Sep
24
Baroque Antiqies: Louis XIV Style
September 24, 2009 | Leave a Comment
Needless to say the furnishings of these buildings had to match
setting and once again it was Rome that led the way, this time in
scorative arts, particularl) furniture.
iggeration was the order of the day, in size, scale and proportion.
Jng was lavish and the Renaissance sense of proportion was often
scrollwork and mouldings. This was the furniture of the sculptor
Different styles of turned leg used on
wilh its large leafy scrolls, flower garlands, putti and human figures.
Perhaps one of the reasons for the 19th century’s derisive attitude to the
Baroque was that it was seen out of context. The furniture of this period
was designed exclusively for the room it was to occupy; take it away from
the painted ceilings and the richly hung walls and its ornateness and
massiveness become more obvious. Not all the furniture of the Italian
palaces was so designed, for the members of the household lived mainly
in smaller rooms above their large Baroque chambers. Here the furniture
was of the simpler type common in the 16th century.
As the 16th century progressed the Baroque revolution influenced
other Italian craftsmen including goldsmiths, metalworkers and glass-
workers. It was in France however that the Baroque was further ela-
borated into the Louis XIV style, an interpretation of Baroque that
spread to the rest of Europe in one degree or another.
The reign of Louis XIV, ‘Le Roi soled’, (1643-1717) was a period of
French pre-eminence in European history. An age of cultural and
political ascendancy for France, Louis’ reign saw the origins of an in-
fluence on international fashion that still lingers today. Paris replaced
Rome as the art centre of the world and French became the language of
European courts and diplomacy. The Louis XIV style in the decorative
arts was largely due to Louis himself for he believed that art should be
in the service of the king rather than the Church as it had been for cen-
turies past. Through his minister Colbert, Louis established academies to
standardize style in art. and the style he favoured was a dignified and
stately, but still sumptuous form of Baroque. The over-zealousness of
the Italians was refined into a new classicism.
In England it was not until after the Restoration in 1660 that Baroque
influences appeared. Before that date furniture had remained more or
less in the Elizabethan style and other arts and crafts had made little
progress for a quarter of a century.
A fuller expression of the Baroque only appeared in England with the
reign of William and Mary (1689-1702), after whom the style was named.
The Huguenot refugees from France after 1685 played a significant role
in the propagation of the Baroque, for many of them were skilled crafts-
men bringing with them French techniques and designs at a time when
the Louis XIV style was at the height of its fashion. The influences upon
English decorative arts were both French and Dutch. Dutch Baroque
was characterized by an element of realism which they introduced into
their art by their rejection of the old world peopled with angels and saints
and their acknowledgement of the new Dutch middle class in which the
artist worked not for a sole patron, but for the market.
The Baroque era followed the inspired humanism of the Renaissance
with inflated statements of pomp, power and splendour. During the 17th
century, the institutions of the Church in Italy, the state in France, and
all courts of Germany, spawned materialistic monuments to their
hjlglory in architecture and fine and decorative arts.
■ Italy, papal families such as the Barberini, Pamfili, Aldobrandini
anc Borghese constructed elaborate villas, and filled them with works
■ and expensive furnishings. At Versailles, the association of Louis
V with the sun-god Apollo required the development of an interior
setting not quite of this earth.
I lttiated by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, the Baroque architectural and
ntural style retained classical elements, but took liberties with
iciples of symmetry and restraint. Columns became twisted, sculp-
tured figures contorted, carvings expressive and exuberant. Baroque
inti nors achieved striking effects through a colourful welding together
irchitecture, sculpture, and painting, which dazzled the eye with
qdour and variety. Rising numbers of wealthy merchants, bankers
and Inewly-aristocratic families resulted in a refinement of rules of
etic uette and ceremony in order to define rank rigidly. The villas of
prii wes, cardinals and courtiers were replete with devices that filtered
anc arranged guests and residents to exclude those of lower rank from
the more intimate courtly gatherings. Private audiences were held in
cat sets and closets, small rooms richly decorated with fine furnishings,
hai stings, crystal, porcelain and paintings.
ink determined access to the ‘public’ levees and touchers of heads of
staM princes and nobility in state bedrooms, where elaborately hung
bee s were generally enclosed inside alcoves or behind ceremonial
bal istrades. Rank also determined the allocation of seats: ornate, gilded
throne chairs in Italy and elsewhere were reserved for heads of house-
hol i and state, and progressively less imposing chairs and stools were
use i according to social position. In Spain, ladies were relegated to floor
cus uons.
Franee, privileged women received in bed, and guests sat on cushions
in hie ruelle, or alley, beside them. Fixed positions of most furniture
pie as emphasized the formality of Baroque interiors. Chairs generally
line d room walls, and were put back in place there by servants after use.
I Mended to impress, these palatial interiors were lined with Turkish
tapestries, Genoese cut velvets, Lucchese silks and Spanish embossed
an< gilt leathers that were exported throughout Europe. Ceilings and
wa Is were painted with brilliant frescoes and self-glorifying messages
we e not uncommon. Gilding of ceiling panels and wall ornaments
bee une increasingly fashionable.
/. though still relatively scarce. Baroque furniture took on the pro-
cla c^tory aura of the pompous fittings around it. Carved sconces,
guerdons and chandeliers provided glittering supports for candles, and
the ij gilded surfaces were reflected in cascades of light by decorative
miirors in elaborate carved frames.
I % Italy, large villas such as the Ca’Rezzonico in Venice housed suites
of (late apartments, including galleries, libraries, dining rooms and
sal< ns, all decorated with hangings, gold galloons and fringes, lacquer-
wo k and ivory and marble wainscoting. The furnishings of these rooms
we e objects of sculpture and art, rather than comfort. Produced by lead-
ing contemporary artists, scale, exaggerated style and cost precluded
casual use. The private family apartments located above the show rooms
of the piano nobile were furnished very simply.
Baroque furniture was bold, vigorous and sculptural. Naturalistic
carving in high relief supported tables, beds, chairs, stools and cup-
boards, Carved dolphins, eagles, shells, putti and grotesques were
combined with volutes, dense scrolling and foliage, and placed beneath
seats or slabs of marble to form chairs or tables.
Gilded chairs with outstretching arms and velvet upholstery were
carved with broad, ribbon-like forms which twisted and furled to in-
corporate putti and foliage. Decorative console tables were carved by
sculptors such as the Venetian Andrea Brustolon (1662-1732) in vigorous
compositions of animals, blackamoors, shells and figures.
Brustolon’s training began in his native city of Belluno and was con-
tinued, from his fifteenth birthday, under the Genoese sculptor Filipo
Parodi whose late Baroque style no doubt influenced him. His earliest
known work is a pair of angels for the sacristy altar in the Frari, Venice,
probably about 1683 and it seems that much of his life was spent creating
religious works for church use. The only furniture that can definitely be
attributed to him is a suite, sometimes called the “negro suite’ which he
made for a prominent Venetian, Pietro Venier, sometime before 1699
and now in the Ca’ Rezzonico, Venice. The chairs of this suite are
carved in boxwood, and the arms are fashioned as creeper-entwined
branches supported by negros with lacquered heads and arms. The
largest piece is a side-table in which Hercules, flanked by Cerberus and
the Hydra, supports a platform on which two river gods lie holding por-
celain vases with three nude negros supporting yet another vase in the
centre of the table. Only two other suites can be tentatively assigned to
Brustolon, one made for the Correr family and now in Ca’ Rezzonico
and the other for the Pisani which can be seen in the Quirinal, Rome.
The collection of Lord Burnham in Beaconsfield holds four armchairs
similar to the Venier pieces.
Features of the Italian Baroque reached France during the reign of
Henri IV, who established craft workshops in the Grand Galerie du
Louvreon the example of the Florentine ducal manufactories. Aided by
cardinals Jules Mazarin and Armand Jean de Richelieu, who wished to
establish a national style, Louis XIII continued to promote the emula-
tion of Italian and Flemish achievement in the decorative arts.
In 1661 Louis XIV acceded to the throne, and in 1667 Jean Baptiste
Colbert, his minister of arts, founded the Manufacture Royale des
Meubles de la Couronne, known as the Gobelins after the workshops
previously established in 1622. Under the directorship of the artist
Charles le Brun, and stimulated by the personal interest extended by
Louis XIV, the Gobelins workshop developed into flourishing collabora-
tive manufactories, in which designs of le Brun, Jean Berain (1638-1711),
and Jean le Pautre (1618-82) were completed by craftsmen contributing
diverse skills and talents. Among the most prominent were Jacques
Caffieri (1678-1755) and Andre Charles Boulle (1672-1732).
Boulle is undoubtedly France’s most celebrated cabinetmaker and
his name has been internationally adopted to describe the style of furni-
ture produced in his workshops. In 1672, he was given rooms and a
shop in the Louvre by Louis XIV, where for the next thirty years
jade furniture for the Court and the nobility, receiving the title
ier ebeniste du roi. While he made a great deal of furniture for
VerMilles, only two fully documented pieces are known - a pair of
commodes made for the king’s bedroom at the Trianon. It is not certain
whether boulle actually invented the commode but he certain!) spent
son e time experimenting with the concept and played an important
role in its development. The original versions of the commode were not
the bureau but with fewer drawers which extended the whole
and sometimes provided with doors and the top in either mar-
or marble. While marquetry was fashionable at this time, it was
: who brought the technique to perfection. The technique involved
glueing together thin sheets of brass and tortoiseshcll and then pasting
on to the surface a piece ol paper on which the required pattern had been
drawn. I he pattern was cut out with a saw and the layers separated to
givel two kinds of marquetry, the first called premiere-partie in which the
pattern of brass was on a tortoiseshcll ground and the other, contre-
partie which was the reverse. His most magnificent achievement was the
cabinet of the Dauphin, completed between 1680-83, which was
iestroyed.
French Baroque incorporated the exuberance and lavishness of
designs, forms and ornamented carving into a more restrained
Classical style. Rectilinear gilt upholstered sofas, day-beds and
were made at the Gobelins along with other furnishings for the
ce at Versailles. Tall, imposing cabinets, bureaux, and commodes
were covered with floral marquetry, or the delicate interlacing composi-
tions of contrasting toitoiscshell and brass popularized by boulle’s
craftsmanship. Heavy ormolu mounts of mythological scenes,
s, lions and acanthus leaves appeared on tables and case pieces,
i Revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685, and the great reductions
)belins’ output which the government imposed for economic
is, forced many craftsmen to leave France. Thedesigns of Huguenot
te Daniel Marot (1663-1752) proved especially important in the
lination of the Louis XIV style.
Sep
24
Antique and Collectible Embroidery
September 24, 2009 | Leave a Comment
It was customary for the royal courts of Europe to employ professional
embroiderers to work heraldic insignia and all kinds of furnishings. The
church was also a lavish patron, and although some work was done in
n onasteries and convents, the best and most valued was made by pro-
f( fconal specialists. From early on ‘the labours of the distaff and needle’
re considered of prime importance for ladies all over Europe, and
spinning, weaving and fine needlework formed an important part of
eyery girl’s education prior to her marriage.
In the medieval period the finest of all embroidery was the ecclesiastical
work produced in England. Opus Anglicanum, as it was called, was
w arked with coloured silks and couched gold and silver threads, and the
designs - of saints, angels and heraldic motifs - have close parallels in
tl e manuscript illumination of the time. Opus Anglicanum was exported
t( Europe on a large scale, and although France, Germany and Flanders
produced embroidered vestments of a similar style, their quality rarely
matched the fine work which came out of the ateliers of London and
East Anglia.
The ground for most of these embroiderers was twill-weave, silk-lined
w iih linen. Velvet was used from the early 14th century instead of linen.
Other grounds used included samit, taffeta, camoca (a combination of
fi le camel hair and silk) and, from the 14th century, satin. Some of the
most common Opus Anglicanum stitches include Opus conscutum -
applique, Opus phrygium - gold work. Opus anglicanum stitch - split
Border motif from vestments of St Thomas
of Canterbury c.1200-50.
Embroidery
stitch, and Opus pectineum - woven or combed work.
Inventories and accounts from the Vatican are a valuable soiirce of
information on Opus Anglicanum, for it was favourite with man} Popes
and the bulk of Vatican embroideries of this time were of this kind Many
of the best examples of this work are ecclesiastical vestments and one of
the finest copes now remaining is the Syon Cope in the Victoria and
Albert Museum. A study of the copes of the whole medieval period has
revealed that there were three distinct periods in the evolution of Opus
Anglicanum.
The earliest period is from 1250 to 1275 and the principal features of
the designs are saints or Biblical events enclosed by a medallion. Group-
ings are arranged in concentric circles. Few examples of this period now
survive.
The second period is from 1275 to about 1325 and the Syon Cope was
made at this time. Rather than being confined by circles, the figures and
scenes in the design are ringed by Romanesque quatrefoils sometimes
interlaced. Another surviving cope of this period is the Daroca Cope in
the Museo Arqueologico, Madrid.
The last period occupies the remainder of the 14th century. Figures
now stand under Gothic arches and the scenes are separated by cc lumns.
The finest Opus Anglicanum comes from this period.
Chasubles have also survived and a typical example in the Victoria
and Albert Museum is in red brocade with scenes from the life o “Christ
with saints standing under Gothic arches. Mitres were embroicered in
Opus Anglicanum though only fragments have survived, such as the
remains of one belonging to Bishop William of Wykeham (1367 -1404),
now in New College, Oxford. The embroidery used both silvei thread
and gems.
The Victoria and Albert Museum also has an altar frontal fiom the
late 14th century. Worked on a ground of crimson velvet, the fig ires are
appliqued in gold, silver and coloured thread and surround the cruci-
fixion scene. Palls have survived in greater numbers, many of which are
in the possession of London livery companies such as the Vintn :rs\ the
Saddlers’ and the Fishmongers’ Companies.
The quality of Opus Anglicanum work began to decline during the
15th century, although a magnificent pall belonging to the Fishmongers’
Company which, it seems, could not have been made before 1 536, has
suggested to some experts that the age of Opus Anglicanum might be
extended by a hundred years.
Although the emphasis in 14th and 15th century Europe was on
ecclesiastical embroidery, there was at the same time a growing use of
domestic embroidery. Woven tapestries, for example, were
portance in furnishing the draughty castles and houses of the rich, and
embroidered bed hangings were also invaluable in the cold wmters of
northern Europe.
There was an increasing use of embroidery for costume and personal
adornment. Much of this, whether it took the form of fine linefi under-
garments or the embroidered and bejewelled purses for which
was famous in the 15th and 16th centuries, was done domestically as
well as by professional and religious embroiderers.
i has been used by men for tools and weapons for hundreds of
inds of years. Man made knives, axes and spears in great quantities.
heads were expendable and were produced in particularly large
^ers and, consequently, are still readily available at quite reasonable
Generally speaking, the earlier ones are cruder and lack finish,
while those of the Neolithic period are polished and well shaped. Many
arc barbed and most have a short neck which was used to secure the
head to the wood or reed shaft. Main primitive cultures continued to
manufacture arrow heads of Hint long after metal had replaced its use
for other weapons. Some Red Indians of North America and the
Abdrigines of Australia were still making them at the beginning of this
centur\
Flint is brittle and is unsuitable for constructing long blades, so swords
of Hint were not practical. When man discovered the secret ol melting
tin nd copper together to make bronze he was able to cast a greater
varie y of weapons in moulds of clay or stone. Axeheads. daggers,
aire ws and spear heads and swords were produced all over Europe and
sufficient have survived to ensure that some still appear on the market:
swords are likely to be the rarest and most expensive. Many of the
bronzes available today are from Luristan in Asia Minor, and are
generally of good quality although unfortunately a number of very good
copies have begun to appear so care when buying is essential.
By the 1st century A.D. iron had largely supplanted bronze as the
metal for weapons. While iron was better for manufacture it was fjar less
able to survive the centuries. Bronze could resist rust and rot, ironl could
not and swords dating from the 1st century until the 15th century are
extremely rare and very early examples are likely to be little morje than
masses of blackened rust. The few good quality examples whic|i have
survived will certainly be very expensive.
Probably one of the most ancient of all edged weapons was the g
or guisarme which receives frequent mention from the 12th
17th century in Europe and was a form of long-headed axe thjat ter-
minated in a sharp, strong point. A little way down the blade a flattened
hook projected. In medieval times it was known as a fauchard
towards the end of the 15th century it is possible that the term “gisarme’
was used to describe the halberd.
The halberd seems to have been of Swiss origin and the first mention
of it occurs in 1287, although it was not introduced into Fran
England until the end of the 14th century. It appeared in various:
as basically an axe-blade surmounted by a spike and balanced by
a si 6rt fluke at the rear of the blade. By the end of the 15th century the
blade had undergone several changes through oblong and horizontally
wit er to crescent-shaped on some examples.
1 lie great age of the pike began in the late 15th century and lasted until
the 17th century. A simple weapon, the pike consists of a long, narrow,
lanpe-like head of steel with lengths of metal running from the head
down the pole to protect the latter from sword strikes. At the other end
of he pole an iron shoe or point protected the pole base when it was
stu k in the ground to resist cavalry attacks. Other edged staff weapons
in Use in the 15th century included the partisan - usually a long double-
edged blade, wide at the base where it was provided with projections of
various kinds. The Ranseur and the Spetum were variations on the
par isan.
1 he Voulge was very similar to the gisarme and originated in Switzer-
lan The Bill was one of the commonest weapons of the foot-soldier and
wa; derived from the agricultural scythe and so had a crescent-shaped
heal the inside of which was sharpened while a section of the top of the
blade was double-edged. Variants often had the top of the blade dividing
into a spike and forward curved hook. The Bill was particularly popular
in England. The Glaive had the cutting edge on the opposite side to that
on he Bill and had hooks and spurs near the base of the blade.
Until the first half of the 15th century the lance was simply a wooden
staff some 3-4.25 metres (13-14 ft) long, fitted with a lozenge- or leaf-
shaped blade. During the 14th century jousting lances began to be fitted
wit l a circular hand-guard or vanplatc.
Generally the medieval sword had a long, straight blade, usually
doi $le-edged, fitted with a simple cruciform cross guard, a leather
co\ ejred grip and a counter-balance weight (the pommel) at the end of
the grip. These swords were essentially slashing weapons designed to
ha< k at armour and mail and some were made big enough to be gripped
with two hands. One, known as a hand-and-half, was small enough to
be (ised in one hand but with a grip big enough to hold with both hands
to deliver a very powerful blow. A larger version, the two-handed sword,
was so large that it could only be used with a two-handed grip.
Very few swords and daggers dating from the 12th—15th centuries
ap ear on the market, but those dating from the 16th century onwards
are more readily available.
It is not surprising that the Renaissance, which was in part a revival of
clas jjcal culture, had its origins in Italy, the heart of the old Roman
Empire. Since the new movement represented a change in human
attitudes towards the world it made its first appearance in literature and
then spread to architecture, sculpture and painting, from where it in-
fluenced all the decorative arts. The Italian Renaissance is divided into
threjeperiods: Early, 1400-1500; High, 1500-40; and Late, 1540-1600.
Throughout the 15th century a spirit of research which accompanied
the new reflections on the world, led to the rediscovery of classical
worp of literature and the excavations of the archeological remains of
the Roman Empire. With every new discovery the artist was provided
witl further inspiration and stimulus to advance the state of his art to
ever greater heights. Of particular importance was the rediscovery of
Dc Architectura, which were the manuscripts of the Roman architect
Vitruvius who worked in the reign ol Augustus, and the exca\ation of
the Baths of Titus and the Golden Home of Nero in Rome in 1488.
In! 1485 Leon Battista Alberti published his Ten Books on Architecture
(De\te aedificatoria) which was a masterly synthesis of Vitruvius’
principles and much original material by Alberti himself. He advocated
a system of ideal proportions in architectural design, believing that the
ation of mathematical ratios to building was in itself beauty-
cing. Alberti thus made a significant break with all his predecessors
e visible result was a clean, dignified and stately style in which the
tion was primarily columns and pilasters.
Sep
24
Antiqie mechanical clock, Gothic clocks.
September 24, 2009 | Leave a Comment
Clocks
The origin of the first mechanical timepiece is obscure. Although scholars
have studied manuscripts dating from the 5th century, it has not been
possible to reach any dogmatic conclusions. One difficulty lies in the fact
that any references to a ‘horologia’ can also allude to a sundial or water-
clopk and not necessarily to a mechanical clock.
0he commonly held belief is that the clockwork mechanism originated
Clocks
in the Islamic World where the sciences of astronomy and mat! ematics
were far in advance of those in the Western Hemisphere. Whe
her this
is correct and that descriptions carried back to Europe by the Ci usaders
engendered experimentation is uncertain, but strong evidence i
idicates
that it was in the late 13th century that mechanical clocks began t<»appear
on the Continent, spreading at a later date to England. The earliest
examples were large, iron and weight driven with a verge ard foliot
escapement. A large bell struck the hours. Apart from small hoi r mark-
ings on the motion wheel and a fixed pointer this was the only
used to indicate the hour. It was not until further technical advan
had been made and the process reversed (the pointer to travers: a fixed
dial), that dials were added.
Evidence suggests that the first true striking clocks originated
soon after 1330, for in a manuscript entitled the Chronicle of
Fiamma written in 1335, the author, while talking of the churc
Beata Vergine in Milan says ‘There is there a wonderful clock,
there is a very large clapper which strikes a bell 24 times acco
the 24 hours of the day and night, and thus at the first hour of the night
gives one sound, at the second two strokes - and so distinguishes one
hour from another, which is of the greatest use to men of every
In an earlier account written by this author in 1306 he makes no meniion
of such a clock anywhere in Milan.
Although at least one expert suggests that the first striking cldck, and
certainly the first in England, may have been one at Salisbury Cathedral
by 1306, there is more sound evidence showing that Edward
missioned a striking clock at Westminster in 1365-66 which m|ay have
been the first English clock of its kind.
Initially, clocks were made by blacksmiths under the super\|
monks. It must be remembered that prior to the Reformation all
was the prerogative of the Church and the monasteries the only
method
leairling. It was also the monks with their strict hours of devotion both
day and night that had the greatest need for a mechanically regulated
timfekeeper with an alarm bell. However, by the 14th century large public
clocks were appearing on churches, palaces and other buildings through-
out! Europe. References can be found in contemporary literature to
clocks on the Church in Milan (1335); the Carrara Palace at Padua
(1344), at Rouen (1389) and many other locations. Many of these are
longer extant but one of the oldest clocks in England - that of
sbury Cathedral (1386) - can still be seen in the North Transept of
the Cathedral.
ilarge dials embodying astronomical data as well as indicating the
time of day began to appear as skills grew, while others incorporated
automata - a feature especially popular on the Continent of Europe to
this day.
Possibly the first astronomical clock was made by the Abbot of St
Albans, Richard of Wallingford between 1327 and 1336, which had dials
for an astrolabe and showed the motion of the sun (and possibly the
plahets) and the phases of the moon. A touch of genius was shown how-
everSn the clock made by Giovanni De’Dondi, a professor of astronomy
at the University of Padua, and completed by 1364. The clock, which
waii unfortunately destroyed in the 16th century, not only reproduced
motions of the sun and moon but also of the five known planets in-
cluding Mercury with its unusual orbital patterns. Though it took
Dondi 16 years to make the clock, its sheer complexity as well as the
technical problems he had to surmount suggest he was a man of rare
ity.
The earliest domestic clocks were also of iron and were weight driven
l a verge and foliot escapement. The movements were held by an
open four-posted frame, but although the posts and dials were decorated,
thejades were left open. As well as striking on the hour, some had provi-
sion for quarter striking or alarm mechanisms. They were intended to
be ipng on a hook or stood on a wall bracket to enable the free fall of
weights. These early Gothic clocks, as they are generally called, first
ieared in Italy and some fine examples have survived to this day. It
wai Jhowever, only a short time before the craft passed to South Germany
with the towns of Nuremberg, Augsburg, Cassel and Ulm becoming
recognized centres. Similar clocks were also made in France and
Switzerland, but England produced few domestic clocks in this period.
Domestic Metalwork
The- development of domestic metalwork is quite similar to that of
architectural metalwork, except that in many cases it was the smaller
objects of domestic use that preceded the larger architectural applications.
The ancient world was dominated by bronze, and some of the objects
made in the first two millenniums B.C. remain unsurpassed for beauty,
for example the multitude of hand mirrors made in Egypt, Greece
Domestic Metalwork
and the Roman world. The basic design, wherever the mirror happened
to be made, was largely the same as that of a modern mirror: i highly
polished disc to provide the reflecting surface, sometimes decoi ated on
its reverse, with a handle which was also usually decorated. The handles
of mirrors were sometimes cast in the form of a figure, human o ‘ divine,
sometimes the periphery of the disc had cast figures of cupids or; inimals,
and sometimes the reverse side of the disc was engraved with an all sgorical
scene as in some charming Etruscan examples.
But bronze was used for all kinds of things: for votive objecls by the
Celts, for throne decorations by the Assyrians, for vases, larips and
boxes by the Greeks and Romans, for plaquettes by the Byzanti tes. The
list could be extended almost indefinitely. In China, fine cast brc nze was
in extensive use by the second millenium B.C. for objects as varied as
those made in the West, from hollow vessels to statuettes. The develop-
ment of Chinese bronzework was unique in many respects.
Iron in antiquity was probably used for domestic objects to < greater
extent than is now evident, for rust and other corrosives must have
destroyed much, with the result that, apart from a few fragnents of
various artefacts, one or two andirons (fire-dogs) and similar objects,
there is nothing to indicate how widely it was used.
Lead, too, is only represented by a handful of objects, though these
are varied in form, among them Egyptian votive slabs, Roman < ups and
lamps, Greek weights, vases, boxes and plummets.
The same pattern of usage for these metals and alloys contini ed from
the fall of the Roman empire until the dawn of the Middle Ages. Artistic-
ally, as may be expected, design was cruder in the early part of thi»period,
yet it often has a barbaric strength and compelling spontaneity. It varies
from the relatively simple design and decoration on bronze itewpots
made by Huns, to highly decorated cruciform brooches made b i Anglo-
Saxons. Such a splendid specimen as the wonderful shrine of St Patrick’s
bell or Bell of the Will appears later (about 1100). This was made to the
order of Donal O’Loughlin, King of Ireland (National Museum,
Dublin), and consists of bronze worked in a combination ol casting,
sheet metalwork and forging, decorated with gemstones. Anc ther im-
portant work is the font decorated with three-dimensional figures
illustrating the life of John the Baptist and supported by bul s, in the
church of St Barthelemy, Liege, Belgium (12th century).
The Gloucester candelabrum made about 1112 and dedicated to the
Abbey of St Peter at Gloucester, England, is of almost oriental s ilendour
(Victoria and Albert Museum, London). Another handsome 12th
century candelabrum, this one having seven branches, and n easuring
5 metres (over 16 ft) in height, is in Brunswick Cathedral, Germany; it is
said to have been the gift of Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxonjf. A 12th
century bronze door-knocker in the form of a lion and a ring is in Lau-
sanne Cathedral, Switzerland. A bronze thurible of the same century,
architectural in form, inscribed with the name Gosbertus, is in the
Cathedral of Trier (Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany). Among its archi-
tectural details it embodies busts of Moses, Aaron, Isaac and Jeremiah,
with Solomon enthroned at its apex. Laton or latten was als) used at
this time, especially for such utensils as ewers, like the |3tl century
Gentian specimen in the form of a lion in the British Museum, London.
iiiitle domestic ironwork survives from before the 12th century. Few
large pieces remain, so it is hardly to be expected that smaller works
will have survived. However, there are a feu fragments which remain:
one or two early locks and furniture fittings, and here and there a horse-
shoe, but little more.
Lead was widely used, mines being operated in France, England,
Saxony, Silesia, Bohemia and Andalusia, yet an insignificant amount
survives. Two examples will suffice: a lead sheet in the British Museum
inscribed with an edict of Charlemagne, in which he assumes the title
of fjmperor of the West, and bearing the date 18 September 801; and a
I 2th century casket in the form ol two boxes, one inside the other, which
onofi contained the heart of Richard Coeur-de-Lion, discovered in 1838
in the choir of Rouen cathedral, France and bearing the inscription:
I IK jac l I COR RICARD1 REGIS ANGLORUM (Here rests the heart of Richard
King of the English).
vVith the 13th century came the beginning, especially in France, of a
period of brilliant domestic ironwork dominated by the technique of
the |locksmith and closely influenced by that of the armourer. Such
objects made at this early date are very rare, but those that do remain
illustrate the virtuosity of which craftsmen were already capable. One
such is a pair of watering irons, a pair of tongs with its terminations in
the form of two engraved plates, between which batter is poured, and
which are then healed so that wafers for communion hosts are made.
Later the irons were adapted for household purposes, such as making
waffles. This pair of irons is so elaborately engraved that it is a tour de
force in this respect alone, and is to be found in Cluny Museum. Paris.
Despite the rarity of actual specimens of 13th century benchwork, one
or two pattern books survive which give some idea of the scope of the
work made at this period. One series of designs by the architect Ales-
sandro Romani is in the Public Library at Siena, Italy.
In the next two centuries, and indeed until the 18th century, the objects
made by benchwork multiplied enormously. It would be difficult to
imagine greater refinement in ironwork than that which was achieved in
this work. The vast amount of labour involved, to say nothing of the
loving care in making a lock, is almost impossible to assess. There is. on
a miniature scale, as much carving in a few square inches as would be
present on many a cathedral wall or icredos. The minute jewel-like
precision attained in such an uncompromising material, well matches
the mathematical construction of Gothic architecture in general. And
although the lock is a marvellous specimen, it is by no means unique.
Such locks, large and small, are the pride of fine collections at the Cluny
Museum, Paris, at the Le Secq des Tournelles Museum, Rouen, and at
the Victoria and Albeit Museum. London. I he> were made right up to
the latter part of the 18th century, reflecting the taste of the period in
which they were made. Sometimes, in the later periods, they were
decorated with pulli and other allegorical figures. Padlocks also were
madje throughout these centuries.
Jul
26
ANTIQUE ARMS AND ARMOUR GLOSSARY (H-Z)
July 26, 2009 | Leave a Comment
Mail: armour made of interlinked rings which, on most European examples, are riveted. It was known in Europe at least as early as the 2nd century B.C., and was the normal defence during the early Middle Ages. It was relegated to a subordinate role with the general adoption of plate armour in the 14th century, but nevertheless remained in common use until well into the 17th. The extension of the term to cover all forms of defensive armour and the word chain-mail are both of comparatively recent date.
Match-lock: the earliest form of mechanical ignition for a gun, introduced late in the 15th century, in which an arm holding a lighted match (cord made of tow soaked in a solution of saltpetre) is brought into contact with priming powder at the touch-hole by pressure on a trigger. Despite the invention of the wheel- and flint-locks, it remained in use for military purposes, on account of its cheapness, until the end of the 17th century.
‘Maximilian’ armour: a modern term for the style of fluted armour which came into use in Italy and, more particularly, in Germany during the reign of the Emperor Maximilian I (1494-1519)- It is rarely found after c. 1540, but examples dating from as late as c. 1560-7o are occasionally encountered. Modern writers sometimes use the rare 16th-century English term for fluted, crested, to describe this style.
Morion: an open helmet much used by foot-soldiers in the second half of the 16th century. Contemporary texts mention two forms: (i) the Spanish-morion, called a cabasset by many modern writers, with a pear-shaped, pointed skull and a narrow, flat brim; (ii) the comb-morion, with high comb and a curved brim peaked before and behind. The modern term peaked-morion refers to an intermediate type with a curved brim, and a pointed apex terminating in a small stalk.
Musket: a military match- or wheel-lock firearm introduced in the third quarter of the 16th century. It was heavier than the arquebus (q.v.), and consequently was usually fired from a forked rest. After the introduction of the flint-lock (q.v.) the term was used loosely to describe any portable firearm larger than a pistol.
Musketoon: a short, heavy flint-lock gun with a large bore, generally used for discharging shot.
‘Pappenheirner’: a heavy rapier with a form of swept hilt (q.v.) incorporating two large perforated shells. It was used during the first half of the 17th century and was named after the celebrated imperialist general of the Thirty Years’ War, Gottfried Heinrich, Count von Pappenheim (d. 1632). Sometimes referred to as a Walloon sword.
Percussion lock: the latest form of ignition for a firearm, involving the use of a detonating compound. The first patent for a lock of this type was taken out in 1807 by the Rev. Alexander Forsyth (d. 1843). As put on the market, this had a small, flask-shaped magazine which could be rotated on a central spindle, and which contained detonating powder in the lower end and a spring-loaded striker in the upper. By turning the magazine through 18o degrees a small amount of powder was deposited in a recess in the central spindle, connecting through a channel to the touch-hole; when the magazine was returned to the normal position this powder was detonated by the striker, which was itself struck by a hammer-like cock.
Improvements made on the Forsyth lock included the pellet- or pill-lock, in which the detonating powder was replaced by a pellet, sometimes enclosed in a paper cap, and the tube-lock, which used a tubular metal primer held by a spring clip. All types were superseded by the percussion-cap system, apparently invented between 1818 and 1820, in which a thimble-shaped copper cap containing detonating powder was placed on a hollow nipple communicating with the chamber, and fired by the action of the cock. Many flint-lock guns were converted to this system, which remained in use until the second half of the 19th century.
Petronel: a large pistol, or short arquebus, fitted with a match- or wheel-lock and used in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. It had a curved stock, which was rested against the chest when fired.
6in __5 armour: a misleading modern term for a type of late 16th-century armour, apparently produced chiefly in Milan and Brescia. Its chief characteristic consists of bands of coarsely etched decoration of confused design.
Pistol: the smallest type of firearm, designed to be fired with one hand, introduced c. 1520- It was fitted at first with a wheel-lock and subsequently snaphaunce, flint- and percussion-lock, but in Europe never with a match-lock. The earliest pistols were used chiefly by the cavalry, being carried in large holsters attached to the saddle, but in the late 16th century smaller forms were devised to be carried in the belt, and later in the pocket. Numerous attempts were made to produce a revolving pistol, but none was really successful until the invention of the Colt percussion-revolver, patented in 1836.
Pole-arms: a modern term connoting any type of cutting or thrusting weapon mounted on a long handle. They can be divided into the following classes: (i) thrusting weapons, including the spear in all its forms; the horseman’s lance, at first simply a long spear, but later fitted with a large metal guard for the hand (vamplate); the pike, a long spear, often measuring as much as 22 feet in the 16th and 17th centuries, when it was used by the infantry to forma ‘hedge’ against cavalry; the partizan, which had a long triangular head, usually with two pointed lugs at the base; (ii) percussion weapons, consisting mainly of the various forms of club (including the horseman’s mace), the axe and the hammer, the last two often having a sharply pointed fluke at the rear of the head; (iii) weapons designed for cutting and for thrusting, including the halberd, which had a flat axe blade balanced by a fluke and a long, sharp spike above; the bill and the guisarme each with a cutting edge curving up to form a short hook, a fluke at the rear and a spike above; the glaive, with a large cleaver- or scythe-shaped blade.
Pot: a term used in the 17th century apparently to designate any type of open helmet. Modern writers usually confine it to the large, wide-brimmed variety used by 17th-
century pikemen.
Powder-flask: flask for carrying the black powder used for charging muzzle-loading guns. It was made in a variety of different shapes and materials, and was usually fitted with some kind of measuring device. A smaller flask was often carried for the finer powder used in priming.
Rapier: a sword with a long, straight blade, introduced in the 16th century. It was at first designed for thrusting and cutting, but as the science of fencing developed emphasis was laid increasingly on the former. It was primarily a civilian weapon and in the 16th and 17th centuries was usually used in conjunction with a dagger or a cloak held in the left hand.
Sabre: a heavy, curved, single-edged sword used chiefly by cavalry from the late 16th century onwards.
Sallet: the characteristic helmet of the 15th century, usually worn with a deep chin-piece (bevor). Its form generally followed that of the modern sou’wester, although it comes well down over the face, either having a movable visor, or a vision slit in its forward edge. The German type usually has a long, graceful, pointed tail, often laminated. The barbute (q.v.) is one of the forms of this helmet.
Schiavone: a basket-hilted sword with a straight, two-edged blade, used during the late 16th and early 17th centuries by the Dalmatian troops (stradiots) in the employ of Venice. It is often erroneously described as the prototype of the Scottish basket-hilted broadsword.
Shield: probably the earliest form of defensive arm. Shields have been used from prehistoric times, and made of a variety of materials, including wood, leather, wicker-work, metal, etc. They were usually attached to the left arm by straps (enarmes) or, when not in use, hung round the neck on a sling (guige). The earliest shields seem to have been mainly circular, oval or rectangular, but in the 11th century the tall kite-shape appears, remaining in use until the 13th century, when the ‘flat-iron’ (heater) form was introduced. This survived until well into the 15th century, when a large variety of shapes appeared, many of which had a notch (bouche) cut in the upper edge for the lance. In the 16th century the majority of shields were circular, one of the most popular types being the buckler (introduced as early as the 13th century), which was held in the left hand by means of a crossbar on the inside. Shields have at all times been the subject of adornment, particularly with the owner’s coat-ofarms or personal device after the introduction of heraldry in the I 2th century. Many of those made for parade purposes in the 16th century were of metal elaborately embossed or etched and gilt.
Smallsword: a light civilian sword with a simple hilt, often richly decorated, which succeeded the rapier (q.v.) in the third quarter of the 17th century, with the beginnings of fencing as it is known today. The slender blade, although designed principally for thrusting, was at first double-edged, but from c. 1700 one of hollow triangular section became almost universal. The modern term colichemarde is often used to designate a blade which is wide near the hilt and narrows suddenly half-way along. The smallsword remained in active use until the end of the 18th century, and still survives in the sword worn with modern court dress.
Snaphaunce: the earliest form of the flint-lock (q.v.), introduced apparently in the middle of the 16th century. It is regarded by many writers as a distinct type, its chief difference from the flint-lock being that the pan is fitted with a separate sliding cover opened, when the steel is knocked back by the cock, by the action of a cam. Most surviving examples date within the 17th century.
Spurs: early spurs were of the prick type, with a single spike, usually pyramidal or cone-shaped and often mounted on a ball to prevent deep penetration. There is some evidence for the introduction of the rowel spur, with a wheel equipped with points instead of the single spike, in the middle of the 13th century, but it did not become common until the second quarter of the 14th. In the second half of the 15th century spurs had straight necks of great length, while those of the 17th had their necks bent down almost at right angles.
Swept-hilt: a modewi term for the type of rapier hilt, introduced in the 16th century, in which the guard consists of a complicated series of curved bars.
Sword: throughout the whole of the medieval period the commonest type of sword was cruciform with a straight two-edged blade. As early as the 14th century, however, an additional guard was occasionally provided in the form of a single loop alongside the base of the blade; this enabled the user to get a better grip on the sword by looping his finger over the cross-guard (quillons). During the 16th century the introduction of the practice of duelling as opposed to armoured combat in the lists, and the corresponding development of the science of fencing led to the adding of more supplementary guards, finally producing the swept-hilt rapier (q.v.) of the second half of the century. This remained in vogue until the second quarter of the 17th century, when a lighter form of rapier was introduced with a simple shell-guard and a single curved bar over the knuckles, ultimately developing into the smallsword (q.v.). In Southern Italy, and particularly in Spain, at this period the swept-hilt was superseded by the cup-hilt, with a guard formed by a circular bowl supplemented by straight quillons and a knuckle-guard, which remained in use until the 18th century.
The two-hand sword enjoyed a brief period of popularity in the 16th century, picked men being specially trained to its use. The basket-hilted sword, usually with a broad blade, was introduced at the end of the 16th century, and was much used by cavalry in the 17th; it has survived in a modified form until the present time (see also Backsword, Broadsword, Cinquedea, Claymore, Cutlass, Falchion, Hanger, Heading Sword, ‘Pappenheimer’, Rapier, Sabre, Schiavone, Smallsword, Swept-hilt.
Tschinke: a light wheel-lock gun, generally rifled, used for bird-shooting in the area of Germanic culture during the 17th century. The butt usually takes a sharp downward curve while the lock has an external mainspring.
Wheel-lock: mechanism for igniting a gun, in which a piece of pyrites, fixed between the jaws of a cock, is pressed against the grooved edge of a wheel projecting through the bottom of the priming pan. The wheel is forced to rotate by a spring, released by the trigger, and rubs against the pyrites, causing a shower of sparks which ignite the powder. The lock is usually wound by means of a spanner, but on rare examples this is effected automatically when the cock is drawn back.
The earliest known illustration of a wheel-lock mechanism is that in the Codex Allanticus of Leonardo da Vinci (d. 1519). There is, however, no evidence to show that this was ever made, the first practical wheel-lock apparently having been produced in Germany in c. 1520. It is rarely found on military weapons, probably on account of the expense of manufacture, but it was much used for sporting and target guns until well into the 18th century.
Jul
26
ANTIQUE ARMS AND ARMOUR GLOSSARY (A-H)
July 26, 2009 | Leave a Comment
GLOSSARY
The glossary which follows includes all major technical terms which the beginner collector will encounter in a study of European arms and armour. Oriental armour has not been included. Most of these terms have their individual translations in French, Italian, German and Spanish. These will be learned by the serious student in the course of acquiring knowledge.
Arinet: a term used in x5th- and early 16th-century texts, apparently to denote a close-helmet (q.v.). Modern writers generally confine it to the early form of this helmet with hinged cheek-pieces overlapping and fastening at the chin, and usually having at the back a steel disc (roundel) on a short stem.
Arquebus: a term occurring as early as the 14th century referring to some type of hand-gun. In the late 15th and early 16th centuries it was applied to the earliest type of portable gun fitted with a shoulder-butt and a match-lock (q.v.). In the late 16th and early 17th centuries it was applied loosely to almost any type of light wheel- or matchlock gun.
Backsword: a sword having a blade with a back on one side and a single cutting edge on the other.
Barbute: a 15th-century open helmet of Italian origin, one of the forms of the Ballet (q.v.). It was tall, at first with a pointed apex, later becoming rounded, and extended over the cheeks, leaving only the eyes, nose and mouth exposed. Some examples closely resemble the classical Greek Corinthian helmet, on which they may perhaps have been directly based.
Bascinet: the characteristic light helmet of the 14th and early 15th centuries. It was conical in shape and usually had a mail curtain (aventail) laced to its lower edge, protecting the throat and neck. In the second half of the 14th century it was often worn with an acutely pointed ‘pig-faced’ visor, a form for which the rare medieval term `hounskull’ is now generally used. In the 15th century the helmet became more rounded, and the aventail was replaced by a plate gorget; in this form it remained in use for fighting on foot in the lists until the beginning of the 16th century.
Bayonet: a dagger, or short sword, fitted to a musket to convert it into a pike. Known early in the 17th century, it was not generally adopted for military purposes until the second half of that century. At first simply a dagger with round grip, tapered to fit into the musket muzzle, a form which remained in use until well into the 18th century, but this was gradually superseded by the socket-bayonet introduced in the late 17th century. This had a tubular hilt fitting over the muzzle, the blade being set to one side so that the musket could be fired with the bayonet fixed. It was superseded in the 19th century by the sword-bayonet, attached to a lug on the barrel by a spring-catch and with a hilt like that of a sword.
Blunderbuss: a short musket with large bore widening at the muzzle, designed to fire shot. Apparently introduced into England from the Continent in the middle of the 17th century, it was used principally by civilians as a protection against thieves until well into the 19th. Many blunderbusses are equipped with a hinged spring-bayonet, which is thrown forward into the fixed position when a catch is released.
Brigandine: a light, flexible body defence consisting of small, overlapping metal plates riveted to the interior of a canvas or leather jacket. It was usually covered with coloured silk or velvet, the rivet heads on the exterior being gilt to produce a decorative effect. The term first occurs at the end of the 14th century, but the majority of surviving examples date from the 16th and early 17th centuries.
The jack was a cheaper form of the brigandine, its plates, which were often of horn, being held in place by stitching.
Broadsword: a sword with a straight double-edged blade. The term is applied chiefly to the basket-hilted cavalry sword of the 17th and 18th centuries. It survived in the Scottish basket-hilted sword, often erroneously called a claymore.
Buff-coat: a coat of thick buff-leather, usually with full skirts and often sleeved. It was thick enough to withstand a sword-cut and became very popular, particularly for cavalry, when armour was falling into disuse in the 17th century.
Burgonet: an open helmet, used chiefly by light-horsemen in the 16th and early 17th centuries. It usually had a peak (fall) over the eyes and hinged cheek-pieces fastening under the chin. It was sometimes worn with a deep chin-piece (buffe).
Cabasset: see Morion.
Chanfron: the plate defence for a horse’s head, introduced early in the 14th century and remaining in use until well into the 17th.
Cinqueda: a short sword, or large dagger, with a flat triangular blade some five fingers in width near the hilt (hence the name from the Italian Cinque dei), and often elaborately etched and gilt. It was essentially a civilian weapon, and was used chiefly in Italy in the late 15th and early 16th centuries.
Claymore: from the Gaelic claidheam-mor (great sword). The Scottish two-hand sword introduced in the 16th century. Of very large proportions, it usually had straight quillons inclining at a sharp angle towards the broad, straight blade. In the 17th century the quillons became curved and were supplemented by two (sometimes only one) large solid shells bent towards the hilt. Since the 19th century the term has been applied erroneously to the basket-hilted Scottish broadsword.
Close-helmet: a close-fitting, visored helmet completely enclosing the head. The term is now usually confined to the type of headpiece introduced early in the 16th century, with the visor and chin-piece pivoting at the sides, as opposed to the armet (q.v.), which has hinged cheek-pieces fastening at the chin.
Cross-bow: a bow mounted at right-angles upon a stock, which is grooved for the arrow (bolt), and fitted with a trigger-mechanism so that it can be discharged from the shoulder like a gun. The bow was made variously of wood, steel, or a composition of layers of wood, horn and sinew glued together; it could be spanned by hand, a stirrup at the end providing purchase for the foot by a forked lever, or by various forms of windlass. It was known in Europe as early as the 4th century, but did not become popular until the loth. Its use against Christians was prohibited by the Church in 1139, but despite this it was used extensively in warfare throughout the remainder of the Middle Ages. As a sporting weapon it has remained in use until the present time, especially in Switzerland.
A light version of the cross-bow fitted with a sling to fire bullets or stones, and known as a prodd or stone-bow, was much used from medieval times onwards for shooting small game. It remained popular, particularly in Lancashire and East Anglia, until well into the 19th century.
Cuirassier armour: armour for the heavy cavalry of the first half of the 17th century, consisting of a close-helmet and defences covering the whole of the body down to the knees.
Cutlass: a term first appearing in the 16th century, denoting a short, single-edged sword, usually curved, the successor of the medieval falchion (q.v.). In the 18th and early 19th centuries it was a standard naval weapon. Dagger : the diminutive of the sword, designed to be used
chiefly for thrusting, and common in a variety of forms from the earliest times. The main types are: (i) the quillon dagger, with a simple cross-guard; (ii) the ballock-knife (called by modern writers the kidney-dagger), which had a guard formed by two lobate protuberances; it was probably from this that the Scottish dirk developed in the 17th century; (iii) the rondel-dagger, with disc-shaped guard and pommel; (iv) the ear-dagger, with pommel formed by two flattened discs set at an angle and resembling ears; it is of Eastern origin and, when found in Europe, is usually Venetian or Hispano-Moresque; (v) the left-hand or main-gauche dagger, used in conjunction with the sword in 16th-and early 17th-century fencing; it usually had quillons (often strongly arched to entangle an opponent’s sword-blade), and a side-ring, but a special form, with a triangular knuckle-guard, was used in Spain during the last three quarters of the 17th century; in conjunction with the cup-hilt rapier. (vi) the stiletto, a variant of the quillon-dagger, first introduced in the 16th century with a stiff, narrow blade designed for stabbing only; the gunner’s stiletto has a scale on the blade for converting weight of gun-shot into diameter of bore.
Falchion: a short, curved, single-edged sword, known as early as the 12th century. The medieval form had a broad, cleaver-like blade.
Flint-lock: a type of gun-lock developed from the snaphaunce (q.v.) in the first quarter of the 17th century. It is fitted with a pan (holding priming powder round the touchhole), with a hinged cover from which rises a flat steel. When the gun is discharged, a specially shaped flint, held in the jaws of a spring-operated cock, strikes the steel, throwing it and the pan-cover back, and at the same time sending a shower of sparks into the priming.
In its earliest form this lock had a horizontal scear, the tip of which projected through the lock-plate and engaged with a projection on the heel of the cock, holding the latter back until released by the trigger. There was no half-cock (safety position), although on English locks this was provided by a dog-catch, a small pivoted hook which engaged in a notch at the rear of the cock. The flint-lock proper, with a vertical scear engaging in one of two notches in an internal tumbler, giving respectively half- and full-cock, appears to have been invented in France about 1610-15, possibly by Marin le Bourgeoys of Lisieux (d. 1634). This form became increasingly popular and virtually superseded all others in the second half of the 17th century, remaining in use until well into the 19th. A special type of flint-lock used in Spain and Southern Italy was the miquelet, which had an external mainspring and a scear operating through the lockplate.
‘Gothic’ armour: a modern term for the style of plate armour, characterized by slender elegant lines, and decorated with cusped borders and shell-like rippling, developed particularly in Germany in the 15th century. The term is extended to cover the 15th-century Italian style, which was rounder in form than the German, and usually had smooth, plain surfaces.
Greenwich armour: armour made in the only English royal workshop, founded at Southwark by Henry VIII in 1511, and subsequently removed to Greenwich Palace, where it remained until closed in about 1637. It was staffed largely by foreign workmen, of whom one of the most important was Jacob Halder, master workman, 1576-1607. He was almost certainly responsible for an album of drawings of armours made at Greenwich, now in the Victoria & Albert Museum, which has made possible the identification of a number of surviving suits, several of which are in the Tower of London.
Half-armour: a light armour covering the whole body excepting the legs, and often also excluding the arms.
Hand-gun: the earliest form of hand firearm, introduced early in the 14th century. It consisted simply of a tubular barrel attached to a long wooden stock designed to be held under the arm, and ignited at the touch-hole by hand.
Hanger: (i) a light, curved, single-edged civilian sword used by horsemen, huntsmen and sailors in the 17th and i8th centuries. The term when first used appears to be synonymous with falchion and cutlass; (ii) the triangular buckled sling attached to the belt, in which a rapier was carried in the late 16th and early 17th centuries.
Heading sword: an executioner’s sword, usually with a plain cruciform hilt long enough to be used with two hands, and a broad, straight, two-edged blade with a rounded or squared point. It was employed on the Continent, and especially in Germany, from the 16th to the early 19th century.
Helm: a large headpiece, covering the entire head and face and reaching nearly to the shoulders, introduced at the end of the 12th century. The top was at first flat but by the middle of the 13th century had become conical, giving an improved glancing surface. During the first half of the 14th century the helm was often worn over the bascinet (q.v.) in warfare, but was subsequently relegated to the tilt-yard, where it remained in use until well into the 16th century. In its later form it was usually bolted down to the breast and back.
‘Lobster-tail’ helmet: a modern term for a form of burgonet (q.v.) worn by cavalry in the 17th century. It had a laminated tail, hinged cheek-pieces and a peak (often pivoted), with one or more bars extending from it over the face. The English form with three bars was the characteristic helmet of the Civil War.
Jul
26
ANTIQUE ARMS AND ARMOUR
July 26, 2009 | Leave a Comment
ARMS AND ARMOUR
THE collector of arms and armour has to contend with one problem that is not common to any other of the collectors’ subjects dealt with in this encyclopaedia. This is the very small smanumber of antique dealers, specializing in their sale. The usual advice given to the new collector to consult the recognized authorities in the trade is less relevant in this field. Information must be gained by study of the various public collections in the Tower of London, the Wallace Collection and the Victoria & Albert Museum and their catalogues, or the Scott Collection in the Art Gallery at Glasgow.
The lack of specialist dealers has, however, from the collector’s point of view, its advantages as well as its disadvantages, since it adds greatly to the field of search. Practically any antique shop may contain something, and the collector must be prepared to enter every shop, no matter how discouraging its exterior. Furthermore, while the auction sales are, in other spheres, not attended by the average collector, in the armour field the converse is true. Private collectors regularly attend the public auctions; furthermore, a great many of the pieces offered for sale are put in by private collectors, who, in the absence of specialized antique shops, use this method of disposing of duplicates and other pieces. The arms and armour collectors form a closely organized group, and it would not be too much to say that a large proportion of the transactions which take place consist of direct exchanges between collectors without the assistance of the dealer as intermediary. In these circumstances, it is a great advantage for the collector to become a member of one or other of the societies existing in London for the encouragement of the collection and study of ancient The large-scale arms and armour dealer died out with
the generation of American millionaire collectors who
dominated the market during the twenties and thirties and made armour-collecting the preserve of the very rich. The situation is now radically altered to the advantage of the small collector, and firearms, though not fine armour and swords, have never before been available in such quantity. The immensely valuable harnesses, such as Gothic armours from the Churburg, armours from the Greenwich royal armouries, or from the Vienna armoury of the former Holy Roman Emperors, many of which were looted in the 19th century and so came on the art market, have now almost without exception been acquired by permanent national collections or protected by export licensing legislation.
But while such objects, in any case out of reach of the private collector in England, are no longer offered for sale, in other respects the modern collector is far better off than his 19th century predecessor. Throughout the 19th century fine arms and armour were in extremely short supply. When in the early decades of that century the romantic Gothic fashion manifested itself in the building of mock-Gothic castles and the reconstruction in the ‘Gothick’ taste of manor houses all over the English countryside, authentic armours and weapons to decorate their great halls were not to be had. The aristocratic owners of hereditary armouries were not disposed to break them up to satisfy the dealer, and the latter was therefore forced to fall back on the resources of the faker. It is difficult now to say whether the large numbers of armours and weapons turned out to furnish neo-Gothic castles were at the time intended to pass as genuine and merit the description ‘fake’ or not. But they cannot now, after over a hundred years of patination, well be distinguished from the true fake, made with the intention to deceive.
One of the greatest of the mid-19th century assemblages Of works of art, the Bernal Collection, while immensely rich in most spheres of applied art, was weak In swords and firearms*. and many of the former, made up from ill-assorted pieces, would not be acceptable to the modern collector. Even during the latter part of the i9th century, when the Baron de Cosson was combing Europe for the two remarkable collections he sold at Christie’s, it was still difficult to find good-quality pieces which had not been altered or reassembled by some previous owner. At the same time the Rothschild phase of armour-collecting, which placed a premium on highly embossed pieces in the taste of the High Renaissance, gave new scope to the faker.
Parts of armour, but not complete suits, swords, daggers and firearms were turned out by highly skilled Milanese fakers in large quantities during the last quarter of the 19th century, and are occasionally to be encountered on the art market still. They carry an air of conviction which is lacking in earlier fakes, since their designs were based on the series of original designs for armour and for swords, facsimiles of which had been published during the second half of the century. In spite of this, they do not exactly resemble authentic pieces of the period; their makers forgot that artists rarely take account of technical problems of manufacture and function, and that it is the craftsman’s function to modify their designs accordingly. The 19th-century craftsman was unable to foresee functional difficulties and could surmount all manufacturing problems, and his productions reproduce all those fantasies of ornament which his Renaissance ancestor would have omitted.
It was not until after World War I that arms and armour became really plentiful. Not only in England but throughout Western and Central Europe, noble families disposed of their hereditary collections, sometimes being forced to do so by financial necessity, sometimes being tempted by the enormously high prices created by the competition of a small number of English and American millionaire collectors. What might be called the millionaire phase of armour-collecting lasted until shortly before, the outbreak of World War II. It resulted in the transfer of some of the finest armours in existence either direct to America or first to England and thence to America. Not only were the armouries of noble families broken up, but also considerable numbers of duplicates were sold from the newly nationalized, former royal, collections of Germany, in particular those of the Saxon Royal House.
Many of these pieces, especially those from Dresden, had been preserved in very nearly pristine condition, and for the first time it became possible for the collector to secure fine arms in admirable state and with known provenance. The pre-war generation of collectors which absorbed these pieces is now dying out, and many of them are coming back on the market again, often at prices below those they fetched between the wars. The appearance of fine and authentic weapons in pristine condition in the sale-rooms relieved the fakers of one of the more tedious tasks of their profession, that of ageing their products. A Dresden faker continued over a period of some twenty years to put on the market convincing copies of the fine silver-mounted Saxon rapiers of the 16th century, authentic examples of which were at the same time being disposed of, though only in small numbers, from the Dresden collection. These are the most dangerous fakes still about on the armour market, and any Saxon sword or rapier with hilt of blued steel enriched with mounts of engraved silver must be regarded with suspicion.
There still exists amongst the uninformed a certain prejudice against the collection of arms and armour on the ground that they represent the least sympathetic aspect of man’s evolution. Whatever one’s moral judgement of the preoccupation of the nobility in the past with the profession of arms may be, it should not be forgotten that until nearly the end of the eighteenth century a finely ornamented sword or dagger performed a decorative function in male costume analogous to that of jewellery in the female costume of the time. Particularly is this true of the period when the sword provided almost the only note of contrast to the sombreness of the black court dress in the Spanish fashion. The decorative qualities of armour tend also to be forgotten, since most of the surviving suits have been so often cleaned that the bright gold, purple, blue or black colours of their surface have been irretrievably lost, and though they may preserve their grace or their grotesqueness, they lack the gaudy splendour which they once possessed.