Sep
24
Renaissance Jewellery and Precious Stones
September 24, 2009 | Leave a Comment
Another Nuremberg pewterer working in the same style was Albrecht
Preissensin, a colleague of Horchhaimer. The large bowls made by both
men are usually decorated with scenes from the Passion or from classical
mythology; their small bowls have only arabesque motifs and are much
sought after by collectors.
Relief pewter decorated using the Lyons technique was also made in
Nuremberg, one of the best-known craftsmen being Kaspar Eilderlein
who achieved his fame by making exact copies of the Temperantia Dish
made by Briot.
Jewelry
The significant difference between Renaissance jewelry and the jewelry
of the Middle Ages was that the former concentrated on jewels for the
body rather than for dress. The bracelet became popular, false hair was
worn and adorned with chaplcts of pearls and narrow headbands with
a star-shaped gem at the forehead were worn by many women around
1500. Earrings, finger rings and pendants were all worn to set off a
woman’s body rather than her dress.
The most important jewel during the Renaissance, holding pride of
place, is undoubtedly the pendant and it is in this form that the finest
examples of the jeweller’s art are to be found, many achieving the stature
of miniature sculpture. By the beginning of the 16th century, the subject
matter of the greater part of these jewels was almost exclusively pictorial
or involved in the portrayal of figures in one form or another, often
within an elaborate architectural frame. Noted exceptions are the designs
by Hans Holbein, the celebrated court painter of Henry V111. His work
mainly emphasizes the use of precious stones for their own sake in an
esse 1 ially non-figurative composition with the sole addition of coloured
enai lei and engraving.
T n* ability to attribute a jewel to a particular country is very rare with
piec :s made during this period. 1 lolbcin was nol an artist craftsman, but
mere y produced designs which were (lien executed by a goldsmith,
probably Hans of Antwerp. This trend was being carried out in the rest
of E urope as jewellers issued pattern books of engraved designs which
: gradually circulated from country to country.
infiltration of Renaissance taste and ideals from Northern Italy
le rest of Europe evoked a hunger for the new jewelry in the rising
it courts of France, Germany, England, the Low Countries and
Benvenuto Cellini, perhaps the archetypal Renaissance artist
tsrnan, himself worked for a time under the patronage of Francois I
in F rpnee, while in Germany, Nuremberg and Augsburg quickly estab-
themselves as great centres of the goldsmith’s art, the latter centre
ng Vergil Solis (1514-62) whose widely published designs were
extrbmely influential. Other worthy designers are Androuet Ducerceau,
Daniel Mignot, Etienne Delaune and Theodore de Bruy.
T ie formidable wealth that Spain was to enjoy through the coloniza-
tion Of the Americas and the vast quantities of gold and precious stones
ther :py made available, rendered the Spanish court an important patron,
Ir turn, the jewelry produced in Spain at this time lead European
fash ons from around 1540 until the Thirty Years War. Typical of the
shoi tlgold chains. In France and England, such chains were usually worn
by men and were particularly popular with Henry VIII. They were
liven to ambassadors and other people who had rendered a service
King. In Flanders and Germany, similar chains were worn by
in.
rise in interest in time-keeping, astronomy and astrology was
reflected in the jewelry of the late 16th century. For instance, rings were
lilted with watches or miniature astronomical instruments. An example
of t ie former, now in the Schatzkammer der Residenz in Munich, has
the vatch set in a hexagonal case with a winged lid thai opens to show
Ihe Crucifixion scene in coloured enamels. An assay mark suggests il
was made in Augsburg in 15X1). Another surviving ring of this period
opens out into a simple astrolabe. Astrology, which had been imported
into Europe in the Middle Ages from the Middle East, was in vogue in the
16tl tentury and rings and pendants showing the signs of the zodiac
ofte 1 mixed with Christian symbolism became common. Talismanic
jewt li;y was also popular - a piece of red coral set in enamelled gold for
instance, was believed to protect against a blood vessel bursting. A novel
typa af talismanic jewelry found in Italy was the ‘fica’. The ‘fica’ is a
gestjire, usually considered obscene, which involves placing the thumb
betv een the middle and index finger of a closed fist or alternatively form-
ing circle with the index finger and thumb. The gesture however, was
also considered protective by the Romans and Greeks centuries earlier
and in the 16th century fica-shaped talismans of gold, silver and ivory
bee: i ie popular, the wearers believing either that they would be pro-
tected or that they would have an assurance of fertility.
The art of the gem engraver reached its peak in this century with Milan
as the undisputed centre. The Milan craftsmen were encouraged by
Emperor Rudolph II who personally employed many Milanese cameo-
cutters. What has become known as ‘Rudolphinian art’ was the curious
interest of the Emperor in having vessels cut out of semi-precious stones,
cameos and gold in pursuance of an ancient belief in the supposed
medicinal powers of these materials.
As the 16th century progressed and the High Renaissance gave way to
the elaborate ornamentation and excesses of Mannerism, so jewelry
quickly adapted to the new taste and fashion. Designs for pendants in
particular reflected the peculiarly bizarre nature of all ornament at this
time as, gradually, the link with painting and sculpture was abandoned
in the search for more and more exotic motifs. Mythology remained a
major source of inspiration, but interest also lay in fabulous creatures
such as mermaids and mermen, nereids and hippocamps. The large,
misshapen baroque pearl, previously thought unsuitable for jewelry,
was seized upon to suggest the bodies of such creatures, the figure
completed in richly enamelled goldwork.
No element of the composition was left unembellished, or any surface
left plain and unenriched with coloured enamels or stones. Dress designs,
too, reflect this obsession with decoration in the extraordinary com-
bination of elaborate patterns and rich fabrics, jewelry being used in
profusion to add colour and opulence to the general effect.
Throughout the 16th century there had been a gradual move away
from minute and elaborate enamelled figures and finely worked gold
towards a greater emphasis on gemstones themselves. This trend was to
be consolidated during the following century, radically affecting the
history of jewelry design. It was a movement which was echoed in all the
decorative arts as the elaboration and profusion of Mannerism gave way
to the sustained opulence and dignity of the Baroque.
The upheavals of the Reformation as well as outbreaks of bubonic
plague took their toll and effectively ended the great days of church
embroidery, but by the 16th century needlework was already taking on
a new emphasis. It was now based firmly on a secular footing in the courts
of royalty and in the homes of the rich, who adorned themselves and their
furnishings with an increasingly exotic array of embroidered fabrics.
Blackwork was a form of embroidery widespread in the 16th century
but which died out early in the 17th. It consisted of all-over designs of
trailing tendrils and leaves interspersed with flowers, fruit and animals
worked in black silk on linen. Sometimes gold and silver threads were
introduced for richer effect. Blackwork is said to have originated in
Spain, where it developed from Moorish work. It soon became popular
for collars, caps, cuffs, shirts and other clothing.
Victoria and Albert Museum has panels of ivory damask and
on satin embroidered with gold.
hile Italy, France and Flanders excelled in the production of lace
tapestries, England reigned supreme in the realms of domestic
an
embjroidery. English ladies covered bed-hangings, cushions, wall panels
am , of course, costumes, in a profusion of flowers, birds, butterflies and
an nals worked in wools on canvas, or silks on linen. They look their
des gns from woodcut illustrations in newly available books, from
hei rials and, increasingly as the century wore on, from books of designs
esp Bcially published for embroiderers. These came from the presses of
Ita y, Switzerland, France, the Low Countries and England, and con-
tin ted to be used by many generations of domestic embroideresses.
habit - which was universal - of using favourite old designs for
embroidery, makes dating extremely difficult, and, in the absence of other
evii lence like a date or supporting document, embroideries are notoriously
hai I (o place within 50 years or so.
16th-century development was the working of samplers as a method
of ecording stitches and designs. The earliest ‘exemplars’, as they were
cal ed, are generally worked in coloured silks on linen and they must have
pre vided invaluable reference material at a time when embroiderers’
des ign books were still rare and expensive. Often they formed long strips
of nalerial and were clearly added to over many years.
some scholars are of the opinion that the quality of em-
broidery declined from the end of the 15th century until about 1575, all
agr ft that the Elizabethan period saw a remarkable advance. Probably
this had much to do with the ever-increasing popularity of embroidery
am >ng lay-people which in turn spurred on the embroiderer’s guilds.
Elibeth granted its first charter to the Broders’ Company in 1561. The
que en herself may have given embroidery new life, being an embroiderer
of lb small ability. Since most of her clothes were richly embroidered it
wa i Inevitable that the middle classes sought to follow the royal fashion.
Sep
24
16-18th Century Jewellery
September 24, 2009 | Leave a Comment
Good jewelry of any period speaks to us in many ways. It says much of
the designer’s love of precious materials, it betrays the manufacturer’s
skills with metals, enamels and stones, it shows, very often, an attempt to
express in miniature a notion of perfection and it also says a great deal
about the person who purchased it and wore it and about the society in
wjhich he or she lived. Jewels were designed not only to be admired from
a instance, but also to be handled and the collector or enthusiast is always
limited if his knowledge is restricted to viewing pieces behind glass in a
museum or shop.
To handle a piece of jewelry is to experience its particular charm, its
own special magic, the magic that early craftsmen imbued in all their
work. Pick up a fine 17th-century pendant and turn it over. The illusion
is. not immediately shattered, but sustained through fine modelling and
engraving. There is no facade behind which the supports, struts and
scaffolding may be plainly seen. Jewels were designed to be viewed in
llie round, like a piece of sculpture.
Primitive societies recognized this mystical element in jewelry and
Jewelry
buried pieces with their dead as talismans and amulets to serve the ov ‘ner
in the afterlife. With the advent of the Christian epoch, however, this
custom was to die out and as a result we know more about the jeweliy of
classical Greece and Rome than about the medieval period.
Another major contributor to the scarcity of early examples lies wi thin
the jewels themselves. The materials used in jewelry have three major
elements in common: first, and perhaps principally, beauty; secordly,
rarity; and thirdly, durability. It is this last element, the durability ol’the
materials, which allows the continual re-working and remodellin > to
follow the vagaries of fashion and taste, that has spelt destruction fc r so
many early and fine examples of the art.
The 14th Century
The first decades of the 14th century were an age of Gothic romanticism
and love of natural beauty that was reflected in the jewelry of the t me.
The scope of the jeweller was being broadened by the increasing abund-
ance of gemstones and by the advent of pointed and table-cut diamonds
lo complement the existing cabochons. Enamelling was also an inno-
vative area, marked by the discovery of translucent enamels around 1J00.
The early application of the new enamels involved covering a flat relief
engraving in silver with a transparent film of enamel so allowing the
background to reflect in colour.
One of the great techniques of the Gothic enameller was etna I de
plique the use of translucent cloisonne enamelling on gold. The method
was practised only in the 13th and 14th centuries and may have origin ited
in Paris. Notable surviving examples are the falcons sewn on a pal otto
of brocade given by Archbishop Carandolet (1520-44) to the Cathedral
of Palermo.
The increasing use of gemstones in the 14th century led to them being
regulated by law and in 1331 a law was passed in Paris forbiddinj the
use of paste gems, while in 1355 jewellers were forbidden to use rivei and
oriental pearls together, or to use coloured foil as a backing for some
cabochon-set stones.
Finger rings were popular throughout the 13th and 14th centuries) and
unlike earlier examples they were not always based on classical des gns.
Instead, greater attention was paid to simple elegance and refined 1 nes.
Two rings of this period, now in the Victoria and Albert Museum, one
a sapphire and the other a ruby ring, have such simple, clean lines that
could just as easily have been made in recent years. Cabochons were used
for rings until the late Middle Ages, while the claw setting conti med
into the Gothic period, although it began to be overtaken by the u»e of
high collets fashioned to follow the lines of the stone. The lover’s ring
originated at this time and was often inscribed with simple pro>e or
verse.
As the 14th century progressed more exotic tastes in jewelry beiame
evident at the French Court and throughout Europe jewelry had
achieved such social significance that its use was regulated by law tb the
extent that what a person could or could not wear in the way of jewelry
was determined by his social standing.
Head ornaments and belts were becoming fashionable, the fcjrmer
often reaching quite fanciful heights, while belts were studded with gold
of enamel plaques on silk or gold tissue. The number of buttons and
a Qessories on all kinds of dress was increasing and any opportunity to
wear still more jewelry was welcomed. It was during this period that
jewels began to be worn as individual ornamentation, separate from
their function as dress adornment and the jeweller towards the end of
the 14th century, though still heavily controlled and restricted by the
courts of Europe began to show a new freedom of style that eventually
b ossomed in the 15th century.
The 15th Century
The wind of revolution that blew through all the arts in Europe during
the 15th century also had a dramatic effect on jewelry. For the first time
the jeweller was able to emerge from the goldsmiths’ guilds, where he
had been confined throughout the Middle Ages to manufacturing litur-
1 objects under the patronage of the Church, or jewels commissioned
by princes or noblemen, and to develop his art alongside his colleagues qo1mc
in painting and sculpture. Indeed, the new style evident in jewelry of
this period may be partly attributable to painters and sculptors such as
Verrochio, Pollaiuolo, Brunelleschi and Botticelli, many of whom
ted their careers in the goldsmith’s workshop.
Jewelry, thus freed from the constraints of the Church, was allowed
develop freely and become a perfect expression of individual taste, a
ns of personal expression that was to prove indispensable to the
lay of prosperity of the emergent mercantile classes. Exploration
trade overseas was already adding to the materials available to the
st craftsman. This, combined with the general increase in wealth
ent throughout Europe, accounts for the extraordinary number of
Is which survive even today, testifying to the ostentation and
lendour of the time.
(Unlike painting and sculpture. Renaissance jewelry was not a redis-
covery and celebration of classical Greece and Rome, rather it borrowed
from these sister arts, especially sculpture, to develop a pictorial vocabu-
lary of its own. It is likely the general techniques of goldworking had
ived since the classical period, but there were very few pieces avail-
for study. Perhaps the only direct link with Greece and Rome was
ugh the revival of the glyptic art (the technique of carving and
igraving hardstones) with the result that many classical cameos were
copied, imitated, and incorporated into rings, brooches and pendants.
Jewellers also borrowed certain decorative motifs from the antique -
the arabesque and scrollwork that Raphael had popularized through his
decoration of the loggie at the Vatican, and the grotesques inspired by
the frescoes discovered in the ‘grottos’ of the Baths of Petrus.
The emphasis during this period was upon harmony of design and
craftsmanship rather than a display of wealth. This is not to say that
stones were unpopular, rather they were incorporated into a design for
their chromatic value and emphasized through the subtle use of coloured
enamel and elaborate settings. The most common type of cutting of this
period is the table-cut, where, as the name implies, the stone was roughly
faceted so that it displayed a flat top, though many coloured stones re-
mained en cabochon, like a pebble. Settings were generally of a square.
famidal design with the top edges lapped over to retain the stone, very
Jewelry
often with the additional ornament of imitation claws. The jewels them-
selves were nearly always pictorial in design, or at least contaijned
pictorial elements drawn from the wide range of subject matter which
the new literature had made available. These included subjects tajken
from classical mythology, romance and heroic poetry, as well as medi :val
symbolic images such as the ‘pelican in her piety’, and, of course, the
mythical unicorn.
Perhaps the most original type of jewel to be created during this period
was the hat badge or enseigne, which derives from the medieval pilgrim
sign, and was quickly adopted to display the taste and individuality of
the wearer through the choice of subject matter. Many of the conlem-
porary portraits illustrate quite clearly how the jewel was worn. The
most notable perhaps, are those by Francois Clouet, Bartolom ueo
Veneto and Holbein.
The signet ring served the same purpose as the enseigne in exhib ting
the personality and individuality of the wearer. These were often set vith
an intaglio of either contemporary or classical manufacture, or engraved
with a device, monogram or cipher to act as a seal. Other rings vere
more elaborate, often richly enamelled and with caryatid suppor s to
the high collet, or set with portrait cameos or miniatures. Diamonds
were used in the natural octahedral form so that the point of the stone
protruded from the collet, allowing the owner to use it as a scribe on
glass. Rings were also used to celebrate certain events. The most at rac-
tive are those connected with betrothals or weddings, most notably the
fecle ring where the bezel is formed by a pair of hands clasping a heart or
stone. Mourning rings were also popular, the shanks engraved with
s eletons, the bezels set with death’s heads or coffins. Contemporary
portraits indicate how liberally rings were worn, gracing every ringer,
n the thumb, and very often the first and second joints as well,
ecklaces were worn in profusion and were generally of exceptional
lejnjgth, encircling the throat several times and cascading over the bodice.
Many different types were often worn together, contributing to the
opulent effect. Chains of plaited wire had survived in popularity since
tl e Middle Ages and were augmented by more elaborate designs in-
corporating plaques and cartouches enriched with enamelled grotesques
ajid arabesques and set with various gems. Pearls strung into long ropes
a n also evident in the portraits of the time, and were often hung in
ft stoons at the middle of the bodice from a central brooch.
jbroidery - the embellishing of fabric with stitches - was already a
1-established craft in 16th-century Europe. For several centuries
professional embroiderers had been among the most respected of crafts-
men, their art linked with that of the illuminator. Most of them, at least
in England and France, were organized into powerful guilds which, by
maintaining high standards of workmanship and by protecting the
ii ffirests of the embroiderers, helped to ensure the high standing of the
craft.
Sep
24
Metalwork Antiques, Silver and Gold Items
September 24, 2009 | Leave a Comment
Domestic Metalwork
while the bits (the parts that move the wards in the lock) are cut with
such complication and precision that they look like gatherings of Gothic
lace. Later there was a tendency for the bows to be cast, but the iecora-
tion did not diminish.
Apart from locks and keys, the benchworker made many other objects,
including furniture fittings (hinges, bolts and key-escutcheons), nails
with ornamental heads, judas grilles (which were fitted to door; so the
householder could see who was knocking), door knockers, ca; kets (a
very beautiful group), sewing accessories, tableware, bag frame ,, seals,
candlesticks, lecterns, and even statuettes.
The benchworker’s tools were made as.beautifully as his products.
Hammers, vices, chisels, hacksaws, shears, tongs, small lathes an i many
others were as carefully wrought and as elegantly decorated as th; locks,
keys and other artefacts that came from their owners’ worksho ds.
The surface decoration of benchwork is finely conceived and ; pplied.
Some objects, such as jewelry (even finger rings were made) wer : gilded
all over. But the commonest decoration was by engraving, etching or,
especially in the earlier work, by sculpting. Fretwork and castings were
also used, the former being sometimes underlaid with leather, v:lvet or
cloth, when it is called marouflage. Some doorplates thus decor; ted are
at King’s College Chapel, Cambridge, England (early 16th cent lry).
One of the most attractive forms of surface decoration was dama-
scening, also used on fine armour. The name is taken from Dai nascus,
a centre for swordsmiths, where the craft originated; it was perhaps
introduced by such craftsmen into Spain during the Arab rule, wt ence its
use must have spread over Europe. It consists of making undercut
dovetailed grooves on the object to be decorated, filling them with silver,
gold or copper wire and hammering it so that it fills them out, and
becomes keyed in position.
Not all of the work was small scale. Large coffers with complicated
locks, for containing treasure or documents, were not uncommcn. Such
a specimen as the 16th century coffer in the Archaeological Museum,
Madrid, Spain, must have been almost impossible to penetrate without
a key. It is also superbly decorated, especially on the handles, lock
escutcheon and even on the actual mechanism of the lock.
Another large object is the wrought iron chandelier in the church of
Vreden, Westphalia, Germany (1489). This consists of a big rinj of fret-
work, around which are Gothic niches containing statuettes of saints,
in front of each of which is a little crown surrounding a candleholder.
Above all of this, in the centre, is a figure of the Virgin and Child s tanding
on a crescent moon, with rays of glory surrounding them. Above this
statuette is a hexagonal structure again decorated with fretwork i ind with
applied lettering; at each corner is a little spire, and the whole i in turn
surmounted by two more figures and further spires and at the apex is
yet another spire and a little coronet.
Benchwork was used also in Italy, where some of its finest products
were lanterns. Four, on the Strozzi Palace in Florence, are in the form of
hexagonal temples; they were made by Nicolo Grosso, called Caparra,
in 1500. Another, by the same craftsman, derived with variations from
the same design, is on the Guadagni Palace in the same city. This ilassical
detailing is completely of the Renaissance, yet the lanterns were made at
a tine when the Gothic style still prevailed in most other parts of Europe.
I forged ironwork was used for domestic utensils throughout this
period, but not much is left. The expensive items made in benchwork
would have received special care and therefore have had a greater chance
of survival. Nevertheless, some things remain, including items of furni-
ture. Such is the 16th century gilded wrought iron four-poster bed, pro-
bably of Sicilian make, now in the Bagatti Valsecchi House, Milan, Italy.
It is elaborately wrought with twisted uprights surmounted by bouquets
of f owers and with great pyramids of flowers at the foot and the head. An
extensive collection of similar beds is in the Sicilian Ethnographical
Ml scum near Palermo.
During the whole of this period bronze and brass continued in use.
Bronze cauldrons were cast, usually with legs, but sometimes without if
they were intended for hanging from a chimney crane. They usually
have two handles and are sometimes decorated with bands, either plain
or patterned. The design was probably developed from bronze-age
cauldrons made of riveted sheet-metal, such as had been used in the 8th
or 9th centuries B.C.
Skillets and posnets or pipkins of various designs were also made.
They were a kind of deep pan or saucepan with legs (usually three) and
wit i a long handle decorated with a pattern or with the name of the
owner or maker, or with a motto or text. There was a type without legs
for Use with a wrought iron stand. They were usually made of brass or
bel metal, and later were sometimes fitted with cast-iron handles. They
wete used as early as the 13th century, but were made as late as the 19th
cenjtury and were known in colonial America; there is one at Mount
Vennon, George Washington’s home.
Other cast bronze utensils made in the Middle Ages and soon after
Left: Some early ke)
Frankish, MerovingU
periods.
Right: Elaborately
front escritoire datink ft
century. Made of wa nut
panels of burr walnut
crossbanding.
Following pages: Cd\sket
Augsburg, c.1570.
decoration uses rock
Tie
semi-precious stones
s from the Roman,
and Carolingian
curved Spanish fall-
rrom the 16th
it has inset
with orangewood
made in
elaborate
Crystal and various
Left: Tiger ware jug will Elizabethan
silver gilt mounts. The bund at the neck is
chased with strapwork., dade in London
1566.
Right top: Aragoneseit astilian ewer and
basin in silver parcel gilt, late 16th
century.
Right below: A pair of
potted openwork bowls i tade in the reign
ofWan-li (1573-1619).
Domestic Metarvvork
A fine gold neck lure made by the Chimu
of South America and probably dated
from the 12th century.
included jugs, ewers, pestles and mortars and candlesticks, some >f them
elaborately decorated and of beautiful shape. But, as with other things,
they continued to be made for long afterwards, and even until the present
century. A Renaissance bronze ewer by Desiderio da Firenze is 01 tstand-
ing, with its richly moulded decorations of swags, masks, fruit and other
devices.
Laton was much used for memorial brasses, which originated in the
Low Countries at about the first quarter of the 13th century These
plates were engraved with an effigy or with emblems and inscr ptions.
Many brasses have been destroyed, especially on the Continent, but the
earliest extant example is at Verden, near Hanover, Germany; it com-
memorates Bishop Yso Wilpe, who died in 1231. Some of the brasses
in England were Continental work, like that of Thomas Pounder and
his wife at Ipswich, which is Flemish (1525). But the majority are English;
there are about 10,000 examples remaining in England, more in ft ct than
in all of the rest of Europe.
Meanwhile work in cast-iron had been progressing. It was used for
early ordnance, which had been made possible by the invention of gun-
powder in 1325. The ordnance was as dangerous to those who were
firing it as it was to the enemy, but its use persisted, and out of th< result-
ing cast-iron industry which developed in the Weald of Englard grew
the manufacture of domestic cast-iron work.
The cast-iron grave slab was one of the earliest products; it might have
been suggested by the memorial brass. One or two early examples still
remain. The oldest is in Burwash church, Sussex (mid-16th cfentury)
decorated with a cross and has, in Lombardic characters, the ins( ription
in relief: orate p. annema jhone collins (Pray for the soul of Joan
Collins). Another, much closer in design to brasses, is in Crcwhurst
church, Surrey; it is a memorial to Anne Forster (1591) and b:ars an
inscription, heraldry, figures and a representation of a shrouded corpse.
Cast-iron grave slabs were made until the late 19th century, one! as late
as 1885 is in St Leonard’s churchyard, Bilston, Staffordshire.
Pewter
The earliest medieval pewter that has survived comes from the Gothic
period and much of it is ecclesiastical pewter. The use of pewier as a
substance suitable for chalices can be traced to the Synod of Rouen in
1074 at which the use of wood for chalices was forbidden but pewter
allowed where it was not possible to provide chalices of more v iluable
metals. The Council of Winchester adopted the same ruling in 1076.
However a century later the Council of Westminster instructed bishops
to consecrate only gold and silver vessels. Nevertheless necessity due to
poverty often prevailed and pewter continued to be used.
Sepulchral chalices of pewter were allowed however, indeed every
church was supposed to have two chalices - one consecrated for use,
the other for burial with the priest. Quite a large number of these have
been found over the years in graves at Chichester, Cheam, Gloucester,
Lincoln and Westminster to name but a few. The form of most (halices
of this period is similar - wide-mouthed, tazza-shaped with an atlendant
paten.
Other ecclesiastical pewter in use included large vessels for transporting
wine from the cellar to the sacristy and for the ceremonial washing
of the celebrant, and small burettes - pewter bottles for the wine and
water - which date from the 14th century. In England these were later
called cruets. Two surviving cruets from the 14th century were found in
the moats of Weoley and Ludlow castles. Both are hexagonal-shaped
wjith relief-cast panels showing religious scenes and the quality of work-
manship is high. Small pewter candlesticks were in use about the same
time as burettes, though larger ones as well as hanging candelabra were
still made of iron, brass or copper.
portable pewter benitiers - vessels for carrying holy water - resembled
small buckets and mention of them being used in several 14th and 15th
century French churches has been found. Caskets for the Eucharist,
incense boats and their spoons, font bowls and small bells were also
made in pewter. A pewter font of 13th century design has been found at
C if encester.
The pattern of use of household pewter was quite the reverse of
ecclesiastical pewter, for while the use of the latter reached its peak in
the 14th century and was declining by the 15th century, household
pewter re-emerged at the beginning of the 14th century and was in general
use at least by the upper classes by the 15th century.
The earliest mention of domestic pewter is of the export of a few
pitchers, dishes and salt-cellars from London in 1307. Until the 14th
century makers of pewter were probably general metalworkers rather
than specialists but by 1319 four pewterers are known to have been
working in London. In 1348 ordnances for the control of pewtering in
London were registered, indicating the extent of the growth of the
industry.
Sep
24
Antique Gold and Silver Items from Medieval Europe.
September 24, 2009 | Leave a Comment
The British Isles
There is evidence that glaziers from Gaul were called to Britain
as early
as A.D. 680. Glassmaking families from Normandy and the I orraine
Surrey,
oved to
found satisfactory sites for their craft in the forest areas of
Sussex and Kent, and when the fuel supply became exhausted ni
Gloucestershire, Staffordshire and other suitable regions. Laurence
in the
40 was
sites in
Vitrearius (the ‘window glassmaker’) settled at Dyers Cross
Chiddingfold district of the Weald at about 1226, and by 1
making glass for the Abbey at Westminster. The old glasshouse)
the Weald yield fragments which correspond with Continental glass made
during this period - bottles, beakers and cups of yellow or greeni; h metal
of inferior quality. The industry concentrated on making window glass,
though the best was still imported from the Continent. Laurence’s son,
William ‘le verrier’, carried on by producing hollow glass and
Chiddingfold received a Royal Charter.
Between 1350-57, John le Alemayne supplied window glasb for St
Stephen’s Chapel and also produced some ‘cuppis to drinke’, but
table glass came from Venice.
Gold and Silver
Gold and silver, unlike other materials used in the decorative ar
until this century, had two distinct and easily reversible functio is: they
could be made into coin of the realm or into objects of use and beauty.
For example, in 1540, Francois I of France gave the Italian gddsmith.
Benvenuto Cellini 1,000 gold crowns to be melted down and m ide into
the magnificent salt-cellar which is now in the Kunsthistoriches Museum
in Vienna. Conversely, at the end of the 17th century Louis XIV of
France, in an attempt to pay for his disastrous wars, enforced sumptuary
laws which called in all objects made of precious metal and ordered their
melting into coin. This included all the silver furniture that glittered at
Versailles when the court was first installed there in 1682. Gold and
silversmiths would, of course, also melt down older pieces as a source of
metal for their own work. All these factors constitute one of the reasons
why little secular medieval gold and silver now remains from which we
can judge styles and designs.
However, from manuscripts and tapestries and from the ecclesiastical
pieces which survive in slightly greater numbers, we may infer that
throughout the Holy Roman Empire, from the time of the crowning of
Charlemagne in A.D. 800, designs deriving from the old Roman Empire
began to be augmented with flat, interlacing arabesque patterns of Near
Eastern origin. These were brought in by returning Crusaders and by
trade through Venice. From this same source, new techniques were
assimilated. Vertical architectural features were incorporated in gold
and silver vessels, which might also be decorated with human or animal
figures or with inscriptions in Lombardic or Gothic script, imitating the
use of Kufic script in pattern making.
Mazers are the commonest surviving drinking vessels, made of dense,
impervious wood, decorated with a silver lip band and a disc in the
middle of the shallow bowl. Later, the low and wide mazer shape became
deeper and was gradually raised up on a foot and a stem. There was also
a fi:ted cover. Such cups became objects of great ceremony and the
cus dms associated with passing round such cups at banquets still exist
in s jjne societies today. Exotic objects like coconuts (which supposedly
hat magical properties), ostrich eggs, shells, precious rarities like im-
ported Chinese and Turkish ceramics, minerals like serpentine and
root crystal, were converted into drinking vessels by mounting them in
silver gilt. They have often survived because too little silver had been
used in their mounting to warrant it being melted later on. Highly prized
Venetian glasses were also mounted sometimes, and this goblet shape
was copied in silver.
Medieval etiquette placed the greatest importance on the use of a
vessel of silver gilt to mark the place at the table of the most honoured
person at the gathering, and precedence was regulated by position above
and below it. In France, this place was marked by a model of a ship called
a ‘nlef’, and existing ones show 15th century goldsmiths’ work at its best.
In lihgland, a great salt cellar stood in the centre of the high table, the
piece itself was often tiered and always impressive, but the salt container
was relatively small.
Ewers and basins were much in use, because their decorative shapes
made them suitable for display and diners had frequently to rinse their
fingers in the course of a meal eaten only with spoons. Attendants took
the lewer - filled with warmed and scented water - the basin and a napkin
roukd to each guest and in this way the lavish beauty of the plate was
shown off.
Inl 15th century Florence the verticality of former designs began, in all
the;decorative arts, to be replaced by a greater horizontal emphasis and
by decoration taken from the Greek and Roman precedents. The Renais-
sance spread outwards from Tuscany, and putti, masks and trophies,
acanthus, anthemion and rinceaux gradually superseded the oldt r style.
European Gold and Silversmiths
There are several individual European gold and silversmiths who
is known from the centuries before 1500. One of the earliest was
(c.850), this name being known from an inscription on the high
the church of San Ambrogio in Milan, which reads vuolvini
phaber meaning Vuolvinus or Wolvinus Master Smith. The alta|
earliest known representation of a real goldsmith and is genera
sidered to be one of the most beautiful examples of the work of
goldsmiths. The front is composed of bands of enamel framing
gold repousse work and is set with cabochons, pearls and
cameos. The sides and back are silver, gilt, all framed with enamel]
Ugolino di Vieri (c. 1329-80), from Siena is remembered for
quary of the Sacro Corporale in Orvieto Cathedral, which he
in 1338. The work, still in the Cathedral but on public view
Easter Day and the feast of Corpus Domini, stands 139 cm
high and is based on the facade of the Cathedral itself. It is not
whether the twelve main enamelled panels are the work of di
self or someone he commissioned for this part of the work,
surviving reliquary by him is one of gilt brass set with enamel
made for the church of San Savino and now in the Museo dell’
Duomo, in Orvieto.
Antonio del Pollajuolo (1431-98) is perhaps best known as on
greatest Florentine early Renaissance painters, but during his lifejt
was more renowned for his silverwork. It is thought that he was
ticed to Lorenzo Ghiberti or his son Vittorio at the time they werfe
ing on the Baptistery doors in Florence. His first commissioned
which he made in collaboration with two other goldsmiths was
silver crucifix for the Baptistery made in 1457-9. His only other
works are reliefs on the Baptistery altar finished in 1483.
Pre-Columbian Gold and Silver
One field of early gold and silverwork that has recently begun to
collectors is that f rom the pre-Columbian civilizations of South
in particular Peru. Certainly the work of these craftsmen is
most beautiful ever made and an increasing number of pieces are
their way on to the market in Europe and the United States.
While the Incas are probably the best-known pre-Columbian
tion, little of their gold survives, most of it having been plundered
Conquistadors and melted down on its arrival in Europe. Pre-
gold was in fact still being melted down in England in the 19th
The gold and silverwork of earlier civilizations, however, has
discovered in the last century or so and no doubt much
found.
The first South American goldsmiths were probably from the Chavin
culture from the northern Andes of Peru. The techniques th ;y used
were confined to hammering and embossing, although they must
have known about annealing. Among other objects made by the Zhavin,
headbands, crowns and ear and pectoral ornaments are tl e most
freduent. Their motifs abound with naturalistic themes, in particular the
jaguar and puma which were regarded as gods.
The two cultures which immediately followed the Chavin were the
Mochica of northern Peru and the Nasca in the south, both civilizations
las ing until about the 8th century A.D. Although the Nasca smiths still
relied on hammering and embossing alone, the Mochica were skilled at
cas :img, soldering and smelting. Typical of the Nasca are their funerary
an< i ceremonial masks of which the most curious is the ‘mouth’ mask
wh ch was suspended from a perforation in the nose. The Mochica were
both more skilled and artistic than the Nasca. Some of their most beauti-
ful and interesting objects were small figures, about an inch high, of
birds and animals which were worn as earrings or as mounts for pins and
From about A.D. 500-900 the Mochica and Nasca were dominated
by [the Tiahuanaco from the Lake Titicaca area in Bolivia. One of the
most remarkable objects of Tiahuanaco origin remaining today is a
gold 'whistling vase', composed of two chambers joined by a tube. The
front chamber is a human figure with a whistle hidden in the head, while
the] rear one is a beaker. As the water flowed from the back to the front,
air was drawn through the whistle causing it to sound.
The Tiahuanaco were succeeded by the Chimu, who were even more
skilled than the Mochica. Among their finest works are beakers of thick
shejet embossed with highly stylized geometric and zoomorphic designs
and inlaid with turquoise. Their ceremonial knives, with a semi-circular
blade supporting human or animal figures intricately worked and inlaid
with turquoise must rank as masterpieces.
The Incas overran the Chimu in the 13th century, perhaps attracted
by the abundance of Chimu gold, for the metal was sacred to the Incas.
From the little Inca gold and silver work that has survived one can judge
that their style was sober and restrained but nevertheless possessed of an
unsurpassed beauty. Perhaps best known of the remaining Inca gold
pieces are the little llamas either cast or built up from plates which were
soldered together. An example of the latter technique is the llama now in
the British Museum, but this is overshadowed by a cast silver llama with a
sadjdle blanket of inlaid gold and cinnabar now in the American Museum
of Natural History in New York.
Gold and silver work of equal interest is still being discovered in other
countries of South America, notably Colombia and Venezuela, though
the collector should be wary of the flourishing market in fakes.