Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 2.djvu/179

Rh most admired productions, I well remember his expression of surprise that while travelling far and near in accumulating his extensive materials for the history of the Dance, he should have entirely overlooked so evident a description, as that which he at once recognised in Chaucer's lines. 

interesting field of enquiry presents itself to the student of mediæval antiquities, in the artistic processes, now obsolete or imperfectly practised, which formerly contributed to give to the decorations, utensils, and various objects of sacred or ordinary use, a character of originality and elegance, devoid of any high perfection in proportion or design, but sufficient to render the examples, which have been preserved to our days, in no slight degree attractive. The investigation of the origin and progress of these arts during successive centuries is a research not merely curious in itself, shewing how they were derived by more remote tradition from Greece or Egypt, or in more recent times from the East, from Italy, or other countries, through the medium of commercial and political intercourse; but taken in an extended view, it may assist the student in forming a just apprehension of the progressive influence of those international relations, and their power to modify the prevalent tastes and character of nations. Amongst the artistic applications of ornament, there is none perhaps more deserving of attention than the art of the enameller, on account of the high antiquity of its origin, its attractive character, and the infinite variety of purposes, connected with the refinements of progressive civilization, to which it was applied.

The specimens now to be found are for the most part defaced and mutilated; the best works were at all times executed on the precious metals, and these, on account of the intrinsic value of the object, have almost totally disappeared and been