Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 8.djvu/563

 NOTICES OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL I'UHI-ICATIONS. •131 THE DECORATIVE ARTS OF THE MIDDLE AGES, ECCLESIASTICAL AND CIVIL. Uy IIe.nky Siuw, F.S.A. L<)n.i..ii : I'iekui-ing. Iini)crittl ftvo KI.M. HERE are many iiifliieiitiul causes wiiich, in recent times, — more especially during tlic jmst nicinorablo year, have tendeti to en- courage a profjrc'.-sive ap- preciation of llioHC varied and tasteful productions, which the work before us is destined to illustrate. In a former volume of the Journal,^ the attention of archaeological enquirers was invited to the series, by which Mr. Shaw, with the reproductive power of his skilful pencil, had placed before them the " Dresses and Decorations" of by- gone times, in all their rich variety. It seemed well devised, by that selection of instructive examples, to lead the admirers of middle-age works to discern with precision the features of various periods ; since a correct knowledge of costume, however trivial it may sometimes appear, must be regarded almost as the key to the chronology of all medieval art ; — with the aid, however, so essential to the enquiry, of that distinctive character in the pro- gressive forms of ornament, and their peculiar development in ditferent countries, which stamps the productions of that period. It' is foreign to the present purpose to enter upon the consideration, whether too large a share of popular esteem may have been bestowed of late upon medieval, to the exclusion of classical, art : or to weigh the measure of congeniality with our National dispositions, which may have influenced the predilections of present times. Another, perhaps a more material subject of enquiry, in the actual taste for medieval imitations, must also be here deferred ; namely, the legitimate principle, which should regulate these reproductions, and the application of obsolete models, to the requirements of our own age. Whilst, for the present, it may suffice to regard all these works of taste and genius, whether for sacred or domestic uses, as an essential part of the history of social development, as eminently characteristic of the peculiar feelings, of the manners, the daily life of times long past, the appearance of works, such as that under con- sideration, must be hailed with grateful satisfaction. For, so long as no facilities for study and comparison are afforded in this country, through any National collection of decorative art, it is only by such faithful reproductions of characteristic examples, as those for which we ' Archaeological Journal, vol. i., p. -04.