Page:Once a Week Volume 7.djvu/186

178 bottom of the cup; the transparent enamel being held together merely by the fine lines of the filagree gold; this remarkable work is probably of the 14th century.

There are numerous choice examples of the process called “champ-levé.” Here the copper-surface is chiselled out into the pattern required, in the same way that a wood block is prepared for printing; the cavities are then filled with many coloured enamels, and the whole ground down to a smooth surface, and the metal lines gilt. This process was practised extensively at Limoges during the thirteenth century.

A whole case is filled with very fine examples of the later Limoges enamels; a sort of revival of the art established by Francis I. about 1530, and adopted by Leonard Limousin. They are simply surface paintings, enamelled on copper; the colours used are frequently very rich and effective, especially in those portraits having a background of the deepest blue. Many fine works were produced “en grisaille,” that is, the drawings were executed with white opaque enamel on black ground, the flesh tints were coloured, and the whole heightened with gold, thus producing a very harmonious effect. At the beginning of the 18th century the art sunk into utter imbecility.

The practice of enamelling was by no means confined to Limoges. Germany had a school of its own, as well as Italy; to one of these latter schools must be ascribed the very curious cup lent by Lord Arundell of Wardour; it is ornamented en grisaille, heightened with gold, both inside and out; the subject is the old story of the monkeys, who having stripped the traveller of his clothing whilst asleep, are scampering from tree to tree, each carrying some article of attire; it is full of the most playful fancy, and of wondrous delicacy of execution.

Another very remarkable example of the enameller’s art is to be found in a pair of stirrups, sent by Mr. Forman; they are of the same form as those used in Turkey and in the south of Spain at the present day, having a square foot-rest with high rounded sides; they are ornamented with bands of the most delicate filagree gold, filled in with translucent enamel; the remaining portion is nielloed, that is, the surface in silver is slightly incised, and the interstices blackened with a preparation of sulphur; the arabesque pattern of this niello is very charming. The whole work is doubtless Italian, and is an unique example of this choice mode of decoration being applied to such a purpose. The price of five hundred guineas was not thought too much for the purchase of these fine things; and one can only marvel at what must have been the cost of a mediaeval “mount,” if the other trappings bore any proportion to the value of the stirrups.

Baron Lionel Rothschild, as becomes a millionaire of the first class, has a case all to himself. One of the most noteworthy things here is an antique Roman vase of coloured glass—if glass it be—it is a work of the lower empire, probably of the third or fourth century; the ornamentation consists of figures cut in high relief, and of foliage so completely undercut, that the different parts are only attached by projecting points; the colour of the material is a sort of sage green, but the effect when seen by transmitted light is very beautiful; the ground becomes a delicate pink, and the thicker portions a lovely mauve. This rare object has almost its match in the corresponding angle of the case, where is seen a sculptured cup, cut out of a single topaz, larger than an ostrich’s egg; it is mounted in cinque-cento enamel; the supports are formed by dragons in green and gold, the whole profusely sown with diamonds; a larger dragon, of the same costly material, forms the handle. This is a very choice example of mounting, and well illustrates the admirable way in which the Italian artists of that period used diamonds to give a life and brilliancy to their enamelled jewellery; a much more judicious employment of these precious stones than in the stiff, cold, silver setting of the present day, where all the interest centres in the value and sparkle of the stones, rather than on any artistic efforts which should have been bestowed upon the mounting. Another glorious example of this enamelled and jewelled mounting is to be found in the beautiful sardonyx cup sent by Mr. Beresford Hope. This mode of enamelling differs entirely from that of Limoges: it was practised in Italy by Cellini and others during the cinque-cento period. It was not confined to surface ornament; figures in high relief, and sometimes detached altogether, were minutely and exquisitely modelled, as may be seen in the jewel exhibited by Mr. Holford. Here, on an oval plaque, some three inches by four, is represented the whole subject of the Last Judgment; a multitude of figures is shown, surmounted by the angelic host, and our Lord resting on a rainbow; this is represented by fine opals, whose iridescent lustre conveys ingeniously, but somewhat clumsily, the idea of ethereal matter.

There are some fine specimens exhibited of the long-neglected art of damascening. This art, like so many others, was early practised in the East, especially at Damascus, hence the name; but subsequently with great success by the workers of Milan and Venice in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. These works in iron were formed by roughening the whole surface of the metal with a fine graver; the ornaments, for the most part consisting of thin threads of gold, were then fixed by means of pressure: the whole was afterwards burnished, which restored the ground, where not covered by the gold, to nearly its original polish. The table sent by the Duke of Hamilton, and the toilet mirror resting upon it, are fine examples of the process. The shield belonging to the Queen, and sent from the guardroom at Windsor, is another example of this mode of treatment. Here, the value of damascened work as an auxiliary to iron is shown in the great richness and warmth it gives to this otherwise cold material.

A very magnificent specimen of chased iron work, depending only on its own material, is seen in the chair sent from Longford Castle, perhaps the richest and most tasteful of its kind known. It was presented to the Emperor Rudolph II. by the City of Augsburg in 1574; it is adorned with small statues and reliefs of the most delicate workmanship, representing numerous events;