were sewn
with bugles, steel beads, or spangles; and many have survived which may
be reckoned as real articles of jewellery. Every material and mode of
decoration was applied to them. Occasionally we find buttons set with
diamonds and other precious stones, but more often paste, or with odd
natural stones such as agates, carnelians, marcasite, blood-stones,
lapis-lazuli, or buttons of tortoise-shell, or of compositions such as
Wedgwood ware, in frames of cut steel. Translucent blue glass or enamel,
mounted or set with pearls, diamonds or pastes, and chased and coloured
gold, were all fashionable. On the whole, cut steel was the most
popular. A Birmingham craftsman by name of Heeley, who worked for
Wedgwood about 1780, is recorded is being especially skilful at this
class of work; while in France a certain Dauffe had almost a monopoly in
the production of steel objects. Certainly some of the open-work steel
buttons of the time--English as well as French--are jewels of a very
high order.
Bracelets were mostly formed of bands of velvet with oval clasps. The
clasp was decorated in a variety of ways, and was very frequently
fitted with a painted or enamelled miniature. The practice of wearing
miniatures in this way seems to have been a common one, judging by the
numerous advertisements inserted in the London _Public Advertiser_ about
the middle of the century by "ingenious artists," willing on "reasonable
terms to paint elegant portraits in miniature for bracelets, rings,
etc." Madame de Chamillart had amongst other jewels "Un petit portrait
en mignature en forme de bracelet garny de quatre diamants, monté en
or." In fact, according to Fontenay, the terms _bracelet_ and _boîte à
portrait_ had for a time practically the same meaning.[187] Cameos were
sometimes employed as bracelet clasps, but not to the same extent as
they were subsequently under the Empire. In the Bibliothèque Nationale
at Paris are two portrait cameos in sardonyx (Nos. 788 and 927) which
served as the clasps of the bracelets of Madame de Pompadour, and were
bequeathed by her to Louis XV in 1764. The work of the celebrated
gem-engraver Jacques Guay, the one represents Henri IV, and the other,
which is signed, Louis XV. The mounting of each, an admirable example
of French jewel-work of the time, is formed of a circlet of emeralds
arranged in the manner of a laurel wreath, and tied at intervals by
cords of rose diamonds terminating above and below in knots. Among other
decorations for bracelets, mention may be made of the celebrated enamels
produced at Battersea between 1750 and 1775, very many of which, oval in
shape, were set in gold frames so as to be easily mounted in bracelets.
The productions of the rival establishment at Bilston, in Staffordshire,
were similarly employed, and, like the former, were frequently worn as
buttons.
[187] _Les bijoux anciens et modernes_, p. 294.
[Illustration: _PLATE XLVII_ EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY NECKLACES, ETC.]
The finger ring in the eighteenth century was a particularly favourite
jewel. That considerable attention was paid at the time to the design
and decoration of the ring, may be judged from Bourguet's designs, which
contain patterns for enamel-work intended for its enrichment. The
beauty of the sentiments displayed on the rings of the time is nowhere
more charmingly expressed than on an English wedding-ring at South
Kensington, which is formed of two hands in white enamel, holding
between the thumbs and first fingers a rose diamond in the shape of a
heart set in silver and surmounted with a jewelled coronet. It bears the
date 1706 (Pl. XXXVI, 3). Other rings of similar style have the bezel
formed of two precious stones in the form of hearts united by a knot.
Rings which served simply as souvenirs of affection were very popular.
In addition to the plain gold ring engraved with a posy or motto, were
rings containing a like sentiment read by means of the first letters of
the stones with which they are set.
The most typical ring of the period is perhaps the _marquise_ ring,
which dates from the second half of the century. The bezel, which is
oblong, and either oval or octagonal, is often of such size that it
covers the whole joint of the finger. It is formed of a plaque of
transparent blue glass on matted gold, surrounded with diamonds, and
set either with a single diamond, or with several arranged at regular
intervals, sometimes in the form of a bouquet. Often instead of diamonds
are pastes and even marcasite. Of other varieties of rings of the time
it is necessary only to mention those set with Wedgwood cameos, or with
stones such as moss-agates, and a form of agate somewhat similar, but of
lighter colour, called the mocha stone. Mourning and memorial rings, of
which this period was so prolific, will be spoken of subsequently.
An ornament that showed a peculiarly wide development throughout the
eighteenth century was the shoe-buckle. Various kinds of buckles are
recorded in the _Caution to the Public_, issued in 1733, in connection
with his famous ware, by Edward, the son of Christopher Pinchbeck. They
include the following: buckles for ladies' breasts, stock-buckles,
shoe-buckles, knee-buckles, girdle-buckles. Of these the most important
was the buckle worn on the shoes of every one--man woman, and
child--attached to the latchet or strap passing over the instep. It
assumed all sorts of forms and was made and enriched with every
conceivable material. It is interesting to observe that in spite of the
immense number produced, hardly any two pairs of buckles are precisely
alike--this is shown in the case of the collection of Sir S. Ponsonby
Fane, which contains upwards of four hundred specimens. Towards the last
years of the century buckles began to be supplanted by shoe strings.
During this period of transition many attempts were made to foster
their use.[188] On tickets to public entertainments at the time one
occasionally finds a notice that "Gentlemen cannot be admitted with shoe
strings." The latter, however, won the day, and about the year 1800
shoe-buckles disappeared from use.
[188] See _Connoisseur_, XII, p. 81.
The chatelaine was perhaps the most characteristic of all
eighteenth-century ornaments. It was exceedingly popular, and formed, it
may be observed, a very favourite object of the time for a wedding
present. It usually consisted of a shield with a stout hook, suspended
from which were several chains united by another plate or shield which
carried the watch. Besides this were two or more chains for holding the
watch-key or seals. Extraordinary skill was exercised in the elaboration
of chatelaines. The plaques, hinged or united by chains, withstood the
incursion of the precious stone that dominated all other forms of
jewellery, and afforded peculiar opportunities for the display of the
art of the goldsmith in chased and repoussé metal-work enriched with
exquisite enamels. The jeweller's whole artistic skill was thus
exhibited, not only upon the shields, but upon the solid links of the
chains and upon the various breloques hung therefrom. The chief of the
latter was of course the watch. Its dial-plate was enriched with enamel,
and chased and coloured gold: even the hands when made of gold showed a
high degree of skilled workmanship within a very small space. The
principal ornamental part was, however, the outer case; and it may be
maintained that there was not any species of work connected with the
goldsmith's art that was not displayed in its finest form upon
watch-cases, more especially in the time of Louis XVI.
[Illustration: _PLATE XLVIII_ EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY CHATELAINES]
Beside the watch was hung the watch-key and seals, and all sorts
of ornamental knick-knacks, as étuis and such-like. The elaborate
chatelaine upon which nearly every conceivable kind of trinket could be
attached, is the "equipage" thus described by Lady Mary Wortley Montagu
in her fourth _Town Eclogue_:--
Behold this equipage by Mathers wrought
With fifty guineas (a great pen'orth!) bought!
See on the tooth-pick Mars and Cupid strive,
And both the struggling figures seem to live.
Upon the bottom see the Queen's bright face;
A myrtle foliage round the thimble case;
Jove, Jove himself does on the scissars shine,
The metal and the workmanship divine.
While women carried elaborate chatelaines, men hung from the watch in
the fob-pocket bunches of seals which dangled beneath their embroidered
waistcoats. Thus in _Monsieur à la Mode_, published about 1753, we read
of--
A repeater by Graham, which the hours reveals;
Almost overbalanced with nick-nacks and seals.
It was the seal above all which experienced particular artistic
development. Ever since the sixteenth century the seal had been worn in
addition to the signet ring. Though hung perhaps like a pomander from a
chain at the neck or from the girdle, the seal seems to have been but
rarely displayed on the person until the general introduction in the
early seventeenth century of the watch, to which for more than a
couple of centuries it was a regular accompaniment. The majority of
seventeenth-century seals are of silver with the arms engraved in the
metal; others of steel are on swivels and have three faces; others,
again, of gold set with stones engraved with heraldic devices, have
finely worked shanks, occasionally enriched with delicate enamel-work.
The gold seals of the eighteenth century, which are among the best
examples extant of rococo jewellery, are of open-work in the form of
scroll and shell patterns, of admirable design and workmanship. It is
out of the question to attempt a description of the numerous attractive
forms these pendent seals assumed, or the peculiar interest they possess
from an heraldic point of view.
About the year 1772 fashionable men carried a watch in each fob-pocket,
from which hung bunches of seals and chains. From the custom set in
England of introducing masculine fashions into dress, ladies likewise
wore two watches, one on each side, together with rattling breloques,
seals, and other appendages. In addition to the real watch with
beautifully enamelled back which adorned the left side, they wore on the
right what was called a _fausse montre_ or false watch. These false
watches were, however, often little less costly than the genuine
article, being made of gold and silver, with jewelled and enamelled
backs. The front had either an imitation dial-plate, some fanciful
device, or a pin-cushion. For those of less ample means the _fausse
montre_ was made of gilt metal or even of coloured foils.