Professional Documents
Culture Documents
EDITED BY
WILLIAM MASKELL.
These Handbooks are reprints of the dissertations prefixed to the works of art in the Museum
South Kensington; arranged and so far abridged as to bring each The Lords of the Committee of Council on Education having determined on the publication of them, the editor
into a portable shape.
trusts that they will meet the purpose intended; namely, to be useful, not alone for the collections at South Kensington, but for other collections by enabling the public at a trifling cost to understand something
found
numerous examples in
January,
1879.
the
W. M.
J]
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER
GOLD AND SILVER METALS
I.
I'AGE
...
I
CHAPTER
GOLD AND SILVER
SMITHS'
II.
CHAPTER
GREEK GOLD AND SILVER WORK
III.
18
CHAPTER
ROMAN GOLD AND
SILVER
IV.
WORK
29
CHAPTER
THE BYZANTINES
V.
44
CHAPTER
GOLD AND SILVER WORK
CHARACTER'
IN
VI.
vi
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER
VII.
PAGE
81
IN
CHAPTER
GOLD AND SILVER WORK
IN
VIII.
FIFTEENTH CENTURIES
CHAPTER
THE REVIVAL
IX.
119
CHAPTER
X.
...
...
..
140
CHAPTER
HALL MARKS
XI.
152
LIST OF WOODCUTS.
PAGE
Arch of
Titus,
...
Rome
.
...
...
12
Hildesheim treasure
,,
...
...
24
33
35
(interior)
...
...
...
...
Lanx
or oblong dish.
Hildesheim treasure
...
...
...
Tripod stand.
Ancient
Roman
...
...
...
...
...
...
36
47
51
Abyssinian chalice
...
...
...
...
...
Base of candlestick.
Milan cathedral
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
58
63
...
...
...
...
...
...
Guarrazar treasure
... ... ...
...
...
68
70
77
Crown
of Charlemagne
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
Golden
altar front
altar.
...
...
...
...
83
Portable
German.
2th century
...
...
...
...
86
89
91
Gloucester candlestick.
English.
...
I2th century
...
...
...
...
Albero.
,,
Mihn
cathedral
,,
...
...
...
boss
crucifix.
...
...
...
...
...
92
2th century
...
...
...
...
94 96
97
...
...
...
...
...
Marble tabernacle.
Chalices.
Chalice.
1
1
Italian.
5th century
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
106
107 108 109
5th century
...
...
...
...
Coronation spoon
Triptych.
1
.,.
...
...
...
5th century
...
...
...
...
...
viii
LIST OF WOODCUTS.
PAGE
Hanap.
German.
5th century
...
...
...
no
in
120
122
123
Cup
...
...
Monstrance.
Pax. Pax.
I5th century
... ... ...
...
...
Early
6th century
i6th century
for jubilee of
1
...
...
Italian.
...
...
...
...
Hammer made
Chalice.
1550
...
...
...
...
126
128
Spanish.
6th century
...
Ghent
...
...
...
...
...
130
131
Hanap
Silver-gilt cup.
...
...
...
...
German.
1
1 6th
century
...
...
...
132
Medallion.
German.
English.
6th century
i6th century
...
...
...
...
134
138 138
Sugar
caster.
...
...
...
...
English.
1
i6th century
...
...
...
...
Flemish.
7th century
...
...
...
140
142
Tankard.
Nuremberg.
English
...
i;th century
...
...
...
...
...
...
I4 2
Silver-gilt cup.
English.
A.D. 1611
1
...
...
...
...
143 143
Silver basin.
English.
7th century
...
...
...
...
...
Covered
silver
cup
...
...
...
144
144
144
Ampulla.
Coronation plate
,,
...
...
Ivory sceptre.
Silver table at
...
...
Windsor
English.
castle.
1
English.
7th century
...
...
145
Silver casket.
7th century
...
...
146
146 147 14? 149
Bowl
or salver.
at
English.
castle.
Early
8th century
1 8th
...
...
...
Tureen
Windsor
English.
century
,,
...
...
...
Teakettle
Silver vases.
...
English.
English.
8th century
i8th century
...
...
...
...
Covered vase.
...
...
...
...
150
GOLD AND
SILVER.
CHAPTER
I.
THE
estimate set
on gold
as the representative of
history.
wealth can
in countries
Except
and counting
numbers of
their
for
and
sometimes taken
exchange by
the arms, the
or ingots
ments, or
cities. Perhaps the earliest recorded mark of this kind was the image of a sheep or an ox, the metal being called in Latin from that image "pecunia" from "pecus" cattle,
representing so
much
live stock.
as
Gold has been taken by the common consent of mankind the fittest representative of wealth both in ancient and in
for the following
modern times
GOLD AND
i.
SILVER.
and
is
Gold
is
used for
many
sold
less in
purposes,
whether
2.
it
is
by weight.
quantity and
more
This value being acknowledged, gold is easily carried about than any merit
is
taken in exchange.
3.
The
quantity of food
independent of sudden
is
political or
commercial troubles.
4.
Gold
spread too widely over the world to allow any risk of its being all gathered into the hands of one or a few persons, as
5.
Gold
is
by time, by chemical agents, by frequent melting and recasting and it can be preserved without trouble. 6. Wherever gold is
found
it
is
have
faults
only
7.
known
to
Diamonds, which on depend many conditions, and persons of skill and experience in
(a
buying them.
ing
coin
e.g.
represent-
twenty shillings can be divided into twenty parts, each worth one shilling), and the parts either separately or together,
or recast, retain their intrinsic value.
The
carat,
on the other
hand,
size
in
diamonds
the
increases
if
in
value in
proportion to the
of
stone, but
many
all
pieces,
by
of
its
value.
most
delicate
stamp. 9. Lastly, though so soft and ductile a metal, it can be made hard enough to wear very long with but slight loss
of
its
value.
ductility 01
The
gold,
which
is
little
always been
known
as a valuable
quality.
be beaten out according to Pliny into 750 leaves "four fingers square." This extension is far exceeded by gold beaters of
the present day; according to Chambers, modern gold leaf if beaten from an ingot weighing two ounces, when at its extreme thinness of 2 Q-^th of an inch would cover about 200
GOLD AND
square
feet.
SILVER.
As
knew nothing of
platinum or iridium, metals heavier than gold. One other element in the value of gold, specially in refer-
ence to gilding,
notices the
is the glory and beauty of the colour. Pliny high value of this aspect of the metal which he calls the colour of the stars, but declares that silver is seen
it
by the
Romans on
of
these
The only
are
of
remains,
however,
now known
bronze and
The language
light
name
of gold as
and
richest
when
setting
the
the
sun.
harmony
of
this
yellow
"purple and gold" as royal colours, reminding us of these broken rays " passing from gold into orange, from that into " and once more the colour rose, from that into purple
:
We
"
when innocence and peace reigned over material gold was dug. The word golden, in
abundance
it
the
this
represents.
Gold
some
found alloyed with various metals, never without mixture of silver, often with copper, iron, or other
is
when
it
is
called
an amalgam.
called native
gold,
and
in
this
chief commercial
combination varies in proporimportance. tion from, one hundredth to one half of the entire substance.
silver in this
The
particles,
water-worn plates,
B 2
GOLD AND
SILVER.
Gold scales, occasionally of crystals and then of octohedra. dust (particles of various size and weight, the larger known as
nuggets)
in veins
is
it
found
is
in
alluvial
washings.
When
the metal
is
quartz,
disseminated
it
and
associated
with
stances, but
is
and
Gold
siderable
is
A
to
conthe
portion
the
palaeozoic,
some
groups ; but the gold-bearing veins vary much, not only in dimension but in productiveness. The most productive veins
contain great quantities of disseminated sulphurides, and these
as the veins
are moved by the and become the gold sands in water courses nuggets, and plates. Though found in more or less abundance near the surface of the earth this accumulation in some of the
of gold.
action of water
gold
fields
is
On
to
shows
this
Gold
or
is
it
is
mixed
embedded by breaking up
containing the
or
it
or by simple is then fused from other metals washing; separated by means of with which and from which gold easily amalgamates, mercury
parts
ore,
is
which
the mercury
is
afterwards evaporated
in
Gold
in the tin
exists
small
quantities
Small quantities of gold had been found in Scotland " James V. ; that active and patriotic prince
who
The gold gold from the mines of Leadhills in Clydesdale. in sufficient to supply and found was of fine quality, quantity
metal for a very elegant gold coin which, bearing the head of James wearing a bonnet, has been thence called a bonnetpiece."
in
Gold
is
now found
in
Sutherlandshire,
but whether
quantities sufficient to
state.
be premature to
repay the working of mines it would In Ireland gold has been found from a
very early date, and the number of gold ornaments, such as torques or twisted neck collars, reliquaries, and vessels for
ecclesiastical use,
made
great.
It
would be
interesting to
computation of the quantity of treasure trove of this kind that has been collected in the royal Hibernian academy and in There are no data to be relied on for more private hands.
than guess work on the subject.
melted
down.
I
is
have
been
told
3oo,ooo/. sterling
this
probably within the intrinsic value of the amount might be put at a far higher
some
also
comes from the Rhine, the washing of the sands of which river was formerly farmed by the municipality of Strasburg. Spain
is
The
times.
They had a
great
name
in
emperors, particularly those of Gallicia, from which the gold was very pure. Remains of ancient works on a grand scale are still to be traced in several
times of the
Roman
The Norician Alps were said to be highly The mines productive of gold at a very much earlier period. of this regipn passed into the possession of Rome under the
parts of Spain.
emperors.
in
in the
GOLD AND
SILVER.
sands of the Po in ancient times, and a fair quantity is still said to be produced on the southern slopes of Monte Rosa.
work
since
the
eighth century.
in
Bohemia produce a small quantity, and the Bohemian mines were of some importance from the eleventh to the fifteenth
century.
The amount
is
of gold
Germany
slopes
very
small.
at
parts of
in
any
European country
of the
Much
duced
and
pro-
California, the Australian being the most pure. in Brazil has declined in quantity since the
The gold
middle of the
last century.
From
to
quantities in India
and other
parts of Asia.
Much was
brought
Europe in the course of trade and as spoils of war. It was abundant in ancient Egypt though not, apparently, coined in that country. King Solomon was supplied with gold by trade
regularly carried
in Colchis, of
may be
said
taken
as evidence.
to
by Pliny
have plated
of Egypt.
The
rivers
reputed by the
bearing sand were the Tagus, the Po, the Hebrus in Thrace, the
Pactolus,
Native
oftener
silver
occurs
sometimes in a
state
of purity,
but
Alloys of
and gold are numerous, and the silver sometimes so It is also preponderates as to show merely traces of gold. found as an amalgam ; that is, associated with mercury ; in most important
GOLD AND
of the ores of silver
;
SILVER.
"
and
"
Few
metals,"
It is said to exist in
and
produced, the mines that have been the longest worked are those of Schemnitz. A school of miners was established there by the empress-queen Maria
to the places in
As
which
There are many and productive silver mines Those in Erzegebirge districts of Saxony and Bohemia. the Hartz mountains are worked but produce less silver. Spain
Theresa in 1760.
in the
in ancient times
was rich
in
silver mines.
now
to
of a single
famous
silver.
The word
French word
Our own word money argent\ came to mean money generally. is derived from the word moneta : the temple of Juno Moneta
was the depository of the already been explained.
Roman
mint.
has
A
into
great
amount of
since
silver
Europe
is
the
discovery
in Mexico.
America.
The
greatest
quantity
now produced
The
of
The mines of Guanaxerato are over 300 fathoms deep. Nevada, discovered only in 1859, are of extraordinary richness. Next in rank as to quantity are the mines of the United States,
Peru, and Bolivia.
Chili,,
CHAPTER
II.
IT
is
said in the
book of Genesis
that
Abraham
in
the twen-
tieth
century
B.C.,
"when he went
out of Egypt,"
was very
and
in
exchange
wrought and
in ingots
and
bracelets
are spoken of Gen. xxiv., but it is remarkable that no coined gold or silver has been found among the ruins either of Egypt
or Nineveh.
Abundant examples of the goldsmiths' work of the Egyptians remain in our museums, or may be studied in the paintings still to be seen in Egyptian tombs, and in the elaborate books that
have been published on Egyptian antiquities during the present It will be enough here to refer to a remarkable set century.
of
gold
in
ornaments
exhibited
These belonged to the Khe'dive of Egypt, 1862 and had been found at Thebes by M. Auguste Mariette. They
London.
were
in the case containing
is
"
the
mummy
of queen Aah-Hotep,"
whose date
about 1500 B.C., and consisted of a poignard with a gold blade on which was engraved a combat between a lion and a bull, with the cartouche of king Amosis, son of the queen
named, and
first
diadem,
which
is
on the blade
of the same king inscribed on the handle. square pectoral brooch, having the appearance of being enamelled, but in reality
set
with coloured
stones.
who
of massive gold.
long,
A
is
A bracelet of suspended a scarabaeus. massive gold ornamented with repousse figures reposing on a ground of lapis lazuli together with the figure of Amosis. A boat of massive gold on four wheels of bronze ; this was found
from which
with the
mummy
on the prow is a cartouche with the name of king Rameses, husband of the queen and father of Amosis. These jewels were without enamel though inlaid with coloured stones.
exacted
annual
from the conquered provinces in Asia and Africa in the, form of dust, vases, and other manufactured objects.
statues
and vases
as well
were
common
the third (the contemporaries of Joseph and Moses). The goldsmiths' work and metallurgy of the Hebrews have
so close a connection with that of ancient Egypt that in a review
may be
considered together.
The
and
made from
jewels
borrowed from the Egyptians, and forced upon the Hebrews in order to induce them to leave
silver
and
the country.
The
objects
made
in the desert of
mount
Sinai
were
io
tables of the law
GOLD AND
;
SILVER.
manna ; and
the
(2)
the altar of
incense;
and
the
seven- branched
candlestick.
acts of worship.
for
Tongs,
snuffers,
lights
utensils
metals.
The
mimosa wood,
had a crown or cresting of leaf-work round the upper edge and loops of gold at the corners, through which passed two poles that were never removed. The table
it
of proposition, on which were kept twelve loaves answering to the twelve tribes, was of the same wood overlaid with gold,
with a cresting or crown round the edge four fingers broad, and another cresting pointing downwards.
Two
cherubim,
symbolic
figures
(perhaps
of
animals
or
human-headed) with wings stretched out facing each other, were placed on the propitiatory or seat of mercy, a pedestal or bench
that stood over the ark
;
mercy
seat,
common in Egyptian paintings and of beaten gold as well as the were figures which was of the same length and width as the ark.
These
columns that fronted the sanctuary, and the
The
capitals of the
hooks and sockets that could be seen, were also of gold. Objects less sacred wre of silver, and the metal work that fastened the
wooden
inclosure
of which were used to cover and pack the sanctuary and the vessels kept within it) were of brass or bronze.
the
direction
in
of
Moses, according
All
to
to
him
;
a vision.
had
special
lines,
special
in
the parts
and
details of
composite
in
objects, such as
the fountain
or laver of bronze.
The most
given us
GOLD AND
SILVER.
ix
words as to these prescribed conditions, which were rigorously But of the art, the form, or character of the decarried out.
coration
we know
nothing.
Whether the
with
crestings,
capitals,
common
art
with Greek
or
oriental
or
with
mediaeval
European
we can but
conjecture.
sculptured
on the
made
pictures
for
and
imitations
seven-branched
candlestick,
example,
without the smallest regard to archaeology. And so we are left to complete the idea of the Hebrew goldsmiths' work for ourselves.
With regard
it
is
certain
significant
or
typical
of theological
truths
or
mysteries were in no way left to the artificers, mentation would seem to have been considered
The
conditions
required could be
carried
out (as
we should
had been
say) in
any
in
style,
his assistants
trained
though as they inhabited a particular and separated province they might have retained primitive methods
Egypt,
It is
of working.
was not very unlike that of the Egyptians. To return to the golden candlestick, which
sculptures inside
figures
in the
the
arch of Titus
its
at
Rome.
This was an
peculiar
shape,
on
the
maintained; a figure likely to make a deep impression heathen nations of antiquity. It was carried to
Rome
i
original table,
along with the table of prothesis (?) ; probably not the nor that of Solomon ; possibly that mentioned in
iv.
Maccab.
49,
vessels
were made.
splendid
this is
table
12
GOLD AND
The
SILVER.
;
the
stem was made up of bosses and leaves alternating, the description of which in Exodus is rather obscure; three cups
or bowls
like
lilies
or
flowers.
description which
comes nearest
to the
sculpture as
SEVEN-BRANCHED CANDLESTICK.
ARCH OF TITUS.
in
Rome
is
and a bowl
at the
head of the
and
wick.
The
six
branches are segments of circles curving sets, with a bowl or boss under
in
each pair of branches, coming to one height above and ranging one line of lamps along with the centre light. It was kept
13
base, as repre-
side.
The
sented in the
in
two
plinths,
winged animals in
(?).
The
and
The lower
part of the
petals, like
an
lily
No
to
have
been an addition
original candlestick.
may
is
Roman
restoration.
its
said to have
been so high in
original
Many
parts there-
lost or injured
and
replaced.
spirits of
were symbols of the Divine Presence ; the seven " God, seven eyes. The number seven was a number of perfection," sometimes used to mean many ; seven times,
lights
The
many
times
i.e.
so
again
in
multiples
times.
seven,"
any number of
tinual recurrence in
it
became a subject
of frequent
comment by
of
many mediaeval founders, builders, and architects. The later history of the golden candlestick is not
There
is
clearly
was carried away by Maxentius and thrown into the Tiber as he fled over the ponte Molle in the fourth century; and hopes are entertained
recorded.
it
of
its
recovery
when
the
new
is
complete.
Gibbon, however,
expressly
that
the
holy
vessels
were
He
The
holy vessels
long
peregrination,
were
It
to Carthage
Persians
In the year 614 Jerusalem was taken by the by the Vandals. " under Chosroes. The sepulchre of Christ and the
stately churches of
at least
damaged, by the flames ; the devout offerings of three hundred years were rifled in one sacrilegious day." From that
time the golden candlestick is lost sight of in history. The sacred vessels and utensils made for the tabernacle
remained
Many more
value,
ceiling,
completion of the temple of Solomon. were added, larger, and some of them of great The sanctuary was lined with plates of gold; walls,
in use after the
floor.
and
work on the
feet
walls
and doors
was
gilt.
Two
high,
of olive wood,
were covered with the same precious metal; hanging chains about the capitals of columns and all hinges and fastenings
were of gold.
The offerings made by foreign nations to Jewish kings were The queen of Sheba offered Solomon 120 of gold and silver. talents of gold, 200 shields containing 600 shekels of gold (the
shekel was
worth about 5o/. sterling), 300 shields of silver minae, roughly to be valued at i,2co/. each. 300 containing The shields were kept in the temple as royal ornamental treasure, and were carried away as spoil of war by the Egyptians
in the
succeeding reign.
state or royal furniture of the palace of
The
the
Solomon was
more valuable
metal.
with gold.
seat,
Two
large golden
His throne was of ivory partly covered lions were the supports of the
those
;
probably
not unlike
that
support
many Greek,
Roman, and Egyptian thrones and twelve smaller golden lions were placed two and two, on the steps that led to it. It may be observed that a life-sized head of a tiger, of thick hammered
gold over a wooden model, one of several which supported the throne of Tippoo Sahib, is now in the royal collection at
Windsor
castle.
GOLD AND
With regard
India, through
to the Assyrians
SILVER.
Mr. Layard
states
15
were probably supplied to Babylon and Gilding appears to have been extensively used in decoration and some of the great sphinxes may have been
various precious stones
Nineveh.
he continues " but express my conviction that much of the metal called gold, both in the sacred writings and
cannot however
"
in the profane authors of antiquity, was in reality copper alloyed with other metals, the aurichalcum or orichalcum of the Greeks, such as was used in the bowls and plates discovered at Nim-
roud."
in
No
was practised
our knowledge goes, and in the metallurgy of the Jews and of king Solomon, gold, silver, and brass are too
Egypt so
as
gilding or
and
in king
Solomon's
palaces to
It
is
be mistaken
for
kingdom of Solomon, and most of this was devoted to sacred or to royal buildings, very few in number ; not to houses, palaces,
the
or public buildings scattered over the land;
and
for
such pur-
poses there must have been real gold more than enough. Though the Assyrians may have used mixed metals for gilding
and
"they had" says Mr. Layard "abundance of gold and carried away artificers from conquered countries craftsmen, and engravers from Jerusalem in the Babylonish Dr. Birch remarks (in his observations on the stacaptivity."
external walls
silver
tistical
tablet of
Karnak)
as
"
Tahai are
a remarkable
metals
tribute,
among
they show an excellence in working indeed the art of toreutic work in these people
:
later period as to
fictile
Greeks."
silver with
Mr. Layard mentions "offerings of vases of gold and handles, feet, and covers, in the shape of animals,
16
GOLD AND
SILVER.
heads of
such as the bull and gazelle (or wild goat), kneeling Asiatics, the The tribute lions, goats, and even of the god Baal.
obtained by the Egyptians from Naharaina or Mesopotamia consisted of vases of gold, silver, and copper, as well as precious
stones."
The
walls of Ecbatana
lines
circuits,
silvered
gilded.
In
The masonry
The
temple of Belus, in Babylon, had a seated golden image of colossal size ; the throne and the base were of gold, as well as
a large table and a pedestal in the porch.
the plains of
The
and
statue set
up
in
Dura was
Both
Asiatic
the
were probably plated on a frame of wood, and this method was adopted by Phidias and other Greek artists, gold being hammered and engraved, in plates of appreciable
statues
weight and thickness, and not mere gilding. There was also in Babylon a column of solid gold, twelve cubits high, which was
More beautiful, and probably highly by Xerxes. specimens of Asiatic or Asiatic-Greek workmanship were a vine and a plane tree of solid gold, the leaves all
carried
off
wrought,
hammered and
chased.
and plane away by bowl of Semiramis, weighing fifteen talents. The Romans had many mythical traditions of
Cyrus, in addition to the vine
dour.
and the
Asiatic splen-
and put on
who built his funeral pile of perfumed wood 150 beds of gold, on which his mistresses reposed to share his death, with 150 tables of the same metal, 10,000,000 of talents of gold, and 100,000,000 of talents of silver, costly
of Sardanapalus,
robes,
The down to
ancient traditions of these barbaric riches have come " us through a " golden haze of exaggeration and fable,
GOLD AND
SILVER.
17
There were, and group themselves round some true stories. there must have been, great stores of the precious metals among
the ancient oriental monarchs and princes.
Property of
this
hoarded
in ingots,
vases,
and
costly furniture
in things that
retained their actual value for state emergencies, while they were
Curious particulars of a family banking firm " Egibi and sons " of Babylon, in a later age, have been discovered from some Assyrian tablets in the
visible
British
museum.
They were
agents,
lenders
of
money, and
perhaps dealers in the precious metals. Banks in the modern sense of the word, exchange, circulation, and other financial
The size and splendour of the philosophy were unknown. also made were some objects security against robbery, and
tended to keep these objects from destruction and waste, as they passed from hand to hand in the way of guarantees, tribute,
or plunder.
The
not under these great eastern monarchies waste, as they do in modern times, but accumulated from reign to reign and from
one conquest
to another.
It is reasonable also to
suppose that
and
had accumulated on
or close under the surface from the patient chemistry of natural As the agencies, slowly but surely, during long periods of time.
various climates of the earth were tempered and prepared for the
several
races
of mankind
less
ready
for the
One
another,
a rival arose strong enough to carry off whatever had not been buried or wasted in tissues and small ornament.
CHAPTER
III
THE
various Asiatic
monarchies and
states
came
into contact
with the Greeks as they neared the shores of the Mediterranean and the Egean. Into the fertile and beautiful countries of Asia
minor colonies of Greeks had been pushed from an early date. A great Ionian migration took place about 1000 years B.C. The Greeks were not then settled for the first time on the seaboard of Asia
riches
:
made
settlements,
had acquired
and power, and had engaged in war with various fortune. But they returned in greater numbers and power about this
time,
and
grew
into
more
wealthy
and luxurious
societies.
"The
ties,
settlements of
Greece," says
this immigration,
equal,
"gave birth to new and flourishing communiand often superior, in wealth and population to the
mother
city."
The
of
colonists
adopted much of
of
the
the
states
manners
around
and
them.
learnt
many
the arts
wealthy
them came
supply of the precious metals and the art of working to these Greek populations from the east. The
statement of Dr. Birch, already quoted, suffices to show how this command of the precious metals affected the manners of
a vigorous people, driven by want of space and ever-increasing numbers to seek new fields of adventure and soil broad
19
The
enough for small jewels and personal ornament was multiplied till it spread into the dimensions, not of vases and cups only, but
of beds, thrones, and the ornaments of chariots and armour.
The Homeric
Achilles
;
shields,
such as that of
gold armour, such as that exchanged between Glaucus Poetic descripand Diomede ; as well as golden furniture.
tions perhaps
:
but
it
splendour with which his champions are surrounded was painted from instances real, though rare, which were known and could
be seen in
helmets,
his
own
day.
The gold
belts,
baldrics,
buttons,
ornaments of leg armour, &c. just discovered by Dr. Schliemann at Mycenae belong, as some believe,
breastplates,
to this early age.
Many
great
number
of objects
More
found
at
Kourioum
in
museum
1876.
gems, Cyprus, were offered to the British About a hundred vessels were of silver,
in
showing examples of hammered, embossed, and chased work. A few were inlaid with gold. They were of Egyptian, Babylonian, and Asiatic Greek workmanship, a few of the latter
showing traces of enamel and ranging in date from 600 B.C.
It
1000 to
to
make
was long before the Greeks of Europe were rich enough either vessels or furniture of gold and silver for general
till
and the
Europe
Herodotus decentury before our sera. scribes the spoil that was taken after the battle ; tents mounted with gold and silver as well as beds, couches, vases, and vessels
Plataea, in
of
all sorts.
c 2
20
GOLD AND
A
vast
earrings,
SILVER.
as
wreaths,
brooches,
and
coronets,
have been
found
These during late years in tombs in various parts of Italy. were the work of Greek colom'sts in Magna Grecia or of the
Etruscans,
who were
those
of eastern origin.
The ornaments
are
of two kinds;
made
for funerals
Several beautiful examples will be thinness, and those for wear. found among the jewellery of the South Kensington museum and
in the jewel
room of
the British
museum.
and refinement of the early Greek goldsmiths, as well as of the greater artists to be named presently, were very
skill
The
great.
embossed with
as
the
chief sculptors
who succeeded
them, there were few methods in use in later times that were unknown to these ancient workmen. Many of their secrets
remained unknown
for
centuries
all
after
the destruction
of the
but lost and forgotten long before. empire, with which the artists of the fifth and The use of the graver, later centuries B.C. executed compositions and figures of asif
Roman
not
unknown
to them.
Their
in
their
cements.
Acorns,
at first sight
be beaten up in relief, are in reality built up by soldering For years the minute plates or grains one over the other. were defied the which these managed junctions process by
research
artists
the most accomplished kind known in our day. They succeeded at last in finding one or two workmen in the small town of S. Angelo in Vado, with whose help they have re-
of
Caetani
and
Castellani,
in
gold work of
this
covered some
of
these
forgotten
methods.
The wandering
21
goldsmiths of several parts of India make gold jewellery of the same kind, though coarse by comparison with the ancient work,
and
but by the same methods and by the use of the same cements No workmanship, however, of modern times has solders.
was
after the
Greeks became independent at sea, and grew rich by commerce. Then followed the great age of Greek art. Sculpture
that the
and painting were carried to the highest perfection, and the great Artists seem to have sculptors worked in the precious metals. devoted themselves to the making of vases, cups, and other
small goldsmiths' work, or decorations that could be laid on or
let into larger
some other
materials,
A number of small shields, chests, tables, thrones, and the like. and of compositions and illustrating figures gold making up groups local legends and mythical stories were inlaid in the ivory chest
of Cypselus kept in the temple at Olympia.
A
aegis
movable head of
of Minerva and
Gorgon made of gold was fastened on an hung up in one of the temples at Athens.
statues of ivory
size.
Phidias
made
large
and gold (chryselephantine), some of colossal His famous statue of Athene, the guardian goddess of
Athens, was kept in the Parthenon. What portions of the statue were made in ivory and what of gold is only to be gathered from the rather vague descriptions of Pausanias who saw this statue
during his travels
towards the
end
of
the
second
century.
Probably the head, neck, limbs, and all parts representing flesh, The drapery was' gold. On the were of ivory and painted.
lofty crest,
on each
The
by a
cuirass of gold
gold, but
statue.
; Gorgon was replaced by one of ivory when Pausanias saw the In her right hand the goddess held a Victory four cubits
the head of
in the
high,
and a spear
in her left.
large shield
by her
side
was
out.
The
inside
22
GOLD AND
SILVER.
represented the contests of the giants with the gods, and the outer that between the. Athenians and the Amazons. Every part of
the gold was delicately worked : the edges of the sandals were engraved with the contests of the Centaurs and Lapithse, and the
base had
many
figures
round
it
in relief.
The
were marble, perhaps some inlaying of "pietra dura" to represent the. colours
ivory statue was
A restoration has been attempted by Quatremere de Quincy in his "Jupiter Olympien." Another gold and ivory Jupiter was given in later times by Hadrian to his temple at
Athens.
Olympia. a footstool.
and pupil. still larger gold and Phidias of Jupiter for his temple at This image was seated in a chair, and under the feet
.of
the
iris
made by
An
in his
temple
of Greece.
inlaid in
and many others in various parts bronze, marble, and wood had details
;
and the
like.
The wish
imitate
the
Croesus,
among many
offerings of gold
and
silver
The fame
to have
in
Darius also erected to a favourite wife a statue of hammered gold. of these gold and ivory statues so increased the desire
them
in
numbers expressly
for
exportation.
many
small
The
cast but
gold portions of the chryselephantine statues were not hammered. The metal on the statue of Minerva was
made
so as to be removable,
and
Phidias,
when
tried
on the
own
portrait
and
on the
shield,
and
for that of
How
GOLD AND
the gold that covers
the gold
SILVER.
Not
in
is
23
less,
probably, than
the Indian
museum
variously estimated
talents,
by ancient authors
it
was
about forty-four
is
nearly
said to have
been
it
B.C.
296
Not one of
sera.
The
had been
in part
The gold became state property, and was melted down to make vessels and utensils for the new
held.
worship.
The
Greece
spoils
treasures of seven or
eyes of Pausanias
in
when he made
had
the
second century.
Persian wars,
The
of
the
been
off
from
the
but
it
entire.
The
still
contained
wick of Carpasian
of
The temple
described:
of
Jupiter at
Olympia was uninjured, with the wreaths, and precious objects already
Altis
so
and many
others,
art
till
recent years brought to us through the medium of what may be called a Roman translation. Apart from the jewellery dug
up in various parts of Italy, the treasure of Cyprus, and a number of beautiful pieces of various kinds collected in St.
Petersburg, not
much
Gold
24
vases
GOLD AND
of ancient
shall
SILVER.
Greek workmanship are very rare. One or be noticed presently. The silver, gold, or silver-gilt goldsmiths' work that is to be seen in modern collections has
two
and
been mostly found in the excavations of Herculaneum, Pompeii, Rome one or two in France, and other countries in the
;
number of
Hanover.
to
CYLIX.
Some
old Greek gold and silver smiths have been preserved by Pliny the elder, and other writers. It is to be noted that though
Phidias
and
his
contemporaries
made
great
statues
of
gold,
many
to
artists
who devoted
altogether
best
work
in silver.
The
ancient
which they gave the name of electrum, and on which they set It was gold with one fifth part of silver. This great store.
was found
in
and
was considered of
than
when mixed
in
The
;
that of gold
understand
estimation in
which
is
this
electrum
of silver
it
is
rarely procured in
is
particular proportion.
St.
A
:
vase of electrum
preserved
in the
Petersburg museum
25
artists
in
silver or
to have
of Diana at
Ephesus
still in
356.
Martial alludes
to pieces
of his
work
as
Rome.
Mentor and
engravers,
toreutores
and
ccelatores.
beaten
soldered
up or executed on bands of metal, and afterwards on the outside of the vessels for which they were
These
ornaments
intended.
sitions,
were
figures,
dramatic
theatre,
compoofferings
masks, goatskins,
attributes
of
the
to
Gold
inlay
probably rare
among
time,
and was
common
After
Praxiteles
in
Rome
to please a
more
ostentatious society.
Mentor come Acragas, of the age of Scopas and and Mys, of the date of Phidias or his immediate
Stratonicus,
successors.
B.C.
;
of Athens, was of the third century of Tauriscus, Cyzicus, flourished at the same time or soon
Antipater,
of a
of unknown date, is named by Pliny as the bowl on which was a sleeping satyr, engraved so Eunichus of Mytewonderfully as to seem laid on in relief. lene and Hecatseus of the same place were of the time of
after.
maker
Pompey.
the
trial
of Orestes
Zopyrus, of the same date, represented on two cups for the murder of Clytemnestra. These
Rome
at
embossed with a composition of figures representing Ulysses and Diomed stealing the Palladium. He engraved cups with
subjects of domestic
life,
26
extreme delicacy that they could not be moulded so as to obtain casts from them, nor were there artists in Pliny's time competent to copy them. Pasiteles, of the same date, chased
and embossed
life.
compositions were of athletes, hunting scenes and sacrifices. Speaking of the collections of precious vases in ancient
" In those seats of royalty " (the cities of Greece, Miiller says " Macedonian rulers) were made an unusual number of chased
and embossed
silver vessels."
were the founders, which were extant in Rome in the first century of our era, was small. The exigencies of war had probably
caused the sale or destruction of vast numbers.
Existing ex-
amples of the Greek gold or silver smiths' work of a date earlier than that of the Roman empire are rare. There is in the
British
museum
same
low
relief
on the
in the
collection
of gold, covered
the
way up with
a network of
filigree finishing with a small Corinthian capital, surmounted by an apple made of green glass secured by a gold
pin that passes through it, and finished with a blossom and with leaves, all of beaten gold ; a silver dish found at Rhodes, with cartouches on it, Etruscan work. Other sceptres, found
at Kertch, are
now
in the Petersburg
museum.
and Etruscan metalnone show more admirable
Amongst
many
modern
some cased
in silver.
The
usually an alloy of
the greater
number of more ancient mirror cases being of bronze. According to Beckmann the stannum of Pliny is rather an alloy of tin and lead, " a sort of [very hard] pewter." Silver came gradually
into use for the surfaces of mirrors alloyed with other metals,
27
was used almost pure. A layer of gold was sometimes added at the back to make the reflection clearer
utterly
reflector
light
to Beckmann, who suggests that a gold might have been hung at an inclination to throw a on a silver mirror fixed in the wall. Mirrors on a large
inexplicable
on the
walls of temples.
In that
and ridiculous
reflection
that
is,
it
was
spherical,
was above
all
GILDING.
The
Greeks,
like
the
Egyptians,
Ninevites,
Hebrews, and
on wood and external masonry and marble first case gold was laid on as an amalgam sculpture. with mercury, and the latter metal afterwards evaporated by In the other cases, gold leaf of a tolerable substance was heat.
particularly) but
In the
on a prepared bed made of chalk, marble dust, or other compositions with animal size admirably tempered, as in modern water gilding. Bronze chariots, armour, arms, tripods ; the
laid
railings,
gratings,
and
this beautiful
method.
The
art
composition called nigellum or niello was probably well known to the Greeks, but it shall be reserved for a later section.
Enamel, a method of laying powdered glass of different colours over gold and other metals and then submitting the metal to
the action of the furnace so as to fuse and unite the coloured
glass to the surface of the metal,
was known
to the
Greeks as
to
antiquity.
tians,
The Greek
artists
A few
specimens,
28
GOLD AND
SILVER.
one or two earrings in the British museum and others in the may be quoted. It was a kind
of decoration introduced from the east, and used with splendour
effect
by Byzantine artists when Asiatic and barbarous art goldsmiths' work replaced the purer art of the Romans pure by comparison with that which came after it, but far below
and
CHAPTER
IV.
THE Ro nans
The Roman
were
not
race
of
artists
but
they were
it.
"rerum domini"
lords of
the world
and the
treasures of
patrician was refined in his pleasures and tastes, often highly educated, and knew what good art was though he could not create it. Rich patricians and money makers were
and paid enormous sums for old gold and silver plate made by famous artists. They did this often no doubt from ostentation and knew that they were
often
collectors,
went to
sales,
getting
money's worth,' but they gave prices that would astonish at Christie's and the hotel Drouot. Pliny
of ancient Greece,
already,
(say,
per pound
number
of
The
Gracchus was 5,000 sesterces (say, per pound weight; the bowl of Pytheas, on which was
represented
Ulysses and Diomed with the palladium, fetched 10,000 denarii (say, about 33o/.) -per ounce. So much as to the value put on fine old gold and silver smiths'
work
by the Romans.
During the
first
century of
our era
30
pared with the great names of the past but of great copying or reproducing traditional designs these artist
workmen
were unsurpassed. They were the inheritors of all kinds of methods of fusing, damascening, in-laying, and tempering the metals used in founding, sculpture, and decoration, whether of
statues, vases,
or
Rome
was
full
of Greek
artists
was mostly
in the
hands of Greeks.
Their
skill
and
their
servility
were proverbial.
time,
At the present
silver
however,
objects
the
Romans
or their Greek
one hundred
Rome and other places: and vases at Pompeii, fourteen of which were in
Most of the old drinking vases were made of two plates of metal, the outer one hammered, embossed, or chased, or with
all
to
to
be
easily cleaned.
Some
of the plates
elastic
of the
the
Pompeian cups
are uninjured,
and are
still
from
metal has undergone no disintegration. A beautiful cup was found at Antium and
in
is,
A
in
apotheosis of
Homer
is
Bourbon
collection in Naples.
Two
are
represented the death of Patroclus and the vengeance of Achilles. The South Kensington museum has a small vase of
silver,
in the
sulphur baths of
;
Vicarello,
on
and a
ring of silver,
31
silver vase,
the outer plate decorated with leaf-work, and part of a small box or pyxis with masks and animals round it, form part of the
collection of the British
museum.
the
No
example made
in
Augustan times is better suited Greek art than the silver cup
All the details of ornamentaaccessories, such
and a number of
These
on an
are
of extraordinary delicacy.
of
offerings
are cups
and
vases
sizes,
no
less
TREASURE OF HILDESHEIM.
collection
includes
period,
some
casts
of
Roman
the
silver
plate of a
good
in
found in
1869
city of
Hildesheim
first
They
;
consist of a
number of drinking
vessels,
some
and handles of cups and vases. These treasures were found by German soldiers under the hill above the city while digging
a trench and throwing up butts for rifle practice. At first the value of the fragments of metal was not suspected, but a more careful search disclosed a great number of different pieces,
some
Copies made by Messrs. South Kensington museum. Amongst them are examples of most of the patterns of drinking cups used by the Greeks, and adopted from them by the
richly
Cristofle
of
the
Romans.
One
vessel only
is
we
32
GOLD AND
SILVER.
into their late hiding-place.
not probable that they formed the religious treasure of a temple, being too obviously a table service with portions of
candelabra stands, and various objects such as might have formed the camp service of a Roman commander. But the Romans had no hold on Hanover, nor permanent stations
as
far
north as
Hildesheim.
Trajan's
settlements
were not
carried far
beyond the
this
It is possible that
a treasure such as
Roman
by a German tributary or hostile chief who, in his turn, has been driven from his native land. The camp equipages of silver plate carried by Roman commanders were often of great
Aries, named by Pliny as the of merely equestrian rank, carried 1,200 pounds weight of silver on a campaign. Compared with this the service
splendour.
Pompeius Paulinus, of
son of a
man
about to be noticed
vessel
is
is of very modest extent. The largest a vase of oval shape on a stand with handles; both
stand and handles are small in proportion to the capacity of an outline common on the old terra-
antiquaries to cups
and other
vessels
are many, and are not easily to be classed with precision. This large piece (just mentioned) is a Kparfip, crater, used for
it
was unmannerly
in
relief
to
The
is
work
of leaves,
cupids,
sphinxes,
delicacy.
by an
olvo^orj,
oenochoe, a can or ladle the handle of which rose straight from the sides of the bowl and not at right angles as in punch ladles.
vessel, *oAt, cylix, of which a beautiful example be seen in No. 312, was an open saucer with handles, through, one of which a finger was passed so as to balance the
will
Another
GOLD AND
full cylix
SILVER.
33
on the hand while drinking, not asy to the unpractised. To carry round wine in the cyathus and fill up for the guests was still less so ; it was kept replenished by these ladles.
CYLIX OR PATERA.
In
frieze
of
character;
a seated figure of Minerva in long drapery, all but entire relief, fills half
gilt.
Such a bowl
filled
with
wine, white or red, over the gilded sculpture would glow with a light not seen even in a topaz or carbuncle set upon foil; an effect
by goldsmiths and hosts who, whether Greek or Roman, loved to dazzle every sense of their, guests. Another round drinking bowl contains a bust of the infant Hercules,
well understood
carchesium,
is
bell-mouthed, and contracted towards the middle, with or without handles. No. 321 is a beautiful example, the middle surrounded with a crown of bay
rounded
below,
Such vases with gold wreaths or xpvtrtvtieTa, auro circumvincta, answer to those specially rioted by Pliny as an invention of the Greeks, and as representing the festive
leaves of gold.
34
GOLD AND
The
SILVER.
garlands with which the guests and the cups were decked at a
classic dinner.
Trpo^ovg, prochous,
which there
Patera
there
is
is
is
open saucers or bowls, of which a remarkable example, No. 323, round, engraved in
a
name given
the
The
No. 317 is an example. Out of such would be poured before beginning to drink.
In
this cantharus
body a
and other
The
ffKv<f>oQ,
scyphus,
The
pvrov,
rhyton, was a vessel with a pointed bottom, in which was a hole through which wine trickled into another vessel or into the
it.
These
made
like
the head of a hart, a hind, or other animal, sometimes with a hole through the nose ; they could not be set down when full, and resembled the drinking cups made of silver in the head of
a fox and passed round to guests in this country a generation The modern since ; cups which must be emptied at a draught. into wine skins the mouth small wine from still pour Spaniards
through a narrow neck or hole, and tie up the neck or spout Other names of cups were again after a reasonable supply. narrow neck of with an elevation on the a cup Kw0wv, cothon,
bottom of
upwards;
phiale,
it;
jcoruXiy,
flat,
still
aryballus, purse formed, narrowing a small cup or pointed glass; 0ta\^, shield-like goblet; apvffrtKog, arysticus, a ladle.
apvfiaXXos,
cotyle,
There are
and
true
the
names
exactly.
The
names of Greek vases have been the themes of learned treatises, into which it would be pedantic and wearisome to drag
the reader.
35
flat,
Nos.
and the ends having projecting rims other curves one with fish, water-fowls., shaped into ogee and and other objects worked on these portions in relief.
by
straight stems of metal,
:
LANX.
There are no spoons amongst this table plate. Three silver spoons are in the museum of Naples, two from Pompeii and The bowls of two of them come the third from Herculaneum.
to a point,
have a
something like the rat tail spoons, and the one with a goat's foot, the other with a ball.
rib
'
'
The
third
spoon
is
more
the
draw
snails
from their
shells.
The Hildesheim
the kitchen and the sitting rooms of the the campaign tent, were furnished.
325, 326, are in size like those
Roman
house, even of
worked into leaf-work ending in the necks and heads of geese or other aquatic fowls, where they clip round the edges of the To these stewpans, dishes, plates, and cups for the actual pans.
preparation of food must be added the table and lamp supports,
necessaries of the dining-room, of which fragments are included
in the
Hildesheim
series.
of solid silver
was the head, shoulders, and leg of a can be seen among the casts of antique
fragments
in
the
museum.
These
placed under
and
sideboards were
movable and
made
of precious woods.
The
lighter
connected by
The
braces
were
up and
On
this
small movable
was
a
placed.
The woodcut
in
represents
bronze
the
museum
will
find this
South
scribed in
my
Kensington.
the
Rich vessels of certain shapes were kept for sacred uses by Romans and belonged to the services of the temples. They
seen sculptured on the bas-reliefs of the frieze of the
may be
temple formerly called that of Jupiter tonans in Rome, and on some fragments of a frieze from a temple of Neptune in Rome
not a vestige of which
now
stands.
The fragments
are in the
museum
Stiver
of the Capitol.
museum.
was used
seats
in
Rome
Couches and
had mounts, borders, friezes, and medallions of chased and embossed silver. The isle of Delos set the fashion
though couches and seats were enriched with Bronze fursilver
in silver furniture,
and
GOLD AND
SILVER.
37
gold ; other pieces were of hammered metal so thick (probably over a core or framework of wood) as to be called solid silver.
Roman
silver
;
chariots
rich
and
it is
The
more
private
rooms of the
Roman
fit
and served
At
first,
indeed, luxury
of this kind
foreigners.
only for
triumvirate,
effeminate ostentation.
But under the emperors gold and silver poured into Rome, and were worked wherever wealthy purchasers could be found to
make use
nues or
of them.
reve-
made
splendour and outstripped them in display. A silver centre dish of 500 pounds weight with eight smaller, weighing 107 pounds
each, were made in a foundry built expressly by one Drusillanus, a freedman of Servius. Solid gold and silver statues, and other sculpture properly so called, were also made in Rome but not
*
often.
carried in triumph
by the emperors.
made.
Curious instances are on record of the display of the precious
metals
stance;
occasionally
Caesar,
made by the Roman emperors. For when sedile, plated the whole proscenium
father.
in-
(or
architectural
a piece of stage machinery erected in the amphitheatre to astonish the Roman public. This was apparently a contrivance which
opened, closed,
and adapted
itself to
various transformations,
showing (we
of
many
conclude) something of a fairy temple or shrine scenes, plated with silver, not less than 124,000 pounds
may
in weight.
38
GOLD AND
it
SILVER.
with gold (gilding?) for a single day, called the " golden day,"
when he displayed
After
silver
all
among
how much
and what proportion did it bear to of these metals now actually to be found in the modern
possess,
world
? A far greater proportion, both of gold and silver, is now corned and in circulation than before or during the supremacy of the Roman power. How would the quantities then coined and
hoarded compare with those of our own times ? The problem has been tried by more than one modern writer, but the grounds
are,
The
tures to
yearly revenue of king Solomon is stated in the Scriphave been 666 talents of gold alone (not reckoning silver,
The gold talent of the valued at 1,290,000 grains troy: making somewhere over seven millions sterling (of gold alone). Other writers value
Hebrews
is
this
weight of gold at about 7,780,0007., and again 3,646,3507. of the Persians in the time of Darius was
according to Herodotus 14,560 Euboic silver talents, over three Pliny mentions the quantities of gold and silver
collected in the
Roman
How
monarchs lasted
for
at the high
amount given by
whether
a year or two during the height of their power or during a It considerable proportion of any one reign, we do not know.
is
falls in
the abundance
in
precious
shields,
images,
vases,
and so
forth,
changing hands often, as the treasures do of collectors in our Even under the orderly government and unquestioned day.
sovereignty of
Rome
it
M. Otreschkoff gives
39
middle ages, but we must consider them as greatly exaggerated. The whole quantity of gold in use up to the beginning of
our era was
:
Gold
....
. . .
7,491,333,332 \
Silver.
13,148,666,668)
sterling in
300,000,0007.
gold,
and
about 546,000,0007. sterling in silver. From the beginning of our era to the date of the discovery of South America about The gold of the ancients was less alloyed, softer 938,000,0007.
than ours, and more of
it
was used
and
gold
jewellery.
;
It therefore
much
has disappeared.
On
and
the other
director of the
silver
to modern figures Dr. Linderman, United States mint, estimates the stock of gold now in use in the world at about 2, 000,000, ooo7.
hand turning
sterling,
and the present rate of production about one and a on the existing stock. M. Victor Bonnet assumes
for consumption in Blackwood's magazine on money that one sixth of the western store of
and
the
and 4,ooo,ooo7.
&c.
writer in
(October 1875) states precious metals is hidden away (probably in coin), that two sixths
are in effective circulation,
one half
and that the immense proportion 'of held in plate and ornaments. How often has the gold of ancient times, continually wearing and wasting, been remelted with fresh metal? The gold that
is
has been exchanged by the patriarchs, worshipped on idols, embossed on statues, vases, and armour, covered the sanctuary
of Jerusalem,
figured
in
triumphs,
litanies
ministered
to
the foulest
debaucheries, rung
reliquaries;
to the
some
still
passed
40
GOLD AND
SILVER.
and emperors of the present day? It has been mixed with the ores of a hundred mines, divided, circulated, added to on countless occasions all over the
world
and
"
;
and,
has served good ends during the changes and vicissitudes of the history of men.
DECAY OF
After the close of the
tradition of classic art
CLASSIC ART.
century the loss
in gold
third
of the old
silver smiths'
was general,
and
work no
less
a larger scale.
and
During the reign of Trajan the personal splendour household magnificence of the Roman patricians continued as in the first century. Perhaps the skill of metal
the
workers in cups, vases, furniture, harness, and things that made up the tangible wealth of the great families, did not decline.
From
versal
arts,
by the Greeks and by the Romans under their guidance, to an end. At what precise period we should place the break up of
the great treasuries of Greek art described
be decided.
The
disorders
Alexander
Severus,
probably
led
to
Rome
can be said as to the quantity of wrought gold and of the patrician families in the time of
or as
to
Constantine,
what
sort
of
art
was devoted to
it.
When
Of
was provided
the skill
him.
Rome in He made a
artists
golden
of
Roman
robberies of bas-reliefs
GOLD AND
required to
that
SILVER.
It
is
41
decorate
his
triumphal arch.
the
goldsmiths
were
much
more
skilful
sculptors.
It
Christian
arts
was the great reason of the decline of the which had hitherto been devoted to the shrines, temples,
heathenism.
It
and
altars of
no doubt,
ancient
to
make a show of
shrines,
oracles,
and
"
dusty
in
inside of
chrysele-
But
Rome
all
remaining
Moreover,
was
far
Constantine to discourage the art then to be found in Rome. He was about to give as great an impulse as his imperial rule could enable him to art of every kind. To him must be credited such
a revival as set in
service,
of the
new
of
S.
Rome, and
besides
encouraging
capital.
arts of antiquity.
On
of
the
the
it emperor. paintings remaining was such art as was to be procured. The old art perished from other causes. When national character dwindles those qualities of
The
still
mind and
abounding
brightness,
spirit
in life
life,
which spring up amongst a cultivated society and vigour die also. There must be strength,
in
any race
art.
if it is
can
this
Only from a vast field of exuberant kind of growth be expected. When such a field
no longer
fruitful,
and the
soil
all
This
is
as true of
modern
42
as
it
GOLD AND
Rome
SILVER.
The
art
of classic Greece
and
The
be
art of the
illustrated
ments of
:
silver of the highest interest, now in the British museum and which were hidden in Rome for many centuries. The most considerable in size and value is a chest, made to
contain
Roman
cosmetics and forming part of the toilet service of a bride of the fourth century. It is 22 inches by 17 and
height.
It is shaped like a sarcophagus of that age, with portraits of the bride or bridegroom, and
in
hammered up
figures
on hippocamps and marine monsters; a mixture of pagan and Christian subjects and of symbols of friendship and love. The design and execution
supported
by
genii,
with Venus
carried
are
stiff
and
coarse-,
but the
still
to
spirit of the composition recalls the be recognised though fast dying out.
Another casket
is
round,
domed
over with
flat
We
seem
to see in
churches or shrines
with
domed
which the South Kensington museum collection has one beautiful example, No. 7650. '61. The inscription on the principal object, giving the
names of
drawn from the old mythology. A number of dishes, round scutelke on low stands or
lances,
rims,
oblong
niello.
of old
Roman
form,
handles of the old shape, are all signed with a monogram in A set of horse trappings, phalerce, such as were hung on the breastplates of horses in state equipments, consists of double
shields
and
lion heads.
There
of
Rome,
Constantinople,
These have square sockets attached to them and have been used to ornament the elastic shafts of a litter.
43
and pots
to hold unguents,
the
fourth
earlier
and not
and
than 385
90.
accounts
they
and was
in
Rome when
were discovered in the vaults of a house which had probably fallen in, and where they might have been hidden. He assigns
to the later vessels
that of the
casket and
on the coins of
or beginning
fifth
of the sixth century as the probable time of deposit. the treasure may have been hidden on the taking of
Totila in 546, or
Possibly
Rome by
on
its
invader in 549. After its discovery in 1793 it was acquired by the father of the late due de Blacas. From that collection it was
museum
CHAPTER
V.
THE BYZANTINES.
THE
to
next
great
period
to
be considered
in
the
history
of
gold and
work begins in the fourth century and continues What remained of Roman power, majesty, the eleventh.
silver
traditions at
is
The
art
called
hands of Greek
the
the
contrary)
Roman
The
seat
ferred to Constantinople.
much
to
artists to
Constantine himself, though he did renew the splendour of Rome, carried away all the best his new capital, where the riches and display of the
if
they did
The
condition of Italy,
and of the whole western empire, till the end of the tenth century was such that the arts and especially those employed on
precious
Wars,
and
cities
of Europe, desolating Italy and the rich and The ancient east, west, and south.
45
of
learning,
refinement
Alexandria, and
Carthage fared
neighbourhood.
Statues, vessels,
conquerors,
into
treasured
recast in
up and recaptured,
oftener melted
and
in
this
course
of de-
were not long enough to allow the disturbances of society to settle down, or codes of law and settled forms of social life to be re-established, far less
periods of
rest
any school of art to grow to maturity. Most of the goldsmiths' work dating from the early centuries of the modern
for
era
is
Constantinople and
its
many
empire was very inferior compared Here and there designs on ivories, enamels, and goldsmiths' work are graceful and not wanting in
But the
Rome.
dignity.
The human
figure,
if
conventional,
is
not always
ill
proportioned, and vegetable and animal life are often vigorous and racy though also conventional in treatment ; but the art of
Byzantium
is
Rome
but
a mere shadow, dull, feeble, and distorted. Still Constantinople was the heiress of what was left of Roman arts and resources,
and
tion
this inheritance,
sort of representa-
of
older
and
forms.
It
handed down
till
stiffened
once more possessed by powerful states in which the arts revived, and this of the goldsmith came into new life and works of
incomparable beauty were produced.
this day.
The
outlines, composition,
and
details
much used
46
GOLD AND
things.
SILVER.
outlines are heavier,
work on smaller
less graceful,
and more complicated. Human figures no longer represented gods and goddesses, the images of natural strength and beauty, the pride or the passions of mankind. As the old
religion
contempt of pleasure, its future hopes, these found expression in the heads and bodies of prophets,
with the world,
apostles,
and martyrs.
the
artists, those of Byzantium of wasted hermits, the sorrows of the represented shapes mother of the Redeemer, and the mystery of the Cross. Thus
their art,
besides
its
technical
But
these solemn subjects were set off with the utmost magnificence,
with
hammered gold, with filigree, precious The splendour of material used in Byzantine
;
stones,
and enamel.
notice
for
which
and took the place of good designs and refined artists could no longer be found.
JUSTINIAN. The emperors who had embraced devoted their gold and jewels to enrich the basilicas Christianity
THE AGE OF
and churches,
their sanctuaries
and
altars
with richly covered books, chalices, censers, and other vessels for the services of religion and the solemn administration of the
sacraments.
The
St.
The
made
to
(498-514)
but
all
the ornaments
gold
now
in the
The amount
GOLD AND
hundred and
ceeded
thirty
SILVER.
47
silver.
far
ex-
No
emperor
ABYSSINIAN CHALICH.
of
Rome up
to that period
The conquest
of Belisarius
brought to Constantinople
taken from the western empire and lain preserved in Carthage and other strongholds of Africa. "The wealth of nations" Gibbon says " was displayed, the trophies of martial or effeminate
luxury; rich armour, golden thrones, and the chariots of state which had been used by the Vandal queen ; the mass of furniture
of the
the
royal banquet,
statues
and
vases,
and the holy vessels of the Jewish temple." and appropriated the removed Justinian column of Theodosius, which was of silver and weighed seven
substantial treasures of gold,
more
'St.
a basilica in the
style of those built by Constantine, was destroyed by the populace of Constantinople in consequence of the persecution of St. John Chrysostom. It was rebuilt by Justinian
as
we now
see
it.
The crowning
;
is
the
vast
and the
was
built in
the choir
48
or recess that
lies
GOLD AND
east of
it,
SILVER.
is
and
covered by a half-dome.
The
in the
St.
Mark's in
Venice.
The
made
of
gilt
and architrave were plated with massive silver, with statues and tablets, engraved and filled in with images of saints in niello.
The
was a slab of marble plated over with gold set with and plates of enamel. It was supported on columns covered with massive plates of gold. Over the altar
altar
precious
stones
niello, and surmounted by a large mund or orb issuing from a nest of leaf-work on which stood a cross of massive gold set
The ambo, an
inclosed pulpit, was placed outside the inclosure plates of gold and
The
all
pounds weight of silver. The vessels used at the altar, and movable ornaments applied to it, were of the purest gold
set with the
to
be
found in the whole heritage of Greek and A check was given to ecclesiastical
Roman
art
antiquity.
Leo the
vessels
artists
many
existing
and
Many
were driven by these measures from Constantinople, and took refuge in Italy, Germany, and GauL Probably the schools of mosaic workers and of goldsmiths' work, gradually forming
Venetians, and the
during intervals of peace under the protection of the popes, the Gauls, received a new impulse from the
emigration of
artists
and teachers
Images were restored by Basil the Macedonian in the ninth century, and not only the images but ornaments of all kinds
were
again
made
for
the
churches
of
Constantinople
(to
GOLD AND
SILVER.
49
quote Labarte's words) "with incredible luxury; gold, silver, precious stones, and pearls were scattered about with a profusion which surpasses imagination."
Leo
Constantine porphyrogenitus, his son, did their best to encourage the art of the goldsmiths during the tenth century, a time This skill of terrible depression throughout western Europe.
The splendour
of secular
life
with this prodigious application of gold to sacred uses. The emperor Arcadius early in the fifth century sat on a
his chariot
was of gold
it
had
upon
Gibbon
tells
an auction* of Byzantine luxury must have been very productive. Every wealthy house possessed a semi-circular table of massive silver, such as two men could
vective of St. Chrysostom,
scarcely
lift,
same metal."
terrace in a square,
The long
series of
reception rooms was adapted to the seasons of the year, decorated with marble, porphyry, and mosaics, and with a profusion of The model of the palace was gold, silver, and precious stones.
it
his
ambassadors from a palace lately built on the banks of the Tigris for the caliph of Bagdad.
the possessors of
had been known by Archimedes, or by the Rhodians and others specially skilled in mechanism. In the ninth
century this knowledge was applied by the emperors in the construction of costly toys,
made
to
move and
act
by clockwork.
The
throne of Theophilus was overshadowed by a tree of gold, in the branches of which were birds of many kinds, and at
50
the foot two lions,
of gold.
When
ambassadors or potentates
were entertained at great receptions the lions moved and roared, and the birds piped their proper notes. These curious contrivances point to the keenness of observation,
and the
spirit
artists
compositions into which they arranged the bases of candlesticks, the borders, crestings, and reliefs of their reliquaries, and other metal work, abounded in
scroll
The
due
in
a special feature in their goldsmith's and other metal work, and it took deep root in the early art of western and northern
Europe.
It
prevailed
till
later,
and the
conspicuous in the rich design of the great candlestick of Milan, part of the base of which is given in the woodcut on the next page.
style is
same
These
treasures
of
gold and
silver,
precious
stones,
and
intrinsic value,
remained
1204.
Venetians stormed and sacked the imperial capital. A second siege ended in the pillage of the city, and the churches were
stripped while the plate and treasure of the imperial palaces
and
It is
not
probable that any of the gold and silver of St. Sophia, which was either fastened down or not light enough to be carried off
NIELLO,
AND ENAMEL.
it
PRECIOUS STONES.
precious stones
Speaking generally,
may be
stated that
made no important
Small stones,
and
crystals
GOLD AND
to
SILVER.
required,
51
give
spots
of
colour where
size,
lustre,
and water
as to be of
52
GOLD AND
intrinsic value;
SILVER.
in all
any great
and the
far,
unknown,
mysterious east.
Their splendour,
lustre,
had a high place in the imagery of oriental poems and fables. It was from the east that the fleets of king Solomon and Hiram
brought "precious stones."
offerings
of the
queen of Sheba.
"
They were
India
"
articles
of the
through Media, Hyrcania, and central Asia, various precious stones were probably supplied to Babylon and Nineveh."
says
From
Layard
"
Among
museum
on crowns,
glass
is
earrings,
and small
used.
If
but
coloured
as
often
or pearls
of
great
size,
beauty,
or perfection had been procurable by the Greeks they would have been used on the dresses, crowns, shields, and thrones
of the great statues of Greece, and we should have heard of them in the description of the shrines and treasuries seen by
Pausanias.
It
was when
to
art
their
way
Rome.
by the late Greco-Roman artists for and Such gems, as well as intaglios, cameos, sculptured gems. crystals and precious stones, were to be had in great numbers
were
used
by the Byzantine goldsmiths, and were set on the surfaces of reliquaries, crosses, and the covers of ecclesiastical books.
as
Stones not figured or engraved were not cut into regular facets modern stones are, but ground down with as much symmetry
commonly
called
by lapidaries
"tallow cut," or
GOLD AND
SILVER.
53
"en cabochon." Stones or pearls, however precious, do not make up for the beaten and chased work of antiquity, but they are set with advantage on the great surfaces of smooth or filigree
gold which the Byzantine artists largely used. Besides precious stones the Byzantines used NIELLO.
niello,
a black composition made of silver, lead, sulphur, and copper. This material is powdered, and laid in lines or cavities prepared
for
where
silver ; it is then passed through the furnace, melted and incorporated with the solid metal. Niello has the effect of the black lines of an engraving, but the figures
it it is
on a surface of
made
with
it
are not
liable to perish.
It is
mentioned
in a
letter to
pope Leo
century.
Theophilus,
who wrote
it.
in
ENAMEL.
more
beautiful kind
of
decoration
is
that
of
many
brilliant colours,
melted and
and knowledge,
and
on
is
it
is
Enamel
by
certain metallic
oxides,
well as
on metal.
and
the-
laid
gold, silver,
broken up into powder, made into paste, or bronze, which is then passed through
of preparation
Italian, smalto ;
it
a furnace.
From
is
this stage
name
glass
of smaltum.
In
in
The
the
melted and
it
adheres
laid,
to
the heated
of
metal
on which
is
so
that
the
two are
then
permanently united. So much has been done with enamel of different kinds, such
beautiful examples are to be seen in
has been so
entire
many collections, and there much written and said about it, that it deserves an treatise. The subject cannot be entirely passed over here,
54
GOLD AND
SILVER.
less
Europe throughout the middle ages were more or on enamel for their most beautiful works.
dependent
glass
tin,
white by oxide of
make enamel
red by gold; violet by manganese; green by copper. Other shades and colours have been used by the enamellers of France
and the Rhine, and every guild, school, or family of artists has had special methods of its own both for colouring and using
is placed under a bowl over with charcoal in a covered or cover pierced with holes and
the material.
The metal
to
be enamelled
small
furnace.
may change
if
and do not require Those that stand the most heat are
when just Some colours fuse more easily than others These are kept for the last. so much heat.
first
fused,
need not be said that the regulation of the exact time of exposure to heat, as well as the making and mixing of materials,
Jt
and the methods of applying them are only learnt by long Artists have kept much of this experience and many failures.
knowledge as a personal or family secret, and this is still the case with certain fine kinds of enamel in India. The materials are
simple and the outlines of the methods are easily told, but to use them so as to reach some measure of perfection in the working
perhaps of generations. has been said already, in treating of antique Greek work, that the artists of Greece were not ignorant of enamel, as may be
costs the devotion of a lifetime
It
seen by some earrings in the jewel -room of the British museum. But the Greeks used it very sparingly. They do not seem to
Pieces
55
of jewellery are occasionally found from which, judging from a glossy smoothness left on the metal, enamel has probably dropped
off.
Signor
in the
has been
made
;
in the east
and
and
;
north, of Europe
first
of
lost
and the
of antiquity.
It
is
vision of Ezekiel)
hashmal, translated electrum and in the English amber (in the an expression or figure used to describe the
light,
that the
was known
to the in
Hebrews.
How
has been
known
Speaking broadly,
it
is
of late invention as
written
regards
Europe.
passage of a letter
by
"They
and
tribes)
fire,
and
petrified,
they have designed (or The early date of a number of examples of Gallo-Roman and
Gallo-British enamels favours the belief that the Gauls
that by this means the and that they preserve the figures painted) by this means."
and Britons
were among the earliest artists in this material, at any rate in the west that from them enamels were obtained in Rome ; and the
:
was developed and enlarged by the Byzantine goldsmiths, when Christianity became the religion of the state. Whatever
art
the country
it
first
derived enamel
became
times.
the
greatest
smiths'
work,
and has
own
There are
2,
different kinds of
enamel
r,
inlaid or encrusted
it
\
or,
3,
56
GOLD AND
SILVER.
The two
smith's art,
and delicacy of miniature painting. first are what most concern the
but goldsmiths' work of a later date is sometimes decorated with the third kind, and occasionally with two of
these varieties on the
same
piece.
When
enamel
is
encrusted
the different parts of the figure or picture are drawn out by thin gold filigree bands or enclosures, which are soldered down on the
surface of the metal to which the enamel
is
to
be applied ; "and
is
the enamel
The burning is repeated with fresh material if not equally thick in all parts, or if any of it does
fill
not completely
is
rubbed down and polished. The metal generally enamelled by the Greeks is gold, which has to be very pure so that the
thin
This
is
called
filigree
bands or enclosures.
filigree
Encrusted
to
enamel
which
work.
The metal
applied often
it
work is cut or dug away. In coarser and cheaper pieces vessels were often cast with these hollows ready provided. The fine enamels of the Byzantines are of the first of these varieties. The
encrusted enamels
made
in
Cologne or in other
cities
on the
Rhine, those of the early Limoges manufacture, and the enamels of the Britons and Anglo -saxons were of the second kind. The
fine Irish
first
kind.
works have also enamel enclosed in gold filigree of the The enamel of this encrusted work is of considerable
body, and
more
or less opaque.
is
The
transparent and
on
silver.
The
subjects
are painted over with the colours required, which are then melted,
care being taken not to let the colours run into each other.
The
57
chasing and modelling of the silver are seen through the transparent medium, and this kind of work is of great delicacy and
beauty.
The French
reliefs.
call
it
is,
enamelling
over low
thirteenth century,
and some of the most beautiful pieces of Italian goldsmiths' work have parts or points coloured by this method. It tfas carried to perfection by Cellini and his pupils
and contemporaries.
third kind, a mere painting on an enamelled copper was the method used by the Limoges artists of the surface, sixteenth century. These enamels do not come under notice in
The
are made at Pertabghur in emerald or sapphire laid in beds India. They look like slices of of gold, having tiny figures of beaten gold let into their surfaces. These enamels are made in that one place and by only two or
Beautiful
transparent enamels
three
families,
who keep
and
their
processes
secret.
Their only
their furnace
which they blow the fire up with the lungs. The enamel of the Byzantines was very often made
in jewels
or small pieces and applied as precious stones are, by collets or by loops and flaps which simply joined the piece of enamel to
the object to be decorated.
In
this
as as
Charlemagne in the royal treasury at Vienna. They were often used on objects for which they had not been made.
Many
fine pieces,
Unof
many
and
plate were
out.
pointed
There
cross
is a fine example of goldsmiths' work, a crucifix, the of gold, mounted on cedar wood, with the evangelistic
cross,
58
numbered 7943
letters
the
South
Kensington
collection.
The
of the
but
the
over the head are Latin and not Greek, fineness of the filigree and the extreme lustre and
title
but Greek
workmen during
The back
is
of
Another expure gold, delicately beaten up. ample of Byzantine goldsmiths' work in the
same
Jt
is
collection
is
cover of a sma11 Py xis > Perhaps a chrismatory, very delicately beaten, in a sort of
the
architectural
dome
or lantern,
figures of animals
looking out of holes or windows, only imperfectly illustrated in the accompanying woodcut. It is of beaten gold only and has no enamel.
few examples
of
known
pieces
of
Constantinopolitan
goldsmiths'
work are preserved in the national library, Paris. Some of these have been presents, made expressly for and sent
by the emperors
are enumerated
to foreign kings
and
princes.
The
following
by Labarte
i. The sword and various ornaments of dress found in the tomb of Childeric at Tournay in 1635. These are covered
with
filigree
enamel.
2.
of lozenges and
trefoil
oblong dish of gold with a border This piece ornaments on the angles.
in the
An
since,
(491
518) and
dish though
given.
3.
it
527) whicn, however, do not prove the date of the must have been buried later than the last here
than the eleventh century. 4. stones, supposed The cover of a book of the Gospels, the border of gold with
later
be not
double bands of pearls and tallow-cut stones. earlier than the twelfth century.
This
is
not
or
service
It
is
book
collection
of
the
Louvre.
in
GOLD AND
Crucifixion under an arch,
SILVER.
59
The
evangelistic
Another example
in the
a plate of beaten gold, perhaps a book cover. An enamelled cover of a gospel book is in the library at Munich. The frame is of gold with enamels imbedded in filigree
It is the
of beautiful execution.
work of a Greek
artist
made
probably in western Europe for the emperor Henry II. ; early in the eleventh century. The crown of Hungary, kept in the
castle
of Buda,
is
(1047
7.7)
but
The
band of pure
gold.
A few
examples of crosses
of Byzantine work are preserved in Germany. One at Essen set with precious stones, and said to be of the fourth century : a cross of gold set with precious stones, of the tenth century,
Mauritz at Minister in Westphalia another in the treasury of the Dom of the same city, but probably not earlier than the eleventh or twelfth century and a cross of
in the treasury of St.
:
Dom
of Hildesheim in
Hanover, of
silver,
made
to contain relics.
THE TREASURE OF
PETROSSA.
example of the art of the goldsmiths of the Gothic races who came under the influence of the Byzantines
interesting
An
has lately
come
to light
consisting of a large
number of
vessels,
The
vessels
are of pure
some
consist
and
on a
made to hold table-cut stones, Some are set transparently, others over pastes. of One deep patera of massive gold with plate gold.
it is in the debased classic style so long maintained in Constantinople and the border provinces of the empire.
figures in
60
GOLD AND
The "
treasure of Petrossa
in
"
SILVER.
is
called
was found by peasants 1837 on the banks of the river Argish, a tributary of the Danube, flowing south-east from the The vessels were hidden by the Carpathian mountains.
finders,
of the government
trove.
and afterwards mutilated, in order to avoid the rights and the owner of the soil over treasure
Out of twenty-two separate
pieces
only twelve
now
remain.
They were exhibited in the Paris exhibition of 1867, in the section of the Histoire du travail, and were afterwards
South Kensington museum.
of antiquities at Bucharest.
lent to the
They
are
now
kept in
the
museum
museum.
of the twelve remaining pieces has been cast in electrotype for the
Together with the beaten and inlaid vessels there was found a massive torque or Celtic collar of gold, made in a square rod or bar twisted and hooked at the two ends; an ornament com-
mon
in
tribes in our
long before
times
i.
of the
Roman
conquest.
massive round dish of great intrinsic All the pieces, cut into four pieces by the finders.
fortunately,
2.
An
elongated oval form with a broad flat lip, a flat foot, and a These two The body is beaten up in spiral lines. handle.
pieces are of classical outline
well arranged.
3.
is
simple and
They
These three
4. Two twoobjects were made we suppose at Constantinople. of of slices handled vases are made Syrian garnet and other
precious stones set in massive reticulations of gold disposed in In one of these the handles, which are geometrical tracery.
flat
are supported
pierced plates projecting on a level with the lip of the vase, by two gold leopards; the spots are represented
carbuncles.
upon them by
composed of stones also set in pure gold and lined with plates
GOLD AND
of the same metal.
birds
;
SILVER.
in the
61
These are
made
surface.
The great dish is valued at i,ooo/. The exact nationality of these treasures has been much disThe fine chains from which crystals and jewels are hung, puted.
and which are a
characteristic feature in the brooches or breast
ornaments, are twisted in the way common both to the old Greeks and to the Indian goldsmiths ; little, therefore, can be deduced
from
this,
is
ments
but the hanging of jewels round crowns or head ornapart of the decoration of the crown of the empress
in the
Theodora,
is
mosaic picture at Ravenna, a fac-simile of which South Kensington museum. The same ornament appears on the Gothic crowns of Guarrazar, now in the museum of the hotel de Cluny in Paris. It is probable that the Goths
now
in the
derived
these
ornaments
is
from
Constantinople.
Mr.
Soden
Smith's conclusion
made
before
CHAPTER
VI.
THE
breaking up of the Roman empire and the convulsions through which Europe reached new life, firm governments, and well-ordered society, would have buried the very memory of the
arts
Powerful
tribes,
waves of barbarism,
;
but the
new
was everyIt
where
hand
to comfort, to encourage,
and
to repair.
kept
it
what
arts,
is
Rome
its
the ruined
besieged,
It
sacked,
and
burnt,
was
never absolutely
walls the only
capitals, or
destroyed.
^ower
in
that could
make
and
The
enjoyed the protection of the Roman pontiffs were encouraged and cared for in Milan, in Venice, in Gaul ; in short, wherever
Churches were strong enough in the numbers and circumstances of the community to maintain their clergy and their ritual in decent independence.
Christian
As
time
went
on the
Roman
pontiffs,
the
bishoo*
nf
63
and
chiefs,
borrowed
models
gifts,
Sometimes imperial
found
their way to churches and courts from the Byzantine capital. They were objects on which a great value was set, and were received as motives for study and imitation some of them are
:
still
among
state regalia.
The
use
;
made
for ecclesiastical
brought from Abyssinia and not (probably) so ancient as the middle ages it represents the old oriental traditions preserved in
distant provinces.
more or
There were many schools of the goldsmith's art which followed less directly the teaching and example of Byzantium.
Gaul, Spain, and Britain, including western Europe as far as the Rhine, were colonies and provinces of the Roman empire in the
second century.
Roman
them
64
Cities
GOLD AND
and
villas
SILVER.
walls,
were
built in
them protected by
such as
London,
ture
Silchester,
and York.
The
and
architec-
was
manners, and provincial art could bear a the contemporary sculptors and painters of that with comparison
an imitation of
Roman
Rome. The precious metals were rare in Gaul and in Britain, much more abundant in Spain, and found in moderate quantities in
in
It is
chasing of shields, arms, and personal ornaments, rather than statues of life size or on a smaller but still considerable scale,
and
worked
gold.
though the Celtic and Gallo- Roman remains of are mostly executed on bronze these races were well enamelling with the art of gilding, and the precious metals were acquainted
used on personal ornaments, horse trappings, and the mountings of arms. But these arts died out after the breaking up of the
empire, and the loss of the security given while the power of the
empire lasted or even the memory of that power ; till at last they were swept away before the fury of hostile invasions. Few traces survived. Some sacred vessels and reliquaries, saved here and
and sanctuaries where Christianity held its own, have may disposed the Franks and Saxons to receive again and to cultivate diligently the art of metallurgy as soon as more peaceful
there in churches
But the
art of
was a revived
working with grace and skill art. Very little could have
remained of the schools of metal workers that grew up under the Roman dominion.
We
fifth
or
sixth
centuries.
The
oldest examples
now remaining
65
Monza
crown of Monza.
It is
little
of the gold-
smith's art.
circle
circle of iron
it is
the
traditional
It
by Theodolinda, queen of the Lombards, Another crown, that of Agilulph, of the end of the sixth or beginning of the seventh century, was for many ages included
amongst these treasures. It was taken to Paris by the French, and stolen from the national library in 1804. A bass-relief from
(of which there is a cast in the Kensington an imperial coronation, and these crowns are museum) represents
the cathedral of
Monza
France during
track
the
sixth
and
many
survived.
gathered fresh life from such examples of Byzantine workmanship as were obtained
traditions
The
ancient
Roman
from time to time by princes and bishops. Abbo, the goldsmith and mint master of Clothaire the second, was the master of a
pupil far
better
known who
659.
He made
of
St.
He
first,
is
a chair of bronze
now
in the
and of many once celebrated golden now no longer in existence. Most of the works
were of great
intrinsic
value were
either
melted
his
German
wars, or
by
66
the
GOLD AND
revolutionary
SILVER.
at
commissioners
the
close
of
the
last
century.
for the
became the
that
special seat
some
made
at
in that
was
Limoges
of
the
best
In the abbey
Solignac founded by
metals for
all
near Limoges, the art of working utensils icquired for religious use or the decoratior
of churches was carefully encouraged under his patronage. From the seventh century the monasteries of Europe became schools
of learning and of
all
arts
and
handicraft,
from agriculture to
architecture, sculpture,
and
painting,
and
and the spread of Christianity surrounded goldsmith these homes of charity and peace with a reverence that became
of the
a general,
if
not an
absolute, protection.
In such institutions
and
in manufacture,
and
be perfected and transmitted to successive and unselfish Traditions and " rules of of pupils. ages patient
for the results to
thumb," of such great value in the preparation and adjustment of materials and in processes of manufacture, were not lost foi
TREASURE OF GUARPAZAR.
Very remarkable evidence of the
state of goldsmiths'
work
in
Spain in the seventh century was discovered a few years since. Towards the close of 1858 some peasants travelling near Toledo
came upon a
quantity of treasure of gold and precious stones, buried at a slight depth below the surface of the ground. They were attracted by the rich colour of the gold but had a very
insufficient
notion of the
full
up the
to
amongst the finders ; having put them together completely he carried the whole treasure to Paris, where it was bought and
GOLD AND
placed in the hotel de Cluny.
SILVER.
67
some
hammered
in relief;
same
style
an emerald
rudely engraved with an Annunciation, and various fragments of hammered gold with chains fastened to them, by which they
altar.
The crowns
are
of different
The
largest
is
made
of
two thicknesses, the inner plate quite smooth, the outer doubled over on the top and bottom edges to hold two rims or borders
of transparent glass pastes set in thin bands of gold like Greek
enamels.
The
is
thickly set
with thirty large sapphires and thirty large pearls. The stones " tallow cut " i.e. without facets. are rings are There polished
or hooks on the edge by which
M. Du Sommerard,
silk
the curator
of the
chains to the lower edge, the letters spelling together the legend
From
the
letters
hang small
drop jewels pierced and attached by links of fine gold. The crown is hung by four chains, each link forming a sort of The triangular lobed leaf inside a rim or border, all pierced.
chains unite in
a jewel of rock crystal cut into the form of a rude capital to a column, and below this is a sort of flower
composed of gold C-shaped leaves gathered into a graceful nest Below or blossom, and with jewels hanging from the points.
the
pearls,
crown again hangs a cross set with large sapphires and and with pendants hung from the arms and from the foot
Another crown bears
in letters the
of the cross.
Suinthila,
name
of king
621-631.
One
stones,
set with
may
made
in the
same form.
intersecting
68
GOLD AND
points of union,
SILVER.
From
all
69
these
and
also
depend
of
described and
made
Three other flat surfaces of gold with small gems set on them. crowns are smaller and are without hanging ornaments, but they are wrought with more skill ; one is a colonnade or row of small
arches
and the others have ornaments of hammered gold. The name of Recces vmthus, 649672, serves to fix a probable
;
They
are
offerings,
kingly dignity.
As
in
Monza
hung over the altar. Crowns had been a common form of offerings from the reign of Constantine in many countries of Europe,
in
Mahommedans
kings
" were found in the cathetwenty-five diadems " ornamented with jewels, one for each of the beautifully
who had
since
it
was a custom
his
his
amongst them for every monarch to deposit there before death a crown of gold bearing an inscription indicative of
name, personal description, duration of life and reign, the children he had." The most remarkable ornaments of the Spanish
the letters. The open network, as well as the from the lower jewels hung edges by fine chains, is like the found at Petrossa, some of which have these chains and jewels
crowns are
the
in with
sapphires,
and
garnets.
after
The
character of the
work
is
Gothic.
it
They
are
made
is
methods and
traditions inherited
Roman
artists
rather than
from
Byzantines, as
material
is
in the letters.
No
for
life
7o
into
the heart of the goldsmith as the emperor Charlemagne. held under his sway the whole of continental Europe west He established the indepenof the Rhine and the Danube.
He
dence of the
Roman
pontiff,
and within
his vast
dominions both
gave and encouraged others to give abundantly to the founding or rebuilding of churches and furnishing them with costly vessels
CROWN OF CHARLEMAGNE.
of
all
kinds.
the year
800.
feast of
the Nativity, in
in
finding
make
vessels
and
and bronze
workmen some
:
to
in in
secular artists
GOLD AND
in the east.
SILVER.
art
71
but also
their
carried with
them
knowledge of design.
Amongst
is
still
made
for
his
own
perit
preserved amongst the regalia in Vienna. This crown is made of eight round-headed plates of gold, the largest nearly
six
inches high,
in
jointed
together.
The
larger
are
set
with
jewels
the
pierced openings,
kept in place
by gold
claws,
and
smaller with
enamels,
representing Solomon,
David, the
prophet Esaias before king Hezekiah, and our Lord between These enamels are enclosed in filigree bands in the seraphim.
Greek manner, and the whole sunk into the metal plate. Pora cross on the front tions of the crown are of a later time
:
and an arch
from back to
DEI
front,
letters,
CHOUONRADVS
pearls.
ROMANORVM
brings this
down
to the
twelfth century.
The crown
was probably crossed by a second arch, traces of which can be seen on the back of the side plates. It is kept at Vienna
with other of the regalia of Charlemagne, such as the sword,
sceptre, shoes, gloves, albe,
and dalmatic.
the French
Nuremburg and
city
from thence sent to Frankfurt, or whatever other chosen, for the coronation of an elected emperor.
It is
might be
many
administration of religious offices and many of the ornaments of churches were of bronze gilt oftener than of gold or of silver.
Those metals were probably reserved be the most sacred uses, the cups of
liquaries.
for
chalices, patens,
and
re-
Nevertheless,
Charlemagne was
the
possessor
of
in his
own
age.
No
fall
of
Rome
72
GOLD AND
SILVER.
Among
his trea-
and three of
traced
or
silver,
of large size
and
of
great
weight.
On one was
hammered
the plan
Rome.
The
in the shape
was wrought with great delicacy ; it was convex, perhaps of a round shield, and composed of three zones
or
chasing.
Such
piece
of
goldsmiths'
work was
many
of his
and seated on a throne of gold, clothed in his imperial robes wearing a sword, of which the hilt and scabbard were of gold
with his sceptre and his shield of gold hung up before him ; and a gold chain to which was fastened a relic of the true cross
his head.
These
away
fifth
by his successors about the twelfth century. The early jewellery of the Saxons from the middle of the
century proves that they were
skilful
goldsmiths.
Their jewels
show
Mr. Roach Smith) "in artistic merit in style and a closer design, relationship to classical or Roman art than those from other parts of the kingdom." With certain Teutonic
(says
of
Rome
settled for
grave at
" many generations on our shores. Again, in a " Sarre a necklace composed of (in Thanet) "was found
and
circular flat
mosaic
a
work
set in
bullet,
another of
crystal,
perforated silver-gilt spoon set with garnets, and other precious Once more " The girdles of the Franks and Saxons objects.
:
Not only
were the buckles often of the richest workmanship, and conspicuous for size and decoration, but they are sometimes supple-
mented by enchased
plates,
73
made
studied in
Examples of these ornaments may be In 1828, about a the South Kensington museum.
hundred gold coins were found at Crondale, in Hampshire, with " two jewelled clasps of a purse they cannot be later than tht seventh century, and they were probably buried not very long
:
subsequent to their mintage, which there is good reason to assignto London." Bronze had been well known and worked in Britain ;
so
in
in
fine vase or
in.
was dug up
in.
in
Essex
1834
in a
Roman
sepulchre, 4f
diameter, 3^
high,
with a swing handle and bold scroll and leafwork, in green, red,
The ring of king Ethelwulf bearing his name, of gold with dark blue-black enamel and conM. De Laborde
to
Hampshire and is now in the British museum. During most of the eighth cen tury Alcuin was
living (735
804) whose learning and accomplishments gave him a name and a power that reached half over Europe. He was the friend and
adviser of Charlemagne,
and went to Parma to confer with that monarch on questions connected with the advancement of skill in the art of the goldsmith and all other arts employed in the
services of religion.
He
then quite as
much
seats of learning
on the continent.
churches
shrines,
universities, Oxford,
and the
making
of
ecclesiastical
for
crosses,
and
reliquaries
by Alcuin and
his
74
GOLD AND
youth,
SILVER.
900.
He
visited
Rome
in
elements of sacred and profane Of what learning from the mother city under pope Leo IV.
first
utensils
shape the chalices, patens, censers, crosses, and other ecclesiastical might have been in Alfred's day there remains no evidence. They were designed by the clergy, and probably after
The
of
Ashmolean museum
in
Oxford
is
more
authority.
at Athelney, in Somersetshire,
It
is
chasing,
rock
crystal,
and engraving. The face is formed by a piece of four-tenths of an inch thick, under which are figures
St.
Neot,
St.
Cuthbert,
or
The
design
is
to a plate of gold,
character.
The
Round the edge runs a legend cut in bold characters x AELFRED MEC HEHT GEWR CAN (Alfred ordered me to be wrought). The intervening spaces are pierced to show the rock crystal
animal.
:
within.
A
still
art
exists
Milan;
Ambrose
four
in
the
on
columns.
The
was executed by an
artist
named
Wolvinus, in 835. This front i$ entirely of gold and is divided by a border of enamel into three divisions. The middle division contains a
cross of
strips
or
borders
of
five sub-divisions,
formed by
tallow-cut
at
intervals
with
precious stones.
The middle
each
75
hammered up
in relief.
The two
divisions
on each
side
described.
decorations,
marked out
is
in
the
same way
divisions in front.
The back
of silver with
enrichments of gold, and divided into three similar large panels. In the side panels there are twelve compositions representing the
election of St.
life.
Ambrose
his
The
is
saint
shown
and
in
:
the other giving his benediction to the artist with the legend
and ten
Abbo
left
by
will the
;
means
and precious
stones
vessels
and Vala (879) offered to the cathedral gold and silver and many precious ornaments. Hincmar, bishop of
relics of St.
Remi
in a
shrine
of silver
decorated with twelve images of bishops, his predecessors. The tenth century was a period of general depression throughout
An expectation, widely spread, hung over the Europe. western church as the century closed in that the world would come
to
an end in the year 1000. The fields remained uncultivated, all kinds was kept to the provision of what was for the mere sustentation of life. On the other hand, necessary
and industry of
more
dread
violent
;
desperate from
this prevailing
and desolated whole provinces. Nevertheless, the making of gold and silver vessels and the necessary utensils for divine worship in
churches and monasteries was not absolutely discontinued.
Some
76
For instance, Gaudry and Guy, bishops of Auxerre, made offerings of rich goldsmiths' work to the cathedral of that see. Du Sommerard gives the date
of a golden altar
and
of our
four evangelists
hammered up
in relief, given to
the cathedral of Sens by archbishop Sevin or Seguin at the very close of the century 999. Unfortunately, this piece was one
of
many
other
treasures
sacrificed
to
the
exigencies
of
the
The
of
St.
Pietro Orfeolo the doge for the great pala d'oro, the gold and
enamelled
stantinople,
altar
Mark's, in
in
976.
It
was made
at
Con-
and was
fact
the
From
Europe
In
this
of
we
European
all
acquainted.
greater
in this
number
than in
and
been discovered
Records of disany other country in north-western Europe. coveries can be traced through all the books relating to the
archaeology and history of Ireland during the last two hundred
years.
They
for
the head,
The
collections,
however,
collec-
in Irish
academies and
in private
The
consigned to the crucible. Some silversmiths estimate that they have purchased as much as io,ooo/. worth for breaking up.
GOLD AND
SILVER.
77
In the ninth and tenth centuries the goldsmiths of Ireland produced brooches and personal ornaments, chalices, covers for
reliquaries, croziers,
use, unsurpassed in the rest examples remain to bear witness of this excellence. Some are made of bronze in varieties of alloy, set with jewels, pastes, and
filled in
with a
is
filigree
of ex-
plaited, twisted,
and each thread or component member of the ornaments is worked out through a number of turns complicated difficult to follow with the eye, beginning and ending with some and
interlaced,
tail,
as
which
is
in the
THE BELL OF
ST. PATRICK.
The most
the eleventh
beautiful
and
twelfth century
and perfect example of earlier date than is the cup found at Ardagh, near
Limerick.
copper.
The
It is
material is silver alloyed with one third part of a two-handled chalice, the surface of a low white
ornament and each kind more varied than any example of the same early period to which reference can be made. The bowl
is
names of the
of the
Roman
missal.
mer and
are belts
little
chisel,
and
still
These names are engraved with the hamshow a slight turning up of the metal at
The ornaments
and handles,
to
fine
compartments of the finest gold plaitwork. These are as on the under or inner surface of the foot as on the bowl or
Crystals
cup.
tributed at
centres,
and pastes as well as bosses of enamel are dispoints of junction, on the handles, and
wherever they can be effectively set. Of the gold wire work forty varieties of design have been enumerated, some being the
Greek
fret
with
Celtic
varieties
spiral
trumpet-shaped
lines,
delicate
and arabesques; all different. Besides work there are bosses, and on the handles flat
compartments of enamel alternating with gold fretwork. The enamel .moreover is of several varieties, mostly opaque and
bedded
in depressions, but
fired over
wrought
fired
silver in the
;
under the foot completely translucent, manner of the Italian work of the
instances two or three thicknesses
fourteenth century
in
some
of enamel are
one upon, or within, the other. There are also small portions into which gold beads or planes have been Amber has also been set round inserted and united by firing.
portions of the enamel,
traces
of which remain.
The workany
manship
the
is
certainly
unsurpassed
by
that
of
example
remaining to us of the
same
"
period.
The ornamental
to
designs
on
this
"
cup
says
Lord Dunraven
"belong
the
its
Petrie, reached
The
great variety
GOLD AND
of the enamelling
SILVER.
familiarity with the
79
seems to point to a
methods
was frequent intercourse between the monasteries of the west but whatever might be owing to teaching spread by this means
Ireland must have had an immemorial Celtic tradition both of the
goldsmith's art
and of
Before noticing the change of style that came in with the eleventh century, something must be said of one of the most
beautiful
monuments
of mediaeval goldsmiths'
d'oro,
work remaining
in
Europe.
The pala
to
made,
an oblong of about ten feet four inches by six feet nine or ten inches. It is surrounded by borders set with jewels and
is
medallions,
eighty-three
and divided by
pictures
inlaid
and small medallions of enamel, and among them The enamel is encrusted on metal, the
The
entire
com-
divided
into
The upper
Three round
and of the ascension, descent of the Holy Spirit, and burial of the blessed Virgin ; round these arches are considerable spaces filled
by flowing scroll work, with busts and figures in enamel, and with jewels and precious stones. The lower part is divided into
in
a square centre in which are circular medallions, and three rows of figures on each side, each containing six single figures. In the
large medallion
our Lord
is
seated
in
Below
Him
are
under
8o
arches
GOLD AND
:
SILVER.
whose
use.
The
eighteen figures
was completed and put to its present on each side are angels, apostles, and
small
prophets.
Twenty-seven
square
pictures,
representing
CHAPTER
VII.
to fresh
life
when
began.
Artists
they had borrowed from the Byzantines, and the west introduced Families of monks, generally Benedictines or a style of its own. offshoots of that order, animated by one spirit and educated in
one and the same way, were planted in monasteries north, south, east, and west. They built, adorned their churches, hammered,
chased, and enamelled gold,
silver,
in
the
same
style.
candlesticks,
varieties,
and
all
reliquaries during
in great
ideas.
were
designed after
common and
inmates from
Rome,
the
common
in
the
crusades,
made
painters,
sculptors,
far apart.
and metal workers, of one mind though often working The great abbeys of Ely and St. Alban in England;
Tours,
St.
of Auxerre,
Gall,
Denis,
in
and others
;
in
France
of
St.
Germany
Subiaco in
siastical goldsmiths.
Most
methods of
o
common
property.
82
much from
the architecture of
roofs, the multipli-
the time.
The system
of
and coupled window openings, the mouldings and masses of sculptured decoration which belong
cation of small arches, arcades,
to the
Norman
or
Lombard
Many
of
these churches
in forests
and
wastes.
The neighbourhood of lawless men, of wild beasts, of solitudes haunted by the remembrance of heathen worship, all tended to fill the minds of artists with visions of the strife waged by the
spirit
against the
workers
twined
Sculptors and metal powers of darkness. their columns and round stalks and leaves
candlesticks,
planted, stately
delighted
majesty and truth, on the backs of lions and monsters, and to represent the Christian soldier struggling with
serpents and dragons in and out of the graceful scrolls into which they plaited the ivy, the thistle, and the vine. Enamel, introduced from Constantinople, came into general
use in
Italy.
emperors and the necessity of sending to Constantinople workmen as causes of this Byzantine influence in Venice ; a
its
The German Constantinople than any other state in Europe. and with of art familiar with the became enamelling emperors the gold and silver smiths' work of Constantinople, after the
At marriage of Otho III. with the princess Theophania, 972. a time when kings, bishops, and abbots were renewing the
splendour of their churches and of the divine offices the services of Greek masters were eagerly sought for, and they were kept
well employed.
altar front formerly given by the emperor (1003-1024) to the cathedral of Basle is now in the muse'e de Cluny in Paris. It is between five and six feet wide.
golden
Henry
II.
The
principal part
is
a colonnade resting on belted columns with Under the arches are images
GOLD AND
hammered
up, in
relief,
SILVER.
83
of the Saviour and the three archangels St. Benedict. The emperor
and
A
gem
school of goldsmiths
chasing,
massive metal, was in great activity eleventh at the Hildesheim in Hanover. Bishop century during Bernward (992-1022) was one of the monastic artists who had
setting,
and founding
in
his abbey. Casts of candlesticks executed in alloyed metal (electrum?) by him are now in the crucifix of gold set with stones and a Kensington museum.
his
some
later
alterations,
preserved
in
the
treasury
cathedral of Hildesheim.
Large coronas or
circles of light
were
84
GOLD AND
his
SILVER.
successor of
St.
made by
scholars
Parts
silver-gilt pierced and chased in a series of patterns, arcades, and rolling scrolls of leaf work, with twelve large towers each containing four images and representing the
heavenly Jerusalem, and twelve smaller niches with of the Jmages apostles in silver. The silver images were plundered the during religious wars of the sixteenth century, but the rich
circuit of the
and
still
in situ.
cast of
one of them
is in
the Kensington
museum.
which had suffered so heavily in the tenth century, made great efforts to furnish her churches with goldsmiths' work
Italy,
in the eleventh.
The
great
Roman pontiffs, was active in obtaining examples from Constantinople and in promoting metal work within the walls. The abbot in 1058 bought in Constantinople a number
tected by the
Benedict.
this
The
example.
other great Benedictine abbey of Subiaco followed John the thirty-second abbot, in the year 1090,
made an image
of gold and silver of admirable workmanship, a chalice and other precious objects, such as vessels for the church, candelabra, repositories for the sacred books, &c.
Turning homewards to our own country we find Brithnodus abbot of Ely, among the known artists of his time. Four images
silver-gilt
Elsinus, his successor, contemporary, worked after his teaching. made a reliquary for the bones of St. Windreda. The abbey was
made
in the island
by the Saxons.
Two
remarkable reliquaries
85
abbot of
St.
by Matthew
illustrated
will
The
been
described above.
We
now
"Spanish goldsmiths' work during the succeeding centuries. of the after the invasion Arabs, to give signs of life continued,
among
We
from the number of jewels and donations of all kinds made to the different churches. The most remarkable belonging to this
period are two crosses, preserved in the
the Cruz de los Angelos, of gold plates with filigree
and other
Cruz de
jewels.
an inscription,
'
Ofert
Aldefonsus
humilis
The
and
wood, gold The Area Santa, a gems. It was made in 908. casket to contain relics, kept in the same treasury, is of wood covered with plates of silver with remains of gilding. The
set with
la Victoria is of
ornamentation of part belongs to the seventh century and the rest to the end of the eleventh. In speaking of goldsmiths' and
silversmiths'
century
it
is
necessary to
mention the magnificent high altar of the cathedral of Gerona in Cataluna. This altar is of alabaster and is covered on three
sides with silver plates fastened
in front
decorated with figures in relief, from life the of our Lord, the blessed Virgin, representing subjects and saints. In the centre towards the bottom there is a female
It
is
sphinx on green
enamel,
with
the
Between the
set,
some of them
antique.
The
retable over
and
religious subjects,
made
silversmith of Valencia."
Moorish
artists
maintained
celebrity
throughout
the
86
GOLD AND
SILVER.
and
gilt
work, and
work on the
manca and Cordova to the present day." The twelfth century was fruitful in and costly pieces of goldsmiths' work
;
and much
the
fine
and
domestic purposes.
Some
vessels for
religion
and
ration
made
actually
gilt
;
in
gold.
or portions
Q f them
while
5^ ^
stems
vessels
^g
cu p s Q f challCCS,
feet
the
and
were
of
bronze, as were
many
pyxes, ciboria
and portable
altars.
Reli-
and
made
for
domestic use
were of copper gilt ; of bronze ; or of various alloys of copper and tin, sometimes with small quantities of iron and other metals.
The South Kensington museum is provided many kinds illustrating the materials and the The largest and most sumptuous pieces of
with examples of
skill
of this time.
goldsmiths'
work
of the twelfth century next to golden and silver altars, already The " great relics " brought by noticed, were the reliquaries.
St.
Louis to Paris
those of Treves
of Cologne
of Aix-la-
Chapelle,
coffers.
wood
of the
and
still,
set with gems and precious stones ; often, as may be seen with antique intaglios taken from family jewels and devoted
saints.
Bones or parts of the body of a saint were enclosed in reliquaries of less size, sometimes shaped like shrines or churches,
GOLD AND
sometimes
like
SILVER.
feet,
87
according to the
bones they were meant to contain. Several of great beauty will be seen in the Kensington museum. One, from the Soltikoff collection, is a small church the shape of a cross covered by a
niches.
The
shrine itself
is
of
gilt
enamel embedded
in the metal.
one of the monasteries of Cologne. In such pieces of German goldsmiths' work the material
is
rarely of the precious metals which accounts, perhaps, for their to this we may add the deep-seated love of ancient preservation
:
traditions so general
among German
and
people.
museum though
or shrines
rich
made from
some
still
remaining.
The
known
to
modern
(1190).
travellers, was begun towards the end of the century It carries out the tradition of an ancient sarcophagus,
little
house
in this instance in
two
and enlarged
Round
These another of round arches along the sides of the upper. Under them stand arches are cut out of plates of solid metal.
piophets and apostles and, on the end, compositions representing the blessed Virgin and the holy Child ; the adoration
figures of
of the magi, with the emperor Otho IV., and the baptism of our Saviour. These compositions are hammered in relief and are of
solid gold.
The
The cover
or upper part
of silver-gilt.
The
with
gilt
men, visible through a grating, are covered copper crowns which have replaced the original crowns.
88
The Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar, are in rubies. feet 6 inches the shrine is feetof about high and by 5 length 5 French revoluthe wars of the It was removed wide. 3 during
The names
Other shrines
Another of
the
same kind
is
known
magne,
on each
side,
preserved at Aix-la-Chapelle. It is made with eight arches with images of imperial successors of Charlemagne :
on one end
and Charle-
III.
longer than that a cresting of acanthus leaf along the ridge of the roof, with rich finials made of round granulated fruits growing out of
:
and a bishop on the other. This of Cologne one of its most beautiful
is
and surmounted by a
made up
A fragof this
ment
in the
finial
description,
fine
may
Of
the
century no pieces of metal work surpass the candlesticks. The twelfth century produced a number of beautiful circles or crowns,
not
all
them made of
pierced, chased,
Many
this
century are beautiful and astonishing examples of casting, One of the most elaborate still existing sculpture, and finish.
is
in the
twelfth century,
is
made in Gloucester; it is numbered 7649. The a material white alloyed metal, probably containing a good In general outline the candlestick preserves proportion of silver.
GOLD AND
the type
SILVER.
89
common
to
It
the renaissance.
most of these objects down to the time of three bosses or is a straight stem divided by
and
filled
up, and
all
these bands
leaf sur-
and
lines
are stalk
and
and the
twisted
figures
into
symmetrical
intertwined, lost,
and reappearing
The through continual changes. each parts balance each other and
is
drawn with a distinct meaning and system of knotting. No example in the whole collection
shows better the power, ingenuity, and play of imagination of the
artist
The churches
candlesticks
of
the
twelfth
larger
size,
GLOUCESTER CANDLESTICK.
nople,
Rome, Milan, and other important dioceses. Notably at when new fire is struck from a flint after
;
90
all
GOLD AND
lights
SIL VER.
of the Resurrection.
candlesticks
these great
During the first six or seven centuries were columns of silver. Some faint
remembrance of them
as grand
as well
lamps fed with olive oil, seems to have been kept by the Turks and Arabs in one or two mosques of Constantinople, Damascus, and Cairo. In some churches of
as of the network of hanging
Italy Easter candlesticks of the twelfth century
in the
may
still
be seen
Seven-branched
were
also
made
during
the
example of that of
They were on a
large scale,
of bronze or of
remains of gilding ;
original,
but with details such as the goldsmiths of the day were used to produce. Absolute imitation was rarely understood or attempted
by
artists
painters.
The fragment
is
still
kept in the
bronze, of
cathedral at Prague
of the actual
gilt
Jewish candlestick.
the
of
same
style of
and the
large albero
came from Milan, and had been originally brought to Milan from Rome. The largest, richest in design, and most complete that now
at
Milan.
remains
stick
is
is
in the
It is of gilt
complete cast of this candleKensington museum, and we give a woodcut of it. bronze over 14 feet high, made up of a straight reeded
sets of
branches
91
92
GOLD AND
in
SILVER.
the bosses which divide the lengths of the stem and branches
The
base
is
made
upwards in bold
great
rivers
volutes in which
Italy.
representing
the
of
Rolled foliage and dragon work with figures and the It zodiacal signs fill up the spaces between the four dragons.
has probably been restored and
sixteenth century.
some
figures replaced in
the
A fragment
have been 18
of a seven-branched candlestick of the same style in the cathedral of Rheims this is said to
:
feet high.
feet high,
93
probable that
at
Essen.
in
It is
records of
only,
and with
three, are in
stick that
be seen from the example of the Gloucester candleEngland was not behind continental nations in these
Matthew
Paris mentions
amongst
Alban,
other examples of twelfth century goldsmiths' work two candelabra of gold and silver which were made at the abbey of offered in the basilica of St. Peter in Rome.
St.
and
Most of the
altar
reliquaries,
on the
and removed
made
niches
finials,
capitals,
and
the architecture
of the
day.
Nor
The
censers
curiously
carry
out
the
same type
and were
crowned with towers, turrets, and pinnacles, through the windows A remarkable example is kept of which the smoke escaped.
in the cathedral of Treves.
When the general plan or arrangement of twelfth century metal work was not architectural the details of ornamentation
were bold,
full
of thought
and
invention,
No
and
imagined
with a
interlaced
more
composition of a later date is put together with more constant variety, or just apportionment of balance; the masses of
metal work
long
rolls
work rarely repeat each other, and the course of and knots of dragons is accounted for through many
complications.
The union
of beaten
enamel
is
thirteenth century went In some change. early examples the shape of the old classic drinking cup may be traced somewhat bell-mouthed
through
94
GOLD AND
slight
SILVER.
Those of the eleventh and
and mounted on a
stem.
'60.
GOLD AND
foot as wide or wider than the
SILVER.
95
for the
two-handled
came
to
an
end.
three
Charlemagne
Peter in
Rome
Another of the tenth century, the Ardagh and weighed 58 Ancient chalices were sometimes cup, has been mentioned.
made from
antique
cups
cut
in
precious materials.
On
:
the
Monza
they
is
now
in the
One
ozs., set
and the
two-handled chalice supposed gold settings, to be Byzantine is in the abbey of Wilten in the Tyrol. beautiful chalice of early date is preserved in the national
foot.
stems, and
library in Paris
set in filigree
of gold, bound round with bands of enamel it is called the gold, and with stones at intervals
:
chalice of
St.
for or
used
at the cathedral
of Rheims.
baser materials
gilt
Poorer churches were provided -with chalices made up with the stem and foot were of copper or bronze
:
silver or silver-gilt.
in
provincial synods and councils to enforce this ordinance. Other chalices had been in use for offering milk and honey to
These
as ornaments
were hung over the screens or partitions of the sanctuary they ceased to be used in the twelfth century.
:
woodcut on the next page No. 237 '74, in the Kena chalice of the thirteenth century, is a good museum, sington
first
The
now coming
into use.
were
gold
anciently
very
large.
Anastasius
as
mentions
to
weighing 30
Ibs.,
used
basins
receive
offerings.
By
is
the
twelfth
century they
;
were
flat
this
decoration
now no
longer
allowed,
There are no
museum, but the woodcut below represents one (No. 4523 '58) of the fourAnother
teenth century.
common
vessel
:
which the Sacrament was kept for the use of the sick and dying. It was very
often
made
in
conical
cover
and
early in
the mystic
dove,
of gold or
or of bronze
These doves were hung by chains over the altar standing on a dish
enamelled.
;
and covered by a crown; curtains were hung round them. Pyxes were anciently
deposited in one of the two chambers
which were arranged on each side of the At a later period shrines on the " tabernacles " were altar called provided for them, and the curtain became a roof
altar.
or a canopy.
the
This
is
now
called in Italy
baldachino.
Tabernacles were
centuries they
ex-
panded
till
in the fifteenth
and sixteenth
became
stone shrines decorated with sculpture, approached by steps, rising into lanterns and pinnacles to the roof of the church; the doors
; and a cast of another by Cornelius de Vriendt can be seen in the Kensington museum. In the cathedral of Munster in Westphalia there are two, one being in
preserved in
Nuremburg
98
and
of
upwards of
fifteen feet
high.
five
of marble with
gilt
metal door
:
Kensington
museum
of this
we
An
and
important
staffs
of bishops, abbots,
and other
ecclesiastical dignitaries,
choir.
Many
and
staffs
are
public treasuries
and
galleries,
Generally they are of gilt metal rolling over in a graceful whorl or volute, and the eye finished with a below the whorl comes a large flower covered with enamel
in private
:
Sometimes they are dragons, scaled, with spines issuing from their backs, and ending with neads or
boss of open metal work.
tails
of dragons
in
is
in
the
eyes
in
of the volutes.
the
The
crozier
of
Lismore
academy,
the
Ireland,
now
museum
It is
of the
royal
Irish
of
more
primitive shape.
classic
pedwn, the front end of the curve straightened, head and crest along the back of the
in outline like the
curve,
horse.
more perhaps
twelfth
The
seats
century has
for personal
for
not
left
us
many examples
use.
of
goldsmiths' work
and domestic
Thrones or
were made
classic
great
old
curule chairs.
personages after the model of the Suger the abbot of St. Denis, the
gilt
and
it
under
his orders.
Metal work, however, both for secular as well as for religious use was made by the enamellers of Limoges. Besides reliquaries,
candlesticks, croziers,
many
:
pieces of metal
work
effigies,
as that
99
The commoner
buy
their
silver or gold,
way over
The
guilds
and the
Limoges were probably far more active in this kind of manufacture than those of Cologne, whose work seems to have
trade of
been devoted to
monster-shaped
little.
pawn with
capitals.
the merchants of London, York, or other wealthy These treasures were therefore liable to continual disper-
sion.
but occasional
mulated in course of time, the personal property of mediaeval kings was often all the disposable gold and silver that they could
command.
come down
to us
than scanty particulars as to the plate and jewels they used, of which had to be given away as rewards or perquisites.
much The
most valuable objects were the crowns which were worn not only during ceremonial acts of government but also on great festivals.
on the
and
at
Whitsun-
The empress
in
his
the emperor
Henry V.
England.
Stephen wore
These ensigns of royalty were personal property and few of them descended from one reign
Nativity in Lincoln in 1145. another. King John in 1216 crossed the Wash, going to Swinehead abbey in Lincolnshire, and in a sudden rise of the tide the crown and all his regalia were swept away. John, who was given to luxury, wore diamonds, emeralds, sapphires, and
to
pearls profusely
on
on
and on the
ioo
baldrick of his
GOLD AND
sword.
SILVER.
coronet taken from
St.
The gold
prince the
Edward
John de Fowick is named in the parliamentary rolls as the maker of a crown for the coronation of Marguerite, second queen of Edward I. Isabella, queen of Edward II., brought two
crowns with her as part of her personal jewellery. Joanna of Navarre at her marriage with Henry IV. brought a rich crown, a sceptre of crystal, another of gold, besides numerous buckles
and other
and precious
called
stones.
Henry
the
"great Harry,"
pawned
for his
Henry V.
in order to raise
money
war
The gold crowns worn in action on the back of the helmet were small and made for that express purpose. The kings who
exposed themselves with such a mark on their heads must have been brave men. Henry V. had a piece of his struck off by the
axe of the due d'Alengon in the desperate charge
made by
that
prince on the king and his guards at the battle of Agincourt. Richard III. was the last of our kings who wore a crown in
action.
It
his
helmet
after his
death at Bosworth
took
it
to the earl of
Richmond
Henry VII.
crown
a fruited
hawthorn bush became the device of king Henry. The Scottish crown of t*he Stuarts was found by Sir Walter Scott and other
special commissioners in the old chest in
which
it
is
still
kept in
Edinburgh
castle.
;
The crown
is
teenth century
and according
:
to
some
traditions to
have been
Edward
I.
The
kings
who have
Henry
one of the greatest princes of his time, be taken from his royal chest for the cost
101
of his funeral and to pay his hired troops and Henry II., towards the end of the century, is said to have left in the charge of Ranulph de Granville, his treasurer, as much as 900,0007. besides
jewels.
Joanna his youngest daughter, widow of the king of as legacies from her husband a chair of massive claimed Sicily, footstools of gold, a table of the same metal on tressels, 12 gold,
feet
long (these were probably thick plates laid over wood), and
Edward III. in 1340 pawned all her even to crown to raise money for his queen's jewels French wars from the merchants of Flanders. He had pawned
this
crown the year before at Cologne for 2,5oo/., till sent 30,000 packs of wool up the Rhine to redeem it.
his subjects
CHAPTER
VIII.
GOLD AND SILVER WORK IN THE THIRTEENTH, FOURTEENTH, AND FIFTEENTH CENTURIES.
THE
art of precious
and
declined during
the fifteenth.
said of
all
and metal work, though they had become over Europe during the twelfth century, had borne a likeness in many features to the architecture and the metal work
Architecture
all
national
In the thirteenth century this old family Constantinople was sacked by the French
artists
in the their
gold, silver,
in
the saints
art,
were painted
The Byzantine
and
is
and severe
still
it
now
as
then, survives
practised
;
in the
monasteries of
places
but
has
made
no change or advance, and remains a shadow of the splendour of the days of Basil the Macedonian and his immediate successors.
It
The pointed style in architecture marked a complete change. was not the use merely of a pointed arch instead of a round one but a scientific system, well understood and carefully worked ont.
103
art of the
goldsmith and
all
The
the classic
to lighter,
arch,
arch, window, column, ornament proper to those features. This dramatic, complicated, elaborate style became the type and model of the work of the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth century
more
delicate
details of
goldsmiths.
it
the
title
of plateresca,
architectural
architecture,
from
the
splendour
of
the
in silver plate.
If the sculptors and modellers of the thirteenth century had not learned in the scientific manner of the sixteenth they faithTke costume fully followed the living model as they saw it.
of the cloister
religion, the
armour of
in the
and the
rich dresses of
women
Of
truer
civil dress,
the drapery
of
habits of ecclesiastics,
we can have no
still
remaining
or
The
artist
had only
stone,
to translate
into
alabaster,
that
gold,
bronze,
Teaching
had been
fruits.
diligently carried
on
Hundreds of
artist
workmen could design and model correctly and with ease. In manuscript illuminations and ornaments, in hammered or chased
metal
work,
in
enamel and
niello
decorations,
the
lines
are
drawn with a firm and dexterous hand, perfectly trained for the work to be done. These artists were of unequal merit, as at all
times, but
none of
is,
their
hesitation
ignorance, that
of what
This
command
new and
very beautiful
method of enamelling.
104
GOLD AND
SILVER.
reduced to set surfaces of gold with precious stones or with inlaid enamels, beautiful indeed because of the richness and
splendour of
the
materials,
or,
if
but with
little
conventional designs
judged of as representations,
to barbarism.
The
had
far
command
flat relief,
in translucent
silver.
enamel.
metal
is
executed usually on
The
work
is
all
An immense
Most of
are
the valuable
work of the
enriched
later thirteenth,
with
this
kind
of
enamel,
and
the
became
finer uses
rarer in great
pieces
made
for eccle-
can be put to
and precious
effect.
made
built
described, were
now
models of churches or small chapels. These shrines, the offerings of perhaps generations of devout pilgrims not only of
continued to be the masterpieces of precious metal work. The great reliquary at Aix-le-Chapelle, given by Frederic II. and
known
Dame,
with marvellous wrought work along the upper sides^of the gables and the ridges of the pointed roof. Instead of the meagre and
stiff
GOLD AND
beaten, pierced,
side
SILVER.
work
is
105
composed,
stalk.
and chased
and
The
mouldings and other architectonic details are set with enamels encrusted in filigree, while the recesses or niches into
filled
with images
hammered up
It
,is
in high relief.
this country.
impossible to describe the details of our lost shrines in Only the wood framework of that of St. Edward
remains in Westminster abbey over the small arches or porches into which cripples and the sick were placed, in the hope of
a
miraculous
cure.
That of
St.
Thomas
St.
of Canterbury
was
Alban, at
St.
;
St.
Alban's abbey;
at St.
Erkenwald,
at
St.
St.
Paul's,
London;
at
St.
Edmond,
St.
Edmond's Bury;
;
Cuthbert's,
;
Durham
Hugh
of Lincoln
St.
Mary
to
of Walsingham
Frideswide in Oxford.
to
On many
continued
be
bequeathed
their gold
time
for
time
as
persons
some
special adornment.
In 1339 three
the chapter of
and
jewels
to
the
shrine
of
St.
Erkenwald.
The
smaller
churches had reliquaries of every size and in many shapes, but most of them after the pattern of a little chapel, a turret, spire,
lantern, or
in the style
some other
of the time.
light
and ornamental
feature of a church
The
vessels used
on the
altar,
There are
the bosses
and
feet are
silver,
coloured
with figures or half figures of saints in translucent enamel, while the borders and intervening parts are chased, hammered, and
The
pastoral
staffs,
io6
GOLD AND
of extraordinary richness.
SILVER.
in shape, were
now
with
made
and
The
a
architectural type, so
staff,
was used
in the
propriety.
amples
still
in
the Kensington
finer crozier,
is
Wykeham,
Oxford, his
IJTH CENTURY CHALICE.
preserved
New
college
own
is
special foundation.
The
silver-
upper part
hammered
the niches
filled
The founder's own image remains in the volute kneeling before the blessed Virgin, to whom he dedicated his two colleges her image has been
:
religion.
The beauty
107
'68.
adoration of the magi, a composition in complete relief, is placed in a sort of courtyard or cloister surrounded by buildings,
part representing the top of the palace of
The
his
guards, looks
in a grten
down on
this scene.
field,
Below
is
enamelled
it.
gold upon
The
careful study
though ornamentally balanced these tiny structures and seem studied from architecture well
beautiful
in
examples
the
col-
architectural ornament
chalice
of
the
fifteenth
work
From
especially,
and
be
silver
work
to
ceased
to
confined
the
cloister.
founded,
and
and
for
costly vessels
and
utensils,
table
ments,
barons,
were
made
and
feudatories,
out.
Italy
more
fertile
kingdoms, with richer municipal institutions, better navies, and greater commerce, was divided into small but wealthy states. At the head of many of them were in-
and
dependent princes ; and Venice, Genoa, Pisa, though little more than wealthy mercantile cities, had an aristocracy far richer in proportion than the nobility of the great northern states. In Italy
therefore when comparative peace was established the goldsmiths produced the most numerous and the most beautiful works ; France, Germany, England, and Spain followed the example, but
io8
GOLD AND
SILVER.
not so completely or with such method as after the end of the mediaeval period.
have few of the ornaments, jewels, or household plate of the thirteenth or fourteenth centuries, but there are many descriptions. The coronation spoon is preserved amongst the regalia in the Tower, and is the only piece of mediaeval metal work in that collection except the state swords. It is of gold, the bowl oval, divided
We
twisted, with
flat
knop set with precious stones half way down length and fashioned into a dragon's head where
The
state jewels,
nations
and coronation
except
the
ivory
Anne
The
personal
Of
all
Burgundy had the richest and most The costly court during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. of and of the low countries were the goldsmiths Burgundy
perhaps,
the dukes
of
most accomplished artists of their time. The plate armour of barons and knights, though few complete suits now remain earlier than the fifteenth century, can be studied in many
monumental
portraits
faithfully
costly dress
it.
who wore
armour of the Christian hero, the "helmet of salvation, the It was put on by the knight after breastplate of justice," &c. and a and bath. vigils prayer Accordingly armour was enriched
in proportion to the
An example
of a
William
GOLD AND
III.
SILVER.
109
in
1334.
Elizabeth
of
helmet of
his expe-
Henry VII.
dition to
with her
own
jewels
when he
started
on
Perkin Warbeck.
family.
worn on
of gold or silver-gilt
The
richer girdles
set
were
made
of wrought
together and
at
with
precious
stones.
The
the hips.
The
the
scabbards were of gold or silver-gilt. The Henry V. at Azincourt was of gold and jewelled.
of
Gold chains
reliquaries or love
tokens
triptych
small
pietct may be studied in the museum No. 633. Kensington From the thirteenth century the houses
some of them
and occainventories
silver, silver-gilt,
Many
The
table
are referred
de Blois:
' '
''
and
in
Now
sty ward I
warne the
Bye us
i
Dysschys, cuppys, and sawsers, " Bollen treyes and platers &c.
no
and
sometimes
rose water.
after dinner
in
late
perfumed water or
as
*Even as
the
fourteenth
and
spoons were in general use at meals. Forks are never shown in illuminations of feasts or
dinners.
The
ivory, but it was common for -noblemen to eat with knives pulled out of their wallets. Ac-
cording to
Froissart,
one
of
the
tokens by
his adhe-
KBNSINGT'C^ MUSEUM.
Eleanor of however, were occasionally used. Castile queen of Edward I. had amongst her f knives w i tn silver sheaths enP^ ate a P au
"
and
ivory,
and a fork of
crystal.
articles of
extreme luxury. Piers Gaveston, favourite of Richard II. and the ideal of a mediaeval dandy, had three silver forks for eating pears " to pick up soppys." John, duke of Brittany in 1306, had one The dishes, bowls, and ornamental plate put on the table
:
costly
and
We
in our day.
In the
scarce
supplied and
money
made
and
estates
and con-
in each by purveyors or paid in kind a by great entertainment could be given it might often soothe or reconcile the nobility of a discontented province,
When
and
preparation was
made
accordingly.
Henry
III.
spent
300,000 marks on the marriage feast of his son Edward at Bordeaux. Eleanor of Provence was met on her first journey to London by three hundred and sixty citizens on horseback
in
and each carrying a gold or silver cup for the own no doubt, brought to show on the
Mr. Herbert, in his history of the city corporations, Edward I. among which we may
note thirty-four pitchers of gold and silver, for wine ; ten gold chalices of the value of 1407. to 292^ each; ten cups of silvergilt, some with stands of the same or enamelled ; more than a
hundred smaller
silver
cups of from
4/. to
1 1 8/.
value
cups of
iT2
GOLD AND
;
SILVER.
;
jasper
and dishes of silver gold salts ; silver hanapers or a baskets large ewer set with pearls all over, and many more. A very beautiful covered drinking cup of Burgundian or Flemish
plates
;
origin in the
tectural
mouldings,
carefully
worked with
archi-
mullioned
windows
with
geometric tracery round the body and four in the cover, filled with panes of transparent enamel set in gold, through which
the light passes
:
Bowls of maple wood were often set in gold, silver-gilt or Several can be seen in the Kensington silver, and called mazers.
collection.
sometimes
on wheels, with hounds, horses, and huntsmen. Eleanor of Provenge received from Marguerite queen of France for a coronation present, a large and sumptuous peacock of
silver
in the
with sapphires and precious stones, wrought with silver set tail. From the beak perfumed waters were poured into a
it
stood.
The
wassail bowl
mazers, passed from hand to hand and was the favourite drinking
vessel.
was sometimes covered with costly work, enamelled with the arms of the owner, or had " curious emblems and choice
It
and
fellowship, inscribed
Christopher engraved on the bottom appeared before the eyes of the wassailer as he drained the bowl."
St.
The
salt
cellar
was of gold,
was an important feature of the table. It silver-gilt or plain silver, and generally had a
salt
when not
salt.
in use to
This tradition
hospitality.
When
marked the
limit of the
salt cellar
curious silver
is
gilt
and enamelled
shape of a giant
113
on
was usually in the shape of a boat or ship. Sixteenth century nefs were made with masts, yards, shrouds, and sailors
It
climbing
ships.
in the rigging:
is
the epergne of
more modern
times.
One
is
is
of
Emden
in
rigging,
probably not older than It was the end of the sixteenth or early seventeenth century.
piece
Piers Gaveston, already quoted,
had
among
Edward
wheels,
his
jewels
in
1313
a ship
of
silver
on four wheels
was on four
at
enamelled on their
III.
sides.
ship
of silver
numbered.
It
had
gilt
On
feasts,
occasions
the gold
of
festivity,
such as
coronation
and
ewers,
whose duty
in
it
was
to hold or
thfe
hand them.
Mention
is
made
often
old chronicles of
offerings
made on
these occasions by
and queen at the high altar of Westminster abbey ; for instance Edward II. offered, first, a pound of gold in the likethe king
;
ness of a king holding a ring in his hand ; the second was eight Ounces of gold in the form of a pilgrim putting forth his hand to
take the ring.
St.
Edward
St.
the
hand of
John the
actually
Waltham
said,
forest
(still
worn
at coronations,
and
used,
it
is
by her Majesty).
at the
last
The
offering of the
pound
of
coronation.
"
Her
first
oblation,
and an
pound weight."
ii 4
had a
special
devotion.
The plate of Isabella of France the queen of Edward II. is worth notice, as showing the property of this kind held .by queens She brought to England, besides two as parts of their dower.
gold crowns set with precious stones,
drinking cups, gold spoons,
silver dishes,
several gold
and
silver
twelve great
and twelve
clothes, linen,
and
tapestry.
The
jewels and plate are curious illustrations of the splendour in which so many of the rich lords then lived in England. We may
account of mediaeval plate with a glance at a few of these taken from the testamenta vetusta of Sir Harris Nicolas.
wind up
this
'
'
Most of these
For example
of
St.
and sacred
vessels used in
Warwick
George ; Humphrey de Bohun, earl of Hereford, in " a cross of gold in which is a piece of the true cross of 1361 our Lord," and this is found in many wills. Gold and silver plate
is
"
left for
making sacred
vessels.
1368, after disposing of a girdle of gold and a favourite horse called Maughreleyn devised to John de Capell, his chaplain, a
"
girdle of gold to
be made into a chalice in memory of my soule, which rny brother was created prince,
and the
tioned
circle with
which
Michel de
salt cellars in
the shape
Edmund
in the
belt.
earl
of March in
1380 bequeaths
"a
silver salt
cellar
and
our
best gold
horn with
in
the
To
Elizabeth
salt
cellar
the
shape of a dog,
cup
pearls."
By
Symon
115
and enamelled, a pouche in the form of the body of a head of an eagle." Richard earl of Arundel and
Surrey in 1392 leaves his wife Philippa (among other pieces) her own cup, called Beaichier, two salt cellars of silver ; two candle" a sticks of silver, for supper in winter ; and pair of basons in
which
was accustomed
to
The duke
of
Lancaster in 1397 "a chain of gold of the old manner, with the name of God in each part."
Several generations of earls of
plate
Earl Thomas in 1400 " bequeaths an image of the blessed Virgin two cruets in the " shape of angels ; (many sacred vessels, and the sword and coat " of mail of Guy of Warwick) his cup of the swan, and knives and
value.
Earl
Richard,
in
Warwick an image
,*
of our Lady in pure gold, there to remain for ever (only He desires his "executors to cause four images century in fact).
of gold, each weighing twenty pounds, to be
myself, in
made
like
unto
for
my
These were
and Shrews-
Amongst
his table
a pair of covered
silver
;
silver-
twelve
my arms
them
a great paytren
Isabel
men
and women."
the altar of our
countess of Warwick
1439 bequeaths to
a crown of gold made of chain, weighing twenty-five pounds, and other broken gold in cabinet, and two tables, the one of St. Katherine the other of
Lady of Caversham
my my
St.
Walter Hungerford knight, lord of Hungerford, Heytesbury, and Hornet, in 1449, leaves to his son Sir Edmund "a cup of gold, and cover with a sapphire on the head ; best pair
I
u6
to
heads
Thomas
two great
four oz.
salt
" a bason of silver, ewer of bequeaths cellars, and a kever, weighing ninety-three
gilt
oz.
standing plain
;
gilt
six
six
bolles
of
silver,
in
the
a 'standing peece' with kever and two others ; depe washing bason of silver, forty-one oz. two salt-cellars, a kever to one of them, weighing thirty-one enamelled
;
and a half
oz.
another of
myddes of which
oz.
;
low peece
four
more
salts,
naming
also specially
" the
"a dozen
Wealthy
spones
man
fifteenth centuries,
the
They
were, perhaps,
more modest
in
and
The pointed architecture of northern Europe, carried out with such unity and completeness in ornamental detail, was never so The gold workers, however, of Venice entirely at home in Italy.
and Florence, and of Umbria and Tuscany, produced
works
in France, England,
beautiful
and Germany. This may be seen by referring and other works in hammered metal,
museum.
Two
GOLD AND
the silver altar of Pistoia
SILVER.
117
and
that of St.
Florence.
The
latter
Cione,
a goldsmith of the
still
.
executed a bas-relief
John.
is
of
St.
same
century.
It
in high relief.
composed of a number of bas-reliefs, small images and figures There are nine bas-reliefs on each side (the life
St.
of
in 1371.
James) the work of Leonardo di fer Giovanni of Florence The whole weight is estimated at 447. Ibs.
altar of St.
The
in Florence
is
about three
and a quarter deep, and Each of the four feet three inches or thereabouts in height. the front like those on four contains ends bas-reliefs, disposed
yards and a
half in width
by three feet
sixteen
in all
still
wanting
and are
filled in
by
paintings.
relief,
and are
in high
The
frieze is
and frame pieces are elaborately ornamented with windows, little These niches, with translucent enamels over reliefs, and niello.
two
altars are
centuries during
which the
art called
Gothic reached
its
highest
to decline.
Italian goldsmiths
Among
fifteenth
the great
centuries
must
be numbered
Luca
of
della
;
Robbia
Antellotto
Baccioforte
and
Maggiano
Piacenza
Nicolo
Bonaventura and Enrico his nephew ; Arditi of Florence, and Lorenzo Ghiberti, author of the bronze gates of the baptistery of Florence ; Bartolommeo Cenni, Andrea del Verrocchio, Antonio
Salvi,
In the middle of the fifteenth century the art of printing from Maso Finiguerra, a worker of engraved plates was invented.
niello of great repute in Florence,
made
baptistery of St.
John
now
in
ii8
GOLD AND
An
SILVER.
gallery at Florence.
the earliest
sion
from
an engraved metal
whether
for the
important branch of the goldsmiths' art. Another accomplishment was the sinking of dies for coins, and specially for portrait and memorial medals, for paxes, and for other goldsmiths' work, in
which
flat
surfaces could be
first
Kensington museum.
CHAPTER
THE REVIVAL.
IX.
fifteenth century many causes were about a change in the arts of painting, combining bring The taking of Constantinople by the sculpture, and architecture.
BEFORE the
close of the
to
brought the Greek language and literature to the knowledge of the Italians. Printing was invented and the works of the ancient
poets and writers, Greek and Latin,
known
heretofore only
by
manuscripts were put within reach of the learned and welcomed " with enthusiasm. This was the " Renaissance or revival of the
ancient learning.
We
faint
conception of
wholly in
must be enough to say and that of the goldsmith with others, were engaged the new range of thought and of aspirations which
Italy.
made according
given in
the
In the monstrance
woodcut on the following page, decorated with translucent and painted enamel, the reader can see an example of these renaissance changes. Numberless grand old reliquaries,
chalices,
all
over Europe
and other vessels were broken up, melted, and remade, in Italy and France especially. The lovers of ;
style
the
new
had no
sort of
sympathy, such as we
feel,
with the
I2
MONSTRANCE.
ITALIAN.
I5TH CENTURY.
MO. 287.
IN
'64.
arts
concerned
in
her service.
The
GOLD AND
They and
all
SILVER.
12
prosperity to
The popes
their
became patrons of
and
artists
countries of Europe.
the renaissance,
known
in
Italian
as.
"
"
quattrocento
was drawing to a close and of the new ideas. This union of two styles was more common in the French, Flemish, Burgundian,
be noticed
German, and English art than in that of in the metal work of Italy as well.
traditions
Italy,
but
it
is
to.
The
seriousness
artists,
and
simplicity of
and workshops from throwing themthe broader and bolder lines and forms of the art of
ancient
ness in
Rome. Hence there is a singular sweetness and tendermuch of the work of the early artists of the revival. The
artist
during
the;
middle ages.
infinite variety
He
worked
in
all
all
materials
and produced an
of designs for
sorts
and
gilt reliquaries
and
jewellery,
it
on
will
and magnificence.
Under
the revival
be found that many of the greatest painters, sculptors, and architects had been goldsmiths first, or had got their education in
art in the
still
schools of every
kind of
artistic accomplishment. Francesco Francia, a goldsmith of Bologna, is spoken of by Vasari for the excellence of his enamelling on metal in relief.
He
for
much
Italian
fifteenth
century,
of
made
learn painting
till
after
become famous
122
work so
Sandro
we can judge
(to
of
it
from
Botticelli
whom
the
is
design of
is
engraved,
and
serious beauty
belonged to the
Ghirlandajo,
so
earlier
times.
Domenico
was
made
of jewels
trained
the
Florentines,
another
goldsmith, who became a painter in later life and is known to us by his A still more celebrated name is paintings.
under a
that of
sculptor
of
Bartolommeo
and
TURY.
the grandest of
modern
equestrian statues.
He
has been
named
among
He
was sent
in
apostles
by pope Sixtus IV. to restore the images of the Another goldsmith of great
called Caradoffo, of Milan.
He
Vasari)
whole range of goldsmiths' work, principally in enamelling on relief and in medal cutting.
Michelagnolo di Giuliano was a goldsmith of Florence much employed by Lorenzo and Giuliano de Medici, for whom he made
embossed armour, enamels, niellos, and jewellery of every kind. He was the first teacher of the goldsmith whose name stands above
all
who
much
THE SIXTEENTH
The
CENTURY.
goldsmiths' work of the sixteenth century reached its greatest splendour and beauty in the hands of Benvenuto Cellini.
He represents the goldsmiths, the silversmiths, and the jewellers of the revival, as Michael Angelo and Raphael represent the
GOLD AND
painters
SILVER.
123
and
sculptors.
Born
in the year
at thirteen to
Michael Angelo.
FAX.
ITALIAN.
l6TH CENTURY.
NO. 401.
'
'72
..
IN
i2 4
GOLD AND
many goldsmiths
to
SILVER.
and
Siena.
shops of
At nineteen he went
Rome.
He
was driven away in consequence of a fray, then went back to Rome, and entered the service of Clement VII. for whom he
made
of the
coins
and medals.
castle of St.
took the military command of the Angelo, and while there took to pieces the jewels
special
He
pope by
command
to get
money
to
four
During fourteen years he worked at work for the sovereign pontiff, paying
Venice, and other
cities
visits to
of Italy, making
to
I.
From thence he
travelled
some stay in Padua. He Geneva, Lyons, and Paris. but again returned to Rome, and
St.
Angelo of some of the treasure he had got together during the He was released and went to Paris in 1540. Cellini siege.
spent five years in Paris, then quarrelled with the duchess d'Estampes, and got permission to return to Italy. There he took service with Cosmo dei Medici in Florence and worked for
till his death in 1570. During these years he undertook the mint of the grand duke, made beautiful jewels for the duchess, and executed several important pieces of bronze sculpture. Vasari
him
speaks of his
many works
in gold,
figures,
by Clement VII. the cup of which was supported by the theoloHis jewels were 'enriched with figures on a minute gical virtues.
necklace containing a history of the Passion, with separate compositions in each of its links, has been exhibited by it might without lady Mountcharles in the Kensington museum
scale.
:
book of hours
is
in the
museum
of
the
ornamented with
duke of Saxe Coburg, the cover of which little figures and compositions in enamelled
12$
attributed to him.
museum
of Vienna.
the fountain of youth and other ship with compositions relating to in is the Kensington collection, No. 736. '64 it poetic subjects,
by
Cellini in France,
if
artist himself.
There are two precious cups attributed to Cellini at Munich and, it need not be said, a vast number of jewels are ascribed to him
on no
sufficient authority.
his own day and since, it is not value that unreasonable to suppose that many of his works must still remain cautious as we should be in accepting the claim of his authorship. Cellini wrote two treatises, one qn sculpture and another on
?
Considering the number of rich and is known to have made and the
the goldsmiths'
schedula, of
art.
He
treats,
as
Theophilus
does in the
the
making of
four-
enamels.
He
of silver, so
common
teenth and fifteenth centuries ; and of enamel made in bands of g&ld and set transparently as glass in the side or bottom of a
vase,
in.
French
enamel the name of "plite" or "plique & jour." Cellini discusses the method of its execution, speaking of a cup of this kind shown him by Francis I. The enamel
writers give this kind of
paste
is
it
and a plate of the same metal outside. The enamel can be fused and attached to the surface of the gold
without softening the surface of the iron sufficiently to prevent the removal of both the inner and outer false sides ; and the
enamel can
then be polished.
The
processes described by
those contained
in
the
treatise
of Theophilus.
cast
enamel and
in
niello,
hammered and
little
the
substantial difference.
Though
T?6
GOLD AND
SILVER.
in the time
of Theophilus the goldsmiths had practised for 400 years most of the processes of that craft. Cellini was a contemporary and
admirer of the great Italian artists of his day and his art represents the ideas then so popular, the symbolism and imagery of the classical Olympus.
The
reliquaries, chalices,
made
and
of
for religious
uses
during the
serious
they
were
elegant
in the
and
often
pax shown
woodcut
p. 123.
ornaments,
such
as
brooches,
bells, and other objects for ecclesiastical use, was profusely deco-
enamel,
and
precious
stones.
for the
This
jubilee of 1550.
It
to
say
many was
Italians
the
first
country to
set
as
goldsmiths' workshops.
He
of
him-
abundtheir
artists
ance
ecclesiastical metal work, imagery,
and
excellence
plate.
and table
The
who succeeded
in
Cellini
made numbers of
Valerio Vicentino
Pilote
;
jewels
composed
of
Giovanni da Feren-
zuola
Luca Agnolo
Piero, Giovanni,
and Romolo
del
GOLD AND
Tovaloccio
Dati
;
;
SILVER.
Perugia
;
127
Piero
di
Mino
Lautizio of
Vincenzo
among
the
names of
Italian gold-
Benedict Ramel was goldsmith to Francis I. Frangois Desjardins to Charles IX. ; Delahaie to Henri IV. Frangois Briot was a goldsmith of great skill in embossing
tankards, cups,
this
artist
is
A pewter cup by plate. Kensington museum. It was no doubt a model made for a work in silver-gilt, and unfortunately nothing It seems to have been is preserved of his work but the models.
and various kinds of
the
in
not an
uncommon custom
with
artists to
Among
goldsmiths should be included damascening, or working designs in gold and silver on iron, bronze, and other medals. There are
different
The ground
is
Gold
is hammered or pressed into these cavities and the harder metal takes firm hold of the wire. On softer metal thick
leaf
is
hammered
down
artists
The
best
known
skill in
Figino,
damascening Bartolommeo
all
" Azzimino from his Paolo, surnamed Paolo Rizzo of Venice ; Giovanni Pietro
Piatti,
Ghinello,
of Milan.
and the
vine, the
The
it,
the early
discoveries of
made
of
goldsmiths.
hold use in that country must have been enormous towards the
beginning of the sixteenth century. Spanish reliquaries and monstrances of the middle ages were made after architectural
models
of the
128
sixteenth century.
us
"
There remain, however, as M. J. Riano tells work worthy of riotice where there is
e.g.,
ho
architectural model,
be seen
at
and
Astorga of the fourteenth century, and of the fifteenth and other Spanish towns. But
(monstrances) which
were
saved
from
the
French."
These
monstrances are generally in the form of small architectural domes, lanterns, or spires, such as the French, Flemish, and
German
reliquaries.
"The
multitude
of
columns, statuettes,
minute subjects in
render the distodias
relief, pinnacles, and general ornamentation of the best time of the silversmiths' work com-
Becerril, Carrion,
the
names of the
artists
devoted to
this
who
Enrique d'Arfe made a famous custodia early in the sixteenth century which was robbed by the French; another for the cathedral of Cordova, 1513; another for that of Toledo 1515-24, both of
in the gothic
The
at
chalice in the
woodis
South Kensington
Spanish jewels of
rare.
this
period are
productions here
that,
perhaps,
no collection has
more important
Vergen del Filar at Saragossa, now Mr. Riano gives some names of in the Kensington museum. silversmiths and goldsmiths from manuscripts containing designs,
and
1549.
interesting
_.,
_,
129
of presented as specimens for admission into the corporation never been have "These volumes silversmiths of Catalonia.
mentioned by any writers who have treated of this subject, and may be considered unknown. I have been fortunate enough"
adds Mr. Riano "to be able to look through them and copy
the following
names of
artists
who worked
in gold
and enamel,"
Joan Masanell,
and pendants, 1534. Rafael Ximenis, a dagger, 1537. Antonio de Valder, a dagger, 1537. Benedicte Sabat, enamelled Gabriel Comes, a hand screen with a delicate jug, 1545.
Pero Juan Poch, silversmith of the empress Antonio Conill, dagger, 1553. FranIsabella, a vase, 1551. cisco Perez, necklace, 1559. Juan Ximenez, a large pendant
handle,
1546.
jewel,
Francisco Vida, figure of Phaeton, 1561. Felipe 1561. Ros, an enamelled medallion and a vase, 1567 and' 1597. Joan Font, a.vase, 1572. Narciso Valla, pendant jewel, 1575. Juan
Germany was
revival.
scarcely behind Spain in following the Italian In the costliness and dignity of the reliquaries, shrines,
and
German goldsmiths
of the
twelfth
surpassed by none.
and succeeding centuries during the middle ages were Precious jewels and plate for secular use
costly.
The
had been kept up with splendour, and this splendour was reflected in various degrees and with much pomp and circumstance in the numerous courts of German
successors of Charlemagne
As early as the fourteenth when Charles IV. was crowned with the iron crown of century Lombardy and afterwards with the golden crown of the empire in the Vatican, "an hundred princes" says Gibbon "bowed
princes, according to their wealth.
At the
who
in
rank and
title
were equal to
kings,
performed the
palace.
The
seals
many solemn and domestic services of the of the triple kingdom were borne in state by
K
3o
GOLD AND
SILVER.
the archbishops of Mentz, Cologn, and Treves, perpetual archchancellors of Germany, Italy,
and
Aries.
on horseback exercised
oats which he emptied
on the ground.
The
count palatine of the Rhine, placed the dishes on the table. The great chamberlain, the margrave of Brandenburgh, presented
after the repast the
In several
chief
of
Germany
guilds
of goldsmiths
Silver cups
and
plate
of
all
made by them
artists.
after the
designs or in
Augsburg was
earliest to
this
131
proud
of
its
Nuremberg, a walled and wealthy city, remained privileges, its old families and its art,
to
longer attached
the
old
traditions.
of
One
table
of the
plate
gilt
South Kensington
is
covered
of
cup,
made
after the
shape
one
of
the
stonework.
fied
The
supports are
little forti-
by
sentry
turrets
is
and
larger
towers.
The
ascents
or
roads with
houses,
of buildings such as are seen in the distant towns Of the landscape back- HANAP. SOUTH KENSINGTON
MUSEUM.
NO. 245.
grounds of Diirer.
in
Rome
Gradually the genius of Peter Vischer and the stay he made introduced the more modern ideas in metal work and
in gold
and
silver
Kruger and
goldsmith at
his
of
The
1502; Jacob Hofmann worked there in 1564; Hans Maslizer and Jonas Silber in the second half of the century. Wenzel
Jamnitz or Jamitzer 1508-1585, author of a work on perspective with cuts by Jost Amman, was one of a family of gold
and
silver smiths
The
silver
cup
at
attributed to the
hand of Wenzel.
cup of similar shape attributed to Cellini, kept in the print room of the British museum, is more probably also by the hand
132
of Wenzel.
made
in six
The
surfaces are
embossed with
figures
and
band work,
foliage,
design.
Many
make
a piece of ornamental plate on the sideboard. An examination of these German cups, as well as of the hanaps (covered
cups without stems), will show a peculiar ornament made of narrow leaves, scrolls, or stalks, gracefully beaten about like
streamers of silver or silver-gilt and set round the knob or top
of a cover.
It
SILVER-GILT CUP IN
Italian
and
an
earlier date
Their cups,
salvers,
133
assign a vast
would be
difficult to
where
cup,
hall
dis-
tinguished.
The German
is
of which we
give a woodcut on
The number
of
to
the eighteenth century was very great. Johann Kornemann is the name of an artist who made himself a name in Rome and
Venice before
settling at
Augsburg
George Prunl
Anton and
many
As the
commerce between northern Europe and Italy and the Levant, and a free city enjoying imperial privileges,
Augsburg was also the richest manufacturing city of Germany Merchant families, in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.
such as the house of Fugger, were often wealthy, and showed
as
much
furniture
splendid luxury in the service of the table and the of the princely courts of
Europe.
who designed kind of The ornament for silver and smiths. specially gold German artists of the late fifteenth and sixteenth centuries were
ornaments, sometimes called the small masters,
all
Many
engravings on
in this respect.
The
revival
made
goldsmiths'
work than
We
seem
artists
to
have been
change from mediaeval types, and the old traditions lingered long in the country. Henry VII. came to the throne at the close
of the long and savage wars of the roses. During the continuance of the struggle the nation went back in many ways from the refinement of the fourteenth century. The cultivation
even of
home
fruits
*34
GOLD AND
SILVER.
MEDALLION.
GERMAN.
l6 TH
dwindled
The
architec-
135
and metal work were not equal to what they had been, and fresh life was needed when peace was once more The reign of Henry was peaceful and prosperous. secured.
gathered riches, encouraged learning, built much, invited of a colforeign painters to his court, and made the beginning
lection
He
of books, paintings,
plate,
and other
furniture of his
houses,
British
and
in the
Though Henry VII. knew how to show royal splendour on fitting occaAt the marriage feast of his son prince Arthur, in the sions.
was served on gold plate set with precious stones and valued at twenty thousand pounds.
pearls,
museum
to
this day.
careful
of his
money
When Henry
and
his reign
was
work.
That
he had
Italian goldsmiths
after the
example of
George or
in private
It is of
and now
Cellini.
hands
fine
is
said to have
been made
for
him by
Some
and personal ornaments may be gathered from the notices met with in Hall and other writers of the pageants and
dress
At a dance
dress
in his palace of
Westmin-
and
was covered.
On
this
the
citizens
to look
letters
on broke
who was
got
3/.
and drawers.
One
which
shipmaster
fell
iSs.
to his
share.
of the festivities prepared for Anne Boleyn sumptuous living of the court. Gold cups of assay (standard gold) were used by the new queen at her coronation
illustrate the
The accounts
136
feast,
GOLD AND
SILVER.
them.
and given as fees to those whose office it was* to hold Henry had already given her nearly twelve hundred
flagons, bowls,
spoons, salts, chandeliers, and a chafing dish when he created her countess of Pembroke. He took her with him when he
went
to
meet Francis.
silver,
The banquet
with gold.
hall
cloth of
raised
with wreaths of goldsmiths' work set with stones and pearls. cupboard of seven stages (the reader% will remember more than
in
which
silver
and gold
plates
are represented set out in this way) was covered with plate of
gold,
gilt plate.
Ten branches
of
silver-gilt
and ten of
white silver hung over the table by long chains of the same metal
lights each.
The splendour
by
his goldsmith
"
Robert Amadal
in
of such items as
silver.
Lady
made
and
Bruges with leopards' heads and cardinals' hats, chased weighed two hundred and ninety-eight ounces. Among " the cardinal's service of plate were three chargeours," a hundred
gilt,
;
and
fifty-
ounces;
and
one ounces.
to fifteen; a
The
;
saucers, twelve
cup of "corone"
Accord-
" There was at ing to Cavendish, his biographer, great banquets a cupboard as long as the chamber was in breadth, with six deskes in height, garnyshed with guilt plate, and the nethermost
deske was garnyshed
paire
all
of
candlesticks
with
and
guilt,
GOLD AND
barred
SILVER.
137
round about
that
no man
there was
besides."
none of
all
this plate
Such
sonages
table plate
noblemen of the
bequeathed
Apostle
Brent,
John, lord
Dynham,
in 1505
plate.
of
Amy
who bequeathed
Holbein
in
1516 "thirteen
silver spoons,
reign.
designed cups, arms, and jewellery during this drawing by him of a cup for queen Jane Seymour is kept in the print room of the British museum, with other for of &c. Some his designs jewels, drawings are in the museum
Dance of death
in
tiny figures. Torrigiano had been already employed by Henry and VII. designed candelabra and other decorative metal work
goldsmith, occurs
name
Cornelius, probably a
German
expenses
or Swiss.
The
list
privy purse
of queen
Mary
work
give a detailed
in her possession
while princess.
On
a sideboard of nine
Philip of Spain
of gold cups and silver dishes. her gave jewels worth fifty thousand ducats,
and sent a
treasure to
London
each a yard and a quarter long, loaded on twenty carts. The age of Elizabeth was a period of great expenditure in
jewellery
carried
especially
such as could be
on the person.
in
The
her portraits.
presents,
make her
continual
138
jewels.
There is a miniature case in the Kensington collection, No. 4404. '57, a fine example of enamelled work, made perhaps for a present to be given by herself. Without referring to
private collections
we may quote
:
preserved by colleges and corporations which belong to the a cup and cover, a tankard, a set latter half of this century
Corpus Christi college, Cambridge, the gift of archbishop Parker; an ewer and salver belonging to the corporation of Norwich ; and other pieces
belonging to several city of London companies. In the Kensington museum there is a sugar or
salt-cellar, at
pepper
of
St.
caster,
of
silver,
with a medallion on
it
George and an
order
;
of the
like
those
sumptuously in the palace of Nonsuch, and gave her the cupboard of rich plate that she had used
for supper.
jewels,
had
to be followed
the queen.
by other noblemen and courtiers of She herself sent a cupboard of plate to James VI.
^
Some
on the occasion of the baptism of prince Henry. of the gold cups were so heavy that sir
to
James Melville
could hardly
lift
whom
them.
down.
for
Rich church plate was occasionally made ceremonial occasions; as for example on
Mary
worth a thousand pounds. Generally sixteenth century chalices for the reformed church were
in the
GOLD AND
The age
SILVER.
139
all
substances,
recombine the component parts of metals, and make gold out Cornelius Lanoy, a Dutchman, was committed to of them.
the
Tower
for
On the other hand Dr. Dee, a divine then popularly believed. of the church of England and a professor of these arts, enjoyed
and retained the 'queen's confidence.
CHAPTER
X.
THE
for
the
goldsmiths' style underwent but few changes of fashion first part of the seventeenth Much -of the century.
IN
magnificence with which the art of the revival had filled the castles and palaces of Italy had become by that time familiar
141
castle of
Kronen-
the earl marischal of Scotland went to receive Anne the future " queen of James I. was very richly furnished with silver statues
and other
In
states
articles of luxury."
home
of
artists
who
in
many
different
and
capitals
had acquired great skill in goldsmiths' work, made and sent abroad. While any of
immediate pupils and followers, the old designs continued to be reproduced. No art, however, so closely bound up with the habits of men as that of the goldsmith remains long
hands of
their
stationary.
The
light
and graceful
leaf-work,
the
admirable
religious
figure-work, and the simplicity and dignity of both vessels and household plate and ornaments gave way
to
heavy
of
quantity in
working the precious metals than of beauty. In Spain the admirable training of the pupils of the school
of religious sculpture as well as of the guilds remained, but the
shapes and decorations of their work grew pompous and heavy The large quantities of the to a greater extent than in Italy.
precious metals that
came
into Spain
of church vessels to
make
their offerings
houses.
Rich
regard
Spanish
to
households
were
"marvellous" in
their
abundance of table
'
Sumptuary laws were passed but proved useless against this " which caused Montesquieu to say in his Esprit des luxury,
loix,'
that the repeated statutes of the Spaniards prohibiting the use of precious metals were as absurd as if the states of Holland
In Germany the great guilds of Augsburg and other cities already named continued for the first thirty or forty years of
the century to produce excellent goldsmiths.
Matthias
Walbaum
142
of Augsburg
now
in
fittings
bas-reliefs.
Hans
Pegolt
another
of.
Fine models in
Kunstkammer
by the
artists
As
to cups
give
the
name
of
tankards.
Tankards with
handle, purchase, and hinged lid, were made of all sizes and with many varieties
of decoration both in
Germany and
retain
other
our
own
and they
and
their
made
both on the
sides.
flat
to enclose gold
top and bottom and bent round and set in the tankards had knobs or pegs in the side to measure Peg the proportion to be drunk by eacn,
gold and
lowed
country
much
the
same changes
as have
been noticed.
there was deue
Of
ENGLISH.
ecclesiastical
a.T\v
plate
7 TH
scarcelv buucciy
<iny
among
became
kept in
in
Tower of London.
Toilets of silver
now
the
'43
private hands.
The
families
of
England
of
never
the
more
were
reign
Tames
I.
The
king
on
their estates,
pictures
teriors,
such
favourite
subjects
with
artists, show how often people look back to those days as a kind of
modern
golden age.
compositions,
propriety.
doubtless
with
Rich
people
must have
Indeed, Charles
I.
in his
class
much
hard money from country plate chests and college butteries was contributed
to his treasury in Oxford.
The
greater
SILVER
I7TH
ENGLISH.
.IN
THP
KENSINGTON MUSEUM.
The
first
woodcut over-
in the
The fondness
the
In 1606
queen Anne,
visited this
amongst
costly presents
made on board
144
his ship at
GOLD AND
SILVER.
Gravesend gave James I. a rapier and hanger worth seven thousand pounds, set with gold and jewels. The hammered
suit of
and gilded
Charles
of the
I.
armour given
by the armourers of
is
London
to
familiar to visitors
with
and one
J$
j|
not older
I7TH CENTURY.
in 1660.
The
I.
to pieces
.
after the
death of Charles
mounts of gold and enamel, commonly called that of Anne Boleyn, was probably made for queen Anne of
|
w 2
The queen consort's crown and jewelled made for Mary of Modena, the rest for William and Mary. The present great crown has been
Denmark.
sceptre were
Probably
given
g
> >
in the
the
oil at coronations,
though
seven-
the
may
represent
an
earlier piece.
The
was
reign of Louis
XIV.
en-
time
of
great
couragement
in
for silversmiths
SILVER-GILT AMPULLA, USED
AT
CORONATIONS.
size, weight, and ostentation The governprevailed over that of elegance and beauty. ment nevertheless under the wise rule of Colbert did more
145
than any other in Europe in its day to ensure good training to of all kind. Several goldsmiths were lodged in the Louvre. Labarte names Balin and Delaunay, the most skilful artists of
the time, Labarre, two of the Courtois family, Bassin, Roussel,
employed
in the
same kind
beauty for
mirror
of work and
the king.
frames,
made a
Silver
fire-dogs,
basins,
toilet
jugs,
tables,
seats,
cabinet
mounts, and
services,
were made on a
at the
massive scale.
Lebrun the
painter,
who was
head of the
A
in the
silver
frame belonging to the queen, which is now Kensington museum, represents this massive Louis quatorze
silver mirror
work.
It bears the
cypher of Charles
II.
Much
of the
down during the wars at the The king ordered the nobility
setting
the example.
"He
cost
melted down
seats
of silver enriched
They had
and produced
three."
SILVER TABLE
AT WINDSOR CASTLE.
146
not in the country houses. The king's rooms in Whitehall palace and even those of the maids of honour were furnished with silver toilet services ; mirror frames
day
at the
English court,
if
and basins
and every
article for
They
were melted by William III. after the death of Mary, under the same necessity that had caused the destruction of the silver
of his mortal
enemy
Louis.
But the
queen
Mary
silver
few
the
fire-dogs,
and other
pieces,
are
still
among
in
furniture of
Windsor
castle.
Beautiful beaten
Engin the
latter
land
till
The
last
standard
of
silver
in
England was
raised
during the
seventeenth years of the ozs. 2 dwts. to century from IT ozs. 10 dwts. fine in the Ib.
SILVER CASKET.
IJTH CENTURY.
AT SOUTH KENSINGTON.
troy,
and
hall
was
of Britannia.
marked with a
figure
is
The
it
queen Anne
much
prized;
is
to exhaust the
AT SOUTH KENSINGTON.
and with
GOLD AND
goldsmiths.
SILVER.
147
eighteenth century.
Some
tureens
for
prince
Frederic,
son of George
among
Windsor
ZOPIES IN
SOUTH KENSINGTON
French
sumptuary
architecture
taste
art
in,
Europe
in all questions of
during the
princes followed
the style
both of the
Germans went beyond the French into a wild extravagance of ornament and a violation of old laws of propriety which had been
long accepted.
tures
Yet,
it
and much
must be admitted that many of the sculpand jewellery of that age are
Frederick William of Prussia,
in
habits of
life
and
148
ordinary splendour.
at
As
and
remains of classic
and adopted the style named "baroque" from a Latin word signifying a wen or excrescence. The collecgrace and simplicity
tion of goldsmiths'
work
still
collected
tions;
vases,
by or made
and
is
monstrous produc-
table ornaments
sorts.
The
actual
goldsmiths' work
nevertheless admirable.
The
in
artist of greatest
Melchior Dinglinger,
1665
73 I >
wno
Dresden
in 1702.
have seen his model representation of the court of Aurungzebe the furniture, and costumes of the numerous little personages, and
all
the ceremonial
Bernier.
In the course of the century, during the seven years' war, a and of ancient shrines in France
occurred such as was scarcely surpassed in the revolution of '93. It was about the same time as the meltings of Frederic the great. * the issued a
"Silhouette,"
says Carlyle,
comptroller-general,
invite all
and
sundry of loyal mind to send their plate (on loan, of course, and with due receipt for it) to the mint to be crowned, whereupon the
rich princes of the blood,
due
and
official
GOLD AND
SILVER.
do make an
effort, resist,
149
and
and
went
everybody that has plate feels uneasily that he cannot Nov. 5th the king's own plate, packed ostentatiously in
to the mint.
carts,
new and of
exquisite
Towards the
close of the
life
of Louis
XV.
the discoveries
of Herculaneum and Pompeii, with the fragments of metal work there found, turned the attention of artists once more towards
classical antiquity
other countries.
The French
plate of Louis
bold medallion heads, and those animal legs and supports so common in the bronze utensils of In our own country the brothers Adam the Greco-Roman artists.
VASE BY ADAM.
threw their energies into the cultivation of this art. Their style partly followed the French "Louis seize" artists who
produced
furniture
and
last
XVI. came
the deluge.
The
greater part of the ancient shrines, chalices, reliquaries, croziers, and other sacred utensils were seized by commissioners, the stones
removed, the weight of metal noted, and sent off to the revolutionary mint. This destruction was,
unfortunately,
by no means confined
to
France.
In
of the French government were in possession, all which could not be removed or hidden was seized
and sent
to Paris.
To
and robbery done in Spain: "In 1810 the French sent a commission to the Escorial, who took possession of the treasures there, only allowing the
COVERED VASE,
friars
to
reliquaries
the relics
they contained.
jewels
As
the
number of
enamel
was
caskets and
of
rock
it
crystal,
gold,
and
almost
in-
took a long time to do this. numerable, them to pieces to save time, and threw the
into baskets
which they
left
to
the
friars,
and holy vessels, in ten camp waggons, escorted to Madrid by three hundred horse. It is impossible to describe the wanton
destruction
in the
and
workmanship
existing in Europe.
From
the cathedral of
Ibs.
carried
weight of old
He
says again
The
in
Moya had
them
i3th
of
St.
December
in
remembrance of the
delivery of treasure on
Lucia's day,
pro-
151
three
all
hundred and
They have
French empire under Napoleon was a dry and affected classicalism. It was without the grace of the days
The
taste of the
of Louis
XVI.
country
efforts were made by George IV. to have work from the hands of the best artists. Flaxman designed the well-known Wellington shield and some vases and There are in the Kensington museum casts of plate now salvers.
In
this
silversmiths'
in the collection
at
Windsor
castle designed
by Flaxman and
The old designs have gradually fallen into disuse, and there is The best things executed not much to be said of modern plate.
during this century are probably the vases and groups of figures called race cups. Many of them are of excellent workmanship ;
but as to those which are not copies or imitations
of place to offer any criticism.
it
would be out
artists,
few good modern designs by some still living, will be seen among
The
names of signer
Castellani, the
modern
Cellini,
and of
his scholars
belong to the history of jewellers. Those of many gold and silver smiths, both English and foreign, deserve to be recorded
with honour, but any detailed notice of the works of living artists
limits.
CHAPTER XL
HALL MARKS.
silver
ancient and
by
and governments
England
the
"
;
commerce.
All
gold and
silver in
is
stamped by
pany
called
hall.
after
testing
marks
most
marks, in fact,
is
stamped
in the goldsmiths'
The same
practice
and
in
to
be used
ornaments with-
At an
and London, sold as pure gold a metal so much alloyed as to be far below the real value of gold ; and royal and parliamentary edicts' were passed to secure the proper purity. It has been suggested that in ancient Rome there were trade regulations on the same subject, and that the arch of the goldsmiths
still
standing in
Rome
craft
made
early
As
when the
stalls
were collected on and close to the pont de change (the old bridge
153
over the Seine) regulations were drawn up for a corporation of jewellers and goldsmiths by Etienne Boileau, provost of It was called the confront of St. Eloi, patron Paris, 1258-69. of the
craft.
fair,
this
confraternity
was recog-
money was regularly changed at the Ten years later the same king ordered
be admitted
to
the corporation
be tested and stamped. No goldsmiths could who had not served an apOther statutes were made
at
different
prenticeship in Paris.
periods regulating the responsibilities of the guilds. The testing was done by the " touche" on a touchstone. The " touche de
Paris" was recognised far and wide as a guarantee of purity " " mark of London for silver. The for gold, and the sterling
touchstone
is
known
as
"Lydian
in
this
They
of an ounce of pure gold. One set is alloyed with silver, small piece of the gold to be tested another with copper.
and the streak made therewith on the stone compared The streak is washed with with those made by the needles.
is
cut
off,
aquafortis
alloy,
of gold.
tested
some
of
countries,
Germany
instance,
silver
is
by
sets
sixteen
needles,
answering to
the
is
sixteen
computed
and
this
number
is
varies
in
different
countries.
The English
;
now done by
the copper, &c. leaving the gold a black powder, which is then fused into a button of pure gold. The gold is again weighed, and the difference shows the proportion of alloy. If the alloy
is
silver
it
is
thrown down by
common
salt
copper
is
pre-
cipitated
by
iron.
154
Silver
is
" About ten to twenty assayed by the cupel." grains from each separate part of a compound piece of plate
are scraped
off,
and fused
in a
made of bone
are oxidised
The metal
lead
and
alloy
The
mines the purity as in gold. In France government tests were used in other
Paris
:
cities
besides
e.g.,
in
Limoges,
Le Puy-en-Velay, Troyes,
Rouen,
Lacroix city used stamp marks of its own. and stamps of a hundred and six French corpoof the middle ages, and as many as a hundred and
Each
eighty-six
stamps of separate
cities
in
at
In England assaying is noticed as early as the year 1300, which time there seems to have been much false gold and
jewellery sold.
" touch of
Paris,"
Gold was ordered by the crown to be cf the and silver to be sterling. Gold was pure
III.
to
coinage
twenty-two carats out of twenty-four of pure metal, A second standard, used in alloy.
of eighteen carats fine
:
wedding
rings
are of
in gold settings,
In the middle ages no false stones were allowed to be sold nor real stones in false metal. Articles of lower
forfeit to
the king.
Procla-
mations and regulations on the subject were made in England as early as 1180 but nothing was enacted by statute for The goldsmiths of London nearly a hundred and fifty years.
under Richard
were incorporated by charter in 1327, with fresh recognition II. in 1394, and Henry VI. 1423. York, Newand castle, Lincoln, Norwich, Bristol, Salisbury, Coventry were
155
by Edward IV.
These privileges were confirmed precious metals as in London. The records of the goldsmiths' company of
London begin about 1331 and are continuous to our own day. The pound sterling of silver has often been lessened in value
since the
Conquest by diminishing the weight of it, but never In 1543 it was lowered
by Henry VIII.
called hall
:
1576.
The marks
1.
marks
in
London
The
;
leopard's
1363
2.
in fact,
king's
mark
in
a rose,
crown,
or other
first
initials
Christian
3.
the
of the
The annual
following
from
to V, omitting J
it
alphabet is changed every This mark which shows the date of plate, when
is first
and U.
The
(fy)
on a cup
appears
shown
The same
castle
letter
at
Hornby
at
Hexham (now
Bolton Hall
If this letter,
the eighth of the alphabet, marks the year 1445 that cvcl e of
twenty
earliest
letters
as
must have begun in 1438. This letter is the observed. Few marks are known of the three yet
cycles
The
greater
part
of the
The
O. R. T. are wanting. Ten letters of the succeeding From the year 1560 the cycles proceed cycle are known.
In 1576 Elizabeth made the regularly down to our own time. wardens of the London company answerable for marks stamped on impure rnetal.
'56
4. 5.
GOLD AND
The The
lion passant;
lion's
SILVER.
added
in 1597.
head
erased,
substituted
for
the
crowned
leopard's head.
of Britannia substituted for the lion passant. These last two changes were ordered in 1697, which year the
6.
figure
m n oz.
2 dwt.
pure
Plate with this mark is known oz. TO dwt. in the Ib. troy to " The old standard was restored in 1719. as " Britannia plate.
7.
Lastly, the
in 1784,
when a
fresh
in profile, ordered
For the reader's convenience the changes of annual letters from the date up to which complete cycles can be traced are
here added
:
COURT.
[K)
1697.
ROMAN
ROMAN
CAPS. 1716-7.
ROMAN CAPS.
LOME.
(7T|
1578
9.
SM. 1736-7.
CAPS. 1598-9.
SM. 1618-9.
ITALICS
ROMAN SM.
ROMAN
1776-7.
IS] COURT. ^y
RTJ BL. LET.
1638-9.
CAPS. 1658-9.
CAPS. 1796-7.
SM. 1816-7.
ROMAN
BO
Other countries followed the example of Paris and London. Amongst the German cities may be reckoned Augsburg, Nurem-
Ulm, Luneburg, Regensburg, in which goldsmiths' guilds were established and stamps used from an early date. Mr. Riano names many of the cities of Spain in which were corberg,
porations
in gold
and
silver smiths'
Most of
of
manufacture
and
Arras,
the
maker's
name.
Antwerp, Bruges,
Tournay, Liege,
and
Brussels,
had
GOLD AND
corporations with
silver,
SILVER.
the
purity
157
of gold and
privileges.
statutes
regulating
and exclusive
Two
1567 to 1636 have been obtained for the South Kensington These contain a hundred and five
the
sixteenth
and
eighty-one
of
the
seventeenth
many
separate govern-
ments and corporations, great numbers of pieces of goldsmiths' work in the Kensington museum and in other collections are
either without stamps or the stamps are
no longer
to be recog-
In recent times frauds have been practised by joining small fragments of old English plate, on which the date and other
nised.
The stamps are impressed, to forged pieces of recent make. is not always
enough to guarantee the genuineness of the piece of plate
bears them.
that
INDEX.
PAGE
Abbo
Abraham,
,,
his wealth
Abyssinian chalice
crown
brothers
.... ....
...
65, 75
46 63
25 149 139 73 74 74 3 117 74 144 77 9 108
Cantharus Carchesium
Castellan! Cellini
20, 28,
.
34
33 54 122
Acragas
Adam,
Chalices
,,
Charlemagne
Cochleare Coins .
-
altar
....
....
4
34 34 32 98 59 71, 100 94
Cothon
Cotyle Crater
Croziers Crosses
Armour
Aryballus Arysticus
.......
.
34
34
154
.
.
Assaying
Assyrian gold
Crowns
Crucifix-
Augsburg work
15 130, 141
Cup, enamelled
,,
in
....
.
.
6
76
silver
132, 143
24,
Cyathus
Cylix Cypselus, chest Cyrus, plunder
32 32
21
82
.
Macedonian
48
143 16
16
Basin
Belus,
...
.
Dagobert's chair
98
127
art
.
Book
Bowl
83 59
146
.40
to
.135
42 84
72
not
owing
Christianity
.... ....
Doves Dresden
silver
work
.....
. .
.
....
41,63 96
148 2
132
44
45
57 58
enamel
,,
gold work
....
159
....
PAGE
17
83 65 Eligius 137 Elizabeth, queen Enamel 53, 82, 102 * British and Greek 55, 56, 82 ,,
24,
9 46
15
Karnak
tablet
....
marks
.
35 19
133
151
modern
Lanx
Letters, cycles, as hall
Etruscan gold
20
25
Eunychus
Feasts, coronation,
&c
156 56
no, 113
Finiguerra
Forks
Forgeries
no
157 31
121
.
117
112
...
'
25
50,
Fortnum, vase
Francia
90
26
145
.
.
126, 144
.
.154
120
. .
86
107 10
19
"3
129
. .
Morse Moses
Mycenae treasures
Naples, vase
....
....
.
artists
hallmarks
.
.
. .
Ghirlandajo Gilding
156 122
30
52, 72
27,
.
64
Necklace Nefs
Nero's wife, luxury Niello
113 37
131
14^
27, 53
Gold,
,,
,, ,,
its
value
qualities distribution
coffin of
...
.
.
,
Nuremberg work
Offerings of queen of Sheba at coronations ,,
.
2
.
Constantine
,
Greek gold
,,
art
......
.
8,
4 40 26 66
130
152 126
.113
15
Orichalcum
Patens Patera
Patrick, St., bell
21, 23
. .
96 .34
77 23
Hall marks
Pausanias
Pax
Pecunia, etymology
Petrossa, treasure Phalerse
...
. .
Homeric gold
Iconoclast
.... ....
123
i
59 42
Phiale Phidias
Platsea, spoils
34
21
19 Plateresca 103 Poetry of gold 3 Pointed architecture . .102, 116 Pompeian excavations 24,30,35, 149
.
48
57 65
.
.
Indian enamel
Italian, early
,,
25
.
.
.50, 102
iij
goldsmith
*.
.117
76
Prochous
Pytheas
Irish gold
work
34
2 5, 29
i6o
Pyx
Quantities metals
of
96
the
.
precious
coronation
39
.
.
Stannum
Suinthila
26
.121
14
Sugar caster
86
.... ....
... ... ...
...
99,
67 138 58
46
Renaissance
ancient value
119
49 29 29
100
96 36
52 142 147
37, 41
Tankards
Tea-kettle Throne of Arcadius of Theophilus ,, Tippo Sahib's throne Toilet services
....
-...
.
47 112
16
49 49
14 142 153
72 144 81, 83
5
"Touch"
Trajan period, wealth
Treasures, crown
....
...
40
100
Triptych
Scyphus
Ships Shrine at Cologne
,,
42 34
Tureen
109 147
73,
76,
....
.....
museum
.
113
Vase
Venetian, pala d'oro Verrocchio Vicarello, vase
87
105
3,
in
England
149 79 122
6 6 36
30
.
Roman
,,
in British
42
14
,, ,,
artists
.... ....
38 85
115
... ...
.
4
22 22
.114 .136
25
jewels
128
Zopyrus
TORONTO LIBRARY
NK
7106 P6 1879
c.l
ROBA