Page:Architectural Record 1920-08 Vol 48 Iss 2.djvu/95

 THE

face than is found on the usual flat wrought work of today.

The other fastener, being of the vertical type, would be quite uninteresting were it not for the singular way in which it is modeled. The upper half is grooved, while the lower half been sort of pendant which is elliptical in sec- tion.

The foot has sturdy and uncompromising lines, decided- ly different in character from its contem- poraries, the quaintly scrolled and twisted

This

has wrought into a

scraper exceptionally

nevertheless, be speaks an sense of proportion and with the rigidity reminiscent of the fine old Quaker spirit The shutter hook and catch found in An- notice; here use and attractiveness are combined. The catch is strip of metal which gives the hook until the latter slips past and is caught. At the top is a scythe-like handle for its

type. specimen, excellent

delicacy, combined

napolis are worth of only a sheet

under pressure of the of the hook release. These examples are typical of the charm merican crafts-

and distinction of early

manship

VERNA CooK SALOMONSKY.

Innate paternal regard for an aesthetic offspring rarely permits the sculp- tor or painter to cast it adrift on the sea of anonymity. The archi- tect, apparently esteem- ing sentiment incom- patible with an unemotional art, abandons his intellectual progeny by the roadside, without tag or identifying mark. The desire to trace a cause or reason for such action, propose another course, is the motive of this article.

ray of light was recently cast upon the subject in the writer’s mind while reading the introduction to Adolph Lange’s “Dic- tionnaire des Architectes Francais” (Paris, 1872). This erudite work imparts many in- teresting and obscure facts encountered in patient and wide research, relative to the practice of architecture in pre-Renaissance days in France; it also treats of emolu- ments and strange customs affecting the welfare of its practitioners. Incidentally he treats of the with which their

contracts ratified in lieu

The Architect's Signature on

His Work

and to

seals and were of signature, the art of writing previous to the latter half of the fifteenth century be-

deeds

ARCHITECTURAL

RECORD.

ing practiced almost exclusively by clerks and notaries.

Sixty-nine of these seals are reproduced in the work in line engraving from wax impressions extant on ancient documents, dating as far back as the early part of the From the study of these decorative emblems the thought matured, to the that they might prove the basis for a solution to a much mooted question—the signed building. The sugges- tion latent in these devices may become sufficiently potent to reverse the existing attitude, and induce the architect to iden- tify himself directly with his work, in a manner open to criticism than the methods occasionally resorted to.

The architect has long been the subject for unjust professional discrimination, in- asmuch as his name does not figure as a matter of course upon his work. The sig- nature of the originator in other arts is recognized as his title to the inception of the idea developed. If we judge the view of the architectural profession by the procedure of the majority, we must as- sume that conviction is almost unanimous- ly in favor of anonymity. In spite of the

twelfth century.

effect

less

overwhelming evidence of custom, we have equally voluminous proof that a voluntary

disassociation of the individual from his work in any practice of the creative arts is contrary to instinct and temperament.

The attitude of the layman to the signed work by the painter or sculptor is that it is an essential item necessary to ensure the maximum value of the original; but he instinctively views the name of the archi- tect carved on the base of the building with a mixed feeling of distaste and dis- trust, while recognizing the right of every originator to be identified with his work.

The question of the signed building is replete with complexities. An examination of the relative merits of circumstances and prejudices might enlighten us as to whether the principle errs against the code of good taste, or whether the fashion in which the name has figured is to blame.

The fact is indisputable that we regard the signature on a work of art at a widely separate angle from that on an edifice; therefore it is necessary to discover what a signature implies when affixed to a paint- ing, and in what essential it differs when figuring on a building, where it surprises us unpleasantly.

In a painting, the source of sentimental prestige is mainly contained in handicraft: that is to say, we attach the greater impor- tance to the fact that the work is the

173