James Edward Nightingale

“ This is a very choice example of mounting, and well illustrates the admirable way in which the Italian artists of that period used diamonds to give a life and brilliancy to their enamelled jewellery; a much more judicious employment of these precious stones than in the stiff, cold, silver setting of the present day, where all the interest centres in the value and sparkle of the stones, rather than on any artistic efforts which should have been bestowed upon the mounting. ”

“ One of the reasons for our wealth in this respect arises from the fact that, during the troubled state of Europe at the end of the last century, our collectors eagerly availed themselves of the opportunities then offered for procuring fine works of art. Since that period the gold of England has acted like a magnet in drawing hitherwards choice works of art, which no other power could move. These foreign works, added to our own rich stores of national art, have made this country the centre of the greater part of the known art productions of past times ”

“ When the Authorities at the South Kensington Museum came to the very wise resolution of forming a temporary collection of works of art of a bygone period, in order that foreigners as well as our own countrymen flocking to London at this time might have some notion of the exceeding richness of this country in that way, they could have had no idea of the positive embarrassment of riches which has now poured in upon them. ”

“ The very fine, though mutilated, pectoral cross, from the Debruge collection, exhibited by Mr. B. Hope, is a rare example of the art as practised by the Byzantine workmen of about the tenth century: this process is termed “cloisonné.” The design is formed by slender lines of filagree gold attached to a plate of the same metal, so as to form the outline of the design; the interstices are filled with enamels of the colours required, which become vitrified and translucent under the action of fire; the whole is then polished, and thus becomes the most enduring of all modes of decoration. ”

“ It is a bottle of elegant form, almost covered with gold and enamels of the richest hue; the style of ornamentation, and probably the fabric, is of Arabian or Persian work. This is only another instance of the rich mine of artistic wealth which has come to us from the East. These orientals seem intuitively to understand the harmony of colours; whether it be a shawl from Cashmere—an ordinary Turkey carpet from Smyrna, or, in this instance, an early work of a Persian or Arabian artist—the same fixed principle is found. ”

“ Another branch of old art is well represented, that of illuminated manuscripts, one which, perhaps, reminds us more than anything else, in these days of never-ending type setting, of the change going on in the world. ”

“ It has long been known that the ancients produced fine works in the precious metals, but it is only at a comparatively recent period that we find rising from the forgotten cemeteries of Etruria and of Greece and her colonies, objects in gold, of a workmanship so perfect, that not only all the refinements of our modern civilisation cannot imitate it, but cannot even explain theoretically the process of its execution. ”

“ In the Alexandrian necklace we have the rare instance of the use of enamel by the Greeks, and it is difficult to understand why so fascinating an art was not more general amongst a people who had such a keen appreciation of the beautiful. ”

“ There are some interesting specimens of the little known Fulham pottery, exhibited by Mr. Reynolds. This establishment was founded towards the end of the seventeenth century. The examples consist of whole-length figures and busts on a small scale; the modelling evinces very considerable merit, and it is to be regretted that the manufacture of an artistic fabric of so much promise should have lasted so short a time.
Such a fine collection of enamelled works on metal has never before been brought together in England; there are examples of all periods whenever the art was practised. ”

“ Unquestionably this jewellery has an artistic character altogether wanting in the greater number of modern works, which, owing to a monotonous uniformity produced by punching and casting, have an appearance of triviality, depriving them of all individual character—that charm which so constantly strikes us in the productions of the ancients. ”

“ They are simply surface paintings, enamelled on copper; the colours used are frequently very rich and effective, especially in those portraits having a background of the deepest blue. Many fine works were produced “en grisaille,” that is, the drawings were executed with white opaque enamel on black ground, the flesh tints were coloured, and the whole heightened with gold, thus producing a very harmonious effect. At the beginning of the 18th century the art sunk into utter imbecility. ”

“ All the art of the enameller, the painter, and the jeweller was lavished on the production of these gorgeous trifles; and although their original use has passed away, they are by no means to be overlooked. A glance at the magnificent series lent by Mr. Goding and others will show that some of the finest work of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries has been exhausted on snuff boxes. ”

“ Even statesmen and generals were not ashamed to be renowned as judges of tea-pots and dragons; and satirists long continued to repeat that a fine lady valued her mottled green pottery quite as much as she valued her monkey, and much more than she valued her husband. ”

“ If some of these vases could tell their tales of woes and joys, what a history might they not unfold. Created in the purlieus of the most brilliant and corrupt court in Europe, fondled by a Pompadour, a Louis XV., a Dubarri, or made to adorn some dainty boudoir of the many beauties of Louis XV.’s court (for it must be remembered these fine things were never made for sale) , they seem equally with their possessors to have shared the terrible events of the revolution. A complete set is rarely found ”

“ No part of the collection is more historically interesting than the specimens of Glyptic art contained in the two cases exhibited by the Queen. Thanks to the valuable work of the Rev. C. W. King, the knowledge of gems has become of late far better understood amongst us. From the nature of the objects exhibited, it is not in all cases possible to see them satisfactorily. ”

“ These works in iron were formed by roughening the whole surface of the metal with a fine graver; the ornaments, for the most part consisting of thin threads of gold, were then fixed by means of pressure: the whole was afterwards burnished, which restored the ground, where not covered by the gold, to nearly its original polish. The table sent by the Duke of Hamilton, and the toilet mirror resting upon it, are fine examples of the process. The shield belonging to the Queen, and sent from the guardroom at Windsor, is another example of this mode of treatment. ”