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
Renaissance Antiques - Furniture, Glass, Porcelain, Pottery, Silver
September 24, 2009 | Leave a Comment
The discovery of the Baths of Titus and Nero’s home stimulated a leap
forward in the decorative arts. The stucco decoration of both buildings
witl animal, floral, human and grotesque motifs all symmetrically
placed was adapted to furniture, metalwork, gold and silversmithing,
pottery, textiles anil jewelry in the early 16th century.
The Renaissance should not be seen however as a backward-looking
sear :b for the glories of a lost empire but as a momentous”advance in
hun ; n culture a desire not so much to re-create classical culture but to
use t as a springboard to the future. 1 he innovations of the craftsmen
of tl e 16th century are a notable illustration of this desire.
The cabinetmaker was, for the first time, primarily concerned with
the oportions of his furniture to which he could then apply classically
pure) decoration. Italian cabinetmakers turned away from oak which
was i flicult lo carve and decorate, to ebony, walnut and soon, framing
was ; dapled as a method of construction which allowed decorative
technques not used before. Both Italian and Spanish cabinetmakers
u ere nfluenced by their contacts with Islam. The geometric and natural-
istic motifs of Moorish decoration were highly appealing to the Renais-
sance artist. New furniture forms were also developed, reflecting the
needs of a population who were becoming accustomed lo more per-
manent dwellings as the political turmoil of the Dark Ages subsided.
The cassone was a development of the Gothic chest while the cassajpanca
was a form of sofa which evolved from the cassone as the cabinetmaker
sought newer forms. The characteristic ‘X’ or scissor chair which had
been a portable folding chair now became a rigid piece of furniture that
was richly decorated. In Spain the chest evolved into the vargueno, a type
of desk. Tables were no longer designed to be folded away thus opening
up a whole variety of forms and decoration to the cabinetmaker.
Italian gold and silversmiths also drew heavily on the surviving
buildings of ancient Rome and Greece for their inspiration, tend ing to
use clean, well proportioned lines for the form and to use decorative
panels. The smiths of Florence achieved renown throughout Europe for
their ingenuity and originality of style and their casting techniques.
Venice, on the other hand, was the centre of the world’s glassmaking
industry. Although the secrets of making high-quality glass had been
lost in the Dark Ages they were rediscovered around the 11th century
and by the 13th century a glass industry was established on the island of
Murano. Venice began to rise to its pre-eminent position in the 15th
century and reached its peak in the 16th century. The glassware of the 15th
century though reflecting the splendour of the Renaissance by the) use of
colour and enamelling, tended to be influenced by silverware of the day
and was rather heavy and massive in shape. By the 16th century lighter
design had opened the way to more fanciful forms and the inven ion of
cristallo was the piece de resistance of the Venetian glassmakers. The
fragility of cristallo led glassmakers to concentrate upon form rather
than applied decoration. Thus glassmaking came of age.
The Renaissance reached France sometime after 1450 at a time when
the Gothic style was at its peak. As a result the first effects of the Renais-
sance were restricted to applied decoration. During the reign of Francois
1 (1515-47) the first distinctive Renaissance style came into being and
underwent subsequent changes during the reign of Francois’ successor,
Henri II, and later (1610) with Louis XIII.
Spain first showed signs of Renaissance influence at the end of the
15th century where it became known as the Plateresque style because
decorative work was similar to the fine work of the silversmith. Although
the goldsmiths of Spain borrowed much from Renaissance Lornbardy
in their designs - foliated scrolls, classical heads, mythical beasts and so
on - they made a style all of their own and their work is amongst the
finest of the Renaissance metalworkers. The skill of the Spanish metal-
workers extended to wrought-iron grilles, railings and so on. Spanish
tables, as elsewhere, were no longer designed to be portable arid were
notable for being bound by wrought-iron stretchers.
The Renaissance did not reach England until the reign of Elizabeth I
(1558-1603) and even then the transformation remained incomplete,
the Gothic style determining form with Renaissance decorative motifs
added on.
By the middle of the 16th century in Italy the creative outpourings of
the Renaissance were all but spent and until the end of the century the
short-lived style called Mannerism was the dominant influence. The
Mannerists ceased research into nature and natural appearance a$ source
material and turned back instead to the masters of the High Rem issance
suqrias Michelangelo, and to relief sculpture for inspiration. But around
the turn of the century a new style began its march across Europe. The
age] of the Baroque was beginning.
Renaissance had been evolving in Italy for nearly a century before
[fiuence reached Northern Europe in the early years of the 16th cen-
The Netherlands were the first to adopt Renaissance forms and it
from there that the style was disseminated to Germany, Scandi-
and England through circulated prints such as those by Cornells
is (active in the 1550s), who introduced Renaissance scrolled
orriament and grotesques to the Low Countries and Germany in mid-
ceriniry. Engravings by Hans Vredeman de Vries (1527—C. 1604) and his
son Paul (1567-c.1630) accelerated the diffusion of northern Renais-
sar ce design.
bound 1580 in Antwerp, de Vries published a pattern-book showing
kg Italian Renaissance and Mannerist influence in his designs for
poster beds, tables, chairs, cupboards and other furnishings. The
Sees, caryatids, pilasters, arches and other architectural details
[rated in these plates were to be as important for northern European
tture production as his depictions of scrolls, spindles, figures, heavy
str^pwork and gem-shaped bosses.
|te Renaissance joined cupboards of the Netherlands, particularly
thdjjB of Antwerp, were characterized by this heavy style. Set on bun
feeLjthey had panelled doors ornamented with rectangular mouldings
and separated by pilasters or consoles. Turned supports of spheres,
blocks and balusters, the latter often fluted, appeared on Flemish stools,
benches, chairs, tables and beds, often joined by similarly turned
st res tellers.
Germany, prints executed by Albrecht Diirer (1471-1528), Peter
inspired forms and motifs which furniture-makers had widely adopted
(c. 1485-1576) and the de Vrieses, circulated Renaissance-
le mid-16th century. Engravings by Lorenz Stoer (active 1555-
(.1620) popularized designs for the inlay and marquetry ornament of
is and cabinets, with involved and complicated perspective views
thajt included overgrown architectural ruins, strapwork, rollwork and
olyhedral forms such as dodecahedra.
the conservative and more commercially isolated north, stylistic
chdriges occurred more slowly; pieces were heavily formed and enriched
wit i massively carved figures and ornament. Gothic vestiges, such as
lintnfold ornament on cupboards, lingered well into the mid-16th
centiiry.
Application of classical architectural motifs to French furniture forms
in the first half of the 16th century created the bold, vigorous Francois I
sty e Tables carved with griffins and grotesques, beds with baluster posts
and) pictorial hangings and panelled chairs, benches, stools and cup
English oak armchair with panelled hack.
boards exhibited the initial ripples of Italian influence in their ornament
and form. In the second half of the century the integrated, mors in-
dependently French Henri II style developed, shaped largely by the
engravings of architecture and furniture executed by the designers
Jacques Androuet du Cerceau (c.1520- 1584) and Hugues Sambin
( 1520-r. 1601). Architectural details, fruit and foliage, caryatids and
lion, ram and eagle forms ornamented the heavily carved armoireS and
tables of this period. These also appeared on the characteristic Four-
doored cupboard in two stages, which was often carved with figure > and
crowned by a broken pediment.
Du Cerceau’s first book of architecture appeared in 1559 and s:rved
to establish his reputation firmly. He went on to publish several ather
books of engraved designs for silver, textiles and furniture as well as
architecture, drawing heavily on the silver designs of Hans Broiamer
and the engraved ornaments of Polidoro, Agostino Veneziane and
Perino del Vaga. He was the first French architect to publish furniture
designs in the Renaissance style and despite the fantastic and elat orate
style of many of his designs, several pieces of furniture still exist, pa rticu-
larly sideboards and cupboards which are clearly derived directly from
his book. Other pieces in which his influence is apparent omit someof his
more imaginative details.
It is not known whether Sambin ever actually made a piece of furniture
and his reputation seems to rest mainly on interior work for the Palais
de Justice in Dijon, notably a wooden screen which separates the chapel
from the Salle des Pas Perdu, as well as on his book Oeuvre de la di >ersite
des Termes, dont on use en Architecture. Some existing cabinets seem to
show the influence of Sambin particularly in the style of their term: igures
which exhibit the curious fantasy quality typical of Sambin.
The school of Fontainebleau combined the styles of du Cerceau,
Sambin and the Italian craftsmen imported by Francois I and Henri II
to decorate the palace of Fontainebleau in the Renaissance manner.
French furniture craftsmanship in the second half of the century
showed increasing mastery and refinement of the techniques of carving,
dovetailing and joinery.
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
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 Glass: Early glass centres
September 24, 2009 | Leave a Comment
Libyan desert glass and Darwin glass. These are
glassy pebbles found in many parts of the world and are thought to be
the weathered remains of prehistoric meteorites. Another form of natural
glass, utilized by earlier civilizations in toolmaking, is obsidian - a
material of volcanic origin and produced by the rapid cooling of viscous
lava. Quartz is pure silica and all types of quartz are related to natural
glass. However, nearest in appearance to the man-made product is rock
crystal, named from the Greek crysiallos - clear ice. Mined in areas all
ove the world, it has long been cherished as a precious material suitable
lor all kinds of artefacts. Stone cutters (lapidaries) delighted in working
with this substance, and the technique of rock crystal cutting represents
one of the most important aspects of glass decoration.
Glasshouses will obviously be located where raw materials are acces-
sible and of satisfactory quality. In Mediterranean regions, the essential
sodi would be obtained from certain types of seaweed although, if neces-
sary, some raw materials could be procured from a distant source. The
forest glasshouses would replace the soda of southern tradition by
polish derived from woodash. The quality of sand the source of silica
is of great importance to the glassmaker since impurities affect the
glass colour and finality. A most important addition lo the glass batch
is cullet. waste pieces of glass which used to be collected by children and
poo ■ families who sold them back to the glasshouse. To form the glass
frit i frittare to fry), the cullet and raw materials are ground, ready for
melting in the furnace. Glass is a supercooled liquid. It has no crystalline
structure and passes into a viscous fluid on heating, without a definite
melting point. I hree stages are required for heating the frit, beginning
with placing it into the melting pot. a preheated refractor) crucible which
stands in the furnace. The resultant viscous mass is then ready for the
Glass unguent jat dating from the 1st to
3rd centuries found in Syria.
refining stage, during which the pot melt is increased to a
of 1,600°C (2,912°F), when the frit becomes a thin liquid
bubbles which give off undesirable gases and water vapour,
rising to the surface are skimmed off with the ladle. Lastly, the I
be cooled so that by returning to its former viscosity it will be
for working at a temperature of about 700 to 800°C (1,290 to 1
It may now be shaped by blowing, moulding, pressing or
will remain ductile for about 20 minutes. If a longer working)
required, the mass can be kept pliable by brief refining at the
mouth. This procedure is also used to polish the finished glass!
called fire polish. To reduce internal stresses which may result
glass cracking or breaking, the shaped article must be placec
special annealing oven or lehr, at a carefully controlled lempe
By the 18th century, the slightly elliptical glasshouse with its
chimney cone had become a familiar landmark. An English]
Parliament decreed that to enable waste smoke to drift away,
chimneys were to have a height of at least 15.24 metres (50 ft),
were built much taller.
Glasshouse pots are made by hand and need special treatment!,
to remain in a heating chamber from four to eight months before
tested for additional periods at very high temperatures. Neve
these pots are serviceable only for a period of up to three months
because glass attacks the clay. Potsetting is one of the most
tasks even under modern factory conditions. The men receive!
pay for this work and there is a tradition of free beer as well.
The glassmaker’s tools and techniques are as old as Chri
although glass was probably made at least 4,000 years ago. The
made its appearance about the first century A.D. It is a tube
iron, with a thickened end to gather the molten glass and is pro
handling points by a wooden covering. The lump of glass,
paraison, may be taken from the pot with the blowing iron orj
rod, the pontil. The pontil is used for drawing out the glass and
rough mark where it is broken off, the so-called pontil mark,
and large shears are used for cutting off parts such as rims, and,
and a wooden Upper are needed for shaping.
The rake and ladle are used for skimming off impurities from)
These tools are suspended from the arms of the master blower’
a short bench with flat and slightly sloping long arms, developed
the 17th century. The term chair also refers to the team of
working together - the gaffer, or master blower, and his assistants
the servitors and footmen, usually three or four in number. An i
glassmaker’s requisite is the marver, a polished iron slab for
smoothing or shaping the paraison, and also used for embedding
decoration in the glass surface.
Advances in technology have enabled greater control in gl
facture, guaranteeing a larger percentage of perfect output,
production method remains basically unchanged. Diamond arj
engraving can now be applied with electrically-powered too
produced polishing is achieved by placing the glass objects in
bath; and acid etching, although applied in earlier times and
during the 19th century, is now utilized in the fields of decorative domestic
and industrial glassmaking. Sandblasting, too, is a modern innovation,
although it is a variant of the abrasive technique.
ingraving, either by hand tool or copper wheel, and wheel cutting
always represent the pinnacle of the glass decorator’s art. Unlike
other decoration it highlights the refractive property of the material
enhances its brilliancy.
Ancient World
Gl^ss, as an independent material, made its appearance some time be-
tween 3000 to 2000 B.C., although man had prior knowledge of this sub-
stance in the form of vitreous glazes. On the basis of some newly exca-
vated material, it is now thought that glassmaking originated in western
Asia rather than in the eastern Mediterranean littoral. Hollow glass in
venyi much larger quantities appears for the first time in Egypt from
abiut 1500 B.C.
Early glass centres were favourably situated in the Tigris-Euphrates
region, the coastal and river areas of Egypt and along the Phoenician
coast in the cities of Sidon, Tyre and Acco. The colourful glass pastes
and enamel inlays of Egyptian artefacts bear witness to an abundance
of fine raw materials.
The first hollow glass consists of small vessels produced by the core
technique, whereby the required form is pre-shaped over the end of a
me al rod, the diameter of which corresponds to the required orifice of
the vessel. The form is made of clay or straw and sand, probably held
together by a cloth bag. The glass mass, ground from larger pieces and
rehjeated frequently to allow satisfactory fusion, is contained in a small
crucible into which the glassmaker places his metal dipstick and trails
threads of glass around the preformed core until it is covered.
After reheating and marvering smooth, the vessel was frequently
decorated by the application of contrasting coloured glass threads,
wh ch could be combed with a special tool to create a feather pattern.
Since metal contracts when cooling, the rod could be extracted quite
eas ly and the remaining core cleaned out. Handles and feet were applied
separately.
Cored vessels represent one of the most delightful facets of the early
glassmaker’s art. Turquoise and yellow colours dominate; later, almost
all colours were applied.
(pertain other techniques for shaping glass were available to early
craftsmen. Casting glass in open or closed moulds was a logical step,
since it was similar to existing techniques of metal and pottery working.
Larger vessels and small ornaments could be produced by making a glass
paslte from powdered fragments and fusing it in the mould. In the mosaic
glass technique, the vessel, usually a large open bowl, was built up from
slices of coloured glass laid next to each other over a mould forming the
shape, and covered by an outer mould. When fused and released from
the moulds, the vessel surfaces were ground smooth. Mosaic plaques and
mil\efiori glass made from slices of multi-coloured glass rods were
prdduced in a similar manner.
Egyptian artisans were able lapidaries and it is not surprising that they
applied their craft to glass. There are reasons to suppose that large glass
Syrian single-ha idled glass flask.
Glass
blocks were transported from their place of manufacture to egions
where facilities for glassmaking were not available. This may account
for glass objects of similar colour and texture found over widely dis-
persed areas. Such raw glass blocks were often cut and ground to form
a variety of objects.
Sep
24
Renaissance Antiques - Furniture, Porcelain, Glass
September 24, 2009 | Leave a Comment
The flourishing court of Renaissance Spain eagerly adopted the
decorative elements that Italian craftsmen introduced to the already
unusual mudejar style, a medieval form which had resulted from the
amalgamation of Arab, African and Mediterranean influences, and
whjich was characterized by geometrical interlaces, polygons, stars and
foljage motifs. In furniture, mudejar derived much of its effect from the
native materials, so varied and exotic by northern European standards,
of cypress, orangewood, chestnut, walnut and poplar and from the
increasing imports of rare metals and semi-precious stones from the
Spanish American colonies.
The many-drawered Spanish hembra evolved into the elaborate
vargueho, a writing desk on a stand containing tiny, brightly-painted and
gilt drawers, columns, doors and carvings.
The sillone de frailero, which superseded an earlier X-shaped seat
derived from Italy, was square and solid, with horizontal, sometimes
cuived, arms. Large decorative brass nails attached the leather to the
back and seat, and a hinged stretcher pierced with a geometric ornament
joificd the legs. The characteristic Spanish table, with a thick walnut top
projecting above a frieze of small carved drawers, also came into use
during the Renaissance.
In Northern Europe, where oak was commonly used, the Netherlands
ledl in the adoption of Renaissance forms, disseminating the style to
Germany, Scandinavia and England through circulated prints such as
those by Cornelius Floris (active in the 1550s), who introduced Renais-
sance scrolled ornament and grotesques to the Low Countries and Ger-
many in mid-century. Engravings by Hans Vredeman de Vries (1527—
c. 1604) and his son Paul (1567-c. 1630) accelerated the diffusion of
northern Renaissance design.
Jtalian ideas had begun to influence French styles well before the end
of the 15th century. Architecture was the first to feel the effects, followed
shortly by furniture. The French Renaissance is divided into two periods:
the Francois I style which covers the reign of Charles VIII (1483-98),
Lojuis XII (1498-1515) and Francois I (1515-47); and the High Renais-
sance or Henri II style (1547-98).
During the first period Gothic and Renaissance styles were mixed;
fori example scrolls and arabesques were combined with pinnacles and
pointed arches. It was not until the reign of Francois I that the Gothic
style completely disappeared. A great deal of furniture in France until
thej 16th century was intended to be portable, years of political upheaval
haying made this necessary. This is an important reason why the new
style took time to reach its full expression.
There are very few ceramic bodies and techniques associated with the
artiof the potter which were not originally introduced by Chinese crafts-
men, and even with advanced knowledge of science and technology the
preteent-day potter only rarely achieves the perfection seen on the wares
produced by the Far Eastern potters of earlier times.
From the late Neolithic period, about 2000 B.C., potters in is orthern
China were producing fine, boldly shaped jars for tomb furnishing which
were usually formed by the ‘coiling’ technique and decorat;d with
vigorous designs in red and black clay slips on a buff-toned bi rnished
earthenware body. The slip is clay reduced to a liquid batter, a id used
for making, coating or decorating pottery. Primitive feldspathi z glazes
were occasionally used during the Chou dynasty (10th-3rd centu ry B.C.)
but it was from the early years of the Han dynasty (206 B.C.-A D. 220)
that the low-fired earthenwares were made to serve a more \ radical
purpose by the addition of a lead-silicate glaze, sometimes tints d green
or brown with metallic oxides. During these early years higler-fired
stonewares were produced with a ‘tight-fitting’ olive-green fel< spathic-
glaze, often inspired by the form and decoration of conter lporary
bronzes. These stonewares were improved when finer pottery shapes
were made during the Six Dynasties period (A.D. 265-589) ind are
known as ‘Yiieh’ wares.
During the T’ang dynasty (A.D. 618-906) many fine achievements
were made in China in all artistic fields, aided primarily by an ncrease
in trade with Central and Western Asia. Ceramic tomb wares still pro-
vide the majority of surviving examples of the potter’s art; and th sse may
well be inferior to those made for court use, which have onl / rarely
survived. It was during these years that the popular yellow-and-green
toned glazes, referred to today as ‘egg and spinach’, were so widely used.
It has long been considered that it was during the late years of the
T’ang dynasty that the Chinese potter made his greatest discovery - a
method of producing a white, translucent body, referred to today as
hard-paste porcelain. This was made by fusing China-clay (kao in) and
China-stone (petuntse), at a temperature of about 1,350°C (2 462°F).
China-stone was used to produce a tight-fitting clear glaze, whic h could
be fired together with the body.
Porcelain of this type was considered to have been made by the 9th
century, but the National Palace Museum in Taiwan now claim tjhat true
porcelain was being made in China as early as the Wei and Ts n states
(A.D. 220-420) and that recently more of these early wares have been
discovered, although the earliest porcelains exhibited in the mussum are
of the Northern Sung dynasty (A.D. 960-c.l 127). They include the fine
imperial wares of the Ting, Ju, Kuan, Ko and Chun kilns. Tie most
beautiful wares made during the Sung dynasty (A.D. 960-1279) rely
primarily upon their shape and fine glazes rather than painted or applied
decoration, styles which were to become so popular during the Ming
dynasty.
Equally worthy of note are the heavily potted wares with moulded or
carved decoration under a greyish-green celadon glaze, made di ring the
Yuan dynasty (A.D. 1279-1368). During this time the courtry was
under the power of the Mongols, following the successful onslaught of
Kublai Khan.
It was some time during the early 14th century that the Chine; e potter
began to use the metallic oxide of cobalt as an underglaze-blue decora-
tion, a technique and colour that was later to be used throughout Europe
up to the present day. This new form of decoration continued into the
succeeding Ming dynasty (A.D. 1368-1644) with very little change, and
the porcelain factories in the city of Ching-te-chen multiplied and flour-
ished, producing wares not only for the court but also for the Near East.
Mapy examples can be seen today in the Topkapi Sarayi Palace in
Istanbul.
The reign of Yung Lo (1403-26) saw the firm establishment of new
ceramic forms. Tastes had also become more sophisticated and the in-
creasing royal patronage of potters helped them develop and show their
true skills. Judging by two vases made for a temple presentation in 1351
and now at the Percival David Foundation, London, the art of blue and
white had been mastered by the mid-14th century, but it was during
Yum Lo’s reign that it gained true recognition both at court and amongst
scholars
Characteristic of this period are large dishes decorated with fruit and
floral motifs and with either plain or foliated rims. The bases are un-
glaaied and cany no reign mark. Other popular patterns include a
bouquet of lotus and other plants tied with a ribbon. The dishes vary in
colour from a kingfisher blue to a fainter shade that is said to give “the
impression of drifting like smoke into the glaze’. While many blue and
whites of this period show this effect, not all do so.
The lotus bowl, lien-tzu, was also developed in this reign and was made
in finely potted plain white porcelain. Decoration was usually in an hua,
the {’hidden decoration’, though underglaze blue was increasingly used
as it became more popular. Ewers, based on Middle liastern designs,
with narrow necks and long spouts with a neck support were popular in
the early years of the century. The stemcup, which had been in use for
centuries, underwent a change in shape, and once again the inspiration
seems to have come from Mediterranean and Near Eastern forms that
gained acceptance during the Yuan Dynasty.
From the time of the reign of the Ming Emperor Hsiian Te (A.D.
14218-35) it became a common practice to add a ‘reign-mark’ in under-
glaze-blue. This form of mark must not necessarily be accepted as in-
dicating the date of the piece; many marks of earlier periods were often
added, some deliberately to confuse, but others merely as a mark of
veneration, indicating similarity to wares made in outstanding periods
in the history of Chinese porcelain.
The skill and artistry achieved with blue and white during the reign
of Hsiian-te has probably never been surpassed. A Chinese writer of the
lata 16th century wrote that ‘during the Hsiian-te period potters were
inspired by Heaven to produce works of subtle meaning and supreme
artistry’. Foreign influences are still apparent in this period, notably in
the so-called ‘tankards’ the shape of which was based on an 8th century
Middle Eastern form. Flattened flasks, often decorated with the yin-
yang symbol and having two rings attached to the body, were also made
in this period.
Sep
24
History of Antiques in Medieval Europe. Medieval Furniture
September 24, 2009 | Leave a Comment
Pre 1500
Above all the Renaissance was a time of change in man’s attitude
towards himself and the world around him. He gradually turned away
from the supernatural world, its values and ideas, to a concern with the
natural world. For the first time the world was being viewed without the
spectacles of religion - it was being humanized in fact. The art of the
Renaissance was a celebration of the natural world and of man himself.
T(ie traditions on which the Renaissance was to base its new synthesis
were those of classical culture which were now being rediscovered 100
years after the fall of the Roman Empire. The particular achievements
will be reviewed from the vantage point of the 16th century by which
time all of Europe had fallen under its influence.
furniture
The network of spectacular Gothic cathedrals that sprinkled the 15th
century European landscape with towers, pinnacles, statuary and spires
manifested the wealth and strength of the main force of internationalism
in the Middle Ages, the Christian Church. Commerce also united
European societies, but although mercantile exchange, ecclesiastical
splendour and courtly extravagance all helped shape interior styles in
thsrlate medieval period, they in no way provided the degree of domestic
comfort taken for granted today.
throughout Europe, common houses generally consisted of a single
room only, and their stark furnishings revealed a low standard of living.
Even in rich aristocratic establishments, interiors were likely to be more
shpwy than comfortable. European nobility constantly moved among
their various estates and as they travelled they took with them the sparse
furnishings. The dominant features of late medieval furniture were
necessarily those of adaptability and easy transport.
This furniture reflected in miniature the Gothic architectural style.
This was possibly connected to Arabic sources and was related to the
earlier northern Romanesque style of the 9th and 10th centuries.
Characterized by pointed ogival arches, cusps, tracery and stylized
fl£ me-like carving, the Gothic mode flourished in northern Europe from
the 13th to the 15th centuries. The imposing fabric of cathedrals, such
as Notre Dame, with sculpture and stained glass executed on a large
scale, provided a pictorial medium for presenting the Biblical text to a
world that lacked printing and literacy.
jEcclesiastical furniture followed this style, echoing on pews and
mjsericords such features as tracery, arcades and Biblical figures and
scenes. Domestic furniture shared the same ornament, and by the 15th
century also included the profile ‘romayne’ heads derived from Italian
Renaissance interpretations of Roman coins, and the Flemish-inspired
lir enfold panelling.
Gothic furniture was sparse. Chairs, chests and tables that date from
before the 15th century are rare; hangings were the real furnishings of
medieval interiors, and it was the collection of tapestries, velvets, silks
and leathers that dominated rooms with their presence and colour. These
materials, many produced in Italy and Spain, far outweighed the itatus
and worth of the wooden pieces they dwarfed. Sets of elaborate te ttiles,
called chambres in medieval French inventories, together with tietal-
work were the most ornate of the decorative arts. The rich wall fabrics
of the Coronation Room of Queen Jeanne of Burgundy wen: em-
broidered with 1,321 parrots and the ducal coat of arms. The poor1 >uild-
ing insulation that made these hangings necessary also popularizt d the
footstools that kept feet off cold floors. Also heavy tapestries almost
totally cloaked medieval beds.
Even in wealthier homes, rooms were not assigned exclusive functions,
and the few pieces of furniture that each house contained were moved
according to necessity. Life often centred around a large hall which
accommodated eating, entertainment and casual socializing. Such halls
generally included a long high table for the manor family; this table,
and the rows of tables set beneath it at right angles, were taken apart
into their component trestles and planks at the end of meals and removed
to make way for whatever activity was to follow.
Etiquette required that high tables, four-poster state beds, and pr ncely
seats be elevated on a dais. Canopies were hung above the same p ieces,
and even children’s cradles and press cupboards that displayed dollec-
tions of plate were similarly distinguished.
Tables were made of softwood and oak as well as stone and mirble.
Trestles were of two kinds: those with separate splayed legs arid the
column type which rose from a spreading base. Two surviving tal les of
the latter kind are at Penshurst Place in Kent. Each has three large ti estles
supporting an unattached board some 8 metres (27 ft) long. The trestles
are cruciform, wide at the top and bottom with a waisted centre. Fixed
tables were also in use and were known as dormies or dormant. /, type
of pedestal table is known to have been in use that had a round or hexa-
gonal top supported on cruciform or column pedestals. Library tables,
designed for individual use, had screw pedestals.
Few cradles have survived from the Middle Ages, but it is know l that
among the nobility at least, two cradles were used: a daytime oi state
cradle and a night cradle.
In addition to being easily dismantled, furniture of the late Middle
Ages tended to be plain and serviceable. The woods most often used
were oak, walnut and pine. Construction methods progressed from the
crude, hollowed-out tree trunk chests of early medieval England to
assemblages of wood planks and finally to the more durable pane-and-
frame construction introduced possibly in Flanders towards the end of
the 14th century.
The chest was the most common piece of furniture in the Middle Ages.
It was used to store bridal dowries, to transport belongings, to safeguard
valuables such as books and imported spices, as well as to sit on. Italian
Gothic chests were often gilt and were generally uncarved, being painted
with religious scenes. French chests were carved with Gothic arches,
tracery and figures. Those from Spain were often leather-covered, and
bound with iron. During the Renaissance, chests developed domec tops,
possibly to facilitate their fixture to animals when being transposed.
The next most common pieces of furniture after the chest were the
various forms of seating. The most usual style of stool had two pairs of
c lived or straight legs each pair of which crossed in the centre to form
a:i X; opposite legs were joined by horizontal beams or bars which sup-
p >rted a hide or cloth seat. These early stools were designed to be folded
but by the 15th century they were no longer portable, having developed
a high back. One stool common throughout Europe was the backstool.
Tins was a three-legged stool with a triangular rush or wood seat; one
of pie legs was extended up above the seat and given a short cross-bar
so forming a back - and headrest. They were still being made in the 17th
;entury.
Another 15th-century stool was the slab-ended stool made from a
ngth of plank, supported at either end by two vertical planks which had
their edges shaped like buttresses; a piece of wood in the shape of a
triefoil or Gothic arch, for example, was cut out of the base of each ‘leg’.
In general, Gothic interiors were equipped with few of the accoutre-
ments of easy living that the following centuries would introduce. The
sharp contrast between the minimally comfortable furniture that people
u£ed, and the ostentatious and expensive embellishments displayed in
trie rooms around, only began to diminish during the Renaissance.
In the 15th century the Gothic style began to wane. The flamboyant
ahd perpendicular Gothic exhausted itself in its final stages. It gradually
gave way throughout Europe to Renaissance influences which had
originated about two centuries before in Italy, where the Gothic mode
hap never been completely established. There, a turn towards humanism
in ireligion in the 13th century transformed the medieval preoccupation
with religious salvation into a glorification of man and the world. Simul-
taneously, the papacy and the rigid feudal system declined favouring
aristocratic and mercantile families such as the Medici, Gonzaga and
Sforza, who embraced the new age of expansion, exploration and
unprecedented wealth.
The patronage fostered a revolution in European thought and art,
which originated in Florence. It fast spread to the rest of Italy and
gradually permeated northern Europe. Revived studies of classical
architecture, arts and literature revitalized antique principles, manifest
iri the corporeal realism of paintings such as Giotto di Bondone’s fresco
cycle at the Arena Chapel in Padua, and in the classical proportions of
buildings such as Filippo Brunelleschi’s Pazzi Chapel at Santa Croce,
Florence.
The resurrection of classical architectural forms and concepts brought
with it a profusion of acanthus leaves, griffins, urns and other details
taJcen from ancient villas and temples, introducing a repertoire of motifs
that would appear on furniture for centuries to follow.
Rivalries of patronage and artistic display among aristocratic families
resulted in the building of expensive palaces and villas in Italy and else-
where. These villas disseminated the Renaissance style, attested to the
new social stability and demanded the production of new and finer
furnishings.
Early Renaissance interiors continued to be draped with brightly-
coloured textiles, but as the period progressed it saw the introduction of
Furniture
a variety of new furniture forms, which increased in abundance every-
where. At first, classical ornaments were merely added to traditional
Gothic furniture. Gradually, however, although the types of woods used
remained largely unchanged, Renaissance architecture, painti lg and
sculpture led to the application of classical architectural motifs and
naturalistically carved animals, figures and foliage. Italian and French
chests of the 15th and 16th centuries often combined elements »uch as
Gothic arcades and religious figures with classical columns and cornices.
Furnishings and interior decoration developed from the classic re-
straint of the early Renaissance to an increasing opulence during 1 he 15th
and 16th centuries. Walls were hung with cloths of gold, Italian silks and
velvets, imported oriental carpets, Spanish leathers, and ta vestries
woven with mythological and Biblical scenes. Artists such as Sandro
Botticelli and Domenico Ghirlandaio frequently executed wall lrescoes
of allegories, hunting scenes, landscapes with birds and anim lis and
architectural views.
Wooden wainscoting, often with contrasting marble panels or ntarsia
(inlaying or marquetry) decorations, also covered room walls. C offered
and panelled ceilings, such as Leonardo da Vinci’s gold and azur: stellar
composition in the ballroom of the Castello at Milan, were colourfully
painted.
These interior schemes, opulent in themselves, contained col
of paintings, sculpture, silver and gold plate manuscripts, musica
ments and maiolica. Furniture was still scarce, but increasingly
Italian Renaissance woodworkers ornamented their walnut c ibinets,
beds, chairs and other pieces with rich carving and marquetry.
The Italian cassone, box-like and painted in earlier periods de /eloped
into an architecturally-schemed chest with strong cornice and base,
classical pilasters and panels, and ornaments of arches and refined
classical mouldings. Cassone were usually the most skilfully and elabor-
ately worked pieces of furniture of the period. Made in pairs by specialist
craftsmen, they were designed to hold a bride’s trousseau, though they
were also used for holding household items.
The cassapanca, a form of chair derived from a chest with b ick and
sides, eventually became the honoured seat of the head of an Italian
household. It was fitted with cushions and often raised on a dais as were
the carved or inlaid throne seats, with panel-backs and canopies, found
in patrician ceremonial apartments. Sgabello stools, with narrow
triangular backs, were carved and inlaid. The folding, easily-transported
X-shaped Savonarola chair was upholstered with leather or fabric.
Cabinets acquired the friezes, pediments and columns of Ren; lissance
architecture; their front panels were often inlaid with intarsia trompe
I’oeil scenes which themselves depicted open-doored cabinets w th con-
tents or architectural vistas revealed. Four-poster beds with can spies of
rich velvets, silks and tapestries were often gilt and raised on a dai >. Large
tables, with vase-shaped end supports joined by stretchers, were ft equent-
ly covered with tapestries or exquisite lace, as were the credenze or side-
boards, that developed during the 15th century.
Sep
15
Antique Clear Colourless Glass - WINE-GLASS - MOULDED HONEY POT
September 15, 2009 | Leave a Comment
Clear Colourless Glass
The new glass-of-lead was in full produc-
tion by 1682, and by the end of the 17th
century nearly thirty glass-houses through-
out England had adopted it. The period of
fifty years following the general adoption
of the new formula saw the greatest
English achievement in the art of glass.
For a further half-century the English
glass-maker continued to invent new
styles of great interest quite independently
of his European contemporaries. At the
beginning of the 18th century the majority
of English glasses had very little decora-
tion and were heavy and capacious. The
large goblet illustrated is a good example
of this. By the end of the t8th century,
however, English glasses had become
smaller and much lighter in style.
There were many reasons for the revolu-
tion in style just mentioned. The Treaty of
Utrecht in 1713 allowed the glass-makers
of Central Europe to trade westwards; the
accession of George I of Hanover to the
throne of England in 1714 brought an
infiltration of Continental craftsmen, who
were to influence the form and decoration
of English glass; classicism became popu-
lar in all branches of art. Possibly the
greatest influence on English glass-making
however, was brought to bear by the Glass
Excise Acts of 1745, 1777 and 1787. The
merging of the Continental and English
forms continued in England until the first
Glass Excise Act of 1745, which imposed
a tax of one penny per pound on the
materials used to make glass-of-lead.
Other taxes followed which severely ham-
pered English glass-makers, and it was not
until 1845 that these crippling taxes were
finally removed. Efforts to make glasses
lighter in order to lessen the tax burden
include the so-called Excise wine-glass
illustrated, which has a hollow stem.
WINE-GLASS
Norway, second half of the i8ih century.
III. 175 mm (6 88 in.)
Lead crystal glass was introduced to
Norway by a young Englishman, James
Keith, who left South Shields in 1755 to
work at the Royal Norwegian Glass Works.
It seems that glass had first been made in
Norway in 1741. German glass-makers
were called in to run the Nastetangcn
glass-house, and by 1748 they had achieved
considerable success. Further glass-houses
were later set up, notably the Hurdals
Verk, and an enlarged Nostetangen led to
the setting up of the Royal Norwegian
Glass Works. James Keith worked there
until 1787, and introduced the spirit of
Newcastle design; the result was a mixture
of German and English styles peculiar to
Norwegian glass. German influence was
dominant in the cheaper glassware, and
English influence in the finer type. Hurdals
Verk took over the making of fine glass-
ware from Nestetangen after 1777, and in
turn handed over in 1808 to Gjevik Verk,
which however closed in 1843.
MOULDED HONEY POT
Rene I -aliquc. France, 1927-29.
Hi. 197 mm (775 in.)
Rene Lalique (1860-1945) initially be-
came famous for his Art Nouveau style
jewellery, shown at the Paris Exhibition in
iQoo, much of it inlaid with coloured glass
pastes. He also experimented with vessel
glass and the decoration of window panels,
but direction was finally given to his work
when the perfume manufacturer Coty
commissioned a series of luxury flacons
from him. He took over a small glass
factory in 1908 and experimented in blown
glass, then in 1918 acquired the factory at
Wingen-sur-Modcr, where he developed
the glass he became famous for, a colour-
less type of great purity which was often
allowed to retain the matt finish given to it
by the mould or the engraving-wheel. The
vessel illustrated has this frosted finish. He
made vases, flacons, bowls and jars, clocks,
lamp-fittings, figures, screens and panels
for furniture; his favourite decorative
motifs were the female figure, birds, fish
and flowers in rather stilted patterns.
‘Lalique’s glass has the ethereal brilliance
of Arctic ice,’ said Guillaume Janncau in
1931. Occasionally he coloured his clear
metal, using striking contrasts such as
sealing-wax red or black against white,
furnace colouring was not ignored, and
some of his glass have an opalescent sheen.
Sometimes he used abstract patterns, as in
the vase in clear glass illustrated, with
deeply moulded patterns picked out in
black. The ‘twenties were to prove Lal-
ique’s most creative period. During this
time he produced some very large vases and
cups, sometimes singly by the cire perdue
process, more often by the hundred from
the power-press. His style reflected the
mood of the ‘twenties, but in the ‘thirties
he seemed to have lost much of his
original verve. After his death in 1945 his
son Marc carried on the work of the factory
on much the same lines as his father,
though concentrating more on glass for
interior decoration than on vessel glass.
One of the most remarkable personalities
in modern glass history was Gunnel
Nyman (1909-48) who founded an original
art of glass in Finland. She began as a
designer of furniture, training at the
Design School at Helsinki, but when
Henri Ericsson, head designer at the
factory of Riihimaki, died, she started to
design glass for the factory. Her designs
won a competition set by the Karhula-
Iittala factory, and she then dedicated
more of her time to glass. Between 1945
and 1947 she completed most of her best
work. Her designs were executed at
Riihimaki, Nuutajarvi or Iittala, which-
ever was most suitable, and her ideas
flowed freely. She worked in clear, colour-
less glass, occasionally touched with milky
white. Her intense feeling for the soft
pliability of glass is shown in her many
‘folded’ works, one of which is illustrated
here. When she died at the age of forty the
line she had started was taken up and
developed most successfully by a group of
Finnish designers.
Sep
15
SCENT BOTTLE IN OPAQUE WHITE GLASS WITH ENAMELLED DECORATION -CANDLESTICK IN OPAQUE WHITE GLASS WITH ENAMELLED DECORATION
September 15, 2009 | Leave a Comment
SCENT BOTTLE IN OPAQUE WHITE GLASS WITH
ENAMEIJEO DECORATION
England, about 1775. Hi. 76 mm (3 in.)
(See also colour photograph 27)
The Perrot and Little families of Bristol
are recorded as having made white or
enamel glass, and Jacob Little was des-
cribed as proprietor of a ‘White Flint
Glasshouse’ in 1752. His successors, Little
& Longman (1762-67) and Longman &
Vigor (1767-87), as well as Williams,
Dunbar & Co. of Bristol and Chepstow
(about 1764), probably produced most of
this dense white glass. It was probably also
made at many other places in England,
certainly at Newcastle at a later date, but
most opaque white glass products of this
period, including some Continental types,
have been commonly and somewhat erron-
eously ascribed to Bristol. The shapes used
followed closely certain Chinese and Eng-
lish porcelain models. Trumpet-mouthed
beakers and pear-shaped covered vases
were often produced in sets. Scent or
smelling bottles and snuff boxes, often
facet-cut, with enamelling and gilding,
were made in white glass. They chiefly
date from 1770, and probably originate
from the Birmingham and South Stafford-
shire districts.
CANDLESTICK IN OPAQUE WHITE GLASS WITH
ENAMELLED DECORATION
England, about 1760. Ht. 222 mm (875 in.)
(See also colour photograph 2ti)
The enamelling on English opaque white
glass reflects many distinct styles in
painting. Michael Edkins, a Bristol artist
who worked for Little & Longman and for
Williams, Dunbar & Co. from 1762 on-
wards, is often credited with the enamelling
of this period. There is a record of his work
in his ledgers, but unfortunately we have
not a single piece of enamelled glass that
can definitely be claimed as his. Tea-
caddies and candlesticks enamelled with
naturalistic birds (often finches) and
bunches of flowers are commonly said to
be decorated by him. Another noteworthy
but unknown artist painted white glass
with fantastic Chinese figures and birds,
which can be directly compared with his
work on Worcester porcelain. However,
most of the chinoiserie subjects were
probably painted in the workshops of
independent enamellers in Staffordshire
and London. Oil-gilding was occasionally
used for decoration, but seldom survives
undamaged. Some white glass cruet bot-
tles have condiment names in Dutch, and
may have been made at Newcastle, which
exported much glass to Holland.
Various simple wares in opaque white
glass were made in Britain particularly in
the first half of the 19th century. These
were associated with the so-called ‘Nailsea’
glass tradition. A greenish unrefined glass
and other colours were also used for these
wares, which often have painted inscrip-
tions or decorations on their sides. The
decorations were not enamelled and were
unfircd, so they rarely survive undamaged.
Rolling pins come into the category of
Triggers’ or glass fantasies (see pp. 100 and
138), and were said to have been made for
sailors to give as presents to their wives or
sweethearts. Blue and opaque white glass
were the most popular colours for them,
and they normally have appropriate
painted inscriptions such as ‘Forget me
not’. Often opaque white threads, mar-
vered and combed to the surface of these
objects, were used as decoration. The
simple vessels that were made in opaque
white glass seem to be associated with the
Newcastle-upon-Tyne area.
Jul
26
ANTIQUE CLOCKS AND WATCHES GlOSSARY
July 26, 2009 | Leave a Comment
GLOSSARY
Act of Parliament Clock: a misnomer applied to a timepiece, usually weight-driven, with seconds pendulum having a large unglazed dial and a small trunk. According to legend, these clocks were first put into inns and post taverns for use of the general public, many of whom had sold their clocks and watches when Pitt introduced his Act in 1797 levying 5s per annum on all clocks and watches. Such distress was caused in the trade that the Act was repealed next year. Actually this design dates from about 1760.
Arbor: the shaft which carries wheels and pinions.
Architectural clock: a clock in which the hood, in long-case, and the top in mantel clocks, is in the style of a classical pediment, with or without supporting columns. Usually a sign of work in the third quarter of the I 7th century, although these pediment tops were revived for a short period early in the igth century.
Arch top, plain: a case, usually in bracket clocks, where the arch rises directly from the sides of the case.
Astrological dials: these are embodied in many early clocks and watches and reflect the important part that astrology played in the everyday life of the people. They show the relation or aspect of the planets to one another at any time. They are usually shown as related to the moon, whose phases are to be seen through an aperture in the dial for this purpose. The distances in degrees are shown by the Trines L (1200), Quartiles ❑ (go’), Sextiles * (6o’), Con-
junction I (o°), and Opposition 0 (18o°).
0 0
Automatic winding: a pocket watch which is wound up by means of a weight actuated by the motion of the body. A patent was taken out in London in 178o by Louis Recordon, but prior claim is made for Abraham Louis Perrelet, of Le Locle.
Balance: an oscillating wheel which, controlled by the balance spring, regulates the rate of going of a watch. It is, in a watch, the counterpart of a pendulum in a clock.
Balance spring: usually known as the hair spring today. It controls the balance.
Balloon: a type of waisted clock popular in the late i 8th and early zgth centuries.
Basket top: a pierced metallic and roughly dome-shaped case top current at the end of the 17th and early in the i8th centuries.
Basket top, double: two pierced metallic basket tops superimposed.
Basket top, wood: where a smooth wooden dome replaces the metallic bracket.
Bell top: the top of a clock case where the lower portion is shaped like the bell of a turret clock with concave sides.
Bell, inverted: as for Bell top, except that the lower portion has a convex outline.
Bezel: the metallic framing of a clock or watch glass.
Bob: the weight at the base of a pendulum rod. The earliest were pear-shaped or nearly spherical. Later the general form was lenticular; in some regulators and special clocks cylindrical.
Bolt and shutter: a form of maintaining power. The shutters cover the winding squares so that the clock cannot be wound without pushing them aside. This action brings into play a small subsidiary force that keeps the clock going during the period of winding.
Bow: the loop at the top of the pendant of a watch.
Bracket clock: many clocks of the 17th and 18th centuries were provided with their own brackets, usually designed to harmonize with the case. Only rarely have original brackets survived. They frequently contain a drawer to hold the winding key. Portable clocks are known as both mantel and bracket clocks.
Bridge: a shaped metallic support having two terminal plates.
Broken arch: an arch terminating on either side with a horizontal projection. There are broken arch dials and cases. If a full semicircle, they are known as deep; if less, and this usually applies to the earliest, as shallow arches.
Buhl: inlay of brass or silver, usually on a base of tortoiseshell. Invented by Andr6 Charles Boulle in the latter half of the 17th century.
Bun feet: small, circular, flat, ‘cheese-like’ feet, sometimes found on early long-case and bracket clocks.
Bushing: the filling up of worn pivot holes and their subsequent opening to size.
Cam: a part so shaped as to turn rotary motion into reciprocal or variable motion.
Cannon pinion: the pinion to which it is usual to fit the minute hand.
Cap (dust): a movable cap, first used early in the 18th century to help keep the movement clean. Only used in watches.
Cartel clock: a mural clock, usually of. somewhat flamboyant design. More often found in France than in England. English are usually of carved wood, whereas the French are usually of cast brass or bronze and gilt.
Cartouche: a decorative panel, sometimes applied, and framing an inscription.
Case, pair: for a century, beginning about the latter part of the 17th century, watches were usually provided with two cases, of which the outer was frequently highly ornate. In some instances a third case was provided to protect the decoration on the second.
Centre seconds: a clock or watch in which the seconds hand is placed on the same arbor as the hour and minute hands.
Champlev6: the cutting away of the dial of a watch, so that the hour numerals, minute ring and inter-horary marks remain raised.
Chapter ring: the applied circle, found in earlier clocks, upon which are engraved the hour numerals. Derives its name from the fact that hours are struck on a bell. Originally a clock served to rouse the sexton, who then struck the hour of the chapter, or religious office, on a bell.
Chiming clock: a clock which sounds at the quarters a chime on four or more bells in addition to striking the hour.
Circular error-. Christiaan Huygens, who invented the
pendulum, discovered that the truly isochronous swing of a pendulum was not the true arc of a circle but on a cycloid. The course of the latter is more U-shaped than the true circle; but fora short distance at the bottom of the swing the two paths coincide. Any lack of time-keeping due to a pendulum swinging beyond this common path is said to be due to circular error.
Clepsydra: a timekeeper motivated by water running either into or out from it. Water clocks are among the earliest forms known; before the discovery of the verge escapement and the weight as a motive power.
Cock (Clock): (a). the bracket that supports the pendulum, (b) a bridge with only one terminal plate.
Cock (Watch): the bracket covering and protecting the balance, it also supports the upper end of the balance staff.
Collet: (a) a domed-shaped washer used to render firm the hands of a clock (b) a flange.
Compensation balance: a balance that corrects the influence of heat and cold upon its timekeeping. Usually of bimetallic construction.
Compensation curve: a bimetallic curve in contact with one end of the balance spring. The action of temperature on the curve causes a compensating change in the effective length of the balance spring.
Contrate wheel: a wheel in which the teeth stand perpendicularly to the plane of the wheel. It is used to transmit motion from the arbor of one wheel at right angles to the first.
Count wheel: see Locking plate.
Cromwellian clock: see Lantern clock.
Crown wheel: the escape wheel of the verge escapement. Crutch: that part of the clock mechanism which, fixed to the pallet arbor, transmits the impulse to the independently supported pendulum.
Curb pins: two pins astride the outer end of a balance spring. These are moved by the regulating device, and so alter the effective length of the spring.
Cycloidal cheeks: curves fitted to a pendulum clock to overcome circular error. It was found, however, that the errors they introduced were greater than those they eliminated, hence they were soon abandoned. Only found in the very earliest pendulum clocks.
Cycloidal path: the curve described by a point on the circumference of a circle rolling along a straight line.
Day of the month: a clock with an indication of the date changing daily. Usually the adjustment for the short months has to be made by hand, but some systems provide for this and, in more exceptional cases, for leap year as well. (see Perpetual calendar).
Declination: the angular distance of a star north or south of the celestial equator. In clocks the star is usually the sun, whose declination varies between 231′ north and south of the equator.
Detent: that which detains. The term is applied to the pawl or click that takes into the ratchet wheel.
Dial: the face of a clock or watch on which are marked the hours, minutes and seconds. The division of the circle into 36o equal parts is believed to have originated with the Sumerians about 4000 B.C. Finding that to, the number of the fingers, was not easily divisible, they chose a unit of 6, divisible by 3 and 2. They then adopted a combination of 6 and io up to 6 x io=6o. This formed the basis for another series up to iox6o=600. This again formed a basis, but when they reached 6×600=3,600, they considered that they had reached finality or completeness, which they symbolized as a circle.
Dominical letter: the ist ofianuary is allotted the letter A and the six succeeding letters, B—G, assigned to the six succeeding days. The letter thus falling on the first Sunday of the year is the Dominical letter for that year. In leap years two letters are required, one up to February 29 and the next succeeding letter, if necessary recommencing with A, for the rest of the year. Used in connection with the fixing of Easter Day.
Dutch striking: the repetition of the hour at the half-hour on a different toned bell.
Ecliptic: the apparent orbit of the sun. Total eclipses of the sun or moon are only possible when the moon is in the plane of the ecliptic. The plane of the orbit of the moon is inclined at an angle Of 5° to that of the sun. Where the two intersect is termed the Nodes. They appear on clock dials as R.
Epact: the age of the moon on January I.
Epicycloid: the curve traced by a point on the circumference of a circle as it rolls around another circle. It is a curve used in the cutting of teeth for wheels.
Equation dial: a dial that records both Solar and Mean Time.
Equation kidney: a kidney-shaped cam, invented by Christiaan Huygens in 1695, which made possible the transformation of simple forward rotary motion into a backward or forward motion, varying daily, both in direction and amount, necessary to indicate the daily difference between Solar and Mean Time.
Equation of time: the solar day or time as recorded by a sundial varies each day in length; whereas Mean Time, or time shown by a clock, is exactly twenty-four hours each day. This difference, which varies irregularly daily, is known as the equation of time.
Escape wheel: the wheel that gives impulse to the balance or pendulum.
Escapement: the means by which the motion of a clock or watch is checked and the energy of the motive force, weight or spring, is transmitted to the controller, pendulum or balance.
ANCHOR: invented about 167o by William Clement. It revolutionized timekeeping. With it the pallets are in the same plane as the escape wheel, instead of being at right angles to it, as in the verge escapement. It largely eliminated circular error and also made practical the use of long pendulums swinging more slowly, hence with a lesser cumulative error. It is still used today for most domestic clocks and particularly in long-case clocks with pendulums beating one second. It is also known as the recoil escapement which recoil is seen in the slight shudder at each beat in the seconds hand of long-case clocks so equipped. The vastly improved timekeeping of this escapement made really practical use of clocks for astronomical purposes. Flamsteed, the first astronomer Royal at Greenwich, in 1675, used clocks made by Thomas Tompion, equipped with the anchor escapement. This largely accounted for the far greater accuracy of his observations as compared with his contemporaries. From this invention followed, directly or indirectly, practically all the subsequent improvements in timekeeping in clocks.
CYLINDER: a type for use in watches. A form of this escapement was patented by Tompion, Barlow and Haughton in 1695, but it was never developed. It remained for Tompion’s successor, George Graham, to perfect this escapement about 1725. Graham used it very extensively in his watches, and this greatly helped him to gain the reputation of being the best watchmaker of his day. As with the anchor escapement, the pallets are in the same plane as the escape wheel. This escapement remained the best for watches until supplanted by the duplex and the lever escapements about the end of the 18th century.
DFADDEAT: invented by George Graham about 1715. Graham was the leading astronomical instrument-maker of his day, and from his close connection with astronomers was, doubtless, aware of their demand for still greater accuracy than could be attained with the anchor escapement. The deadbeat escapement is an improvement on the anchor in that it eliminates the recoil, and remains steady at the end of each beat. It held the field for the most accurate escape for astronomical work for nearly two hundred years. It is still used today in high-grade clocks, both long-case and mantel.
DUPLEX: invention uncertain. Usually attributed to Pierre LeRoy, Paris, about 1750. The escape wheel has two sets of teeth, one long and pointed, the other short and triangular and rising from the plane of the escape wheel. The long teeth escape through a small notch in the balance staff, which also carries a long arm by which the impulse is given through the short triangular teeth.
LEVER: first invented about 1758 by Thomas Mudge and incorporated in a watch given by King George III to Queen Charlotte. Mudge only made one or two other examples and does not seem to have realized the importance of his invention, which lies in the fact that the balance is free from interference for the greater part of its swing, thus leaving it free to perform its true function as controller. From the commencement of the second quarter of the I 9th century the lever escapement, in one of its many forms, became the standard escapement for watches, and still is so today. Before that date, despite the appearance of the cylinder, duplex and lever escapements, the standard watch escapement was the verge.
PIN-PALLET: invented by Amant, Paris, about 1740. A type in which the pins stand out from the side of the escape wheel. Not much found in English clocks.
RECOIL: see Anchor escapement.
TIC-TAG: a modified form of the anchor escapement found in some early clocks. The ‘anchor’ only embraces two or three teeth of the escape wheel.
VERGE: this was the original escapement for mechanical clocks. Date of invention unknown, possibly 13th century.
The writer considers the inventor of this escapement one of the greatest men in horology, for he had nothing prior to guide him. Although it is an escapement in its worst form, in that it never leaves the pendulum or balance free for an instant, nevertheless it was in its day as revolutionary an invention as was, later, the anchor escapement. It held the field unchallenged for about four hundred years; even thereafter it remained in use for clocks and watches, along with better types, for another one hundred and fifty years. It was used in bracket clocks as long as there were only one or two in a house, and they were carried from room to room, since it does not need any very careful levelling.
Foliot: the earliest form of controller in a mechanical clock. Always found with a verge escapement. The balance wheel and, especially later, the pendulum so improved timekeeping that it is very rare to find a clock with its original foliot. Its origin is unknown, but presumably attributable to the inventor of the verge escapement. Consists of a horizontal rod fixed to a pivoted bar carrying the verge pallets. Regulation was by moving the weights carried at each end. The word may be derived from the French esprit foller, a goblin associated with Puck and represented by its to and fro motion.
Form watch: a watch made in some form that departs from the standard of the period, e.g. book, cruciform, skull, dog, etc. These are found in the 17th century, Later, at the end of the i8th century, there are lyres, mandolines, baskets of flowers, fruit, etc.
Fly: a rapidly revolving vane, the final component of the striking train, which acts as a governor for the rate of striking. Invention unknown, but presumably concurrent with the Locking plate.
Frets: pierced metallic decorative pieces, originally used to hide the balance in lantern clocks. Later, either in wood or metal, inserted into clocks cases to facilitate the elimination of sound.
-shaned and spirally-grooved pulley Fusee: a con;-11 I
which, utilizing the principle of the lever, equalizes the pull of the main-spring of a clock or watch on the train. This has generally been attributed to Jacob the Czech, of Prague, based on the earliest known survival in a clock by him, owned by the Society of Antiquaries of London, dated 1525• Leonardo da Vinci had many sketches of the fusee in his note-books of about 1490. The writer’s researches have shown that there may be a possible connection between the two men through Bona, Queen of Poland, for whom the clock was made. Bona was a Sforza of Milan, at whose court Leonardo was during her girlhood. It is now thought that Jacob only put into practice Leonardo’s idea. This invention has not been bettered, and is still in use today in high-grade spring-driven clocks. Catgut was originally used to connect the fusee with the main-spring barrel, but from the end of the 17th century a chain is usually employed.
Gathering Pallet: a pin or finger that revolves when the clock is striking and gathers up, at each revolution, a tooth of the striking rack.
Golden numbers: see Metonic cycle.
Gong: a piece of hardened, tempered wire wound in a volute, on which the hours are struck, instead of a bell. First used in the last quarter of the 18th century.
Grandfather clock: properly known as a long-case clock. Came into existence directly after the invention of the anchor escapement, 1670. The narrow arc of swinging of this escapement made possible the enclosing of the weights and pendulum in a narrow trunk. When the term ‘grandfather’ clock first came into use is uncertain, but Barham uses the term in his Ingoldsby Legends, which date from about 1835-
Grandmother clock: a small long-case clock, not exceeding 6 feet 6 inches in height.
Grand sonnerie: a system of striking whereby the hour and the quarter are struck at each quarter. The earliest
known example is the movement with the silent escapement made by Tompion about 1676-80. This system of striking was rendered possible by the invention by Edward Barlow, in 1676, of the rack and snail method of striking.
Gregorian calendar: the old Church calendar assumed a solar year of exactly 356J days and that ig solar years contained exactly 235 lunation. Neither of these is quite accurate. By 1582 the cumulative error amounted to io days. Pope Gregory XIII introduced the Gregorian calendar - or New Style - which brought the vernal equinox back to March 21 instead of March 11. This change was not adopted in England till 1752, by which time the error was 11 days. In that year September 2 was followed by September 14. The ignorant populace rioted, saying, ‘Give us back our eleven days!’. This change accounted for the financial year ending on April 5 instead of March 25 in 1753, and it has so remained ever since.
Hood: the upper removable portion of a long-case. In all, except very early cases, it draws forward.
Hood, rising: the earliest form, before the door was introduced in the front, in which the hood slides up on grooves in the back-board and is held in place by a catch, thus allowing access to the dial. As clocks increased in height, the rising hood became impracticable, and the draw forward type with door was introduced.
Hoop wheel: a wheel, forming part of the striking train of a clock, to which is affixed a narrow band, having a slot and projecting at right angles to the plane of the wheel. This serves as a regulator between each blow of the hammer.
Hour circle: see Chapter ring.
Hours, Babylonian: The Babylonians are believed to have divided the day into equal hours of sixty minutes, each of sixty seconds. For the origin of the sixty see Dial.
Hours, canonical: time signals were given in ancient Rome at three-hourly intervals, starting at 6 a.m. They were mane, tertia, sextes, nona and vespera and were later adopted by the Christian Church. In time other offices were added to the Church day, and the times of these offices or chapters advanced, until nona fell at noon. The original function of a clock was to let off an alarm every hour to warn the sexton to ring the bell for the office.
Hours, Italian: the Italians reckoned the time as twenty-four equal hours a day, starting from sunset. In some early Continental clocks dials were marked I to XII twice over and had a movable ring marked 1-24 in Arabic numerals, enabling the clock to be set daily at sunset for the Italian hour.
Hours, Nuremberg: in South Germany, until the early part of the 17th century, time was recorded as so many hours of daylight and so many of darkness. These varied from sixteen hours of daylight and eight of darkness in midsummer to the converse in mid-winter. Public tables told when an hour should be transferred from one section to the other. In the town of Rothenburg this system of time recording was retained up to the early 19th century.
Indiction: a period of fifteen years arising from Roman taxation laws. Used in ecclesiastical calculations. Dials marked 1-15, with a hand revolving once in fifteen years are sometimes found on astronomical clocks.
Involute curve: the curve described by a point on a taut line unwound from a cylinder.
Involute gear teeth: wheels having teeth cut on the principle of the involute curve.
Isochronous: performing the same motion in equal time, i.e. when the balance of a watch or the pendulum of a clock performs each vibration in the same time irrespective of the arc of vibration or swing.
Jewels: when the bearings of pivots are formed of jewels to reduce wear and friction. jewels were first introduced by Facio de Duillier in 1704; he was a Swiss settled in London.Rubies and sapphires are usually used. Jewels are sometimes found as pallets in very high-grade regulators.
Julian calendar: a system of time reckoning introduced by Julius Caesar to reconcile the civil and tropical years. It assumed a year of exactly 3651 days and 235 lunations to equal exactly ig solar years. These figures were not quite accurate; the accumulated error led to the introduction of the Gregorian calendar.
Lancet clock: design of late 18th and early 19th centuries, in which a bracket clock has a pointed ‘gothic’ top.
Lantern clock: a typically English design evolved in the early part of the 17th century, and persisting, especially in the provinces, until well into the 18th century. Erroneously called a Cromwellian clock. Much copied today. All original lantern clocks are weight-driven and, with the rarest exceptions, never exceed a thirty-hour going period.
Lantern clock, Wing: a type, popular for about a quarter of a century, at the end of the 17th century, where the pendulum was placed between the going and striking trains, and took the form of an anchor, the flukes of which appeared each side of the main framework, and were protected by wings.
Lantern pinion: an early type in which the leaves are formed by wires affixed between two circular end plates.
Latched plates: the retaining plates of the movement where the distance pillars are secured at one end by swivelled catches instead of by pins passing through the head of the pillar.
Leaf, Pinion: the longitudinal teeth of a pinion are known as leaves.
Lenticle: the glass let into the door of a long-case clock to allow the motion of the pendulum bob to be seen.
Locking plate: a plate with notches set at increasing intervals around its circumference, which allows the striking train to sound the correct number of blows before the locking arm falls into a notch and stops the train. Invention unknown, probably i3th century, concurrently with the
verge escapement.
Long-case: the correct horological term for a grandfather or grandmother clock.
Lunar Dial: a dial which shows the lunar periods.
Lunar work: that part of the train which actuates the lunar dial.
Lunation: a period of 29 days 12 hours and 45 minutes, being the time taken by the moon to make a complete revolution round the earth and occupy the same position relative to the sun. Except in very special astronomical clocks, the period is usually taken as 291 days.
Maintaining power: a device used in weight clocks and in clocks and watches fitted with a fusee, whereby a subsidiary force is brought into play to keep the clock going while it is being wound. In early clocks the winding squares were often covered by shutters, which, when pulled aside, brought into operation the maintaining power, thus ensuring its use.
Mantel clock: alternative name fora bracket clock.
Matting: a system of rendering dull the surface of the brass dial plate. The art is now lost. Usually confined to the centre of the chapter ring. In some early pendulum clocks the dials are matted all over.
Metonic cycle: the Greek astronomer Meton discovered that the days of the month on which full moon accur constitute a cycle of 19 years. This was considered so wonderful that the Greeks had it carved on stone in letters of gold. Clocks are to be found with a dial marked i-ig, the hand revolving in ig years.
Minute wheel: the wheel which is driven by the cannon pinion and of which the pinion drives the hour wheel, to which the hour hand is attached.
Micrometer adjustment: a graduated wheel fixed to the pendulum suspension to give accurate adjustment for regulation. Early use of this was made by both Wm. Clement and A. Fromanteel, but who had prior claim is uncertain. Later replaced by a subsidiary dial on the clock face, the hand of which actuated a rack and pinion or a cam connected with the pendulum suspension.
Mock pendulum: a swinging bob attached to the escape arbor, which shows through a slot in the dial plate. Only used in clocks with the verge escapement. Sometimes called a false bob.
Month clock: a clock that goes fora period of one month with one winding. The usual period is 32 days.
Moon dial: see Lunar dial.
Moon work: see Lunar work.
Movement: the ‘works’ of a clock or watch.
Mural clock: a clock made to hang on the wall.
Musical clock or watch: one that plays a tune at each hour or other predetermined time, as opposed to a chiming clock.
Night clock: a clock that shows the time by night, usually by means of a light shining through a pierced dial. Nodes: see Ecliptic.
Nuremberg egg: a misnomer applied to early South German watches. Arose from the misreading and mistranslation of `Uhrlein’ into ‘Eierlein’ (little clocks into little eggs) These early watches were usually drum shaped.
Orrery: see Planetarium.
Pallet: that part of the escapement through which the escape wheel gives impulse to the balance or pendulum.
Parquetry: a type of veneer in which the applied woods are worked into a pattern with straight-sided components—e.g. squares, diamonds, rectangles, etc.
Pendant: the small neck of metal connecting the watchcase to the bow.
Pendulums
BOB: the earliest form invented by Christiaan Huygens in
1657 and used with the verge escapement. In England the
pendulum rod was usually fixed to the end of the escape pallet arbor, but on the Continent suspension was generally from a silk cord, the pendulum being actuated by a crutch. Regulation was by means of a fine thread cut on the lower end of the pendulum rod. The hole in the bob had a softwood core which ‘took up’ the threads on the rod.
DOUBLE BOB ‘. a spring-suspended type, appearing towards the latter part of the 18th century in which the rod carries two lenticular-shaped bobs.
HALF SECONDS: Length 9.8-in. beats twice a second. This is the longest pendulum normally found on verge escapement clocks.
SECONDS: this pendulum, 39.14 in- long, and those of longer length (see under) were made practical by the invention of the anchor escapement. The vastly improved timekeeping resulting from the adoption of the seconds pendulum and the anchor escapement in the early 1670s caused it to be called the Royal pendulum. It is the standard pendulum today for long-case clocks.
ONE AND A QUARTER SECONDS: 5 ft. z in. When the im-
proved performance of the seconds pendulum and anchor escapement were realized, attempts were made to increase this by using longer pendulums. Wm. Clement first made clocks with 11 seconds pendulums. The seconds dial Of a clock originally so made should have four divisions between each 5-second interval on the seconds dial. Sometimes clocks have their escapement sand pendulums altered from 1 second to 1I seconds in order to enhance their value. These will generally have their old seconds dials with five divisions. The base of a I i-seconds clock should have a door to allow access to the bob.
Two SECONDS: 13 ft. of in. When making the first two clocks for Greenwich Observatory, in 1676, Thomas Tompion introduced 2-seconds pendulums and year move-ments, in an attempt to secure the greatest accuracy. These are thought to be the first clocks so designed in England. When the clocks were removed from Greenwich they were converted to movements with I -second pendulums. 2-second pendulums are now only found in some turret clocks.
COMPENSATION: a pendulum which provides for the compensation of the effects of heat and cold.
CONICAL: a pendulum that rotates in a circle, the point of suspension being the apex of the cone. Robert Hooke experimented with conical pendulums in 1666. Huygens also made experiments, but it is seldom found in practice.
ELLICOTT: invented in 1752, utilizing the principle of the difference in the expansion between steel and brass. The heavy bob is carried on two angular hinged supports. As the length of the pendulum rod changes with temperature the vertical arms of the support are raised or depressed, giving a complementary movement to the horizontal arms carrying the heavy bob. Very expensive to make and not materially better than the gridiron, hence not extensively used.
GRIDIRON: invented about 1725 by John Harrison, a carpenter born in Soulby in Yorks, 1693. Sometimes attributed jointly with his brother James. Harrison discovered that brass and steel have an expansion ratio of 3 :2. This property is utilized in this pendulum, with its alternate rods of brass and steel. One side only is required, the other rods being put in for balance and symmetry. Still used today in high-grade clocks.
MERCURY: invented in 1726 by George Graham, who had previously experimented with brass and steel without conclusive results. The bob of the pendulum consists of a jar containing mercury. As the temperature changes the length of the pendulum rod, the level of the mercury in the jar alters in the inverse sense, thus keeping constant the
Still
centre of oscillation of the pendulum. in use today in
high-grade clocks.
ROYAL: see Seconds pendulum.
SIMPLE: a theoretical conception consisting of a weight or mass suspended by a weightless thread.
WOOD: a pendulum rod made Of well-seasoned, straight-grained and varnished wood is little affected by temperature or humidity. It is sometimes used in high-grade clocks and
regulators.
Perpetual calendar: a calendar which corrects itself for the short months, and more exceptionally for leap year. Usually consists of a slotted wheel revolving once a year (or four years) with slots of varying length which control the movement of a lever, allowing it to pass one or more teeth of the calendar wheel at a time.
Pillars: the distance pieces separating the back and front (or top and bottom) plates of a clock or watch. Their style is a guide to the date of the piece.
Pin drum: the spiked drum of a musical or chiming clock, the spikes of which actuate the hammers as the drum revolves.
Pinion: a small-toothed wheel, in which the ratio of the axial length to diameter is greater than in a wheel. The teeth of pinions are called leaves. In clock and watch movements wheels and pinions alternate in the train.
Pivot: the reduced end of an arbor, round which it revolves.
Planetarium: a representation of the chief celestial bodies, sun, moon, earth and planets, which, when put into action, usually by turning a handle (although some are driven by clocks), shows the relative motion of these bodies. More usually called`Orreries’, after Richard Boyle, 4th Earl of Orrery, in the mistaken beleif that the first of these was made for him. The first was made by Tompion and Graham for Prince Eugene in about 1705-
Plates, Back and front and top and bottom: plates between which are pivoted the trains of a clock or watch. Early back plates in clocks were quite plain, except for the signature; later they began to be decorated, and the decor-ation became more and more ornate, reaching a peak in the first quarter of the 18th century. From this point it declined until the last decade of this century saw the return of the plain back plate. These back plates are a useful guide to the date of a clock.
Plinth: properly speaking, the base of a clock, but more usually applied to its skirting.
Positional error: the variations in the rate of going of a watch due to change of position; pendant up, pendant down, dial up, dial down, etc.
Potance: the bracket supporting the lower pivot of the crown wheel arbor in a verge escapement.
Pulse watch: see Stop watch.
Pump across: in ting-tang quarter-striking clocks the quarters are struck on different-toned bells. Usually there are two hammers, one for each bell and the striking action is ‘pumped across’ from one hammer to the other.
Quarter clock: a clock striking at the quarters as well as at the hour.
Quoins: representations of the corner stones of a building. In almost all cases it will be found that the long cases so decorated originate in Lancashire, late 18th century.
Rack and snail striking: a system invented in 1676 by Edward Barlow which, except for turret clocks, has practically superseded the locking plate in this country. This type of striking made repeating clocks possible.
Rate: the regular amount by which a clock gains or loses in a stated period of time, usually per day.
Rating nut: the nut placed below the bob of the pendulum and used to regulate it. In some early 19th century clocks the rating nut appears above the bob, in these cases movement of the rating nut is inverse.
Regulator: a high-grade long-case clock with compensation pendulum and possibly other refinements, such as roller bearings and jewelling. The hour is frequently read off a disc revolving behind the dial proper, and showing
through an aperture.
Repeater: a clock or watch on which the hours, and generally also the quarters, and in rare cases the five minutes and even the minute, can be made to strike at will by the pulling of a cord, the pressing of a knob, etc. Repeating clocks were common until the end of the first quarter of the 19th century, when matches were introduced.
Repeating work: the motion work necessary to make a clock or watch repeat.
Ringing: the practice at the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries of surrounding the winding square holes, and sometimes the seconds hand arbor, with concentric decoration.
Rise and fall: the subsidiary dial of a clock for pendulum regulation purposes.
Roman strike: a system devised by Joseph Knibb in the latter part of the r 7th century to reduce the power needed, in spring-driven clocks especially, to drive the striking train. The hours are struck on two different-toned bells, one striking up to III and the other once for V, and twice for X. In clocks so made the IIII is usually marked IV. Sometimes found also in long- case clocks.
Sand glass: an early form of measuring time by the period required for a given quantity of fine sand to pass from one bulb of the glass to the other, through a fine neck. Usually found in sets of four, the glasses recording the four quarters of the hour. In genuine early examples the two bowls are separate and joined by an applied band.
Seconds dial: the subsidiary dial on a clock on which the seconds are marked.
Sedan clock: a large-dialled watch some 4 to 6 inches in diameter, with bow for hanging in a conveyance. Usually has a small watch type of movement behind the much larger dial.
Self-winding watch: see Automatic winding.
Shagreen: a product made from shark skin.
Sheepshead: a lantern clock in which the chapter ring extends appreciably beyond the rectangular frame of the front dial plate.
Skeleton dial: one in which the metal is cut away from the applied chapter ring, leaving only the numerals, minutes and interhorary marks.
Spandrels: decorative corner-pieces found on clock dials for about one hundred years from 1675-80. Their design is a guide to the date of the clock.
Spoon: a hinged hook on the inner side of the top of the front of a long-case clock, so that when the door is closed the lower ’spoon handled’ part of the hook is pressed back and the upper hooked part pressed forward to keep the hood locked until the trunk door be opened again. Only found in early long-case clocks with rising hoods.
Stackfreed: an early South German device of unknown origin to be found in very early watches, whereby a roller attached to a strong spring bears against a shaped snail or cam, the radius of which decreases. The friction on the pivots of the snail and roller decreases as the spring is allowed to approach the centre of revolution of the snail; as the main spring is unwound and loses power the braking action of the roller decreases, tending to keep constant the force exerted by the spring on the watch movement. The principle of the lever underlies this as in the fusee. Both methods are found in the early 16th century, but the fusee ultimately supplanted the stackfreed everywhere.
Stop watch: one in which the seconds hand can be stopped or restarted at will without stopping the whole movement. In the earliest stop watches, c. 168o-go, the stop stopped the whole movement. They were used by doctors and were called ‘pulse watches’.
Strike-silent: any mechanism that stops at will the striking or chiming of a clock. The early forms had a pin showing through the dial, attached to a lever, and had the dial marked ‘N’ and ‘S’ (Not and Strike). Later a subsidiary dial appeared for this purpose.
Sunray clocks: a type developed in the late 17th century at the time of the cult of the ‘Roi Solcil, Louis XIV. A central circular dial with carved wooden sun’s rays emanating therefrom. Much copied today. Original clocks have the rays of hand-carved wood.
Suspension: refers to the method of supporting the pendulum of a clock, spring, silk, knife-edge.
Table clocks: a clock with a horizontal dial, designed to be placed on a table and viewed from above.
Tidal dial: a dial that indicates daily the time of high tide at any given port. Not found on Continental clocks. The earliest English dials were made for London, and show high tide at new and full moon at 3 o’clock. Since the 24-hour cycle is completed each lunation, by having two circles, one fixed and marked 1-291 (the days of the lunation) and the other movable, marked 1-12 twice over; if the time of high tide at any port at new moon be known, by placing that hour under 291, the daily times of high tide for that port will be shown.
Time, Mean: time calculated on an average basis of a day of 24 hours exactly. A year contains 3651 mean days.
Time, Sidereal: time as calculated by the successive passage of a selected star across the meridian. A sidereal day is 23 hours 56 minutes 4 seconds of mean time. There are 366 sidereal days in a mean year of 365J days.
Time, Solar: time as calculated by the successive passages of the sun across the meridian, as shown on a sundial. This varies daily. See Equation of time.
Ting-tang: the sounding of the quarters on two different toned bells.
Tourbillion: a watch in which the escapement is mounted on a revolving carriage, which carries it round.
Invented by A. L. Breguet in 18o i to avoid positional error.
Train: a series of wheel and pinions geared together, forming the mechanism of a clock or watch. They are going, striking, chiming, musical, astronomical trains, etc.
Tropics: the interval in the celestial sphere between the parallels of latitude demarking the maximum declination of the sun north and south of the ecliptic. The Tropic of Cancer in the north and the Tropic of Capricorn in the south.
Trunk: that part of a long-case clock between the hood and the base.
Turret clock: a clock for use in a church tower or other building.
Up and down: a subsidiary dial in highest-grade watches to indicate the extent to which the spring is run down.
Warning: the partial unlocking of the striking train, which precedes the full release at the precise moment of striking.
Warning-piece: that which arrests the warning-wheel between the warning and the time to strike.
Warning-wheel: a wheel in the striking train which carries a pin and which is arrested and then released by the warning-piece.
Watch bow: the loop at the end of the pendant.
Water clock: a contrivance used in Egyptian, Greek and Roman times for measuring time by the regular flow of a stream of water changing the level in a container, on the surface of which floated a means of indication on a fixed scale. Water clocks in the 17th and 18th centuries were drums with internal pierced sloping divisions, causing the water to pass slowly from one to the other, making the drum revolve and its axis roll down a graduated framework. Very few genuine examples exist.
Wheel, Centre: the wheel to which the cannon pinion is attached.
Wheel, Count: see Locking plate.
Wheel, Great: that which is attached to the going barrel, fusee or, in weight-driven clocks, the gut barrel.
Year clock: a clock designed to go for one year with one
winding.
Year, Sidereal: the period of one complete revolution of the earth round the sun.
Year, Tropical: the interval between two successive returns of the sun to the same tropic, or equinox.
Yorkshire clock: a broad and ill-proportioned long-case clock made for some years towards the end of the 18th century and early 19th.
Zodiac: a belt of the heavens outside which the sun, the moon and the planets do not pass. Divided into twelve signs, each Of 3o degrees, termed in astrology Celestial Houses: Aries (The Ram), Taurus (The Bull), Gemini (The Twins), Cancer (The Crab), Lco (The Lion), Virgo (The Virgin), Libra (The Balance), Scorpio (The Scorpion), Sagittarius (The Archer), Capricornus (The Goat), Aquarius (The Water Carrier) and Pisces (The Fishes).