Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2016 
 
 https://archive.org/details/treasuryofornameOOrobi 
 


 
 
 

 
 TREASVRY 
 
 ORNAMENTAL 1 
 
 ART 
 
 Illustrations of objects of Artand\brtu 
 
 Photographed from the originals i 
 and drawn on 1 tone by k 
 
 % F. BEDFORD. Jk 
 
 ||k with descriptive notices by Mw 
 lik I.C.ROBINSON. ESA. 
 
 the Museum of Ornamental 
 

 
 THE GETTY CENTER 
 LIBRARY 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 In originating this series of Engravings, the intention has been to 
 reproduce, as completely as the means and appliances of Art at the 
 present day would admit, a class of works of art which, for want of 
 any better generic title, must be designated by the some what trite 
 terms, “ ornamental ” or “ decorative.” 
 
 It should be observed that the prejudice which, in our own times, 
 virtually assigns an inferior status in art to every production which, 
 strictly speaking, is neither a picture nor a statue, not only renders it 
 difficult to find any adequate appellation for such works, but likewise, 
 in reality, tends to the prejudice of art itself, inasmuch as artists of 
 genius and ambition are naturally unwilling to devote themselves to 
 the production of works, which, whatever may be the amount of art- 
 power manifested in them, are regarded only as “ objects of virtu ” or 
 curiosities, and held to be beneath the attention of the real connoisseur. 
 To combat these narrow and erroneous ideas, to show the aesthetic- 
 value and practical utility, as well as the national importance of col- 
 lections of such productions, is a principal object of the present 
 undertaking; whilst the employment of Photography in aid of the 
 greatly improved processes of Colour-printing, has been relied on for 
 the production of transcripts of objects which, it is believed, will be 
 found to be of hitherto unequalled accuracy. 
 
 The selection of objects illustrated has been made on the widest 
 possible basis, in order to respond to every phase of connoisseurship, 
 antiquarian interest, and practical utility to the art-student, — in short, 
 a complete “ Museographic” work has been projected, the further 
 continuance of which, so as ultimately to represent, in an adequate 
 manner, the varied acquisitions of the public and private collections of 
 this country, will depend on the success of the present volume. 
 
 The greater number of the objects now illustrated are to be found 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 in the National Collection, which has been in course of formation, 
 during the last four years, at Marlborough House, and which in 
 that brief period has gradually attained a status, admitting comparison 
 with continental collections, many of which have resulted from the 
 slow accumulations of centuries. The remainder are from objects 
 which have been from time to time temporarily deposited on loan at 
 Marlborough House, in accordance with a valuable regulation, by 
 which fine works of ornamental art in private hands are thus, by the 
 liberality of their possessors, rendered accessible to the general public. 
 
 As the present work was suggested by the Marlborough House 
 Collection, and represents similar aims and intentions, it will perhaps 
 be desirable to give a short account of the origin and progress of that 
 Institution. An official Report,* issued in 1852, states that “the for- 
 mation of a Museum of Manufactures, of a high order of excellence 
 in design, or of rare skill in art-workmanship, had long been considered 
 desirable, as well for the use of schools of ornamental art as for the 
 improvement of the public taste in design ; and the Great Exhibition 
 of 1851, affording a favourable opportunity for obtaining suitable spe- 
 cimens, the Board of Trade requested a committee to recommend 
 articles for purchase.” The funds allowed by the Ti’easury for this 
 purpose were limited to 5000Z. This amount, although very inade- 
 quate to the end proposed, sufficed for the purchase of upwards of four 
 hundred specimens, chosen from every class of ornamental manufactures, 
 both European and Oriental. The objects thus acquired, although of 
 the most diversified character, were nevertheless similar in one respect, 
 being all alike of modern origin, and so representing, as it were, but 
 one phase of art ; but it was evidently not the intention of the founders 
 to restrict the collection within these narrow limits, and thus later 
 additions, which have increased it nearly tenfold, have mainly con- 
 sisted of works of byegone periods. The objects acquired in the first 
 instance may now indeed only be considered as a nucleus, around 
 which additions of the most varied and interesting character have 
 rapidly accumulated. The celebrated collection of the late Mr. Bernal, 
 brought to the hammer in the spring of 1855, and which consisted 
 chiefly of works of mediaeval periods, alone furnished a much more 
 
 * First Report of the Department of Practical Art, p. 229. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 extensive series than the original selection, upwards of eight hundred 
 specimens having been obtained from that source ; and, more recently 
 still, from the Paris Universal Exhibition of 1855, a further selection 
 of modern works has been acquired, at least equal in extent to that 
 of 1851. At the present time the Museum contains nearly four thou- 
 sand specimens, comprising works of all periods and countries, from 
 the earliest dawn of art down to the present day.* 
 
 As might have been expected, however, from the rapidity with 
 which the collection has been formed, and from the nature of the 
 opportunities which have occurred, certain classes of works have been 
 more extensively developed than others ; some, indeed, have attained 
 great importance. Thus the section of Ancient Italian Majolica Ware, 
 so important a manifestation of the industrial art of the Renaissance, 
 is now perhaps more fully represented at Marlborough House than 
 in any other collection, either in England or abroad: that of Glass 
 Manufactures has likewise been extensively developed, and is par- 
 ticularly rich in the rare and beautiful products of the old Venetian 
 and Bohemian furnaces; whilst a collection of Textile Fabrics has now, 
 for the first time perhaps, been formed on a comprehensive basis. The 
 various classes included under the head of “ Works in Metal ,” are 
 scarcely less completely illustrated, and several distinct series of objects 
 may be found, which have never before been systematically repre- 
 sented in museums. 
 
 It will thus be seen that an ample store of materials may be gleaned 
 from the Marlborough House Museum alone, should the present under- 
 taking meet with sufficient success to warrant its continuance ; but, in 
 that case, it would not be confined to that collection. Setting aside the 
 many interesting works of decorative art contained in other public 
 museums and libraries, and in the collections of corporations and learned 
 
 * The following enumeration of the classes of objects comprising the collection 
 is extracted from the Museum Catalogue : — Sculpture, — comprehending carvings in 
 marble, stone, alabaster, wood, ivory, and other materials, art-bronzes, terra 
 cottas, and models in wax. Painting. — wall decoration, designs, &c. Glyptic and 
 Numismatic art. Mosaics. Furniture and general upholstery. Basket-work. 
 Leather-work. J apanned or lacquered work. Glass painting. Glass manufactures. 
 Enamels. Pottery. Works in metal (this section comprising many subdivisions). 
 Arms, armour, and accoutrements. Watch and clock-work. Jewellery. Textile 
 fabrics. Book decoration. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 bodies, both metropolitan and provincial, there remains the vast field of 
 private collections. And here it may be observed, that the forthcoming 
 gathering of art treasures at Manchester will afford an earnest of the im- 
 mense riches, scattered far and wide throughout the land, in the mansions 
 and galleries of the wealthy amateurs of England ; and, judging from the 
 liberality with which these precious works are even now being placed 
 at the disposition of the public, warrant the confident expectation, that 
 permission to execute transcripts, such as are now offered, will be freely 
 accorded. 
 
 The explanatory notices which accompany each plate in the part 
 now issued, whilst rendered as brief as was consistent with the full 
 description of the objects, have in some instances been extended by 
 critical and theoretical remarks ; and so little having been written on 
 some of the classes of specimens now illustrated, it was thought that occa- 
 sional reference to abstract principles of design would prove accept- 
 able, and, moreover, not be without use, by showing that the arts 
 decorative require as extensive an acquaintance with the rules of art, 
 nay, even a wider range of acquired knowledge, for their successful 
 practice, than even the fine arts of painting and sculpture ; and so tend 
 to re-establish those juster perceptions of the relative value of works of 
 art which undoubtedly prevailed in times gone by. 
 
 It now only remains to allude to the means by which these engrav- 
 ings have been produced. The chief difference betwixt the present and 
 previous works of the same description, consists in the extent to which 
 photography has now been made use of in securing accurate reproduc- 
 tions of the several objects. Every specimen was specially photo- 
 graphed for this work, the unerring fac-similes thus obtained being- 
 then copied on stone, with an amount of care and attention dictated 
 solely by the endeavour to carry the art to its extremest limits. How 
 far this end has been attained is now left for an impartial, though, 
 in matters of art, increasingly fastidious, public to decide. 
 
LIST OF PLATES. 
 
 v 1. Silver-gilt Frame enriched with Translucent Enamels, Italian Quattro-cento 
 Work. 
 
 2. Recent Indian Vases in Oxydised Pewter, Encrusted or Damascened with 
 Silver. Tazza in Wrought Iron, Inlaid with Silver. Modern Belgian Work. 
 
 • 3. Lid of a Casket in Carved Sandal-Wood. Recent Indian Work. Executed at 
 Mangalore. 
 
 4. Specimens of Modern French Ornamental Wood Flooring. (“Parquetage en 
 Marqueterie.”) 
 
 w 5. Silver Chalice in the Style of the Fifteenth Century, designed by Pugin and 
 manufactured by J. Hardman and Co. of Birmingham. 
 
 6. Ancient Gilded Chalice. Sixteenth-century Work. 
 
 7. Vase or Hanap with Cover, in Silver Gilt, Enamelled and Set with Jewels. 
 
 Recent French Work. 
 
 8. Ewer, Enamel on Copper, in the Manner of the Enamels of Limoges. Recent 
 
 French. Manufactured at Sevres, 1851. 
 
 9. CMsse, or Reliquary, of the Fifteenth Century, in Carved and Gilded Wood. 
 |j 10. Mirror Case of the Fourteenth Century, in Carved Ivory. 
 
 v 11. Statuette of the Virgin and Child, in Carved Boxwood. Fourteenth-century 
 Work. 
 
 12. Diptych in Carved Ivory, of Fourteenth-century Work, representing the 
 Adoration of the Magi and the Crucifixion. 
 
 V13. Hindoo Prayer-Carpet, in Silk and Gold Brocade. 
 
 14. Indian Embroidered Satin Stuffs for Dresses. 
 
 15. Indian Embroidered Satin Apron. 
 
 16. Indian Embroidered Satin Apron. 
 
 17. Sheet of Designs for Textile Fabrics, reproduced from the Pattern-Book of a 
 
 Persian Designer. 
 
 18. Persian Designs for Textile Fabrics. 
 
 7 19. Designs for Textile Fabrics, reproduced from the Pattern-Book of a Persian 
 Designer. 
 
 ' 1 20. Persian Designs for Textile Fabrics. 
 
 'j 21. Persian Designs for Textile Fabrics. 
 
 22. Persian Designs for Textile Fabrics. 
 
 23. Italian Cinque-cento Embroidered Silks. 
 
 J 24. Linen Scarf, Embroidered with Silk, — recent Morocco or Tunisian Work. 
 Ancient Embi’oidered Silk Table-cover, — Chinese or Japanese. 
 
 25. Relievo in Carved Ivory — the Virgin and Infant Saviour adored by Angels. 
 
 Fourteenth-century Work. 
 
 26. Powder-Flask in Stag’s Horn, mounted in Silver Gilt. 
 
 27. Tankard in Carved Ivory, mounted in Silver Gilt. Flemish. Seventeenth 
 
 Century. 
 
 28. Tankard in Carved Ivory, mounted in Oxydised Silver. 
 
 29. Silk Carpet. Modern Indian. Manufactured at Cashmere. 
 
 30. Indian Silk and Gold Tissues. 
 
 31. Indian Gold-tissue Scarf. 
 
 32. Indian Scarf in Purple Muslin, with Pattern in Gold Planting. 
 
 33. Indian Gold Tissues. 
 
 34. Vase in Silver Repousse Work, the subject representing Jupiter Warring 
 
 with the Titans. Executed by Antoine Vechte for the Firm of Hunt and 
 Roskell. 
 
 35. Silver Ewer, executed in Repouss6 by Vechte for Messrs. Hunt and Roskell. 
 ■36. Flagon in Silver, Parcel Gilt. Modern Work, in the German style of the 
 
 beginning of the Sixteenth Century. 
 
LIST OF PLATES. 
 
 37. Tazza in Oriental Onyx, mounted in Enamelled Gold. Modern, in the style of 
 the Cinque-cento. 
 
 1/38. Group in Terra-Cotta — Bacchanalian Subject by Clodion. Period of Louis 
 the Sixteenth. 
 
 ^39. Group in Terra-Cotta — Bacchanalian Subject by Clodion. Period of Louis 
 the Sixteenth. 
 
 40. Two Friezes in Terra-Cotta. Tritons and Sea Nymphs by Clodion. 
 y41. Cameos in Old Wedgwood Ware. 
 
 42. Circular Pedestal in Old Wedgwood Cameo Ware, designed and modelled by 
 Flaxman. 
 
 V43. Italian Cinque-cento Bronze Vase. 
 
 v44. Italian Cinque-cento Bronze Door-knockers. 
 
 45. Niello Pax — Italian. Fifteenth-century Work. 
 
 >. ,46. Pendant Jewels in Gold, Enamelled, and Set with Precious Stones. Sixteenth- 
 century Work. 
 
 47. Quiver and Indian Fan. Manufactured at Jodhpore in Rajpootana. 
 
 48. Indian Powder-Horn and Three Pieces of Matchlock Furniture. Manufac- 
 
 tured at Jodhpore. 
 
 49. Patterns of Indian Lacquered Work from Writing Boxes. Executed at 
 
 Lahore. 
 
 50. Toilet-Box in Ebony, inlaid with Ivory, and mounted with Silver, Oriental 
 
 Work. Batavian. (?) Seventeenth or Eighteenth Century. 
 
 51. Hunting-Sword, with Hilt and Scabbard in Silver and Gilt Bronze. Modern 
 
 French Work. 
 
 52. Casket in Oxydised Silver. Modern French Work. 
 
 53. Cup, or Chalice, in Oriental Onyx, mounted in Enamelled Gold. Modern 
 
 French. 
 
 54. Tazza, with Cover, in Silver set with Jewels. Modern French Work. 
 
 55. Italian Embroidered Silk Hangings. Sixteenth Century. 
 
 56. Lamp-Stand, in Gilt Bronze. Italian Cinque-Cento Work. 
 
 57. Small Mirror Frame, in Carved and Gilded Wood. Venetian. Circa 1700. 
 
 58. Panel of Painted Glass. St. Catherine. Modern German Copy from an 
 
 ancient Work. 
 
 59. Chalice, in the Style of the Fifteenth Century, in Silver, Parcel Gilt and 
 
 Enamelled. Modern English Work. 
 
 60. Brocade for Upholstery Work, and Wall Papers, in the Style of the Fifteenth 
 
 Century. Recent Manufacture. 
 
 61. Encaustic or Inlaid Tiles, in the Mediaeval Styles. Manufactured by Minton 
 
 and Co. 
 
 62. “ Jewelled Bottle" in Porcelain. Manufactured by Copeland and Co., Stoke- 
 
 upon-Trent. 
 
 63. Silver-gilt Salver— Dutch or Flemish, Seventeenth-Century Work. 
 
 64. Ewer in Silver, Parcel Gilt. Spanish or Italian. Seventeenth-Century 
 
 Work. 
 
 65. Cover of a German Prayer-Book in Silver Gilt. Augsburg Work. Circa 
 
 1720. 
 
 66. Pewter Flagon. Ancient German or Swiss Work. Circa 1530. 
 
 67. Rosewater Bottle, or Sprinkler, in Silver Gilt, and Enamelled. Recent Indian 
 
 Work. 
 
 68. Spice-Box in Silver Gilt, enriched with Translucent Enamels. Recent Indian 
 
 Work. 
 
 69. Knocker, in Wrought Iron. French or German Work. Circa 1500-20. 
 
 And Dagger in Cast and Chiselled Iron, Modern, imitation of Sixteenth- 
 Century Work. 
 
 70. Chiselled Steel Keys of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries. 
 
 71. Iron Shield executed in Repousse or Hammered Work. Subject, the Apothe- 
 
 osis of Rome. Augsburg Work. Dated 1552. (A double plate.) 
 
SILVER-GILT FRAME ENRICHED WITH TRANSLUCENT ENAMELS, 
 ITALIAN QUATTRO-CENTO WORK. 
 
 Museum of Ornamented Art. 
 
 The ornamental border, which surrounds the title of this work, is a 
 copy of a small frame in chased silver of ancient Florentine work : 
 dating in all probability somewhere about the year 1460. 
 
 It is of the very commencement of the Italian renaissance, and is 
 singular as exhibiting a mixture of “Gothic” and classical motives, 
 denoting the struggle of opposing systems of art, at a period when, 
 in every other country except Italy, “Medievalism” reigned entirely 
 undisturbed. 
 
 The arms and device in the circular medallions, wrought in proper 
 colours in translucent enamels, greatly add to the interest of the work; 
 the escutcheon is that of the Medici family, charged with the well- 
 known “palle;” and the device, which represents a finger-ring set with 
 a pointed diamond and three divergent palm branches, is an “ impresa” 
 or badge of the early Dukes of Urbino. There can be little doubt, 
 indeed, that they are respectively the bearings of Pietro de’ Medici 
 and of the celebrated Duke Federigo of Urbino, the staunch ally and 
 Captain of the Florentines; and it is not unlikely that we have here 
 preserved a specimen of the work of the great Florentine goldsmith, 
 Pollajuolo.* 
 
 The rarity of works in the precious metals of this early period is 
 extreme, and the present specimen is probably quite unique of its kind. 
 The use of the frame can only be conjectured; a probable supposition 
 is, that it was intended to display one of the large portrait medallions 
 so popular at this period. It may, on the other hand, have contained a 
 fine enamel or niello plaque, or even have been the case or frame of a 
 reliquary. At all events, it is evidently complete as a frame. Nothing 
 can surpass the delicacy and spirit of the chasing; and the enamels, 
 which are in perfect preservation, are exquisite examples of a most 
 beautiful style and process, 
 
 * Dennistoun records that the Florentines presented Duke Federigo, on his 
 ti’iumphal entry into their city, after his successful campaign of 1472, with “a 
 silver helmet studded with jewels and chased in gold by the masterly hand of 
 Pollajuolo, and many other rich gifts.” — Dennistoun : “ Dukes of Urbino," vol. i. 
 
 p. 202. 
 


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 

 \ 
 
A. and B . — RECENT INDIAN VASES IN OXYDISED PEWTER, EN- 
 CRUSTED OR DAMASCENED WITH SILVER. C . — TAZZA IN 
 WROUGHT IRON, INLAID WITH SILVER. MODERN BELGIAN 
 WORK. 
 
 Museum, of Ornamental Art. 
 
 Although of such widely different origin, the resemblance of the 
 decorative processes illustrated in these specimens, and the fact of their 
 having been simultaneously contributed to the Great Exhibition of 1851, 
 will explain why they are grouped together in one plate. There is, 
 moreover, a certain similarity of style between the Oriental and 
 European specimens, the Belgian tazza having a marked Asiatic 
 character in design. 
 
 The two Indian vases, manufactured at Hyderabad, are most elegant 
 examples of a species of work in every-day employment in India for 
 objects of use, such as hookah-bowls, water-bottles, drinking-cups, 
 boxes, &c. The metal of which they are composed is pewter, or some 
 similar alloy — the surface, by some chemical process, probably the 
 action of sulphur, being made to assume a deep black tint ; the da- 
 mascened ornaments are in silver-foil, rendered adherent by pressure to 
 the surfaces of the pattern, which are previously engraved on the 
 metal ground. 
 
 The conventionalised floral designs, which enrich the present 
 specimens, are in the best possible taste ; the details of the ornament, 
 as well as the contrast, both in quantity and arrangement, of the 
 differently coloured metals, being most skilful. 
 
 The plainer one of the two, surrounded by zones or bands of 
 ornament round the neck and the lower bulbed part, will almost 
 bear comparison, in point of abstract beauty, with the black glazed 
 pottery of ancient Greece; although totally different in character, the 
 delicately drawn outline of the piece, no less than the simple beauty 
 
INDIAN VASES. 
 
 of the ornamentation, are scarcely surpassed even by the antique. Both 
 systems were the result of au innate perception of the beautiful in form, 
 unsophisticated by fashion or the mere craving for novelty, and their 
 productions are always original, pleasing us indeed from the simple 
 fact that they are devoid of all appearance of effort. 
 
 The tazza was executed by I. Falloi'se of Li^ge, the style of 
 design being termed by the artist “ Renaissance.” As we have 
 already remarked, however, the ornament has a marked Asiatic cha- 
 racter, which may be accounted for on the supposition, that the 
 author has tacitly imitated the Italian 15th-century works in this genre, 
 in which the Arabic or Turkish element of the Renaissance is always 
 strongly developed. The workmanship of this example is of a much 
 more solid and durable character than that of the ancient specimens : 
 the incisions in the metal ground into which the silver inlay is 
 inserted are much deeper, the ancient specimens being little more 
 than superficially hatched or scored with the graver. In the present 
 work the incised cavities are bevelled, or undercut, so as to hold the 
 inlay much more firmly — the silver, instead of a mere thin leaf, con- 
 sisting of solid wire hammered into the grooves. The collection at 
 Marlborough House contains other examples, both of Oriental and 
 European manufacture, in which gold, copper, brass, &c., as well as 
 silver, have been inlaid ; the ancient Arabic and Italian specimens 
 there preserved presenting varieties of process or design, which it is 
 most interesting to compare together. 
 

 
 
 
 \ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
. 
 
 ■v 
 
 
 

 
LID OF A CASKET IN CARVED SANDAL-WOOD. RECENT INDIAN 
 WORK. EXECUTED AT MANGALORE. 
 
 Museum of Ornamental Art. 
 
 The box, the upper surface of which is here represented, formed part of 
 the contribution of the East India Company to the Exhibition of 1851, 
 and was purchased by the Committee, entrusted by Government with 
 the task of selecting specimens for the Museum of Art, afterwards 
 founded at Marlborough House. Every part of the box is covered 
 with elaborate incised ornament, skilfully distributed as well on the 
 plane surfaces as on the numerous mouldings. The fragrant wood 
 of which it is composed, from its rich mat colour and open texture, 
 is particularly adapted for this species of work, its use furnishing an 
 instance of that sagacious perception of the true decorative employment 
 of natural materials, so constantly displayed by Oriental artisans. It 
 should be observed, that this specimen represents a well-established 
 style or branch of Indian industry, currently carried out in numerous 
 minor objects of utility, in all of which the same principles of design 
 and execution may be remarked. The peculiar richness and delicacy 
 of the ornaments, rather engraved than carved, and always cut down 
 from, i. e. below the level of the surface, seem indeed almost peculiar 
 to oriental objects in sandal-wood. In analogous carvings in materials 
 susceptible of polish (such as ebony, for instance), a much larger and 
 bolder style is usually seen ; the ground spaces on which the ornamental 
 details are raised or detached, in the latter case, are of greater extent, 
 and the mouldings, borders, & c., often left unadorned for the sake of 
 displaying the deep lustrous tint of the wood. In the sandal-wood 
 carvings, on the contrary, a style of treatment is adopted, which may 
 almost be compared with flat decoration in colour, the resultant effect 
 of the repetition of simple units of decoration, brought out by sharp. 
 
LID OF A CASKET — RECENT INDIAN. 
 
 decisive delineation, as it were, in light and shade, being very analogous 
 to that of the diaper patterns of the textile fabrics ; both are alike 
 characterised by great richness yet perfect simplicity and breadth 
 of effect. 
 
 In the present example, the decoration is admirably subordinated to 
 the leading lines and members of the composition. Even the three 
 Hindoo deities, under arcades in the centre panel, being so convention- 
 alised in treatment, as to appear to blend insensibly into the sur- 
 rounding: floral ornaments. 
 
 © 
 
 The system of simple surface-carving, here so well illustrated, is 
 deserving of study by the decorative artist in its manifestations at various 
 epochs, and in different countries. 
 
 Ancient, Oriental, and Aboriginal nations, have most affected this 
 peculiar method of plastic decoration. The earliest Greek and Etrus- 
 can sculptured ornament will be found to have a marked leaning to low 
 relief and repetition of simple forms. The Egyptian hieroglyphic 
 system, Arabic and Moresque decoration, the early ornament of North- 
 ern nations. Runic, Anglo-Saxon, Irish, early Norman, with their inter- 
 lacings, zigzags, simple incised wall-diapers, & c., will be further 
 brought to mind, whilst the almost invariable system of Polynesian and 
 other savage ornament is comprised within this variety. It is scarcely 
 necessary to refer to the amazingly elaborate carvings of the Chinese 
 in ivory, soapstone, &c., inasmuch as they are nearly allied to this 
 specimen. It is sufficient to indicate, that it is in such objects, that 
 the artist may advantageously trace out the workings of those natural 
 perceptions, which, in the course of time and by the concurrence of 
 innumerable individuals, result in certain fixed and definite conditions, 
 in which true and immutable laws of design are often formulated. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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 t 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
SPECIMENS OF MODERN FRENCH ORNAMENTAL WOOD FLOORING. 
 (“PARQUETAGE EN MARQUETERIE.”) 
 
 Museum of Ornamental Art. 
 
 The four specimens, represented on a reduced scale in the accompanying 
 plate, were executed by Marcellin of Paris, and were purchased at the 
 Paris Industrial Exhibition of 1844. The same manufacturer was 
 favourably noticed for his similar contributions to the Great Exhibition 
 of 1851 of equally excellent design and workmanship. 
 
 It is scarcely necessary to explain, that the process here illustrated 
 consists of a mosaic or marquetry of small pieces of differently tinted 
 wood, arranged in juxtaposition in various geometrical designs. This 
 kind of ornamental flooring has long been in general use in France, 
 where carpets are of comparatively rare occurrence. Such floors are 
 kept carefully waxed and polished, and, when partially covered with 
 Oriental rugs or skins, have an excellent effect. The costliness and 
 permanent nature of this mode of floor-decoration give it a certain 
 importance, which, it may be incidentally remarked, is quite in keeping 
 with the somewhat scanty, but architectonic, furniture of the higher 
 class of Continental houses. The designs now illustrated are good and 
 consistent, their rectilinear geometrical character being perfectly in 
 accordance with the nature and mode of working wood. They are 
 evidently based on mediaeval Italian examples of geometrical tarsia work, 
 which, in turn, were often derived from the Arabic or Saracenic inter- 
 laced patterns, which had become familiar to the Italian artists in 
 other vehicles. 
 
 The antique mosaics offer an infinity of beautiful patterns suitable 
 for reproduction in wood ; indeed, there can be little doubt but that a 
 similar method of flooring was in current use amongst the ancients, 
 although no vestiges have come down to us. 
 
 The simple fiat treatment of these designs is commendable, especially 
 when the unfortunate facility for the simulation of geometrical forms in 
 relief, which this process affords, and which is a very common defect of 
 analogous antique mosaic patterns, is taken into account. 
 

f 
 

 
 
 
 
 

 
 ' 
 
 
 
SILVER CHALICE IN THE STYLE OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY, 
 DESIGNED BY PUGIN AND MANUFACTURED BY 
 J. HARDMAN AND CO. OF BIRMINGHAM. 
 
 Museum of Ornamental Art. 
 
 This beautiful imitation of an ancient Gothic chalice formed part of the 
 interesting series of Ecclesiastical plate, exhibited by Messrs. Hardman 
 in the Mediaeval Court of the Exhibition of 1851. The material is 
 silver parcel gilt, enriched with Champ-leve enamels and garnets. 
 Both in design and execution, mediaeval motives and processes were 
 strictly and minutely followed ; and it would be difficult to select a 
 more favourable specimen of that delicate and complete appreciation of 
 the ancient Ecclesiastical styles, which gave the well-known author of 
 this design an European reputation. It is no exaggeration to say, that 
 for purity and perfect consistency of style, the present and similar works 
 from the same source were, and still are, quite unapproachable by any 
 foreign competitor. 
 
 In knowledge of the mediaeval style, indeed, England is unques- 
 tionably far in advance of the Continent; and the recent Paris Exhi- 
 bition of 1855, although abounding in works of this nature, from 
 France, Germany, and Belgium, has served to show, that our superiority 
 in this respect, so marked and incontestable in 1851, has been retained 
 to the present time. 
 
 This chalice was made entirely by band, the bowl, knop, and foot 
 being executed by hammering, the various ornaments similarly executed 
 “ en repou-ssdf being afterwards carefully chased in the sharp decisive 
 style of the ancient works. The period of style chosen may be supposed 
 to be about the year 1400. 
 



ANCIENT GILDED CHALICE. SIXTEENTH- CENTURY AVORK. 
 
 Museum of Ornamental Art. 
 
 Our present illustration represents a veritable ancient work, of a more 
 recent period of style than that of the previous example. This beau- 
 tiful piece of church plate is probably of Spanish workmanship, of 
 about the year 1570. The bowl only is in silver, the stem being in 
 bronze ; both, however, are richly gilt. Although very elaborate in 
 design, it was clearly not a costly specimen ; the rich ornaments of the 
 stem and lower part of the bowl are left almost as they came from the 
 mould, scarcely, if at all chased, every part, except the plain bowl, 
 being cast Notwithstanding this roughness of finish, however, the 
 piece has a magnificent and imposing effect, professedly in accordance 
 with the striking ceremonial of the Roman Church. Its beautiful 
 outline and well-balanced proportions, together with the exuberant rich- 
 ness of detail shown in its various parts, afford a most instructive lesson, 
 demonstrating the efficiency of good design in imparting value to the 
 commonest material, and the most expeditious workmanship. Nothing 
 can surpass the skill with which the various mouldings are grouped and 
 contrasted with each other. The profile of the stem is full of variety, 
 each member being adorned with the richest and most elaborate details, 
 which, nevertheless, are kept entirely subservient to the main outline, 
 giving richness and diversity without in any way impairing the unity of 
 the composition. The knop and base of the Chalice may at first sight 
 appear disproportionately large; the proportions, however, have evidently 
 been designed with a view to its appearance when posed on the altar 
 or credence table, rather than for its effect or convenient use in the 
 hands of the priest. The height and magnificence of the stem 
 give it altogether somewhat of the stately monumental aspect of a 
 candelabrum. 
 



VASE OR HANAP WITH COVER, IN SILVER GILT, ENAMELLED AND 
 SET WITH JEWELS. RECENT FRENCH WORK. 
 
 Museum of Ornamental Art. 
 
 Tins vase, executed by Marrel, fibres, of Paris, was purchased from 
 the Exhibition of 1851 for 100/. The interlaced arabesque ornaments 
 in dark blue, on the bowl, are in translucid enamel, encrusted or hdaid 
 by the Champ-leve process, and the jewels are Oriental garnets cut en 
 cabochon ; the various ornamental details, small statuettes of Amorini, 
 &c., are carefully and minutely chiselled, the entire work, indeed, 
 being most artistically elaborated by hand. 
 
 The general form of the cup has somewhat of a Venetian character, 
 as seen in works of the beginning of the sixteenth century ; but the 
 ornamental details, though ostensibly in the style of the Cinque-cento, 
 have a decidedly modern French aspect. Although not an inelegant 
 object, there is a certain thinness and poverty in the ornamentation, 
 contrasting most forcibly, for instance, with the massive richness of the 
 previous example. As a specimen of careful and dexterous workman- 
 ship, however, this piece leaves nothing to be desired ; it is likewise in 
 all its parts consistently treated in the true direction of the material. 
 On the whole, perhaps, a more characteristic specimen of French taste 
 in goldsmiths’ work, as displayed in 1851, could not have been 
 selected. 
 


EWER, ENAMEL ON COPPER, IN THE MANNER OF THE ENAMELS 
 OF LIMOGES. RECENT FRENCH. MANUFACTURED 
 AT SEVRES, 1851. 
 
 Museum of Ornamental Art. 
 
 Fkance may justly boast of having excelled all other countries in the 
 art of enamelling on metals. At a very early period of the middle 
 ages even, this superiority manifested itself in the products of the 
 famous industrial city of Limoges ; and at the present day, no further 
 evidence, than that of the beautiful specimen of the art here illustrated, 
 is needed to prove that this superiority is still maintained. This ewer 
 is of large dimensions, elaborately decorated with arabesque ornament, 
 in the style of the Renaissance, painted in grey heightened with gold, 
 on a dark-blue ground. It was one of the earliest specimens of the 
 revival of enamelling on copper, executed at the national porcelain 
 manufactory at Sevres, where, during the last few years, systematic 
 endeavours have been made for the complete resuscitation of this art as 
 anciently practised. 
 
 It would be interesting to trace the gradual steps by which, through- 
 out the middle ages, the perfection exhibited in this specimen, which 
 however is not, technically speaking, more advanced than the finest 
 works produced during the 16th century, was achieved, and fortunately 
 the history and archaeology of enamelling have been so well worked out 
 by recent French writers, that it is very possible to do this. Without 
 dwelling on what may be termed the u Archaic ” varieties, the Cloi- 
 sonne and Champ-leve enamels, it will be sufficient to say, that the 
 painted enamels, to which class our specimen belongs, were apparently 
 not known, at least in France, much before the latter years of the 15th, 
 or the beginning of the 16th century. It is probable, indeed, that in 
 
EWER, ENAMEL ON COFFER — RECENT FRENCH. 
 
 this phase of the art Italy, was somewhat in advance of France, some 
 small specimens of painted enamels, probably of Florentine origin and of 
 extreme rarity, being apparently earlier in style than any French 
 examples. If the process of painting in enamel (properly so termed) 
 on metals was really of Italian origin, it was probably immediately 
 derived from the kindred art of Majolica painting, or enamelling on 
 earthenware, which, there is every reason to believe, was currently 
 practised in Italy as far back at least as the first half of the 15 th cen- 
 tury. The technique of the present specimen is, in every respect, ex- 
 actly similar to that exhibited in the well-known works of Leonard Li- 
 mousin, Pierre Remond, Jean Courtois, and the other famous enamellers 
 of the Renaissance. The body of the vase is formed of thin beaten 
 copper, covered with a uniform coat of translucid vitreous enamel, of a 
 deep-blue colour ; the arabesques are entirely executed in white enamel, 
 painted on the blue ground ; the various gradations of tint or shading 
 of the ornaments, figures, &c., being very simply produced by varying 
 the thickness of the white enamel, the semi-opaque pigment allowing 
 the blue ground to show through, in the exact ratio of the strength of 
 the tint. In this manner a complete scale of tints, from the darkest 
 shadows, scarcely removed from the ground-colour, up to the full 
 white of the high lights, is produced with the utmost ease and certainty. 
 Several auxiliary processes, however, are adopted in enhancement of 
 this method, the most obvious of which is etching with a needle-point 
 through the graduated white enamel tints down to the ground, which 
 in the strokes stands exposed in its brilliant dark colour, producing the 
 effect of the lined or hatched tints of an engraving. In the present 
 example, the grisaille ornaments are relieved by gilding, whilst the 
 handle and other mountings are executed in or-moulu. The extreme 
 height of the piece is 23 inches, and the price paid for it was 88/. 
 

 

 
 
 

 i 
 
CHASSE, OR RELIQUARY, OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY, IN 
 CARVED AND GILDED WOOD. 
 
 Museum of Ornamental Art. 
 
 This interesting specimen of ecclesiastical sculpture belonged origin- 
 ally to the Church of the Franciscans at Constance, and is said to have 
 contained the relics of St. Boniface. A curious tradition, moreover, 
 connects it with an important historical event, namely, the great 
 Council held at Constance in 1414, during the continuance of which 
 the Popedom falling vacant, the members of the council proceeded to 
 elect a Pope (Martin V.) by ballot The present Chasse, singularly 
 enough, has been for a very long period reputed to have been made 
 use of on this occasion as a balloting-box, and in evidence of this, 
 there are several parchment labels affixed near the ridge of the roof, 
 on which are written, in characters apparently as old as the six- 
 teenth century, the names of the five nations, or colleges, which took 
 part in the election. These labels may be observed in the engraving 
 underneath the moulding which surmounts the roof of the Chasse. 
 Unfortunately, the archmological knowledge of the present day obliges 
 us to reject this story, for there can be little doubt, judging from 
 numerous peculiarities of detail, and from the general style of the 
 object, that the work is at least some sixty or seventy years less 
 ancient than the date of the great Council aforesaid ; it is evident, how- 
 ever, that its having been used for this purpose was implicitly believed 
 in during a long series of years. The Chasse has undergone some 
 little mutilation in the more salient parts of the work, but the relievo 
 subjects, &c., are in excellent preservation, and retain the ancient 
 gilding, with which indeed the entire surface is still more or less 
 covered. The principal loss seems to have been in the open- 
 work cresting, which doubtless ran along the summit, and of which 
 
CHASSE, OR RELIQUARY. 
 
 there are indications in the holes for the wooden pins with which 
 it was fastened on. The triangular gables at each end are likewise 
 enriched with beautiful crockets, which unfortunately are also very 
 much mutilated ; and it is also probable that the summits of the canopies 
 at each angle were originally surmounted by the symbols of the Evan- 
 gelists carved in full relief. The bas-relief subjects are sixteen in 
 number, and represent the events of the passion of our Saviour. 
 Although marked by the usual mannerism of the period, they possess 
 great merit in design, and are of the most careful and finished work- 
 manship ; they will, in fact, in every respect sustain comparison with 
 the works of W olgemuth or Israel de Mecken. The Chasse is about 
 3 feet long, by 1 foot 6 inches wide, and 2 feet in height. 
 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
MIRROR CASE OF THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY, IN CARVED IVORY. 
 
 Museum of Ornamental Art. 
 
 Of the many specimens of mediaeval mirror covers that have come 
 down to us, the present is by far the finest. It forms part of the 
 Marlborough House collection, and had, previously to its acquisition by 
 the nation, been for many years in this country, having been engraved 
 in the “ Archaeologia ” in the year 1808. The subject is a favourite one 
 with mediaeval artists, and is known as “ The Assault of the Castle of 
 Love.” The composition represents a fortress with an advanced gate, 
 or barbican, with portcullis and circular flanking towers. On the 
 summit of the donjon, which is surmounted by a beautiful balustrade 
 of open-work trefoil panels, Cupid crowned and represented with six 
 wings is seen wounding two maidens with his darts, whilst two 
 love-sick damsels are reclining in attitudes of melancholy. On the 
 rampart, lower down, a party of damsels are eagerly assisting mailed 
 knights to scale the walls, which is being effected on one side by 
 means of a rope ladder; the action thus represented is evidently that of 
 the rescue of the maidens from the power of the tyrannical deity. The 
 date of this piece, judging from the costume of the mailed figures and 
 other indications, is about the year 1330, a period which seems to have 
 been unusually fertile in works of this kind. It is the lid, or upper 
 half of the cover, and was originally fitted on to the lower part, 
 containing the metal mirror, by means of a thread or screw round 
 the margin. 
 
 The rich collection of Andrew F ountaine, Esq. contains a specimen, 
 complete with both its sides, which is probably unique. 
 


STATUETTE OF THE VIRGIN AND CHILD, IN CARVED BOXWOOD. 
 FOURTEENTH-CENTURY WORK. 
 
 Tiie original of this exquisite statuette is in the collection of M. 
 Carrand of Paris, our engraving having been made from a careful 
 cast. Like the preceding example, it has been chosen for illustration 
 as the most beautiful, and, at the same time, equally characteristic 
 specimen of a class of works of art, in which the fourteenth century 
 particularly abounded. It belongs, indeed, to the highest and purest 
 period of development of mediaeval, oi’, to use a more expressive phrase, 
 <£ Christian Art,” and is probably not later in date than about 1350. 
 
 Replete with earnest religious sentiment, it is at the same time 
 entirely free from the mannered style in design, which set in at a some- 
 what later period in the north and west of Europe. This work of 
 an unknown artist, probably French, will bear comparison with the 
 best productions of Italy at the same epoch. 
 
 The right hand of the Virgin, now lost, probably held a sceptre, 
 the mother of our Saviour being here represented in her glorified 
 character as “ Queen of Heaven.” Her head was, doubtless, also 
 encircled by a coronet or diadem in silver gilt, and that of the Child by 
 a nimbus. 
 


 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 
DIPTYCH IN CARVED IVORY, OF FOURTEENTII-CENTURY WORK, 
 REPRESENTING THE ADORATION OF THE MAGI 
 AND THE CRUCIFIXION. 
 
 British Museum. 
 
 This specimen, formerly in the possession of W. Maskell, Escp, lias 
 recently, with the rest of the fine series of sculptures in ivory collected 
 by that well-known amateur, been acquired by the British Museum. 
 It is a production of the same school as the two preceding examples, 
 although apparently of a slightly more recent date. Tablets of 
 two leaves (diptychs), or of three folding compartments (triptychs), 
 are of very frequent occurrence in ivory sculpture of this most pro- 
 lific period of the art, and are to be found in almost every collection. 
 They were intended as aids to private devotion, and were, in fact, 
 miniature altar-pieces, similar objects being in use even at the present 
 day in the Russo-Greek Church. 
 
 Ivory has always been a favourite vehicle for sculpture, and a 
 singularly complete and connected view of the history of art may be 
 gained, from the study of works in that material. The attention of 
 collectors and archaeologists has latterly been particularly directed to 
 this branch of art, and the facility with which the various objects 
 may be multiplied by moulding, has admitted of the most important 
 monuments, scattered about in various public and private collections, 
 being thus virtually brought together and compared with each other, 
 to the great advancement of archaeological science generally. 
 
 It may not be uninteresting to give a rapid sketch of the most 
 prominent development of this art at various periods. The researches 
 of Layard and others have revealed numerous specimens of ivory 
 carvings of Assyrian and ancient Egyptian origin. Specimens of the 
 latter origin, indeed, were previously to be remarked in collections. Of 
 the ancient Greek and Roman periods there are many more examples 
 extant, chiefly consisting of fragments of caskets, small statuettes, tes- 
 serae or carved counters, combs, handles of weapons and utensils, and 
 in particular the very remarkable “ Consular Diptychs.” The origin 
 of these diptychs was undoubtedly the ordinary writing tablets, which, 
 when covered on their inner surfaces with wax, written on with a 
 
DIPTYCH IN CARVED IVORY. 
 
 stylus, bound round with thread and sealed, were sometimes sent as 
 letters. In the time of the Emperors, the custom obtained amongst the 
 consuls, on the occasion of their elevation to office, of sending presents 
 of sculptured ivory diptychs to public corporations, and to their 
 private friends, serving to commemorate the year to which the consuls 
 gave their names. These diptychs are generally elaborately sculptured 
 with a portrait of the consul in his robes of office, and with various 
 representations and allegorical devices, inscriptions, &c. After the 
 establishment of Christianity, they were frequently presented to the 
 churches or to ecclesiastical dignitaries, by whom likewise they appear 
 to have been sometimes issued. The Greek artists of the Byzantine 
 Empire made still more frequent use of ivory. Dating from about the 
 ninth century, it was particularly employed in ecclesiastical utensils 
 and appliances. Diptychs, similar in form to those in use in Pagan 
 epochs, were still made, being however sculptured with scriptural 
 subjects ; likewise book-covers, crosses, pastoral staffs, coffers, re- 
 liquaries, &c. 
 
 Carving in ivory and bone was soon equally affected in the rest 
 of Europe, particularly in France and Germany. Throughout the 
 mediaeval epochs we have innumerable tablets, diptychs, triptychs, &c. 
 of a devotional character, shrines, coffers for relics, statuettes of the 
 Virgin, saints and apostles; and for secular use, mirror cases, combs, 
 pommels and hilts of daggers, caskets, & c. &c. 
 
 In the 16th and 17th centuries, with the “ Renaissance,” objects 
 of secular use are found to predominate; such as statuettes and groups, 
 bassi-relievi of classical subjects, hilts of knives and forks, tankards, 
 cups, snuff-boxes, pommels of canes, &c. ; whilst in the church the 
 ivory crucifix, permanently placed on the altar, superseded the earlier 
 triptych or retable. 
 
 In the 17th century the most renowned ivory sculptors were 
 Flemings or Germans, who had either studied in Italy, or who had 
 formed their style on Italian models. Ivory carving became a distinct 
 branch of the sculptor’s art. Fiammingo (1594-1643) is esteemed the 
 chief of this well-known school. At the present day several of the 
 French sea-port towns, notably Dieppe and La Havre, are cele- 
 brated for the manufacture of decorative objects and fancy articles in 
 ivory. 
 

 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ' 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
/ 
 
HINDOO PRAYER-CARPET, IN SILK AND GOLD BROCADE. 
 
 Museum of Ornamental Art. 
 
 Amongst the beneficial results of the Great Exhibition of 1851, pro- 
 bably nothing more important can be specified, than the influence exer- 
 cised on industrial design, by the splendid collection of Oriental manu- 
 factures exhibited on that occasion. The superlative artistic merit of 
 many classes of objects, more especially the textile fabrics of India, was 
 then, perhaps, for the first time fully recognised ; and it was at once 
 admitted, that in respect of beautiful and ingenious arrangement of 
 patterns, and harmony of colour, these Asiatic fabrics were infinitely 
 superior to anything Europe had to show. In these the rule was ex- 
 cellence: the obvious and undeniable beauty with which observers of 
 every condition were at once struck, when inquired into by the artist, 
 was found to be based on a complete and well-defined system of design; 
 and it became evident, that there were traceable in these works certain 
 universally followed laws or rules, which, when formularised, assumed 
 the force of obvious truths. One fundamental principle it may be allow- 
 able to allude to here, and it cannot be better expressed than in the 
 words of Dr. Waagen: — “ In the fabrics of India, the correct pi’inciple 
 already laid down, namely, that patterns and colours should diversify 
 plain surfaces, without destroying or disturbing the impression of flat- 
 ness, is as carefully observed as it was in the Middle Ages, when the 
 decoration of walls, pavements, and carpets, was brought to such per- 
 fection by the Arabs. But it is not only the observance of this prin- 
 ciple which distinguishes the Indian stuffs in the Exhibition ; they are 
 remarkable for the rich invention shown in the patterns, in which the 
 beauty, distinctness, and variety of forms, and the harmonious blending 
 of severe colours, called forth the admiration of all true judges of 
 art.” 
 
HINDOO PRAYER-CARPET. 
 
 And. Mr. Owen Jones has further well remarked : — 
 
 “We have here no artificial shadows, no highly-wrought imitations 
 of natural flowers, with their light and shade, struggling to stand out 
 from the surfaces on which they are worked, but conventional repre- 
 sentations founded upon them, sufficiently suggestive to convey the 
 intended image to the mind without destroying the unity of the object 
 they are employed to decorate.” And again, “ With them the con- 
 struction is decorated : decoration is never, as with us, purposely con- 
 structed.” 
 
 The Prayer-Carpet forming our present illustration, manufactured 
 at Ahmedabad, was chosen for the Museum of Ornamental Art as one 
 of the most faultless of these Indian productions. Although rich and 
 gorgeous in the extreme, nothing can be further removed from gaudi- 
 ness. The two principal colours, red and green, harmonise naturally 
 with each other, and are further subdued by the darker lines with 
 which the ornamental details are edged ; whilst the points of silver, 
 equally distributed over the surface, not only form a beautiful contrast 
 with the richer metal of the ground, but serve to relieve the entire 
 design from heaviness, without detracting from the sober richness of the 
 general scheme of colour. 
 

INDIAN EMBROIDERED SATIN STUFFS FOR DRESSES. 
 
 Museum of Ornamental Art. 
 
 These beautiful fabrics are embroidered bj hand on grounds respectively 
 of amber and black satin. They were manufactured at Cutch. In the 
 specimen on the yellow ground it will be observed, that the flowers 
 and leaves of the diaper pattern and border are all edged or out- 
 lined with black, whereby an increased richness and depth of tint 
 is obtained, whilst the pattern is, at the same time, more forcibly 
 detached from the ground. The reverse of this expedient is generally 
 observable in diaper patterns when the ground is of a dark colour ; in 
 the latter case, the very constant rule is to surround the forms of the 
 pattern with a white or lighter coloured outline. In either method the 
 result is to give additional clearness of tint and greater general effect to 
 the pattern. 
 

 
■ 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
A 
 

TWO INDIAN EMBROIDERED SATIN APRONS. 
 
 Museum of Ornamental Art. 
 
 These specimens were likewise manufactured at Cutch, and the beau- 
 tiful border and palmette ornament in the corners are embroidered by 
 hand with narrow silk braid. In these examples the lighter coloured 
 edging, alluded to in the remarks on the preceding specimen, may 
 be noticed — especially round the larger flowers. Without this the 
 ornaments would in many places have been almost lost in the dark 
 ground, whilst the details in lighter tints would have consequently had 
 a spotty, isolated appearance, destructive of the unity of the design. 
 
\ 
 

 
SHEET OF DESIGNS FOR TEXTILE FABRICS, REPRODUCED FROM 
 THE PATTERN-BOOK OF A PERSIAN DESIGNER. 
 
 Museum of Ornamental Art. 
 
 Not the least interesting of the varied acquisitions of the Museum of 
 Ornamental Art, is a volume containing several hundred designs for 
 textile fabrics. Although complete, and in its original Oriental bind- 
 ing, the book does not contain any written text, so that there is no 
 clue to its authorship. It is supposed to have been a manufacturer’s or 
 designer’s pattern-book, and is clearly of Persian origin. The several 
 designs are skilfully painted in distemper colours on silk paper, and 
 are profusely enriched with gold and silver, sufficiently denoting the 
 costly nature of the tissues they are intended to represent. The volume 
 appears to be of some antiquity, probably dating as far back as the 
 17th century; but from the prescriptive permanence of Oriental art, 
 nothing definite on this head can be gathered from the designs them- 
 selves. The beautiful patterns, grouped together with such profusion 
 in our plate, are based on the soundest principles of design. The forms 
 and leading lines of the ornamental details are in themselves most 
 graceful, and the colours are well contrasted and perfectly arranged as 
 to quantity. 
 
 Persian ornament, whilst based on precisely similar rules, differs in 
 many essential respects from the other main Asiatic styles, and 
 has a distinctly marked national character — conventionalised floral 
 ornaments, directly based on natural types, being of constant occur- 
 rence; whilst the gaiety and freshness of the colouring, in which pink, 
 fresh pale greens, scarlet and brilliant yellows, are the prevailing tints, 
 impart a delicate, and if it may be so designated, feminine character of 
 grace and refinement to the compositions. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
KBjj 
 

 
PERSIAN DESIGNS FOR TEXTILE FABRICS. 
 
 Museum of Ornamental Art. 
 
 Tins plate contains a series of designs for rich tissues, arranged in 
 “column,” as it is termed — i.e. the pattern distributed in vertical 
 hands or stripes — a mode of design which, although familiar enough to 
 us in European stutfs, is essentially an Oriental treatment. They are 
 from the same source as the specimens already described. 
 


A 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ' . f i;ir. coins Lon Yi i- : c# j r% 
 
DESIGNS FOR TEXTILE FABRICS, REPRODUCED FROM THE 
 PATTERN-BOOK OF A PERSIAN DESIGNER. 
 
 Museum of Ornamental Art. 
 
 In the design shown in the upper part of this plate may be seen another 
 excellent example of the proper treatment of a natural floral type in 
 ornament; whilst in the lower one the variety of the sprigs or bouquets 
 of flowers — each panel containing a different one, both in design and 
 colour, but all, nevertheless, in perfect harmony with the ground tint — 
 manifests alike the exuberant fancy of the artist and the inexhaustible 
 fund of materials at his command. In the hands of genius, indeed, 
 every natural organic object may be made to yield some new form or 
 hue of beauty. 
 


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
PERSIAN DESIGNS FOR TEXTILE FABRICS. 
 
 Museum of Ornamental Art. 
 
 The designs here illustrated are all based on the principles already alluded 
 to. An examination of the colours introduced will disclose a perfect ac- 
 quaintance, perhaps intuitively acquired, with the immutable laws of 
 harmony and contrast ; whilst the mode in which the separate tints are 
 made to produce their due and proper effect is of the simplest, yet, 
 at the same time, most scientific nature. It will be observed in these, 
 as in all the designs from the same source, that the broad principle of 
 the flat treatment of conventionalised ornament, as applied to textile 
 fabrics, is invariably adhered to; — thus, whilst the several floral designs 
 introduced are immediately referable to natural types, there is, at the 
 same time, no attempt at a deceptive rendering by light and shade, or 
 the simulation of relief. 
 
 The designs on this sheet may, indeed, be taken as perfect examples 
 of simple floral diapers, aesthetically correct in principle, and with a 
 resultant beauty obvious even to the most uneducated perception. 
 

 <■ 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
PERSIAN DESIGNS FOR TEXTILE FABRICS. 
 
 Museum of Ornamental Art. 
 
 Tiie beautiful decorative motive shown in several variations in the 
 present plate, offers a most characteristic example of Persian floral 
 diapered ornament. Although the symmetrical balance of the several 
 parts of the design is strictly observed, there is little of that rigid 
 architectonic severity which prevails in European mediaeval, and to 
 a less degree in Indian diapers, in many respects so similar ; the 
 peculiar gay and cheerful expression of Persian ornament, which has 
 already been alluded to as a national characteristic or style, being here 
 very noticeable. 
 

 
 
PERSIAN DESIGNS FOR TEXTILE FABRICS. 
 
 Museum of Ornamental Art. 
 
 These designs, taken from the same source as the preceding, are 
 apparently conventional ornamental arrangements of a species of iris. 
 In both it will be noticed, that the graceful irregularities of the leaves 
 and petals of the plant are even studiously rendered; whilst, at the same 
 time, the proper symmetrical balance of the several details — cha- 
 racteristic of an ornamental as opposed to a merely natural repre- 
 sentation of the type — is perfectly achieved. The natural peculiarities 
 of the growth of the plant selected, are, indeed, made by the skill of the 
 designer to yield beautiful decorative suggestions, instead of being, as 
 is too often the case in European design, violated in the most incon- 
 gruous manner. 
 



ITALIAN CINQUE-CENTO EMBROIDERED SILKS. 
 
 Museum of Ornamental Art. 
 
 The piece of silk embroidery represented in the upper part of the 
 accompanying plate, was originally part of the covering of a chair- 
 back, whilst the lower one appears to have been the border of a 
 table-cover. Both are Italian work of the second half of the 16 th 
 century. The embroidered pattern is formed by silk braid or cord, 
 stitched down to the ground, and the filling-in of the leaves and 
 flowers in the smaller example is in applique work of small pieces of 
 silk or velvet. These designs have a marked architectonic character, 
 thoroughly distinctive of the Renaissance, and were evidently the 
 invention of artists of a much higher grade than are usually employed 
 in upholstery-work at the present day. Their beauty and high artistic 
 merit, brought about by such simple means, suffice to show what a 
 wide field for the display of true taste is open to ladies’ fancy-work — 
 without drawing too largely on the inventive faculties of our fair 
 work- women, an infinity of elegant and appropriate designs might be 
 found in the various publications on ornament now so easily obtainable, 
 if only a knowledge of the history and true principles of decorative 
 art were more generally sought to be acquired. With the slightest 
 judgment in selection and adaptation, beautiful and consistent orna- 
 mentation might be made to give a peculiar charm to drawing-rooms 
 and boudoirs, where too often ladies’ fancy-work serves only to offend 
 the eye by its glaring and obtrusive deformity. 
 

 
 

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 11 ixu m 
 
 
 
 
 M irir 
 
 7 . '-■■■■' ,-'fb 
 
 
 SfMV.fetr‘5 fa. 
 
 JSkoapt?» in > ®- :ii- 
 ctjjsh, S/ucrttMittij ©tnitto. 
 
 
 :.s-v * k . 
 
A . — LINEN SCARF, EMBROIDERED WITH SILK — RECENT MOROCCO 
 OR TUNISIAN WORK. B. and C .— ANCIENT EMBROIDERED 
 SILK TABLE-COVER— CHINESE OR JAPANESE. 
 
 . Museum of Ornamental A rt. 
 
 We have here specimens of embroidered fabrics of widely different 
 origin, but of equal excellence. The scarf is a rich and elaborate 
 specimen of Moorish art, and although not of ancient date, most 
 probably exhibits a style of ornamentation, which has varied but little 
 during many centuries ; the archaeologist will notice the strong resem- 
 blance, which this specimen shows to the Italian textile ornamentation 
 of the 15th century. This interesting analogy may be explained by 
 the fact, that during the 15th and early part of the 16th centuries, the 
 Oriental designs of the various Levantine tribes were often literally 
 reproduced by the Italian artists, the precious tissues and other orna- 
 mental manufactures, then largely imported into Europe through the 
 Italian states, having had a stronger and more legitimate influence on 
 European design than has been exercised by Oriental productions in 
 our own day, inasmuch as the correct principles of Oriental art were 
 then immediately felt and appreciated by artists working in a kindred 
 spirit. 
 
 The table-cover is of ancient Chinese or Japanese manufacture, 
 probably dating as far back as the 16th or 17th century; the grace 
 and elegance of the scroll ornamentation is worthy of all commendation, 
 whilst the intricate fringe border is a perfect study of ingenious and 
 appropriate design. 
 
RELIEVO IN CARVED IVORY— THE VIRGIN AND INFANT SAVIOUR 
 ADORED BY ANGELS. FOURTEENTH-CENTURY WORK. 
 
 This beautiful relievo has evidently formed the centre tablet or leaf 
 of a diptych; and judging from the general style, and more parti- 
 cularly from the decorative details, the date may be referred to about 
 1340. Like the mirror cover previously engraved, this piece may 
 rank among the most beautiful and finished works of its class. The 
 original ivory is believed to be in the possession of a private collector 
 in Paris. 
 
t 
 
 \ 
 

POWDER-FLASK IN STAG’S HORN, MOUNTED IN SILVER GILT. 
 
 Museum of Ornamental Art. 
 
 The Museum of Ornamental Art possesses an interesting series of powder- 
 flasks of various dates, and in almost every variety of material sus- 
 ceptible of decorative use. The present example, perhaps on the whole 
 the finest of this series, is of German origin, dating about 1530-40. 
 The relievo subject, but more especially the ornamentation of the 
 metal mountings, recalls the style of Aldegrever. It is difficult to 
 discover any fitness or propriety in the relievo subject, which repre- 
 sents the fall of man, and it may be presumed to be a mere caprice 
 on the part of the artist, as more commonly utensils of this kind are 
 decorated with subjects relating to war or the chase. The initials of 
 the original owner may be seen in the arched panel in the upper part, 
 together with a blank shield surmounted by a princely coronet. 
 

TANKARD IN CARVED IVORY, MOUNTED IN SILVER GILT. 
 FLEMISH. SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 In the Possession of H. Bedford, Esq. 
 
 This beautiful tankard is one of the most perfect works of the Flemish 
 School of sculpture in ivory, which attained such universal repute in 
 the 17th century. The relievo subject, on the drum or body of the 
 vessel represents a continuous frieze, or Bacchanalian procession, con- 
 spicuous in which may be observed the drunken Silenus supported by 
 his attendant fauns. The influence of Rubens is visible in every detail 
 of this admirable work ; a style of execution, even, having been adopted, 
 responding perfectly to the florid modelling and impasto of the great 
 Flemish painter. The manner in which the texture of flesh is imitated 
 is indeed marvellous ; although, in truth, rather painterlike than sculp- 
 turesque. The beautiful little amorino which surmounts the metal 
 cover, on the other hand, is in the manner of Fiammingo, and is in 
 every respect worthy of that well-known artist. It is replete with a 
 graceful style, such as the study of the great Italian masters could 
 alone have imparted. There is, however, no reason to suppose that 
 more than one hand was employed in the execution of this piece. In 
 the inventory of the works of art in the possession of Rubens at the 
 time of his decease, several costly ornamental vessels in carved ivory 
 are conspicuously noted. And in Michel’s Life of Rubens it is stated, 
 that the greater part of these works were executed by Lucas Faydherbe, 
 of Malines, who, having studied in the school of Rubens during several 
 years, ultimately turned his attention to sculpture, and succeeded in 
 embodying the designs of his master in ivory, with such spirit as to 
 entitle them to an honourable place in the cabinet of the great painter 
 himself. It is very probable that the present example is a work of the 
 able artist here mentioned. 
 

/ 
 
TANKARD IN CARVED IVORY, MOUNTED IN OXYDISED SILVER. 
 
 In the Collection of Wm. Ooldsmid, Esq. 
 
 This florid and imposing decorative object is of two distinct periods, 
 the drum or body, in carved ivory, being of Flemish 17th-century 
 work, of the same school as the preceding example, whilst the mount- 
 ing, in oxydised silver, is the work of a modern French artist of great 
 and deserved celebrity — Antoine Vechte, well known for his admi- 
 rable works contributed to the Great Exhibition of 1851, and more 
 recently to the Paris Exhibition of 1855. The silver mounts are 
 entirely executed en repous.sd, i. e. hammered or punched, and finished 
 with the chisel, and are an extraordinary instance of the great tech- 
 nical ability of the artist. The difficulties overcome in the complex 
 process of soldering, &c., requisite to the completion of the figures in 
 full relief, are not more remarkable than the ease and exuberant 
 facility, exhibited in the carrying out of every detail, the work having 
 rather the appearance of being moulded from some soft and ductile 
 substance, yielding to every touch of the modelling tool, than hard 
 metal requiring to be laboriously hammered into shape. The ex- 
 pression of this very facility, remarkable as it is, is perhaps even a 
 drawback, the true rigid character proper to metal-work being 
 somewhat lost sight of. 
 


 
SILK CARPET. MODERN INDIAN. MANUFACTURED AT CASHMERE. 
 
 Museum of Ornamental Art. 
 
 This carpet, which is of considerable size and very thick, is en- 
 tirely composed of silk, which, by its natural lustre, adds greatly to 
 the gem-like brilliancy of colour. It was purchased from the Ex- 
 hibition of 1851. The pattern approximates in style to Turkish 
 examples, the rectilinear character of the diaper, and its somewhat 
 fantastic, irregular disposition, being different from the usual style of 
 Indian carpet decoration. Whilst referring to this difference, it may 
 not be uninteresting to observe, that the peculiar angular irregular 
 details of the Turkish patterns were probably, in the first instance, 
 derived from the great use in early times of the Arabic written 
 character in ornamental arrangements. In this specimen, the quaint 
 picturesqueness of the Turkish style is agreeably modified, by the 
 more beautiful and flowing character of Indian art. Mr. Redgrave, 
 R. A., in his report on Design, as displayed in the Exhibition of 1851, 
 has made some excellent remarks on Oriental carpets, and as the 
 proper appreciation of the latter and the promotion of better taste in 
 this class of English goods is very desirable, we cannot do better than 
 extract a few of his observations on this head: — 
 
 “ A most careful examination has confirmed a strong feeling as to 
 the great superiority of the designs of Indian and Turkish carpets, 
 both in the arrangement and general tone and harmony of the colours 
 and the flat treatment and geometrical distribution of form. The 
 Turkish carpets are generally designed with a .flat border of flowers 
 
SILK CARPET — MODERN INDIAN. 
 
 of the natural size, and with a centre of larger forms conventionalised, 
 in some cases even to the extent of obscuring the forms — a fault to 
 be avoided. The colours are negative shades of a medium, or half- 
 tint, as to light and dark, tending rather to dark, with scarcely any 
 contrast, and therefore a little sombre in charactei’. Three hues pre- 
 dominate and largely pervade the surface, namely, green, red, and 
 blue ; these are not pure, but negative, so that the general effect is 
 cool, yet rich and full of colour. The colours, instead of cutting 
 upon each other, are mostly bordered with black; the blue has a 
 slight tendency to purple, and a few orange spots enhance and enliven 
 the effect. The distribution of colour in these fabrics is far simpler 
 than in those from India, which last have sometimes a tendency to 
 foxiness, from a larger admission of warm neutrals, as brown and 
 brown purple ; they also admit of a much greater variety of colours 
 than the Turkish. The colour of the Indian carpets, however, is so 
 evenly distributed, and each tint so well balanced with its comple- 
 mentary and harmonising hue, that the general effect is rich and 
 agreeable; the hues all tend to a dark middle tint in scale, and white 
 and yellow are sparingly introduced to define the geometrical arrange- 
 ment of the forms, such arrangement being the sound basis of all 
 Eastern ornament.” 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 

 . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
INDIAN SILK AND GOLD TISSUES. 
 
 Museum of Ornamental Art. 
 
 The present designs represent Indian silk and gold tissues manu- 
 factured at Ahmedabad, intended for the woman’s dress called 
 

 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 . 
 
 
 
INDIAN GOLD -TISSUE SCARF. 
 
 Museum of Ornamental Art. 
 
 Tiie magnificent Indian gold tissue, part of which is here represented, 
 is a scarf or shawl worn by men. It was manufactured at Benares, 
 and was purchased from the Exhibition of 1851 at the price of 50/. 
 The deep border and the corner of the scarlet centre-piece exhibit 
 beautiful varieties of the favourite Oriental motive, termed, for want 
 of a better name, the “ Pine Apple Ornament, Palmette, or Shawl 
 Pattern.” It is difficult to decide what can have been the origin of 
 this singular form, which is of constant occurrence both in Persian 
 and Hindoo art, and has long been naturalised in Europe. There 
 can, however, be no doubt, but that it is of extreme antiquity, and 
 as little, that it must originally have had some symbolic meaning. 
 


 
 

 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
INDIAN SCARF IN PURPLE MUSLIN, WITH PATTERN IN GOLD 
 
 PRINTING. 
 
 Museum of Ornamental Art. 
 
 This illustration represents part of a scarf in purple muslin, with 
 gold-printed decoration, manufactured at Kotah, in Rajpootana. 
 The pattern is elegant and well distributed for effect, the palmette 
 ornament being introduced in the border, as in the previous ex- 
 ample. 
 

 
 
 

 
 
INDIAN GOLD TISSUES. 
 
 Museum of Ornamental Art. 
 
 These designs do not seem to require any addition to our previous 
 remarks on the characteristics of Indian textile design ; they are 
 both, on the whole, very beautiful, being distinguished by a subdued 
 splendour of effect. 
 
 The lower design, however, almost verges on heaviness, whilst 
 in the upper one, the arrangement of the pattern in oblique bands 
 or columns is a novelty of somewhat questionable taste. The elegance 
 of the running scrolls, and the frequent contrasts of colour in both 
 specimens, however, atone for these drawbacks. 
 
'S' 
 

 

 
 
 
 

 
 
VASE IN SILVER REPOUSSE WORK, THE SUBJECT REPRESENTING 
 JUPITER WARRING WITH THE TITANS. EXECUTED 
 BY ANTOINE VECIITE FOR THE FIRM OF 
 HUNT AND ROSKELL. 
 
 Amongst the reputations made or confirmed by the Exhibition of 
 1851, there were none more fairly earned than that of the author 
 of this piece. The number and importance of his works there 
 exhibited bore testimony to the extraordinary productive powers of this 
 artist, who in dexterous facility would seem even to surpass the im- 
 petuous exuberance of a Cellini. We have already, in a previous 
 notice, alluded to the merits and demerits of M. Vechte’s style ; it is suf- 
 ficient to observe, that the production now illustrated is one of the most 
 important works of the master, being of great size and high finish. 
 

 


 
 
 
SILVER EWER, EXECUTED IN REPOUSSE BY VECHTE FOR 
 MESSRS. HUNT AND ROSKELL. 
 
 The relievo subject of this elaborate specimen represents a Baccha- 
 nalian procession; the character of the composition, as well as the 
 ornaments, resembles the style of the early German goldsmith 
 engravers — the Behams, Binck, Virgilio Solis, & c. It is a marvel of 
 dexterous execution, and, like the preceding piece, may challenge com- 
 parison, at any rate as far as technical ability is concerned, with the 
 most renowned ancient works extant. 
 
FLAGON IN SILVER, PARCEL GILT. MODERN WORK, IN THE 
 GERMAN STYLE OF THE BEGINNING OF THE 
 SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 Museum of Ornamental Art. 
 
 This fine piece of decorative plate, imposing from its size, (24 inches 
 in height), was manufactured by Messrs. Lambert and Rawlings of 
 Coventry Street, for the Exhibition of 1851, and was purchased 
 under the original grant for the Museum. It is entirely executed 
 in hammered or repousse work, and is a successful revival of a cha- 
 racteristic style and period of goldsmiths’ work. The raised oak 
 foliage is treated in the conventional manner, the execution being 
 artistic and completely in the feeling of the style adopted. 
 

TAZZA IN ORIENTAL ONYX, MOUNTED IN ENAMELLED GOLD. 
 MODERN, IN THE STYLE OF THE CINQUE-CENTO. 
 
 Museum of Ornamental Art. 
 
 The costly object now illustrated was executed expressly to show, that 
 the class of works in precious materials, with which the name of Benve- 
 nuto Cellini is almost identified, can, at any rate as far as technical 
 processes are concerned, be equally successfully produced by the 
 modern goldsmith — Messrs. Morel and Co., of New Burlington Street, 
 by whom this tazza was executed, having contributed to the Exhibition 
 of 1851 a series of similar productions, avowedly in rivalry of ancient 
 examples. The processes of fabrication of such a work as this are 
 in themselves difficult; but when it is considered that there is lite- 
 rally no demand at the present day for precious trinkets of this kind, 
 the merit of the producers is additionally enhanced, inasmuch as, being 
 entirely out of the usual line of manufacture, want of practice in the 
 workmen, artists, &c., engaged, would naturally render the real difficul- 
 ties of manipulatory pi’ocesses still greater. Messrs. Morel were, there- 
 fore, justified in taking credit to themselves for having virtually revived 
 the art of enamelling on the precious metals in ronde bosse (full relief), 
 and their pretensions were confirmed by the verdict of the Jury of the 
 Great Exhibition, as expressed in the Report on the 23d Class, in which 
 it is stated, that “ The principal object of the Jury’s approbation is the 
 rich and handsome series of chalices and cups of various kinds in 
 precious materials, ornamented with enamels, exhibited by Messrs. 
 Morel and Co.” 
 
 The bowl of this cup is composed of one piece of Oriental onyx, 
 and the mounting is in fine gold, richly decorated with opaque and 
 translucid enamels, and set with jewels : — the figures, in full relief, 
 which, it will be observed, represent Sea-nymphs, a Triton, Amorini, &c., 
 are enamelled on the nude parts with proper flesh-tints. The design 
 was by a French artist, A. Carrier, for several years resident in Eng- 
 land, and the work was acquired for the nation at the price of 210/. 
 
t 
 
 

 

 
 
 
 
 
ISncrfjaualtan Subjects bg do* 
 
GROUPS IN TERRA-COTTA— BACCHANALIAN SUBJECTS BY 
 CLODION. PERIOD OF LOUIS THE SIXTEENTH. 
 
 In the Possession of George Field , Esq. 
 
 A iuriDLY increasing posthumous reputation has of late years accrued 
 to the author of these masterly groups. For nearly half a century 
 the productions of the brilliant but licentious epoch, which immediately 
 preceded the great Revolution of 1789, were treated with a blind 
 contempt, dictated by the far more objectionable mania of pseudo- 
 classicality in art, which attained its height in France under the 
 first Napoleon : the present generation, however, is already emanci- 
 pated from this lifeless phase, and as a consequence, the great 
 masters of the immediately antecedent school are beginning to he 
 more justly estimated. Amongst the prominent names of the Louis 
 XVth and XVItli epochs, few have attained to a higher place 
 than that of Clodion; although, from the little* that appears to he 
 personally known of this able artist, his works are as yet his best 
 biography. He appears to have been pre-eminently a decorative 
 artist, engaged in modelling groups and ornamental details for the 
 Parisian bronzistes and cabinet-makers, the numerous highly-finished 
 terra-cottas further attesting that he must have found a ready 
 demand for these his capital works. 
 
 Clodion’s compositions are admirable for the life and animation 
 they display; his figures are nearly always full of movement; 
 momentary attitudes of the most truthful character are rendered 
 with such evident freedom from effort, as to prevent the full power 
 and mastery of the artist from being at first recognised. His groups, 
 as may be seen in the present examples, are admirably composed, as 
 regards the agreeable arrangement of lines and masses, so important 
 in sculpture ; whilst the drawing and modelling of the nude, although 
 influenced by the mannerism of the epoch, display consummate 
 ability. The rendering of the texture and surface of flesh in sculp- 
 ture was never, perhaps, achieved with gi’eater art ; this character- 
 istic, indeed, is carried so far, as to militate against the abstract 
 character of sculpture, the peculiar manipulation of the clay suggesting 
 rather the brush than the chisel or the modelling-tool. 
 

 
 
t 
 
 
 
• - 
 
 
 
 
 
TWO FRIEZES IN TERRA COTTA. TRITONS AND SEA NYMPHS BY 
 
 CLODION. 
 
 In the Possession of George Field , Esq. 
 
 These beautiful compositions are modelled with all the elegance and 
 masterly facility displayed in the preceding groups. The subjects 
 are purely ideal or decorative, void of any intellectual significance, 
 and intended simply to display the beautiful forms of the nude, in 
 as great a variety of well-contrasted attitudes as possible ; they should 
 therefore be considered as purely decorative works of a high order. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
CAMEOS IN OLD WEDGWOOD WARE. 
 
 Museum of Ornamental Art. 
 
 Josiati Wedgwood, (born at Burslem in 1730, died 1795,) is un- 
 questionably the greatest name in the annals of the Ceramic art. 
 The varieties of pottery, invented or perfected by his individual 
 agency, are perhaps, on the whole, the most excellent art-manufactures 
 this country has yet produced. These varieties are very numerous, 
 and the present remarks apply in particular to the well-known Jasper 
 or Cameo wares ; in every kind, however, we see a perfection of 
 manufacture and refinement of taste, far in advance of antecedent 
 efforts. The relievo pottery of Wedgwood bad been preceded, and 
 in part perhaps suggested, by earlier and ruder varieties of Stafford- 
 shire earthenware ; but it was matured chiefly by the sight of the 
 celebrated Portland Vase, an attempt to imitate which was the first 
 step towards the success ultimately achieved. During the latter 
 part of the last century, moreover, a passion for antique gems pre- 
 vailed amongst the wealthy amateurs of England, than which, it 
 should be observed, a more refined and beautiful class of works 
 of art has never since engaged the attention of collectors ; and 
 Wedgwood, whose knowledge and feeling for art were those of 
 an artist, seems to have specially studied these exquisite works of 
 antiquity, and with the instinct of genius, to have soon found a way 
 of making them practically subservient to his manufacture. In 
 addition to the vast collections of casts, published by Tassie and 
 others, he seems to have lost no opportunity of procuring impressions 
 from antiques, in the possession of noblemen and wealthy connois- 
 seurs, with whom he had an extensive intercourse. His copies, in 
 the many varieties of his celebrated Jasper-ware, became immediately 
 popular throughout Europe, and an immense demand arose for 
 
CAMEOS IN OLD WEDGWOOD WARE. 
 
 cameos and intaglios, not only on the part of collectors, but like- 
 wise for employment in objects of use and decoration. It would 
 be impossible to specify a tithe of the purposes to which fashion 
 adapted these beautiful objects, — brooches, shoe-buckles, bracelets, 
 ear-drops, plaques for chimnevpieces, and cameos of large size for 
 inlays into decorative furniture, clocks, and time-pieces, the lids of 
 snutf-boxes, &c. &c., are, however, a few of the more prominent 
 instances. 
 
 A natural property of fictile materials here also came in Wedg- 
 wood’s aid. It may have been noticed, that the same design is 
 often to be found in a great number of sizes ; that a cameo, for 
 instance, of two inches in diameter, is also to be met with reduced 
 to one, or even half-an-inch, every line and form being nevertheless 
 identical in design. This is accomplished as follows : the cameo or 
 other object is found to be reduced in size, during the process of firing, 
 by the natural contraction of the clay ; a fresh mould is therefore 
 made on the reduced piece, the casts from which, when fired in turn, 
 are found to be correspondently diminished; as their reduction can 
 thus he made in a certain constant ratio, nothing is easier than to 
 vary the sizes at will, and it should be remarked, that the very 
 fact of reduction increases the apparent finish and elaborate delicacy 
 of the work. 
 
 Wedgwood’s endeavours were not confined to reproductions of 
 antiques ; many of the first artists of the epoch were employed by 
 him, on the most liberal terms, in the production of original com- 
 positions, and amongst others our greatest sculptor, Flaxman, executed 
 many works, the beautiful oval cameo in the centre of our plate being 
 one of them. 
 

 
 
 
 
 •V 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
. 
 
 ■ 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 
 
 ' 
 
CIRCULAR PEDESTAL IN OLD WEDGWOOD CAMEO WARE, 
 DESIGNED AND MODELLED BY ELAXMAN. 
 
 Museum of Ornamental Art. 
 
 In Flaxman’s works executed for Wedgwood, and Stothard’s designs for 
 the firm of Rundell and Bridge, the highest artistic talent this country 
 has ever produced may he seen in intimate alliance with manufacture, 
 and the example of these great names alone ought to be sufficient to 
 ennoble the practice of industrial design. The beautiful pedestals in 
 Wedgwood ware now engraved are the work of the former of these 
 celebrated artists; they are executed in the cameo or jasper ware, the 
 ground being of a light sage-green colour, and the figures in relief in 
 white. They were probably produced somewhere about the year 
 1780 . 
 
 Wedgwood wares of this high class have been gradually rising in 
 estimation ever since the period of their production, and although their 
 pecuniary worth is at present far above their original cost, it may 
 safely be predicted, that the increasing appreciation of the really 
 beautiful in art will ultimately give to such specimens as these an 
 almost fabulous value. 
 

 \ 
 


 
 
 
 
 
 
 , 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
ITALIAN CINQUE-CENTO BRONZE VASE 
 
 Museum of Ornamental A rt. 
 
 The elaborate relievo ornamentation of this vase evidently refers it 
 to the earliest cinque-cento style, and it is probably not later in date 
 than about 1500. 
 
 The piece requires to be placed above the eye to be properly 
 seen, in which position the admirable grouping of the mouldings, and 
 the beautiful form of the piece generally, are displayed to great 
 advantage. 
 
 The work is cast, and finished by spirited chasing. 
 


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
ITALIAN CINQUE-CENTO BRONZE DOOR-KNOCKERS. 
 
 Museum of Ornamental A rt. 
 
 The larger of these door-knockers is believed to be the work of the 
 sculptor Giovanni Bologna, and the smaller one is said to have been 
 formerly affixed to the door of the Palazzo Pisani in Venice. 
 
 They are both massive bronze castings, artistically chiselled by the 
 artists themselves. Very few specimens of these fine Italian knockers 
 now remain in situ, although formerly they were to be found on the 
 gates of almost every palazzo. 
 
 Knockers appear to have been a very favourite utensil for the display 
 of ornament, and it is evident that they were generally the production 
 of artist sculptors, and were regarded as integral parts of the architec- 
 tural scheme of the edifices to which they were affixed. 
 

 

 
NIELLO PAX— ITALIAN. FIFTEENTH-CENTURY WORK. 
 
 Museum of Ornamental Art. 
 
 Niello work is line engraving, usually on silver, filled in with a 
 black metallic substance. The process is one of great antiquity, 
 known to, and frequently practised by, the ancients ; and it would 
 seem to have been in use, without interruption, ever since. 
 
 During the middle ages, Italy and the Eastern empire were the 
 principal seats of the art; and it is interesting to note, that the popu- 
 larity of niello working amongst the Mediaeval Greeks has borne fruit 
 down to this time even ; the cities of Southern Russia, the inhabitants 
 of which may perhaps be regarded as the most complete inheritors 
 of Byzantine arts and customs, being at the present day the head- 
 quarters of the art. 
 
 The most interesting development of niello working, however, 
 unquestionably took place in Italy during the fifteenth century, the 
 period to which the object now illustrated belongs, and the engraving 
 of a pax very similar in style to the present example suggested to its 
 author, Maso Finiguerra, a Florentine goldsmith, the first idea of copper- 
 plate printing. The process at this period is described in detail in 
 the important, but little - known, technical treatises of Benvenuto 
 Cellini,* and may be briefly stated as follows: — 
 
 The niello composition consists of one part of silver, two of copper, 
 and three of lead, melted together in a crucible ; this alloy, whilst in a 
 state of fusion being cast into an earthenware vase or bottle, partly filled 
 
 * “ Due trattati — intorno alle otto principali arti dell’ oreficeria, &c. &c. 4 to. 
 Florence. 1568. 
 
NIELLO PAX. 
 
 with powdered sulphur. The substance which results is then reduced 
 to a granular powder, and spread over the surface of the engraved 
 plate. Heat is then applied, when the composition is speedily melted, 
 filling all the incised lines, and of course covering the entire surface 
 of the work, and entirely concealing the design. When cold, the 
 superfluous niello is scraped or filed away, nearly down to the surface 
 of the silver, a thin film only being left, which is in turn removed 
 by gentle friction with fine tripoli and charcoal : the design then 
 appears in a brilliant black tint, in the strongest possible contrast with 
 the pure white of the silver ground. 
 
 The ancient artists were in the habit of taking copies of their 
 works by various mechanical contrivances, and it is very interesting 
 to trace the gradual steps by which these processes ultimately 
 led to the discovery of copperplate printing; a discovery second in 
 importance only to that of printing from movable types. 
 
 The earliest method seems to have been to take a cast in sulphur 
 previous to its being filled in with the niello. The incised lines of the 
 plate were first filled with a black unctuous pigment, which in turn 
 was transferred to the sulphur cast, the lines of the design in the 
 latter, of course, being in relief and in black. Some few sulphur 
 impressions of ancient nielli have been preserved, and are most 
 highly valued. A further step seems to have been the obtaining 
 impressions on paper from these sulphur casts, which for this purpose 
 may be considered analogous to wood engravings — block-printing having 
 probably suggested this process. These impressions were obtained by 
 rubbing the back of the moistened paper placed over the surface of the 
 sulphur mould or block, the lines of which had been previously 
 inked; impressions of this kind have also come down to us, but 
 they are only a degree less rare than the sulphur casts. Finally, 
 impressions on paper were taken direct from the incised niello 
 plates, likewise by rubbing, and the art of copperplate printing was 
 discovered. 
 
 The pax now illustrated is a fine example, probably of Florentine 
 work, dating about 1490. It was formerly in the Denon collection. 
 

 

 
 t 
 
4 
 
PENDANT JEWELS IN GOLD, ENAMELLED, AND SET WITH 
 PRECIOUS STONES. SIXTEENTH-CENTURY WORK. 
 
 Museum of Ornamental Art. 
 
 The three costly jewels now illustrated are works of the second 
 half of the sixteenth century, most probably of German origin. 
 They are fine examples of a style of jewellery, which is now again 
 beginning to be revived. The small statuettes and strap-work 
 ornaments are all carefully chiselled into shape, their sharp and 
 decisive style of execution forming a great contrast to that of 
 modern chasing. They are beautifully enriched with transparent and 
 opaque enamels, the colours of which serve as a foil or support to the 
 stones. The process of enamelling small figures in full relief, on 
 this minute scale, is one of great technical difficulty ; it has, however, 
 been successfully revived by modern French jewellers, — Froment, 
 Meurice, Weise, Rudolphi, &c. having each exhibited a numerous 
 series of jewels similarly adorned at the Paris Exhibition of 1855. The 
 backs of the specimens now engraved are also elaborately enamelled. 
 The stones are diamonds, rubies, and pearls. 
 
\ 
 
QUIVER AND INDIAN FAN. MANUFACTURED AT JODHPORE IN 
 
 RAJPOOTANA. 
 
 Museum of Ornamental Art. 
 
 The pattern on these objects is executed in raised embroidery of 
 gold thread on blue velvet ; it has all the usual taste and decorative 
 propriety of Hindoo textile ornamentation. 
 


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 Cl;-. • pn'i.:g iif jTiiti’ftlcrjF. Jiitui- 
 
 
INDIAN POWDER-HORN AND THREE PIECES OF MATCHLOCK 
 FURNITURE. MANUFACTURED AT JODHPORE. 
 
 Museum of Ornamental Art. 
 
 Similar in style to the preceding specimens, and doubtless manu- 
 factured by the same individual. These objects were purchased for 
 the Museum from the Exhibition of 1851. 
 

 
 

PATTERNS OF INDIAN LACQUERED WORK FROM WRITING- 
 BOXES. EXECUTED AT LAHORE. 
 
 Museum of Ornamental Art. 
 
 Indian lacquered works, although less remarkable in technical respects 
 than the Japanese wares, are in point of art unquestionably superior to 
 them. 
 
 Whilst the celebrity of these latter is evinced in the mere fact of 
 our language having, in the ordinary phrase “ Japan work,” adopted 
 the name of that country as a generic term for all kinds of lacquered 
 wares — every single piece imported into this country, it should be 
 observed, being through the agency of our ancient maritime rivals the 
 Dutch, it is not a little singular that the existence of an extensive and 
 highly developed manufacture of the same nature in our own dominions 
 should, until the last few years, have remained almost entirely ignored ; 
 and even now, although eminently capable of being brought within the 
 usual conditions of commerce, cheapness of production being one of 
 its most remarkable features, that no market for these beautiful pro- 
 ductions should as yet have been found in Europe. 
 
 The distinctive style of the Indian lacquered works is well exem- 
 plified in the specimen now engraved ; they manifest a perfectly con- 
 sistent mode of decoration, based on true principles of design. The 
 motives are purely ornamental, refined and beautiful both in form and 
 colour, and rendered simply as abstractedly agreeable forms destined to 
 cover, in the most ingenious and tasteful way, prescribed decorative 
 spaces. 
 
 The present designs are taken from oblong boxes intended to con- 
 tain writing implements; they were manufactured at Lahore, and were 
 presented to the Museum of Ornamental Art by Iler Majesty the 
 Queen. 
 
\ 
 

 
 
 
TOILET-BOX IN EBONY, INLAID WITH IVORY, AND MOUNTED WITH 
 SILVER. ORIENTAL WORK. BATAVIAN. (?) SEVENTEENTH 
 OR EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 Museum of Ornamental Art. 
 
 The process and style of decoration exemplified in this object are seen 
 carried out in many other articles of utility, all evidently of similar 
 origin and period. It is not unusual to meet with chairs, bedsteads, 
 couches, tables, &c., of the same work, still preserved in ancient man- 
 sions, both in this country and on the Continent. The palaces of 
 Hampton Court and Windsor contain beautiful specimens ; those in the 
 former place, and most probably also those at Windsor, dating back to 
 the reign of William III. There can be little doubt, indeed, that this 
 peculiar manufacture was carried on in the East, especially for the 
 European market, and that the products were a current Dutch im- 
 portation of the 17 th century. 
 
 The process consists of a simple marquetry inlay of ivory into a 
 ground of ebony, the markings or details of the floral ornaments being 
 produced by engraved lines or hatchings, into which a dark-coloured sub- 
 stance is rubbed or painted. This mode of work is of extreme antiquity, 
 and an interesting specimen, executed in precisely the same materials, may 
 be seen in an ancient Egyptian chair of the age of the Pharaohs, now 
 preserved in the British Museum; whilst in the middle ages some vari- 
 eties of the Italian inlays, generically termed “ tarsia work,” ( Intarsi - 
 atura ,) were all but identical. The style of decoration shown in this 
 specimen has a marked Oriental character, graceful and elegant in 
 detail, consisting of little more than the repetition of a few convention- 
 alised forms of leaves and flowers united in a species of scroll-diaper, 
 the elaborately ornamented surfaces being relieved or contrasted with 
 plain marginal bands and a flowing scroll border. The silver angle- 
 plates, hinges, lock, &c., are beautifully chased, and contribute greatly 
 to the rich effect of the piece. It will be observed, that the almost 
 invariable Oriental law of flat conventionalised decoration for plane 
 surfaces has been strictly followed in this instance. 
 


 
 
HUNTING-SWORD, WITH HILT AND SCABBARD IN SILVER AND 
 GILT BRONZE. MODERN FRENCH WORK. 
 
 Museum of Ornamental A rt. 
 
 Marrel, fibres, of Paris, the producers of this work, have shown 
 themselves worthy of a place among the most distinguished armourers 
 of France. The magnificent weapons, contributed by them to the 
 Universal Exhibitions of 1851 and 1855, would indeed bear com- 
 parison with the chefs-d’oeuvre of the Piraubes, Laroches, and Boutets of 
 the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. In England there is but little 
 taste for richly ornamented arms, and, consequently, decorative art of a 
 high class is seldom enlisted in the service of the armourer, whose standard 
 of beauty with us is of another description, and whose ideas of extreme 
 excellence take the practical shape of the most highly elaborated 
 workmanship, and perfect adaptation of the weapon to its uses. In 
 France, on the contrary, there has always been a widely-spread 
 taste for “ armes de luxe,” as they are styled ; and in no class of pro- 
 ductions were the different national characteristics of the two countries 
 more strongly exemplified, in the two Universal Exhibitions of 1851 
 and 1855. 
 
 This magnificent knife was executed expressly for the former of 
 these occasions, and was purchased thence by Government at the cost of 
 200/. The design illustrates the story of St. Hubert, the patron saint 
 of the chase, the hilt or grip being formed by a kind of shrine con- 
 taining a statuette of the saint, with a hound at his feet ; the cross- 
 guard is enriched with relievo figures of various wild animals, and the 
 bas-relief at the top of the sheath represents the legend of the saint, being 
 the moment when the hunt is interrupted by the apparition of the 
 miraculous crucifix betwixt the horns of the stag. The style of the 
 ornamentation has somewhat of a Byzantine character, and the execution 
 of the work leaves nothing to be desired for delicacy and spirited finish- 
 ing. The whole of the ornamental details were in the first instance 
 modelled in wax, then cast in plaster, and highly wrought up in that 
 material previous to being cast in metal ; and, finally, the work was 
 terminated by the most careful and artistic chasing by the artist himself. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
CASKET IN OXYDISED SILVER. MODERN FRENCH WORK. 
 
 Museum of Ornamental Art. 
 
 Manufactured by Guevton of Paris, and purchased from the Exhi- 
 bition of 1851 for 36/. 
 


 
 
CUP, OR CHALICE, IN ORIENTAL ONYX, MOUNTED IN 
 ENAMELLED GOLD. MODERN FRENCH. 
 
 Museum of Ornamental Art. 
 
 Although somewhat thin and disconnected in design, this work is not 
 without merit, an attempt having been made to imitate the style of 
 dhe thirteenth century, avoiding, at the same time, the character of 
 ecclesiastical rigidity so distinctive of that epoch. 
 
 The howl in onyx is probably of Oriental workmanship ; the stem of 
 gold, enriched with enamels and set with rubies and turquoises ; and 
 the circular bulb or “ knop,” in the middle of the stem, is in rock 
 crvstal. 
 
 %J 
 
 It is the production of M. Rudolph i of Paris, having been executed 
 by him for the Exhibition of 1851. 
 

 
 
V 
 

 
 
TAZZA, WITH COVER, IN SILVER SET WITH JEWELS. 
 MODERN FRENCH WORK. 
 
 Museum of Ornamental Art. 
 
 The shape of this cup was probably suggested by one of the ancient 
 Limoges enamelled tazze; it was executed by Marrel, freres, of 
 Paris, and contributed by them to the Exhibition of 1851, and may 
 be considered as a favourable specimen of the modern French revival 
 of the Renaissance style. The jewels are rubies, emeralds, garnets, and 
 turquoises. The price paid for the piece was 72/. 
 

 
 
 
 

 ■ 
 
 
 
ITALIAN EMBROIDERED SILK HANGINGS. SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 In the Possession of the Earl of Carnarvon. 
 
 This engraving shows the upper and lower portions of a vertical 
 panel, supposed to have originally formed a pilaster or border to 
 a piece of tapestry. It is executed in hand-embroidery of silk and 
 gold thread. Although clearly Italian, the exact locality of its manu- 
 facture can only be conjectured. The celebrity of the silk and velvet 
 fabrics of Genoa, considered in connexion with a certain florid cha- 
 racter in design in this specimen, quite in accordance with Genoese art, 
 would, perhaps, justify its being ascribed to that city. These charac- 
 teristics of design, however, hold equally good of Venice, the massive 
 strap-work and foliated scroll ornament being also quite in keeping 
 with the style of the gorgeous furniture so largely manufactured in the 
 latter place. But whether stripped from the walls of some palace of 
 the renowned “ Queen of the Adriatic,” or of her superb rival of the 
 Mediterranean, this piece is certainly a relic of a kind of splendour 
 to which our modern style of house decoration affords no parallel. 
 In the olden time fortunes were lavished on the walls of a palace, but 
 the outlay sufficed once and for all; the work once done lasted for 
 centuries, generation after generation lived and died amidst the slowly 
 waning glories of those splendid homes. In this age of wall-papers 
 and whitewash, we can form but a faint idea of the extraordinary 
 magnificence of the saloons of the great Italian palaces — the few that 
 have still escaped the ravages of the “ Black Band,” as our Continental 
 neighbours term the horde of dealers, who for half a century have not 
 ceased to overrun the Continent, tearing down and scattering piecemeal 
 the noblest works of ancient architects, have faded and mouldered 
 away to but a shadow of their original beauty. But even in decay 
 
ITALIAN EMBROIDERED SILK HANGINGS. 
 
 there is a prevailing stamp of architectural greatness, which impresses 
 us from the contrast it affords to the triviality and obvious want 
 of permanence of modern works. Ceilings and cornices in carved 
 wood, or scarcely less costly stucco - work, blazing with gold or 
 painted by the masterly hand of a Veronese or a Tintoret; the 
 walls covered with precious tapestry, the floors of parquetage or 
 rare marbles; chairs and curtains all gilding and velvet; cabinets, 
 candelabra, tables, mirrors, all designed and wrought by artists, each 
 piece an integral part of the entire decorative scheme, — How different 
 this is to the petty, crowded, comfortable style of English furnishing ! 
 Englishmen are apt to sneer at the faded magnificence of Continental 
 houses, as the shabby-fine style, forgetting that, although faded, it is 
 not common, and unconscious that our own habits in this respect are 
 more really vulgar. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
LAMP-STAND, IN GILT BRONZE. ITALIAN CINQUE-CENTO WORK. 
 
 Museum of Ornamental Art. 
 
 In the absence of any other indication, the three winged lions, which 
 form a prominent feature in this object, would have pointed to Venice 
 as the locality of its production. 
 
 Setting aside the grandiose character of the design, the spirited 
 execution of the pieces, especially the style of chasing, forms a 
 remarkable contrast with the habitual tame and smoothly-finished sur- 
 face of modern works in or-moulu. The lower part of the stand, when 
 in use, would be seen only in a kind of half-light, and its hold and 
 dexterous chiselling would then produce a much better effect than 
 a more elaborate but less striking style. The date of the work 
 is about 1570. 
 

 
 \ 
 

SMALL MIRROR FRAME, IN CARVED AND GILDED WOOD. 
 VENETIAN. Circa 1700. 
 
 Museum, of Ornamental Art. 
 
 Venice, like Paris at the present clay, seems in the sixteenth and seven- 
 teenth centuries to have been the principal centre of production of 
 decorative furniture; the Venetian carved and gilded work of the 
 Louis Quatorze epoch, excelling even the similar productions executed 
 in France at the same period. The ornament of the second half of the 
 seventeenth century, or, as it is more generally termed, the “ Louis 
 Quatorze” style, is seen to greater advantage in purely decorative 
 objects such as this, than in strictly useful articles, in which similar 
 displays of florid detail are too apt to induce structural inconsistencies. 
 The present specimen is characterised by a playful ingenuity in the 
 distribution of the details, which, though demanding no great exercise 
 of art-power in the designer, is not to he set down as mere upholsterers’ 
 or carvers’ and gilders’ work. Although it belongs to a period and 
 class of objects often decried as “ overcharged,” “ licentious,” &c., this 
 specimen would be found to contrast most advantageously with the 
 average of modern works of a similar kind, exhibiting in reality far 
 more simplicity and repose, with, at the same time, more truly rich and 
 gorgeous an effect. 
 

 
 
 < 
 

PANEL OF PAINTED GLASS. ST. CATHERINE. MODERN GERMAN 
 COPY FROM AN ANCIENT WORK. 
 
 Museum of Ornamental Art. 
 
 This panel, executed at tlie Royal Glass Painting Establishment at 
 Munich, was contributed to the Paris Exhibition of 1844, from whence 
 it was purchased by the Council of the School of Design. It is a 
 copy of part of an ancient window from a church in Nuremberg. 
 
 It is in every respect a characteristic specimen of the old German 
 style ; the draperies full of angular folds, doubtless resulting from the 
 imitation of the thick brocades then so much in use, and the floral 
 scroll diaper on the background, which manifests in the details of the 
 foliage some faint resemblance to the classical acanthus, are un mistake- 
 able indications of the school and period to which the work belongs. 
 The date of the original window is about 1500. 
 

 * 
 
CHALICE, IN THE STYLE OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY, IN SILVER 
 PARCEL GILT AND ENAMELLED. MODERN ENGLISH WORK. 
 
 Museum, of Ornamental Art. 
 
 Messrs. Hardman and Co. of Birmingham were the producers of the 
 present chalice, which, like the one already engraved, was executed 
 from the designs of the late Mr. Pugin. The rosettes round the 
 base are in Champlevd enamel, and the knop is set with amethysts 
 cut en cabochon, i. e. with a smooth rounded surface, instead of the usual 
 facet cutting, which latter is very rarely found in mediaeval jewellery. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 

 
 
BROCADE FOR UPHOLSTERY WORK, AND WALL PAPERS, IN THE 
 STYLE OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY. RECENT 
 MANUFACTURE. 
 
 Museum of Ornamental A rt. 
 
 The design in red is a reproduction of a favourite mediaeval pattern, 
 commonly known as the pine-apple diaper ; it is worked out in a 
 mixed cotton and woollen fabric suitable for curtains, wall-hangings, 
 &c. ; and the two other patterns, represented in the same plate, are 
 copied from flock papers : they were all specially manufactured from 
 the designs of the late Mr. Pugin for the New Houses of Parliament, 
 where they may be seen in work. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
ENCAUSTIC OR INLAID TILES, IN THE MEDIAEVAL STYLES. 
 MANUFACTURED BY MINTON AND CO. 
 
 Museum of Ornamental Art. 
 
 From an early period in tlie Middle Ages, tiles similar to these, but of 
 much ruder workmanship, were employed in the pavements of eccle- 
 siastical edifices, and to all appearance nowhere more universally than 
 in England. The attention of antiquaries and artists having long been 
 directed to them, it was natural to expect that the revival of the taste 
 for Gothic architecture in this country would suggest the reproduction 
 of so characteristic a species of decoration; and accordingly, the master- 
 spirit of that movement, the architect Pugin, availing himself of the 
 intelligent co-operation of the firm of Minton and Co., soon succeeded in 
 re-establishing a manufacture, the results of which needed only to be 
 seen to become at once generally popular. The process of manufacture 
 of both ancient and modern specimens is identical in principle, but 
 widely different in practice ; modern mechanical appliances having 
 allowed of a facility and perfection of execution formerly quite un- 
 attainable. 
 
 As the method of production of these tiles is somewhat interesting, 
 it may be as well to sketch out the respective processes, both ancient 
 and modern. 
 
 The mass or body of the ancient tiles is composed of common red 
 brick clay, and the designs were stamped or impressed, most probably 
 with wooden moulds. Into the cavities or sunk outlines of the design, 
 white clay in a liquid state was poured, so as to fill up all the forms of 
 the pattern level with the surface of the tile. When dried in the sun, 
 the tiles thus inlaid were fired in a kiln of rude construction, and glazed 
 with the ordinary glazing, produced most likely from powdered lead 
 ore. The ancient examples thus offer only two tints, those of the red 
 and white clays; the colours, however, were changed or heightened 
 
ENCAUSTIC OR INLAID TILES. 
 
 by the transparent glaze, which being of a warm yellow tone, converted 
 the red to a rich orange brown, and the white to an amber tint. In 
 the modern specimens coloured clays of almost every variety of tint can 
 be introduced at will, and the tiles are rapidly manufactured from 
 slightly damped clay in a state of powder, which is compressed with 
 iron moulds in a powerful press. It is highly probable that the manu- 
 facture of the ancient tiles was carried on by the monks, as indications 
 of the existence of kilns, together with numbers of imperfect specimens 
 spoiled in the firing, have been found within the precincts of several 
 ancient abbeys. 
 
 It is difficult to ascertain the period of the first introduction of this 
 interesting manufacture, specimens having been found which are un- 
 doubtedly as old as the thirteenth century, and perhaps much earlier ; 
 whilst in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries their use was evidently 
 universal. Of the latter epochs a great variety of beautiful designs 
 have come down to us. They appear to have been in general use in 
 France, and perhaps also in Germany; whilst in Italy and Spain, on 
 the other hand, painted tiles, although much less durable, are found 
 employed in the same manner. 
 

 \ 
 

 
 
JEWELLED BOTTLE” IN PORCELAIN. MANUFACTURED BY 
 COPELAND AND CO., STOKE-UPON-TRENT. 
 
 Museum of Ornamental Art. 
 
 This really elegant, and tasteful work affords a curious instance of 
 modern eclecticism in ornamental design, inasmuch as it is entirely 
 composed from motives and decorative processes borrowed from 
 several distinct sources. In the first place, the form of the piece is 
 taken from an ancient glass bocal, the handle exhibiting unequivocal 
 marks of this origin, in being evidently simply moulded from the glass 
 without the least change or adaptation ; and for this reason it is the 
 least successful detail of the work. The superadded decoration is also 
 copied from a specimen of ancient Italian jewelled embroidery on 
 velvet, engraved in Richardson’s work on Ornamental Design ; whilst 
 the idea of applying this species of ornamental decoration to porcelain 
 is just as felicitously taken from the so-called “jewelled porcelain,” 
 executed at Sevres under Louis XVI. In spite, however, of this com- 
 posite origin, the ensemble is rich and effective; and although by no 
 means an infallible test of excellence, the extended sale, which the 
 design has met with, has at least evinced the public opinion of its 
 merits : we must, therefore, regard the work as one of those instances, 
 in which the sagacious perception of an accomplished designer has been 
 able to make effective use of existing materials. The arrangement of 
 the composition is due to Mr. Thomas Battam, to whose taste and judg- 
 ment so many successful works produced by the well-known firm of 
 Copeland and Co. is owing. 
 

 
 
 
 
I 
 
 
SILVER- GILT SALVER— DUTCH OR FLEMISH, SEVENTEENTH- 
 CENTURY WORK. 
 
 In the Collection of W. Goldsmid, Esq. 
 
 Tins effective piece is an example of good and suggestive design of 
 a period and country not remarkable for excellence in that respect. 
 It is obvious that it is entirely of a decorative character ; and it is 
 remarkable what a rich effect has been obtained by a simple and 
 consistent, and at the same time inexpensive, mode of treatment. In 
 this example the most has been made of an expensive material ; 
 a cheap magnificence having been achieved, which, at the same time, 
 is really refined taste. 
 
 The piece is composed of thin sheet metal, the ornaments being 
 executed en repousse — i. e. hammered or embossed from the back — 
 in a style which, from its freedom, and crisp, sketchy execution, is 
 adapted to display the metal to the best advantage. The true 
 principles of design in goldsmiths’ work are indeed well exemplified 
 in this piece ; the variety of surface, and contrast of sharp and care- 
 fully modelled forms of details, allowing of an infinite play of light 
 and shade. It is probable that parts of the work — the handles, and 
 scroll ornament in the centre, for instance — were executed by a 
 mechanical process of stamping ; light metal work so executed, of 
 similar design, having been largely employed about that time, ( circa 
 1670), in Holland and Germany, in applique incrustation of picture 
 and mirror-frames, the decoration of cabinets, coffers, clocks, &c. 
 There can be no doubt but that modern mechanical skill would easily 
 devise methods for the cheap execution of decorative plate in this 
 style ; which, by the way, might be recommended to Birmingham 
 stamped-metal manufacturers, as an excellent model for their imitation, 
 especially as to treatment of relief. 
 

 

 \ 
 
EWER IN SILVER, PARCEL GILT. SPANISH OR ITALIAN. 
 SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY WORK. 
 
 Although florid, and even coarse in detail, this piece displays a 
 consistent style of treatment in keeping with the character of metal- 
 working, as distinguished from any other vehicle ; and this fact 
 of natural harmony of design, with the peculiar nature of the sub- 
 stance manipulated, in the absence of any other excellence, would 
 always constitute a claim for admiration ; just as, on the other 
 hand, wrongly -directed labour, however beautiful or surprising the 
 actual details of the work produced may he, will as certainly 
 fail to give any pleasure to the cultivated taste, whilst even the 
 ordinary observer will, for the same reason, although unable to 
 account for it, most likely experience an indefinite feeling of dis- 
 satisfaction sufficient to counterbalance his first impression of ad- 
 miration; and yet this perverse imitation of the characteristics of 
 style proper to one material, in another and incompatible one, is a 
 leading vice of modern decorative art. Formerly, when individual 
 labour and hand-work were the only means of production, every 
 substance was naturally wrought in the simplest and most expedi- 
 tious manner. Now, on the contrary, that all difficulties arising 
 from the nature of the material are overcome by the use of mechanical 
 processes, no such check on the untutored imagination of the producer 
 exists ; and the consequence is, that a system of blind copying is carried 
 on in industrial design. For instance, a vase such as the one repre- 
 sented would, if likely to sell, be immediately reproduced in pottery, 
 regardless of the entire incongruity of the design when embodied in a 
 fictile material. 
 
 It may here be objected, that as modern mechanical appliances 
 have overcome all difficulties of this nature, there can no longer be 
 
EWER IN SILVER. 
 
 any inconsistency in treating the material entirely ad libitum ; i. e. 
 that the natural resistance of the material to certain modes of work- 
 ing, or certain forms of design, should no longer be taken into 
 account. This, however, is a fallacy — the mind will always demand, 
 that there should be a natural harmony betwixt the design and the 
 vehicle of embodiment. Thus, pottery ornamented in high relief, in 
 the style of the goldsmith or the silver-chaser, will ever be an obvious 
 absurdity; just as silver plate in the rigid geometrical style of the 
 Etruscan vases, however pure and beautiful may be the form of the 
 pieces, or classically sparing the decoration, will be equally unsatis- 
 factory, because an equally evident mistake. Carpets with huge 
 bouquets of flowers in brilliant colours, highly relieved by natural 
 light and shade ; and furniture carved all over with forests of natural 
 foliage ; gas-burners and chandeliers simulating lotus flowers, and 
 twining convolvulus stems on frail acanthus scrolls, are all alike 
 inadmissible, for this one reason of want of fitness. These remarks 
 have been somewhat extended, because the error is one which, although 
 tacitly felt by almost every one, is not generally referred to its true 
 cause. In conclusion it should be observed, that the contrary charac- 
 teristic, as a general rule, holds good of design of former epochs, and in 
 many cases, even when positive merit of every other kind is wanting, 
 this one important quality will suffice to give the work a claim to our 
 notice and respect. 
 

 
 t 
 
 

 
COYER OF A GERMAN PRAYER-BOOK IN SILVER-GILT. 
 AUGSBURG WORK. Circa 1720. 
 
 Museum, of Ornamental Art. 
 
 Tins elaborate specimen of goldsmiths’ work is a production of the 
 later period of the Augsburg School. It displays a vigorous and 
 original style, and the execution is of correspondent merit. 
 

 
 
 r 
 
 
 
 

 
 r 
 
PEWTER FLAGON. ANCIENT GERMAN OR SWISS WORK. 
 Circa 1530. 
 
 Museum of Ornamental A rt. 
 
 The great size and unwieldiness of this massive piece seem to pre- 
 clude the possibility of its having been intended for use, at any rate 
 except on rare occasions of ceremony. It is not elaborate enough 
 in workmanship to have been executed as a piece de maitrise, or 
 pattern specimen of technical skill ; to which intent so many of the 
 decorative utensils preserved in collections were fabricated. The 
 probability therefore is, that it was a species of vidrecome, or loving 
 cup, of some ancient guild or corporation. It is a fine specimen of 
 the pewter wares, which were in such universal demand in ancient 
 times; and of which the last lingering vestiges in the shape of trenchers, 
 dishes, &c. for the table have only fallen into entire disuse within the 
 present generation. 
 
 The material is one that lends itself readily to relief-decoration 
 of a cheap and expeditious kind, by the processes of stamping and 
 casting ; and the genius of the Renaissance artists found in it a favourite 
 vehicle for the most elegant decoration. Ornamental embossing in 
 pewter seems first to have become general in Germany and Switzer- 
 land in the beginning of the sixteenth century, the present piece being 
 a notable specimen of this epoch : whilst in the latter part of the same 
 century, Francois Briot in France made himself a great name in art 
 mainly by his works in this material. The specimen now illustrated 
 is enriched with two bands or friezes of allegorical figures, in relief; 
 each of which appears to have been stamped separately on a square 
 plaque of metal, and afterwards adjusted to the piece by soldering. 
 In the centre space, or drum of the tankard, are three shields in 
 relief, formerly ornamented with armorial bearings, now, however, 
 defaced. The mouldings of the cover and base are enriched with 
 minute ornaments executed with punches. The entire height of the 
 piece is eighteen inches. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 

 

ROSEWATER BOTTLE, OR SPRINKLER, IN SILVER GILT, AND 
 ENAMELLED. RECENT INDIAN WORK. 
 
 Museum of Ornamental Art. 
 
 It is interesting to note how completely the love of colour pervades 
 all Indian art ; vehicles, seemingly the least adapted for its application, 
 are made to receive it in an infinity of ingenious methods, and it would 
 appear "evident, that a particular aptitude for chromatic decoration 
 is inherent in the race. In ornamental metal-work, for instance, 
 wherever enamel can be introduced, consistently with the use of the 
 object, we are pretty sure to find it employed in preference to any 
 other mode of decoration, — “ damasquinerie,” the essential charac- 
 teristic of which is contrast of tints, being in scarcely less general esti- 
 mation. 
 
 In enamelling on metals, the Indians display especial intelligence; 
 the depth of tint and liquid brilliancy of jewels seem alone to 
 have been considered equal in effect to gold; and consequently we 
 almost invariably see translucent enamels overlaying, but not destroying, 
 the lustre of the metal. In enamelling on silver, on the other hand, 
 we see an entirely different quality of tints employed ; opaque colours 
 are here perceived to be more in harmony with the comparatively 
 crude tint of the recipient metal— opaque orange, turquoise, green, &c. 
 being in this latter case just as frequently employed as the rich trans- 
 parent ruby, deep emerald, violet, &c. on gold. 
 
 The beautiful vessel now illustrated is an example of the richer 
 kind of enamel on a ground of gold, and is in every respect a most 
 characteristic example of Hindoo taste ; it is of recent origin, and was 
 executed at Dholepore, in Raj poo tana. The process employed is of the 
 simplest description, being in fact the most ancient and rudimentary 
 method of enamelling, viz. the “Champlevc” process; the various 
 ornamental forms being engraved or hollowed out below the surface, 
 and then filled in with fusible enamels, which, when submitted to the 
 action of heat, melt into a transparent glass. In the elegant form of 
 the piece a fanciful resemblance to the root, bulb, stem, and flower of a 
 bulbous plant may be traced, which is not unlikely to have been inten- 
 tional on the part of the designer. 
 

 
 ' 
 
 
SPICE-BOX IN SILVER GILT, ENRICHED WITH TRANSLUCENT 
 ENAMELS. RECENT INDIAN WORK. 
 
 Museum of Ornamental Art. 
 
 This richly-decoratecl object is of the same origin as the rose-water 
 sprinkler previously described, having been manufactured at Dholepore, 
 in Rajpootana. Both the decorative processes and style of design are 
 similar: additional lustre is, however, given to the upper part, by the 
 cut crystals which are set in the end of each compartment, and the 
 cluster of flowers forming the centre knop or handle. 
 

 
 

 
 
I 
 

 
 
 
KNOCKER, IN WROUGHT IRON. FRENCH OR GERMAN WORK. 
 Circa 1500-20. AND DAGGER IN CAST AND CHISELLED IRON, 
 MODERN, IMITATION OF SIXTEENTH-CENTURY WORK. 
 
 Tiie knocker is one of the best specimens of artistic iron-work that 
 lias come down to ns from the early Renaissance period ; it was 
 entirely executed by hand with the file and chisel, and is just such a 
 work as the famous blacksmith, Quentin Matsys, may be supposed 
 to have produced. The small statuettes represent John the Baptist, 
 the executioner, and the daughter of Herodias with the charger. 
 It was formerly in the possession of the architect Pugin. Beneath 
 it, in the plate, may be observed a small key, also obtained from 
 the same collection ; it is an exquisite specimen of fifteenth-century 
 work, alike perfect in design and execution. 
 
 The dagger is a modern imitation, or reproduction of an ancient 
 Swiss or German weapon. 
 
 The knocker and the key, but not the dagger, are in the Marl- 
 borough House collection. 
 


 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
CHISELLED STEEL KEYS OF THE SIXTEENTH AND 
 SEVENTEENTH CENTURIES. 
 
 In the Collection of Arthur Tupper, Esq. 
 
 The careful and expensive elaboration of the minutest details of ancient 
 decorative works, as a general rule, is in nothing more strongly evinced 
 than in keys and lock furniture. The scutcheons of locks, it is true, 
 form an integral part of the design of a piece of furniture : but keys 
 of elaborate design, as they are seldom left in the locks, can either only 
 have been intended for the gratification of the few persons using them, 
 (in which case the labour and expense bestowed on them seem more 
 than commensurate with this intention), or were so elaborated simply to 
 gratify an abstract sense of perfection. The latter, indeed, is probably 
 the true explanation. 
 


 
IRON SHIELD EXECUTED IN REPOUSSE OR HAMMERED WORK. 
 SUBJECT, THE APOTHEOSIS OF ROME. AUGSBURG WORK. 
 
 Dated 1552. 
 
 This extraordinary work is undoubtedly one of the most important 
 specimens of art, displayed in alliance with the armourer’s craft, now 
 extant. It was entirely executed by hand from a sheet or disk of 
 malleable iron, the composition being beaten up from the back with 
 hammers and punches, and the surface afterwards chiselled and 
 finished with the burin. The artist has recorded his name and the 
 date of the completion of the work, in the following inscription 
 engraved around the Medusa’s head, which forms the boss or umbo of 
 the shield: — “ Georgius . Sigman . aurifex . Auguste . hoc . opus 
 perfecit . anno Domini m.d.lii. Mense August, die xxvii.” 
 
 The author was thus one of the famous old goldsmiths of the 
 imperial city of Augsburg, and there can be little doubt but that the 
 shield was executed for some great historic personage of the 16th 
 century. It was obtained for the Marlborough House Museum 
 from the Fejervary collection, having been formerly in the celebrated 
 collection of Count Wiczay, of Hungary. 
 
p,4 
 
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