THE LIBRARY
OF
THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA
LOS ANGELES
GIFT OF
Dr. C. Donald O'Malley





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S UG G E STIONs
DESIGN.


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EUROPEAN
ASSYRIAN .
EGYPT lan
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& G G W S T o
* * IN -V,
D E S I (; N
BEING A
COMPREHENSIVE SERIES OF ORIGINAL SKETCHES IN VARIOUS STYLES OF ORN AMENT.
ARRANGED FOR APPLICATION IN TEIE DECORATIVE AND CONSTRUCTIVE ARTS.
BY
JOHN LEIGHTON, F.S.A.,
AUTHOR OF “THE LIFE OF MAN SYMBOLIZED,”
“MADRé NATURA,” ETC.
WITH DESCRIPTIVE AND HISTORICAL LETTERPRESS,
By JAMES K. COLLING, F.R.I.B.A.,
AUTHOR OF “GOTHIC ORNAMENTS,” &c.
LONDON: BLACKIE AND SON, 49 & 50 OLD BAILEY:

GLASGOW AND EDINBURGH.





PUBLISHERS! PRE FA C E.
DESIRE to ornament or to enrich by decoration the ordinary works turned
Wº out by the hand of man has been common to every age, and even among
H savage tribes this love of ornamentation is as apparent as it is among our
R most modern and art-loving craftsmen. It is, however, a melancholy fact
that many gifted workers in the numerous branches of trade and manufacture are
frequently led astray, or are at best often repeating common and hackneyed forms, in
their efforts to enrich their works, for the want of a mere “suggestion”—not an elabor-
ately worked-out idea, but an original thought, or as the French more happily put it a
motif—which would suggest, by some slight turn or alteration, a form or kind of enrich-
ment adapted to their purpose.
A work supplying such suggestions has long been sought after, and would doubtless
prove a boon in the hands of art-workers. The present series of “Suggestions” was
therefore projected, in which many distinct species of ornamentation have been carefully
brought together and arranged for practical use. The designs are the production of
Mr. John Leighton, a gentleman well known in the art world, who has been awarded
medals for his ornamental and decorative designs in all the great International Exhibitions
at which he has competed, and who served on the jury at the Paris Exhibition of 1878.
They have not been taken from other examples or collected from already published works
by other authors; they are throughout original, conceived in the spirit and with the proper
art feeling of the various styles to which they severally belong, and are the accumulated
result of long and arduous studies. They are intended as aids to design rather than for
servile imitation or direct appropriation, serving to represent the type of many designs
and not the exact portraits of any. The object of the author, therefore, being to present
suggestions, leaving the designer or art-workman to modify or adapt them to his own
purposes, it is hoped that the book will be found eminently suited to the wants of all
engaged in decorative and ornamental work.
For the convenience of reference, the various styles are placed, as far as possible, in
their true historical order, and the descriptions aid this arrangement by giving brief
but clear accounts of the various developments and different phases of ornamental
art. The illustrations embodied in the text are mostly taken from actual examples,
3 - * 
Cº., *
Tº ºn


iV Publis/hers' Preface.
and serve to convey a good idea of the characteristic features of the various styles
of architecture and ornamentation which have been developed in the different countries
of the world.
It may be proper to state that the nucleus of the present work, bearing the same title,
- was published by Mr. Leighton under the nom de plume of “Luke Limner,” in 1852–53,
| but it then contained less than half the number of examples (47 Plates). This original
work was the first of its kind in which all the styles of ornament were displayed.
It was begun when Gothic art, under the influence of Pugin, was paramount—when
| Owen Jones had only published his Alhambra, and his Grammar of Ornament had not
even been thought of Indian art was then only beginning to be appreciated, and the
art-value of Japanese work was still unknown.
| This smaller work was highly valued at the period, and the marked success it met
with has induced the author to revise and redraw the original plates, as well as to add
to their number to such an extent, that the book may justly be considered a new one.
i In the smaller work there was no letterpress beyond a slight description of the Plates.
The publishers of the present work, feeling this want, and resolved to spare neither
| - - - expense nor trouble to make the work thoroughly useful, sought the aid of Mr. J. K.
| Colling, a well-known writer on ornamental art. It is hoped, therefore, that the extensive
| addition of descriptive and historical matter by this gentleman, with the numerous
engravings introduced throughout the text, will render the book a valuable help to the
º artist and art-workman.
º DECEMBER, 1880.


C O N T E N T S.
PAGE
LIST OF THE PLATES, . . . . - - - - - - - - - - - - - ... ix
CHAPTER I.—INTRODUCTION.
Drawing in primitive states of Society — Its importance as a part of Education – Design — Need for a groundwork
or motif— Architecture – Connection between Nature and Art — Principles of Regularity and Irregularity in
Nature — Plant and Animal Forms — Crystals of Snow — Examples of Ornamental Forms, . - - - -
CHAPTER II.-GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF DESIGN.
Forty General Principles of Design founded upon the Practice of Art in the best ages, . - - - - - . 11
CHAPTER III.—ORNAMENT OF SAVAGE AND EARLY TRIBES.
Innate Love of Ornamentation among Primitive Races—Their Art imbibed from Nature — Carving out of Surface—
Their Symbolism —The Potter's Art coeval with Written Language. Description of Plate 1, . - - . 15
CHAPTER IV.—EGYPTIAN ORNAMENTATION.
Its Antiquity — Two great Periods — The Pyramids and the Temples — Adaptation of Sculpture and Painting —
Mouldings unfrequent—Cornice—Hieroglyphics—Columns and Capitals--Colossal Statues—Tombs—Mode of
Drawing and Sculpturing — Painting—Colours used — Building Materials — Rock-hewn Temples—Treatment
of Flat Surface –The Sun and Sacred Beetle —The Papyrus, Lotus, and Palm. Description of Plates 2, 3, 4, . 19
CHAPTER V.—ASSYRIAN ORNAMENTATION.
Excavations at Khorsabād and Nimroud — Palace at Kouyunjik — Bas-reliefs — Exterior of Palaces — Entrances — Walls
— Sun-dried Bricks faced with Alabaster — Remains at Persepolis and Susa — Similarity between the
Architecture of the Jews and the Assyrians — Lotus and Bud Ornament — Delicacy in Wall Sculptures —
Floors—Terra-cotta Cylinders —- Carved Ivory — Bronze Tools and Implements — Colour — Silver and Gold
Plates — Pelasgic-Greek based on Assyrian — Guilloche, Patera, and Wave-scroll. Description of Plates 5, 6, . 28
CHAPTER WI.—GREEK ORNAMENTATION.
Early Inhabitants of Greece —Their Colonies — Magna Graecia and Ionia – Asia Minor the cradle of Hellenic Art
— Its Elements — Archaic Spiral Ornaments—The Suastika — Greek Sculpture — The Parthenon — Phidias—
The Propylaeum and the Theseum — Polychromatic Decoration — Antefixal Ornaments — The Erechtheum —
The Monument of Lysicrates — Tower of the Winds — Acanthus and other Foliage – Echinus or Egg-and-
tongue, Reel-and-bead, and enriched Ogee — Antique Sculpture in European Museums – Terra-cotta Vases,
called Etruscan. Description of Plates 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, - - - - - - - - - - . 34
CHAPTER VII.—ETRUSCAN ORNAMENTATION.
Early Colonization of Etruria–Modern Discovery of Vases — Probably made by Greek Potters — Antiquity of the
Ceramic Arts—The Ancient Potter's Wheel—Excellence of Work produced — Ornaments on Vases – Vases of
two classes — Process of Painting and Baking—Subjects represented — Figures and Foliage—Variations upon
Greek Forms — Care and Skill required — Forms and Names of the Vases — Bronze work and Jewelry —
Armour and Weapons—Tools — Mirrors. Description of Plate 13, - - - - - - - - . 43
CHAPTER VIII.—POMPEIAN ORNAMENTATION.
Excavations at Herculaneum and Pompeii — Result — Divisions of a Pompeian House — Architectural Details —
Colouring and Painting — Mosaics—Greek Bronzes—Intensity of Colours — Arabesque Devices on the Walls—
Extravagance and recklessness of cost in Decoration. Description of Plate 14, . - - - - . . 47
b


vi
Co/l/c/l/s.
CHAPTER IX.—ROMAN ORNAMENTATION.
Style borrowed from the Greek—Tuscan and Composite added by the Romans—Greek Artists and Works – Use of the
Orders extended — Roman Application of the Arch – The Pantheon — Basilica of Maxentius – Aqueducts —
Bridges–Groining—Ornamental Details and Sculpture — The Corinthian and Composite Capitals — Cornices
– Mouldings, Fascias, and Friezes – Houses, Baths, and Public Buildings – Mosaic Pavements – Elaboration
of Ornament—The Sphinx, Triton and Griffin, with extremities passing into Foliage – Vases and Tazzas—
Marble Chairs, Baths, Altars, &c. — Paintings. Description of Plates 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, .
CHAPTER X.—CHINESE ORNAMENTATION.
Origin of Chinese Art involved in Mystery —They possess Elements of a great Nation – Excel in Constructive Talent—
Ornamental Workmanship – Garden Structures, &c. — Bricks—Roofs and Tiles — Wooden forms, repeated in
Stone, Marble, and Metal — Houses — Padows – Graves — Tombs of the Ming Dynasty – Peking – Imperial
Temples — Pagodas — Polychromy – Ceramic Art — Porcelain — Its Ornamentation and Harmonious Colouring
— Light, Shade, and Perspective — Woven Fabrics – Paper-hangings — Facility in Drawing — Diapers —
Embroidery Pattern – Borders — Fret form — Key and Imbricated Diapers–Carving in Wood, Ivory, and
Jade – Lacquer ware – Enamelling — Metal work—Bells — Iron Bridges — Josses. Description of Plate 21,
CHAPTER XI.—JAPANESE ORNAMENTATION.
Japanese Art closely allied to that of China — Houses and Temples mostly of one story – Formed of Wood with
Bracketting — Roofs – Tiles and Terra-cotta Ornaments – Arrangement of Houses – Temples — Tombs—
Egg-and-tongue Fret — Scroll and Bud — Ornamentation of common Fabrics — Fertility of Invention -
Their love for Variety — Find geometrical Precision in Nature beneath apparent Confusion – Shun equality
of Parts — Have no precise Rules for Art Compositions – Love of the Irregular dominant – Their power of
obtaining Variety – Ability of Drawing – Birds, Plants, Flowers, Fish, and Insects rendered with Fidelity –
Deficiency in drawing the Human Figure — Landscapes quaint — Smaller Figures full of Fun – In Colour
judicious — Decoration in Lacquer ware – Crests or Badges — Red Sun, the Emblem of Japan – Evil Spirits —
Colour Printing – Paper — Its application — Pottery – Enamelling — Their Artistic feeling — Japanese work
not all good. Description of Plates 22, 23, 24, - - - - - - - - - - - -
CHAPTER XII.—INDIAN ORNAMENTATION.
Architecture and Ornament of India an intricate subject — Many Styles — Stone Temples erected about 250 b.c.—
Ruins
Jain and Buddhist Architecture almost identical — Early Remains – Structural Buildings and Cave Temples —
Chaitya Halls — Dagobas – Viharas — The Kylas, a complete Temple internally and externally cut out of the
rock—The Raths of Mahavellipore — Topes – Gateways – Construction of Rails — Rail at Amravati – Other
styles of Architecture — Great Temple of Bhobaneser — Arcſ not on true principſe – Bracket Capitals —
S-shaped Bracket Strut — Temple of Vimala Sah — Saracenic or Moorish engrafted upon the Hindu Styles —
Bulbous Domes — Inlay with precious Stones and Marbles — The Moguls – Palace at Delhi – Palaces at Agra,
Allahabad, and other places — Tombs — Taje Mahal – Styles extend over a vast period of time – Lavishness
of Labour and Elaboration — Architectural Forms simple — Buildings like Sculptured Rocks — Every inch of
space ornamented — The Lotus — Roses or Pateras — Beads or Pearlings — Flowing Lines — Geometrical Diaper
— Buddhist Emblems — Inlay Work — Modern Carving — Woven Fabrics — Plant form conventionalized.
Description of Plates 25, 26, . - - - - • * > - - - - - - - - -
CHAPTER XIII.—PERSIAN ORNAMENTATION.
of Persepolis – Palace of Darius and Hall of Xerxes – Human-headed winged Bulls — Columns with double
Capital–Susa–Rock-cut Tomb of Darius – Arab Conquest – Mosques—Tiles—Glazed Bricks – Colour –
Ispahan — The Maidan or Bazaar – Palaces—Tiles with Geometrical Figures and Inscriptions—Porcelain —
Carving d jour—Sherbet Spoons — Metal work—Textile Fabrics — Carpets—Seal and Gem Engraving —
Illuminated Manuscripts. Description of Plate 27, - - - - - - - - - - -
CHAPTER XIV.—MOORISH OR SARACENIC ORNAMENTATION.
Co-extensive with Mohammedanism – Damascus–Mosque of Alwalid II. – Bagdad – The Moors in Spain – Mosque
of Cordova–Toledo—The Alhambra–Style, brick covered with tiles or stucco — Forms, without surface
enrichment, simple —The Dome—Minarets–Horse-shoe Arch—Cusping–Columns–Corbelling-Example
from Owen Jones—The Fret – The Star form – Pavements and Wall Decoration — Ornament confined to
surface – Decorative Forms double — Colouring – Rules from Owen Jones – Arms and Armour – Furniture.
Description of Plates 28, 29, 30, 31,
page
5
7
72
81
86


viii Co///c///s.
-
.
- º
CHAPTER XXI.—REN A ISSANCE ORNAMENTATION.
Rise of the Style in Italy — Brunelleschi – Bramante and Michael Angelo – Spread of the Style in France — Early
Examples of it in England — Torrigiano and Hans Holbein – Characteristics of the Style – Italian Palaces –
The Style in Venice – San Micheli, Sansovino, and Andrea Palladio — Arabesque Decorations — Ornamental
Furniture — Marquetry — Carved Woodwork and Furniture — Flemish Carved Work – Gold and Silver smith's
work — Benvenuto Cellini – Niello or Black Inlay – Ceramic Earthenware or Majolica. Description of Plates
55 to 68 (inclusive), .
CHAPTER XXII.—ENGLISH RENAISSANCE ORNAMENTATION
(ELIZABETHAN AND SUBSEQUENT PERIODs).
Its First Introduction — Hans Holbein – Classical Forms – A Picturesque Transitional Style produced — Tudor
Mansions — Monuments — Escutcheons — Arabesque Work – Fire-places – Staircases – Carving — Wains-
cotting – Tapestry – Stamped and Gilded Leather — John Shute — John Thorpe – Robert Smithson — Inigo
Jones — Fire of London — Sir Christopher Wren — Vanbrugh, Hawksmoor, Gibbs, and Chambers — Stuart and
Revett — Grecian Style — French Furniture — Wren's School of Carving — Grinling Gibbons — Dutch
Furniture — Queen Anne Style – Gilded Furniture – Chippendale — Better Style influenced by Chambers and
the Brothers Adam – Cipriani and Angelica Kauffman — Vernis-Martin. Description of Plates 69, 70,
CHAPTER XXIII.-FRENCH RENAISSANCE ORNAMENTATION.
Francis I. introduces Italian Artists — Fontainebleau – The Louvre – Tuileries – Late additions to the Louvre —
Versailles – Louis XIV. Style — François and Jules Hardouin Mansard – Louis XV. Style – Watteau — Other
Painters and Decorators — Rococo — Buhl-work – Ormolu — Tapestry — Maison des Gobelins – Louis XVI.
Style — Style of the First Empire – Renaissance the National Style – Modern Work in Paris. Description of
Plates 71, 72, 73, . . . . . . . . .
CHAPTER XXIV.—FLORAL ORNAMENTATION.
Nature the original source of Ornamental Foliage, and should be constantly referred to -- Art – Natural Forms to be
altered — Revival not Art — Leading Lines – Angular—Flowing – Radiation – Flowers – Geometrical Figures
— Law of Growth — Leaves – Not necessary to adhere closely to Natural Form – Greek Acanthus—Natural
Principle—Suggestive Examples. Description of Plates 74 to 84 (inclusive), .
CHAPTER XXV. FIGURES, ANIMALS, CHIMERAS, AND TROPHIES.
Representation of the Human Form – May be introduced in Decoration to give a higher tone – Greek Terra Cotta –
The Romans — Foliage and Figures combined — Roman Altar — Frieze – Griffins — Festoons — Amalgamating
Animals, Birds, Insects, and Chimerical Forms constant in Italian, French, and English Renaissance — Celtic
Ornamentation on Crosses and Manuscripts — Chimeras — Trophies — Armour and Warlike Implements —
Pastoral, Hunting, and Musical Trophies — Modern Trophies – Grinling Gibbons — Imitation not Art — Objects
should have an Emblematical or Allegorical Meaning. Description of Plates 85 to 96 (inclusive), . - - -
CHAPTER XXVI.—LETTERS AND MONOGRAMS.
Manuscripts embellished ages ago–Egyptian Papyri – Hieroglyphics — Hebrew Letters—Egyptian Papyrus Scrolls—
Parchment — Paper – Classical Manuscripts — Capital Letters – Uncial Style – Maguscule and Miniscule —
“Codex Argenteus” of Ulphilus — Psalter of St. Germain de Pres—New Testament in Cottonian Library –
Book of Genesis at Vienna – Other Specimens in Libraries of Paris, Oxford, and London – Age of Justinian
– Palimpsests — Cardinal Angelo Mai – Ancient Irish Versions of the Gospels – Irish Saints distinguished
Scribes – Their Schools famous throughout Europe – St. Columba – St. Cuthbert -- Durham Book, &c. —
Diffusion of Irish Manuscripts — St. Boniface — St. Kilian — St. Gall — Saxon Illumination died out —
Ingulphus – The Plantagenets — French Influence – English Illumination — Gothic Manuscripts – Queen
Mary's Psalter – Invention of Printing — Gutenburg and Caxton — Ornamental Letters – Designed by the best
Artists—Monograms. Description of Plates 97, 98, - - - - - -
MISCELLANEOUS.
- º
Description of Plates 99, 100, 101,
DEscRIPTION of THE SYMBOLICAL FIGURES IN THE FRONTISPIECE, .
PAGr
136
144
150
16:3
169


Zist of the Pales.
PLATE
27. ORNAMENTS FOR ENGRAVING, TILES, TEXTILE FABRICs, &c.,
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
. 33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
40.
41.
42.
43.
44.
45.
46.
47.
48.
49.
50.
51.
52.
53.
54.
55.
56.
57.
PERSIA.N.
MOORISH.
BORDERS, CENTRES, AND SURFACE DEcoRATION,
BATTLEMENT, CENTRES, AND PANELs,
FollATED AND GEOMETRICAL ORNAMENT, .. - - -
PANEL AND SURFACE DECORATION FOR PAINTING or INLAY, .
BYZANTINE.
CELTIC AND OTHER ORNAMENTS, INTERLACED CoMBINATIONS FOR INLAY,
ANGLO-Norman AND BYZANTINE ENRICHMENTS,
NORMAN, ANGLO-SAXON, AND BYZANTINE ORNAMENTS,
GOTHIC.
SEAL, VESICA PANEL, TRACERY PANELs For METAL WoRK, Rood-screeN,
TRACERY, PANELS, AND DIAPERS,
EMBLEMATICAL BOOK COVER, . - - - - - -
TRACERY AND OTHER PANELS, AND FoLIATED DEcoRATION, . . .
PANELS AND PLATE TRACERY FOR METAL WoRK,
(SUPERFICIAL.) TILES AND PAINTED DECORATION, .
METAL WORK.
DESIGNS FOR WROUGHT AND CAST IRON WoRK, . - - - - -
FINIAL, HINGES, BRACKET, CoRNER FOR Book Cover, AND KEY Hol.E PLATE,
VANE, BRACKETS, RAILINGs, &c., . - - - - -
VANE, DOOR HANDLEs, KEY PLATES, TERMINAL ORNAMENT, .
GEOMETRICAL. "
FoRMS FOR INLAY, GLAzING, &c.,
LABYRINTHS AND INLAYS.
WARIOUS GEOMETRICAL COMBINATIONs,
INLAYS AND DIAPERS.
PANEL, BORDERS, AND SURFACE ORNAMENTs,
PANEL AND SURFACE DECORATION,
BLAZONRY.
FAITH, HoPE, AND CHARITY, CRowNs, Roy AL SCEPTRE OF ENGLAND, CRoziER, &c.,
SEAL, HELMET, SHIELDS, &c., - -
ARMs witH SUPPORTERs, REBUS, BADGE, &c., . -
DESIGNS FOR MEDALS OR SEALs, CROWNS, AND DEVICES,
BLAZONRY AND BADGES.
MEDAL, ROYAL ARMs, CRowNs, &c.,
- 13LAZONRY AND REBUSES.
ARMs, REBUSEs, MEDALLIONs, &c., .
RENAISSAN CE.
FLEMISH PILASTER, FIGURES FOR STONE CARVING, &c., . - - - -
TYMPANUM, PANEL, TAIL-PIECE FOR PAINTING, BRACKET IN METAL, &c., - -
FIGUREs, &c., FOR CARVING,
14 Examples.
14
11
13
13
:
10
16
14
25
11
12
16
13
11
21
:
14
11
7
x-
**
--
xx
*:
->


Zist of the Plates. xi
PLATE
58.
59.
60.
61.
62.
63.
64.
65.
66.
67.
68.
69.
70.
71.
72.
73.
74.
75.
76.
77.
78.
79.
80.
81.
82.
83.
84.
85.
86.
87.
88.
89.
90.
91.
92.
CARVING, STRING-COURSEs, PANELS FOR NIELLO or BUHL WoRK, . - - . 10 Examples.
FIGURES, &c., FOR STONE CARVING, - - - - - - - - ... 5 27
ARABESQUE PANEL AND OTHER SUBJECTS FOR CARVING OR PAINTING, . - . 9 27
HERALDIC TYMPANUM AND OTHER DESIGNs, 8 3)
DESIGNS FOR INLAY AND CARVING, . - - - - - - - 9 3)
HERALDIC DEVICES, COMPOSITION FOR STATUARY, FRAME FOR GLAss, &c., 9 w
RENAISSANCE (SUPERFICIAL).
BORDERS, CENTRES, AND SURFACEs, . - - - - - - - - . 11 39
FABRIC AND OTHER PATTERNs For CENTREs, &c., . - - - - - . 11 35
PATTERNS FOR TEXTILE FABRICs, . - - - - - - . . ... 6 »
PATTERNS FOR MARQUETRY AND ENGRAVING, . - - - - 5 »
WALL DIAPERS, PANELs, PATTERNs For LACE WoRK, &c., . - - - 10 ,
RENAISSANCE (ELIZABETHAN AND JACOBEAN).
STRAP AND CARTOUCHE ENRICHMENTs, . - - - - - - - ... 6 35
HERALDIC MONUMENT AND OTHER DEVICES, . - - - - - - . 9 35
ºs
RENAISSANCE (LOUIS XIV. AND XV.).
ARMS, SPANDRELS FOR METAL WORK, SCROLL AND STALACTITE ORNAMENT, &c., 9 »
ROCOCO SCROLL WoRK, &c., . - - - - - - - .* 7 29
PANEL, ARMS AND ROCOCO SHELL AND SCROLL WoRK, 8 25
º
FLORAL * SPRIGS.
Rose, Poppy, TEAZLE, &c., - - - - - - - - . . . . 9 53
FUCHSIA, THISTLE, LILY, BINDWEED, &c., - - - - - - - . 9 **
HYACINTH, CATCH-FLY, PINK, POMEGRANATE AND POPPY, LEAVES AND BERRIES, &c., 14 33
MAPLE, HEMLOCK, MAIZE, BUDS AND LEAFAGE, - - - - - - . 9 •y
CONVENTIONAL AND OTHER FLOWERS AND LEAFAGE, Foliated SCROLLs, - . 13 32
OAK, WINE SCROLL WoRK, FollATED CRoss, FRUIT SPRIG, &c., . - - . 12 35
GRASS FORM, PEA, OAK, &c., . - - - - - - - - - . 13 35
DOCK LEAVES AND HART's-TONGUE, FERNs, GRAss, &c., . - - - - . 13 32
FLORAL (MISCELLANEOUS).
BORDERS AND CENTRES FOR PAINTING, MARBLE OR WooD INLAY, AND Woven
FABRICS, . - - - - - - - - - s - - . 11 59
CENTRES, BORDERS, AND SURFACE DECORATION, - - - - - - . 15 32
GEOMETRICAL COMBINATIONS FILLED IN witH FollAGE, - . - - - - . 14 »
FIGURES.
CLOCK PANEL, AND PANELS OF MORNING, Noon, EvKNING, AND NIGHT, 5 22
PANELS (CONSOLATION, GUARDIAN ANGEL, AND SATAN REPOSING), AND FINIALs, 6 *,
PANELS AND FRIEZE FOR PAINTING, AND SPRITEs witH CoNVENTIONAL FOLLAGE, 7 25
THE WAGON OF LOVE, WAR AND PEACE, AGRICULTURE, WoRK, SPORT, &c., . . 11 32
DOUBLE FEMALE HEAD, HALBERDIER, PLANT ForM witH FEMALE HEADS, ANIMAL
CONTRAST, PILGRIMS OF LOVE, &c., . - - - - - - - . - 9 32
SATYR, MEDALLIONS, VENUS, CEREs, &c., - - - - - - - ... 10 59
SPORT, SNOWDROP AND ROSEBUD, THE OCEAN, LOVE AND CUPID, MUSE AND
LYRE, &c., - - - - - - - " * * - ... 8 y?
TRAGEDY AND COMEDY, YoUTH AND AGE, ORNAMENTAL BRACKETS AND FRIEzes, . 12 35


xii List of the Plates.
PLATE ANIMALS (CENTRES).
93. ANIMALS, BIRDS, FISH, AND INSECTS, - - - - - - - - . 11 Examples.
94. BIRDS, INSECTs, &c., ARRANGED ORNAMENTALLY, . - - - - - . 9 --
CHIMERA.S.
95. DRAGONs, MIRTH AND MELANCHOLY, Dolphixs, GRASSHOPPER-BIRD DRAGONS,
BATS, &C., . - - - - - - - - - - - - ... 8 --
TROPHIES, &c.
96. WINE, BEER, AND ToBAcco. Fish, Fowl, AND FLESH, . - - - - ... 6 --
LETTERS, MONOGRAMS, &c.
97. WARIOUs LETTERs TREATED or NAMENTALLY, . - - - - - - . 19 --
98. LETTERS ARRANGED ORNAMENTALLY IN PANELS, ON SHIELDs, &c., . - - . 20 --
- MISCELLANEOUS.
99. PANEL, SUPPORT FOR PEDESTAL, CENTRAL ForM For INLAY, &c., . - - . 11 ->
100. CENTRES AND BORDERs, ORNAMENTAL CRESTING, &c., . - - - - . 12 xx
101. DAD0, BORDER, ORNAMENTAL SQUARE, MASK, DATE-PLATE, LAMP, &c., . - . 12 --


SU GGESTIONS
IN DESIGN.
C H A P T E R I.
INTER O ID U CTION.
*}|N the most primitive states of society,
%| -
% among the earliest efforts of the
ſº
jº
ſ: § % -
tº presentations of the natural objects
by which man found himself surrounded.
This was done either by tracing the form of
the object in outline, which we call drawing,
or making an imitation of the actual body of
the thing, which we denominate sculpture.
Of the two, drawing is the earliest, for the
object must in some shape be drawn before
it can be sculptured. They are, in fact,
intimately connected, for the power of draw-
human hand was that of forming re-
ing not only exists in the use of the pencil,
but it may be expressed by the knife, the
axe, the chisel, and the gouge. We may,
therefore, speak of the excellence of the
drawing in a piece of sculpture, equally with
that which we see in outline upon paper or
canvas. There is the same wonderful force
and power of drawing in the sculpture of
Michael Angelo that there is in his frescoes.
Drawing is the origin of all writing—
indeed what is writing but simply drawing
in a certain set and conventionalized form 2
Writing is the power of drawing rapidly
specially arranged forms called “letters,”
and combining them to convey to the eye
a definite meaning. Originally, as in the
Egyptian, a rude representation of the object
stood for the word itself, and from this mode
of expressing thought the art has gradually
grown up, in the process of time, of making
a combination of twenty-six arbitrary charac-
ters express all our ideas.
It has been discovered of late years that
drawing was practised with considerable
ability even in prehistoric times. “We
may think it,” says Mr. William Maskell,"
“to be sufficiently strange, in tracing the
early history of the art of carving or engrav-
ing in ivory, that we should be able easily
to carry it, upon the evidence of extant ex-
amples, to an antiquity long before the
Christian era; through the Roman, Greek,
Assyrian, and Jewish people, up to an age
anterior to the origin of those nations by
centuries, the number of which it may be
difficult accurately to count.
ancient examples are of the earliest Egyptian
dynasties; yet, between them and the date
of the earliest now known specimens of
works of art incised or carved in ivory,
there is a lapse of time so great that it
These very
* “Ivories, Ancient and Mediaeval:” South Kensington Museum
Handbook.

1.


2 Suggestions in /Pesign.
may probably be numbered by thousands
of years.” In caves at Le Moustier and
at La Madelaine in the Dordogne, many
fragments have been found, of late years, of
tusks of the mammoth and of reindeer's bone
and horn, upon which have been discovered
incised drawings of various animals, which
no one can examine without acknowledging
their merit. The animals are carefully and
vigorously drawn. The heaviness and slug-
gishness of the mammoth is as easily recog-
nized as the grace and activity of the rein-
deer." In short, these extraordinary pre-
historic drawings are from the hands of men
who were neither beginners nor blunderers
in their art. They are the work of skilled
artists, and the modern draughtsman would
scarcely exceed their firmness and decision
as well as their evident rapidity of exe-
cution.
But to what does all this tend, this mere
proof of the extreme antiquity of drawing?
Why, to the fact that the power of the hand
to represent form seems to have come to
man by instinct, and that such a wonderful
power would not have been given but for
the very highest purposes. But if such pre-
cision and accuracy of drawing were attained
in prehistoric times, that they equal modern
works, where is our advance? Does it not
suggest to our minds that drawing is an art
which has been neglected among us? Has
not our power of expressing our ideas by
the means of, what I have called, conventional
drawing, the art of writing, led to our
neglecting that of true drawing? No doubt
but that it has. Drawing has become the
art of only a few among us; it has, therefore,
not attained that high power and given us
* Copies of these may be found in Sir John Lubbock's work on
The Origin of Civilization.
that facility of command over expression in
the fine arts, that it assuredly would have
done, had it been the practice of the many.
Our hands have become cramped by civiliza-
tion, as our feet have become ill-formed by
our modern boots and shoes. How many
men, for instance, are there, even among
practised carvers and modellers, who can
draw with facility and readiness? Numbers
of them have to depend upon some one else
to draw and design their work for them, be-
fore they can attempt its execution. But is
this as it should be We never shall have
high-class art workmanship in this country
until the artisan, the executant, is also the
designer of his own work, and this he can
never be unless he practises the power of
drawing.
Nothing is more common than to see chil-
dren take naturally to drawing. Yet when
they go to school this instinct is neglected,
and as they grow up it is totally discouraged,
so that at length they lose all power of ex-
pressing even the most simple forms on paper.
Doubtless there are many examples to the
contrary, but as a general rule this is invari-
ably the case. Instead of which no education
should be considered complete without a
knowledge of drawing.
This, however, is speaking of mere ordinary
education. How much more must this power
of delineating form be imperative to the
student in art-workmanship; or to one who
may be desirous of taking advantage of
these “suggestions in design?” Without
this necessary skill with the pencil he cannot
make use of them in the way that the author
has intended that they should be used. That
is, that they should not be taken as mere
copies for imitation to avoid the necessity of
designing, but that they should be looked


A.n/roduction. 3
upon and studied as hints, or motifs, as the
French happily express it, for designs of
his own. None of the “suggestions” are
taken literally from old examples, yet nearly
all are divided into the styles of different
countries or specific periods. They are
rather attempted to be designed with the
feeling of the various countries, with the in-
tention of pointing out how many ordinary
and well-known forms may be made original
by some simple variation, and thus to en-
deavour to awaken in the mind of the student
the power of design.
Without doubt we have, through the
various art schools which have been estab-
lished of late years throughout the country,
a wonderful increase in the art of drawing,
but many of them are apt to fall into the
error of obliging their pupils to make ela-
borately “shaded” drawings. Now it should
be distinctly remembered that “shading” is
not drawing. That although it may be use-
ful, yet the art of delineating form in simple
outline with facility and precision, is ten
times more important and ten times more
valuable than the mere art of shading. Yet
many of these pupils are obliged to spend
ten hours over shading to one that he spends
upon actual drawing.
However, having now pointed out the very
great importance of the power of drawing,
and that without it no progress can be ex-
pected or hoped for in the decorative arts,
it should be properly understood of what
“ design" consists. -
Design may be considered to be of various
degrees according to its originality, which is
that quality that distinguishes it from the
mere repetition of previously arranged forms.
On the other hand, this must not be con-
founded with novelty, which is a totally
different quality. Design may be described
as the embodiment of thought.
For instance, we may speak of design in
architecture, such as that of a large and im-
portant building, and we may perceive that
every portion of it is something new, and
such as we had never seen before. If, how-
ever, we observe that the forms are fantastic
or whimsical; that there is a want of pro-
portion, a deficiency of light and shade, and
the detail is badly drawn, we say at once
that this is made new in form and appearance
solely for the sake of novelty. There is no
thought or conception, and the elements of
true design are wanting. Again, the work
may possibly be only a repetition of some-
thing which has been done before; or it may
be but a collection of different parts obtained
from many other works, put together in a
species of patchwork of the most incon-
gruous kind. But some trifling variations
are introduced, upon the strength of which
the author rests his claim for a new design,
or he trusts that the sources from which he
obtained his materials will not be detected,
and so he will gain credit for originality.
These are cases of the very lowest class of
design. But if the building be one where
beauty of proportion has been carefully
studied, the light and shade arranged to
give agreeable variety and pleasure to the
eye, the detail well considered and the orna-
mentation distributed with due regard to
architectural embellishment, although every
feature may not strike us as perfectly new
and original, yet that design when it thus
exhibits thought and aesthetic feeling is of
the very highest class.
Unfortunately we in these times have
been landed, so to speak, at a summit from
which we complacently view the world of


4 Sugges/ions
in Design.
art below, and think that it is not necessary
We have all
the styles of the earth spread out before us,
and we think that we have but to take up
that one which is most to our fancy to obtain
Hence we fall into copyism,
and try to delude ourselves that this is the
to strive to rise any higher.
all we want.
whole art of design.
It is certain that no one can design or
invent any work of art, solely and entirely
new, without partially copying, or taking
ideas from either nature or art. We must
have some groundwork or motif to work
upon. We have to learn all that has been
done in art before our era, and to see how
nature has been adapted and convention-
alized by different people in former ages.
We have to sift the good from the bad, the
true from the false, and again study the
works of nature in search of new forms and
fresh modifications. For there are no forms
in the whole arena of art which have not
originally been taken from nature.
With proper study design may be exer-
cised by all who have practised the art of
drawing, even down to the humblest crafts-
man. It may possibly be only in a small
degree; let him, however, but stamp his
work with thought and add thereto one
touch of beauty culled from nature's stores,
and he will have created a work of art. To
assist this effort is the object of these “sug-
gestions,” and it will be observed that they
aim at encouraging the artisan—he that has
to work out the smaller and less important
details—to add by his own “cunning hands”
the ornamentation to a work, of whatever
kind it may be. It is not only the master
minds which help on the position of art in
the world, but it is also the combined might
and power of the workers, if only they
can be guided in the right and true direc-
tion.
Before, however, a man can design orna-
ment of whatever description, he should know
something of architecture. It is the gram-
mar or foundation of the whole, and without
this knowledge he is never sure of not going
astray. Architecture is founded upon a
combination of geometrical forms, and these
combinations are so infinite that they are
practically inexhaustible. Now as all geo-
metrical forms are obtained from nature, it
follows that if we seek fresh inspiration, we
are most likely to obtain it by referring to
Inature.
One portion of this work gives a great
variety of the forms of ornamental art,
accompanied by a short description of the
architecture which has been practised at
various epochs in different countries, from
the earliest to the latest times, Laying
before the student a map, as it were, of the
art of the world. But the latter part
of the work, and perhaps by far the most
important, is devoted to studies taken en-
tirely from nature, without reference to
any style whatever. For nature is of no
style, and therefore is equally applicable to
any phase of art.
Persons may assert that they cannot
perceive any connection between nature and
art, and it has been said that we do not find
straight lines in nature. It may be quite true
that we do not find mathematically straight
lines, but we find them straight enough
What can be
straighter than the line formed by the horizon
for all practical purposes.
of the ocean, or the perpendicular stem of
the fir-tree?
also, as in the branching of ferns, as well as
forming every variety of curves and spirals.
Lines are to be found angular


Infroduction. - 5
They are of constant occurrence, we have —that all has been planned and is conform-
but to search for them. In the accompany-
able to rule. The ordinary geometrical
ing figure, we find some elegant curved lines | figures are seen most distinctly in cross
Fig. 1.
in a fish (Fig. 1), which is from the Mediter-
ranean, more especially in the vigorous curves
of the crest-fin with the lines sweeping from
it. Spiral lines are seen in the tail of the
twelve-thread plume bird (Epimachus albus)
of New Guinea, Fig. 2. These are only two
Fig. 2.
examples selected at random from thousands
of other instances.
All geometrical forms are found in nature,
such as the circle, the triangle, the square,
the pentagon, and others. But nature is
often so irregular that the geometrical basis
cannot always be readily traced. It requires
study and careful research to discover that
amidst all the irregularity there is regularity
Sections; as the circle, in the suc-
cession of rings in an onion when
cut across; the triangle, in a section
of the stem of the sedge; the square,
in the stem of the dead-nettle; the
pentagon, in the stem of the common
bramble; and so on. These forms
will often appear again in the leaves
and flowers of a plant. Thus the
Square or cross-form is followed in
the mode of the branching of the
leaves of the dead-nettle, and the
leaves and flowers of the bramble are
arranged upon the pentagon. But nowhere
is the geometry of nature seen more clearly
than in crystallization. All the solid figures
of geometry are found among the metals
and minerals. But one of the most charm-
ing instances of this nature is the minute
crystals of snow. They are composed most-
ly of stars of six points, in a great variety
of beautiful forms. They are found falling
in minute tufts or flakes consisting of two
or three of the crystals frozen together,
in certain conditions of the atmosphere,
when they do not become decomposed by
the warmth or moisture of the lower strata,
and in calm weather can be plainly seen by
the naked eye.
The collection of examples of these given
in Figs. 3 to 8 shows the great variety
which exists in these curious little star
forms, and which are represented about
twice the natural size. They consist of a
combination of the triangle and hexagon,
radiating in lines from the centre, or are
compounded of minute triangles and hexa-
gons arranged symmetrically. Their delicate


6 Suggesſions
in ZOesign.
lines always preserve the hexagonal angles
of 30° or 60°, and sometimes they assume
leaf-like forms which seem to suggest, with-
out much alteration, beautiful designs for
hexagonal tiles. Imperfect crystallization
of the same kind may be seen also on the
window-pane of a frosty morning, the leafy
combinations of which are most suggestive
and elegant. The angles formed by the
branching are here the same as in the stars,
the reason being that 60° is the angle at
which water crystallizes in freezing.
There is, however, the other principle
which is found in nature, and which may be
often legitimately taken advantage of in art
—that of irregularity. We know that the
Japanese, especially, have made constant
use of this, and now that Japanese works
have been so largely imported into this
country of late years, many of our own artists
have affected to adopt the same principle.
Thus we now come across instances where
it is carried out in the most ludicrous and
eccentric manner possible. Such as circular


Introduction. 7
designs on porcelain plates, the natural
position of which would appear to be the
centre of the plate, put on one side so that
the edge cuts off a part of the design, while
other parts of circles are made to overlap
the first.
This is, at least, a most dangerous course,
because if worked out and applied through
everything, we should arrive at a state where
no design or previous arrangement would be
required—no thought necessary; we should
have but to use things at random and all
would be attained. This may be all very
well up to a certain point, and upon a
limited scale, but it may be easily carried
too far, so as to destroy the whole art of
design.
The children's play-table, Fig. 9, exhibits
a certain amount of quaintness in represent-
ing accurately the confusion in which it was
left, but there is no design. Everything is
thrown about at random, and there are objects
in nature which are also totally irregular,
Such as the forked flames of fire and the
arrangement of the stars at night, Fig. 10.
But when we come to the spider's web,
Fig. 11, we find that nature has taught the
insect a certain amount of symmetry, and
he radiates his lines from a centre, and keeps
all his rings carefully parallel to each other,
but the position of the insects and the
foliage to which the web is attached give
Fig. 12.
º
variety and destroy too great a tendency to
regularity.
Enrichment of surface is obtained by the
breaking it up by ornament, which may be
arranged either symmetrically or unsym-
metrically, or by a blending of both. The
Japanese, as has been said, adopt the irre-
gular and unsymmetrical. Of this character
are the flowers in rain, Fig. 12; tadpoles


8 - Suggestions in Design.
in a pool, Fig. 13; sand on the sea-shore,
Fig. 14, with the footprints of man and birds,
sea-weed and shells, which we may call
primitive, in distinction to Fig. 15, the artifi-
cial. This exhibits the forms indicative of
Fig. 14.
modern civilization, such as the boot marks,
horses shoes, the twisted rope, writing on
{ dimA.
the sands, and broken pipe. All this may be
described as ornamentation of surface when
used as decoration, but of a very low type.
When we, however, find horizontal, perpen-
dicular, and spiral lines in nature, and we
Fig. 16.
proceed to arrange these symmetrically, we
endeavour to produce a higher class of
Fig. 17.
design, as in the slightly conventionalized
forms of the grass and ivy on a brick wall,


Infroduction. 9
Fig. 16; or if we take advantage of the sug-
gestion obtained by the reflection in water
of a reed on a river's bank, Fig. 17; but
Fig. 18.
o
§–
§º
O
by the fish and the swallow we obtain
variety.
The beauty of symmetry is taught us again
in all animal and insect form, where the
two halves are always alike. Radiation we
have seen in the snow crystals, but it is
found also in a vast number of flowers, as in
the conventional form, Fig. 18. The kalei-
Fig. 19.
/NZNZNZNZNZN
||||| ||||| ||||| |||||
| |E|
/N/N/N/N
– KX – C – C — KX –
XXX XXX
doscope teaches us the value of radiation
combined with symmetrical arrangement of
colour.
Repetition alone is pleasing to the eye,
and has been used as a source of the orna-
mental from time immemorial. Repetition
of simple straight lines, as in Fig. 19, is of
constant occurrence in the formation of en-
Fig. 20.
©NG)\@@@)
6 & 5 & 6 & 5 & 6 &
(@@@@@
)|Z)|Zö)|Z)|%
richments for mouldings or bands; while
curved forms, as in Fig. 20, are still more
ornamental, and are to be met with in
various styles of architecture. -
Forms may occasionally be varied by ex-
pansion or contraction, as in the case of the
Greek vase, which may on the one hand be
expanded to the soup tureen, or contracted
to the candlestick on the other, as indicated
by Fig. 21. This may be to the loss of
beauty, as we perceive it in its more perfect
form in the centre; but at the same time
the other forms are beautiful in their degree,
because they are more appropriate to the
purpose for which they are intended than
the central vase would have been. Thus it
is throughout art—those forms are the most


3


10 Suggestions in Design.
-
beautiful that are the most fitted for the
purposes to which they are applied.
There are certain principles of this sort
which have been followed as rules in art in
all ages, although when art has been degraded
and become merely the subject of ruling
fashion during a period of vitiated taste, such
rules have been often broken through and
disregarded. Still the artist has been glad to
return to them again after such degraded
phases have passed away.
In the following chapter some of the most
important of these principles have been
collected and compactly arranged for con-
venience of reference. For the facility of
remembrance, consistent with clearness of
expression, they are made as concise as
possible.


12
ZOesign.
Suggesſions in
9. All ornament should be subordinate to
the object ornamented; and if kept
duly subordinate the object cannot
be over-ornamented.
Take, for example, an Indian sandal-wood box;
the form of the box is not in any way altered by
the vast amount of ornament worked upon it.
The box can never be over-ornamented while the
form remains unaltered, although it may be liter-
ally crowded with enrichment. The true position
of ornamentation, in most late styles, has become
degraded by being made into the thing itself,
instead of serving, as it should do, merely to enrich
it. Thus a lily, or convolvulus, has been made
into a candlestick, the corolla forming the bowl
to receive the candle, instead of the flower being
used to ornament the candlestick. The first, is its
false position; the last, its true one. Whenever
we hear of a work being over-ornamented, it arises
invariably, in some way, from ornament being
thus thrust into a false position.
10. All ornament should be founded upon a
- * *
geometrica' ' …s.
This is also a natural law which may be found
in nature by study and observation.
11. Natural growth should be the law in
ornament, and branches or scrolls
made always to flow in their growing
direction. Never make foliage grow
two ways.
12. Flat surfaces should have a sufficient
amount of flatness in their ornamenta-
tion as not to destroy their quality
of flatness.
A beautiful example of this may be seen in the
carved diapered spandrils of the triforium arches
in the choir of Westminster Abbey.
13. The carved, sculptured, or moulded sur-
face of ornament, should not be wrought
into such violent light and shade, as
to confuse it with the more intense
shadows which should relieve it from
the ground on which it is placed.
Thus the modelling of the surface of a leaf, as
in the Acanthus, should not be divided up into
14.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
deeply wrought channels, as seen in late Roman
work, but be kept comparatively flat as in the
Greek.
Undercutting of a carved enrichment,
when wrought out of the solid, should
not be so great as to make it appear
to have been afterwards inserted, or
glued into its position.
Carving should never be executed in
party-coloured materials, such as fig-
ured marbles, or wood with strongly
marked grain.
Simplicity in composition is far more
difficult of attainment than complica-
tion.
Elegance of leading lines is of more con-
sequence than after adornment.
For this reason the scroll form of enrichment
has been so universally adopted in all ages,
because of its beauty as a leading line or stem.
That form is the most beautiful that is
the most appropriate for its purpose.
Branch lines in ornamentation should
be made to flow smoothly out of each
other—but there are some exceptions
to this rule, as when the angular or
the opposite curve is used.
Natural forms, plants, animals, and the
like, cannot be rendered literally for
the purposes of ornament, but require
to be treated in a conventional manner.
The degree of imitation that is suit-
able depends upon many circum-
stances, such as the nature of the
materials, or the distance that the
object is to be placed from the eye of
the spectator.
What is meant by conventional treatment, is
that departure from nature which is absolutely
necessary to the successful application of natural
forms to ornamental art; and, as conventional


General Principles. 13
treatment is always varying according to circum-
stances, it follows that no fixed rules can be laid
down for direct guidance.
21. Work should not be thrown away by
an object being made too elaborate in
detail for its position. Carving should
be simplified according to the height
at which it is placed.
For example, a rose which might be made
double when placed near the level of the eye,
would be improved and be more effective if made
single, when situated far above it.
22. Objects should be elongated in their
proportion according to the height at
which they are placed, to allow for the
foreshortening which takes place when
seen from the ground.
This refers, especially, to finials and pinnacles
placed at a considerable height.
23. Light and shade in carving smould be
duly balanced, and extreme contrasts
of high light and deep shadow carefully
toned down by intermediate degrees
of shade.
No positive rule can be laid down for this.
It must depend upon the eye and judgment of the
artist. It is, however, right to draw attention to
its great importance.
24. A rough material such as coarse-grained
sandstone, requires broader treatment
and a greater contrast of light and
shade than a fine-grained material,
such as ivory or marble.
For this reason, and the deficiency in power
of our daylight, Greek mouldings and other enrich-
ments have very little effect when executed in
the rough materials usually adopted in this
country. They are too delicate and refined for
our climate and our materials.
25. Decoration should not be pictorial,
shaded to imitate work in relief, or
represented in perspective.
26. Colours should not represent material,
but be considered decorative only.
27. Positive colours should never be used
in juxtaposition or upon each other,
but always separated by white, black,
or gold.
All colours are affected, more or less, by those
with which they come in contact. Adjoining
bright colours therefore affect each other in
different proportions, but both suffer, and neither
of them are seen true. Hence the necessity of
separating them. White and black are relative
terms, and all those shades are meant which
approach closely to light on the one hand and
darkness on the other. But a “broken” white
(that is, with a slight admixture of colour) or
intense and deep greys may be often substituted
with good effect for the more positive colours,
known as white and black. -
28. The same colours in different tones, as
light and dark chocolate, called “self-
tints,” may be useu, ºne upon another.
We perceive this principle in nature when we
examine the fronts and backs of leaves, the
back being generally of a lighter tone than the
front. It may be observed, again, in the new and
old foliage of the ivy, when the young leaves
come out in spring.
29. The primary colours, red, blue, and
yellow, should always be used sparingly
and in small quantities, as we see in
nature, where the secondaries, greens,
often toned down by the tertiaries,
greys and browns, always predominate.
Red.
The primary colours are | Blue.
Yellow.
Orange.
The secondary , |:
Purple.
Olive.
The Tertiary 25 | Brown.
Grey.
30. Colours on light grounds appear darker,
on dark grounds lighter than they
really are.
4.


14 Sugges/ions in Design.
31. If colour be applied to ornament in
relief, the ground should be darker
than the ornament. There is an ex-
ception to this where gold is used.
32. Harmony of colour can only be produced
by contrast, but all contrast is not
harmony. Harmony is an agreeable
contrast,--that is, pleasing to the eye
as a chord is to the ear in music.
No positive rules can be laid down for the
harmony of contrasts. It appears to depend very
much upon what is called an “eye for colour.”
Mr. J. G. Crace says that “an experienced artist
can bring any two colours together.” He, how-
ever, has given the following useful list of agreeable
contrasts:—
1
. Black and warm brown.
. Violet and pale green.
. Violet and light rose colour.
. Deep blue and golden brown.
. Chocolate and bright blue.
. Deep red and grey.
. Maroon and warm green.
. Deep blue and pink.
. Chocolate and pea green.
. Maroon and deep blue.
. Claret and buff.
. Black and warm green.
1
|
2
33. As our primary colours are not perfect,
- we are often obliged to oppose them
to dull and dark colours in order to
raise them in the scale of brightness,
so as to make them appear of more
perfect tones.
The most refined carmine when compared with
the natural colour of the scarlet geranium is
reduced, by contrast, to almost a brick-colour.
34. It is a very easy matter to reduce the
brightness of colours, but less so to
make them appear bright.
35. All secondary and tertiary colours should
be graduated to harmonize with the
primaries.
36. In using the primaries it should be
understood that blue retires, yellow
or gold advances, while red holds an
intermediate position.
Field gives the proportions of the primaries
which neutralize each other to be 3 yellow, 5 red,
and 8 blue, thus showing that it would take
only three superficial feet of yellow to neutralize
8 of blue. Yellow represents light; red, heat;
and blue, cold.
7.
Design must necessarily be defective if
applied indiscriminately to different
materials. All materials require dif-
ference of treatment according to their
nature.
38. Originality should never be adopted for
the sake of novelty only.
39. Unity without variety produces uni-
formity and insipidity. Variety with-
out unity results in confusion, or the
absence of design.
40. There are two different principles in
architecture: the horizontal, in the
classic buildings of antiquity; and the
vertical, in the edifices of the mediaeval
period. The first is represented by
the beam, the second by the arch.
These principles are founded upon the
practice of Art in the best ages, and are
advocated in the body of the Work, where
it will be seen that they are further eluci-
dated.


Savage and Early Tribes.
15
C H A P T E R III.
ORNAMENT OF SAVAGE AND EARLY TRIBES.
tº those earlier races of men among
whom some of the most elementary forms of
ornamentation have arisen, to see by what
means they tried to decorate and make more
beautiful, the utensils, implements, or wea-
pons they were forming. For whether it
be a domestic vessel, a canoe, a paddle, or
a war-club, we know that they must have
dwelt upon them with pleasure, while they
covered them with various lines and forms.
They patiently carved their canoes and other
wood-work with notches and curves of
every description, until they gave the whole
surface a quiet richness and beauty, that it
did not before possess. This they did, too,
from an innate love of ornamentation, which
became without doubt fascinating to their
eyes.
How did this love of enrichment arise in
them? Why, they looked up into the sky
of a calm day, and they saw it flecked with
delicate white fleecy clouds, frequently so
minutely divided as to appear like fairy-land
—or, upon a clear night they beheld it
studded and covered with thousands of stars
Sparkling like diamonds. They looked upon
the sea-shore and observed the delicately
rippled surface of the sand as left by the
receding tide—or, they examined the
shingly beach covered with beautiful shells
and pebbles. They saw how the earth which
they trod was carpeted with herbs of all
kinds, with their flowers of bright colours
at frequent intervals. They beheld the trees
clothed with their various leaves of exqui-
sitely graceful forms. They looked also at
many of the wild animals and found them
striped or spotted in the most beautiful man-
ner. And so on, throughout all nature, until
they came, after examining things more nar-
rowly, to the wonderful colours of birds and
insects—
“Fairy-framed and many-coloured things,
Who worship Him with notes more sweet than words,
And innocently open their glad wings,
Fearless and full of life.” "
Thus the primitive races, seeing all nature
clothed with beauty, imbibed their love of
art, and as children of nature, covered their
arms and utensils with the simple forms
which came readiest to their hands, or were
most easily made with their rude instru-
mentS.
But their ornament oftentimes was of
use as well as for enrichment. The carv-
ing of the handles of their war-clubs
gave them a roughness sufficient to assist
the hand in seizing them firmly. As the
striped form of the tiger of the jungle, too,
produced terror in their minds, so for the
same reason they tattooed their faces (Fig.
22) and other parts of the body, in order to
* Lord Byron's Childe Harold.


16 Suggestions in Design.
|
strike terror into their enemies, and they
used violent and repulsive colours to heighten
the effect of their punctured lines.
The carving of surface they did upon the
Fig. 22.
true principle upon which ornamentation
should be applied. Their lines and forms
were cut out of the surface and not added
upon it. Thus we find that the earliest
inspirations of nature will invariably lead
men right if they will but follow these
natural promptings. Instead of which, as
man becomes more educated, he scorns the
works of nature, thinking he can safely
He soon begins
to pile up his ornament upon his own works,
trust to his own powers.
loses their original and appropriate forms
in crowded and vulgar ornamentation which
he overlays upon them, until at length he
arrives at an agglomeration of forms, which
although consisting of large masses, often
of very beautiful workmanship, are neither
useful nor convenient for the purposes in-
tended. Thus it was, after the lapse of time,
that abuses in ornamentation arose, and
buildings became overloaded with useless
and superfluous parts, so that their original
construction oftentimes became in a great
measure veiled, and they at length assumed
numerous features of unmeaning exuber-
an Ce.
The forms of enrichment used by the
savage tribes of the South Sea Islands are
simply geometrical, or are suggested by
nature, and are frequently flowing and grace-
ful. Much of their work, however, has a
mystical air, and may possibly have a mean-
“It is only
beginning to dawn upon us how wide and
comprehensive this system of symbolism had
become in past times.
ing, or a symbolical character.
It seems to have
embraced everything. The flowers of the
field were symbols; the trees of the forest had
each some sacred meaning; the animal world
figures largely in the old system; the stars
are known to us from the zodiac or forms of
living things, which are older than any his-
tory we possess.”
Although there is an extreme rudeness in
the forms used by savage tribes, yet there
evidently is a meaning which runs through
them, and there cannot be a doubt that
many of them are of a highly symbolical
character, had we the power to read or
interpret them. They do not approach any-
thing which may be dignified as works of
art. Still they are the germs of art, and
they usually possess art feeling. The savage
races appear, in many cases, to have drawn
their figures and other devices without much
care or thought, much as boys would draw
with a piece of chalk. There are certain
careless imitations of the human form, but
all proportion or expression is wanting. As
primitive designs they should be examined,
for it is from such attempts as these that
art arose, and to an artistic mind they
will frequently offer suggestions that may
*From a paper on Symbolism, read at the Society of Arts by
Mr. William Simpson.


Savage and Early Tribes. 17
be sought for in vain even in more perfect
works.
We owe much to the potter's art for hand-
ing down to us many of the forms of early
ornament, from the ease in which zigzag
and other lines are made in wet clay, and
then rendered indelible, from the effects of
time, by the aid of fire. Of all the skilled
works of man perhaps those of terra cotta
are the earliest of which we possess actual
examples. Birch, in his History of Ancient
Pottery, tells us that “the existence of
earthen vessels is coeval with the formation
of a written language, 2000–3000 years B.C.”
Dr. Schliemann, in his Troy and its Remains,
gives examples of early ornament upon vases
and other works. On perforated terra cottas,
which he found in great numbers, and which
he calls “whorls,” are representations of
animals, such as stags, made simply by an
incised line in the most primitive manner;
a single line serving equally for body, legs,
head, and horns. Yet the potters who
formed these were, no doubt, in many re-
spects, highly civilized; but they repeated
the rude forms, from habit, that had been
used by many generations of potters before
them.
PLATE 1.
Nos. 1 and 2. What are called frets or
meanders are common in all early work; of
such are these rude frets, which are ancient
Mexican.
No. 3 is an ornament of somewhat similar
character. Strange, uncouth variations of
such forms, which possibly had a meaning
of which we have no solution, are found in
the ancient cities of Mexico and Central
America. These ornaments are applicable
to the enrichment of narrow bands of stone-
work or other material.
No. 4 may have been suggested by feathers,
and consists of gracefully flowing lines,
fitting one into the other. They represent
incised lines engraved on a plain surface.
Nos. 5, 7, and 8 are enrichments for upright
surfaces. The first appears like an impress
in clay of a hieroglyphical character. No. 7
looks to be a series of birds' heads piled one
upon another, as on a door post, and reminds
one of the rude cats' heads of our own
Norman work. No. 8 is evidently from
matting. Similar zigzag lines are to be
found worked out in many ways. The zig-
zag has been noticed by various archaeologists
as being one of the earliest and most widely
spread of all ornaments which are to be
found among the most primitive works of
mankind. We may easily imagine it com-
mencing with the scratched lines on wet
clay, or the alternate notching of a stick, as
in Figs. 23 and 24. From this by an angular
Fig. 23.
J’NZNVN
Fig. 24.
tool the workman soon arrived at the zigzag
formed by recessed triangles, Fig. 25, and
the star-form, Fig. 26, all of which are com-
mom on the clubs of the South Sea Islanders.
These ornaments are all monotonous, and
5


º


18 Suggestions in Design.
|
simple repetitions of the same form. Repe-
tition, however, is one of the means of
giving pleasure to the eye, so common, that
it is of constant occurrence in every known
style or mode of ornamentation. It is
equally frequent in nature.
No. 6 is a peculiar example of a crowned
figure, and may possibly represent a prisoner
taken in battle, and condemned to occupy a
confined and cramped position. The head
has a beard, the biceps of the arm is indi-
cated by a scroll, and although nearly bodi-
less, the knee, calf, and ankle-bone are
clearly expressed, but in an odd conven-
tional manner.
No. 9 consists of flowing and interlacing
lines, combined with faces, and running
into a beak or species of bird's head at the
top. -
No. 10 may represent a mask with large
goggle eyes, mouth and tongue. It is after
the manner of a tattoed face, as seen among
the New Zealanders. -
No. 11 exhibits the use of colours, con-
sisting of red, black, and white, and is
apparently taken from leaning blocks, such
as bricks, each being impressed with a stamp.
If made continuous, it will be observed that
the red and black alternate at regular
intervals.
No. 12 is a carved idol, which besides
the rudely formed side figures of grotesque
shapes, contains in the centre the sugges-
tion of a face with two eyes, appearing as if
rising above the triangle.
No. 13 is ancient Mexican. It is strange
and uncouth, without much beauty of form,
and probably contains the name of some
great personage or king, as the centre is
formed of what appear to be arbitrary char-
acters.
No. 14 is a diaper with animal or cat's
head, triangles and stripes. It also serves
to show how prevalent geometrical figures
were, even in the rudest ages. The angle
squares contain a diagonal cross or saltire
with square centre containing a diagonal
square of the same breadth as the saltire.
These angle squares might easily pass for
mediaeval tiles.
Nos. 15, 16, and 17 are applicable for bands
of stonework executed in relief or incised.
No. 15 may have been suggested by steps
added to an imperfect fret. No. 16 by the
surf of the sea. A somewhat similar form
is found in the Greek. No. 17 is an incised
line consisting of two alternating semicircles
dove-tailing into one another, looking like a
folded ribbon or plaited cloth.
Many more rude yet highly suggestive
forms might have been given, but these are
considered sufficient, to give a tolerable idea
of the primitive efforts of mankind in the
ornamentation of surface.


A.gyptian Ornamentation. 19
CHA PTE R IV.
EG-YIPTIAN OBIN AMIENTATION.
#HE great antiquity, the vast
; size, grandeur and perfection
i. of workmanship, the myste-
# rious hieroglyphics, brilliant
colouring, and strange symbols by which the
monuments of Egypt are covered, all combine
to render them objects of intense interest.
The mind of the beholder is impressed with
the conviction that the world has hitherto
produced nothing, in the truly sublime, that
excels Egyptian architecture.
At a remote period, which is at least two
thousand years before the Christian era,
Egypt was a highly civilized country with a
vast and teeming population. These early
workers, who were far in advance of the rest
of the world in the cultivation of the arts,
covered their land with grand enduring
monuments—pyramids, temples, obelisks,
colossal statues, and tombs, many of which
have lasted to our own time. Some of them
are in the form of gigantic erections, built
in limestone or sandstone, while others are
hewn out in the solid rock itself.
Of the three pyramids of Gizeh, two of
them are at once the oldest and the largest
structures in the world. One of them rises
to a height of about 500 feet, which is
higher than any tower or steeple in existence,
and the other is but very little less. The
great pyramid stands upon nearly eleven
acres of ground; its base is square, and
its four flat sides slope backwards, like
the steep roof of a house, giving it the
most simple as well as the most lasting and
strongest of all forms. In the middle of
this mountain of stone is a small chamber,
covered with a flat stone, and entered by
a narrow passage, the entrance to which
was carefully concealed and built up in solid
masonry. Within that chamber was the
sarcophagus which contained the king's body;
the preservation of which is supposed to
have been the sole object for the erection of
this enormous pile.
Egyptian chronology is an obscure and diffi-
cult subject, upon which it would be useless
to enter here; but it may be briefly mentioned
that the early history of this extraordinary
people is divided by themselves into no less
than thirty-one periods corresponding with
the dynasties which reigned over the country
till the conquest of Alexander the Great.
Modern writers recognize two great periods,
during the first of which the pyramids were
erected. The more remarkable of these belong
to the fourth dynasty, and are situated in the
neighbourhood of Memphis, the royal city
of the ancient kingdom of Lower Egypt. The
second period is represented by the temples
and other works erected by the kings of the
later dynasties, who reigned at Thebes in
Upper Egypt. With the second period,
which commenced with the twelfth dynasty,
a new era is apparent in the character of
the architecture. A series of magnificent


20 Suggestions
in Design.
temples, palaces, and tombs, enriched with
columns, sculpture, and painting to an ex-
traordinary degree, replace the simple forms
and style of the earlier period. The pyramid
no longer appears, but the pyramidal form
Fig. 27.
is frequent, and manifests itself in the in-
clined wall surfaces of the temples and in
the obelisks, which are two of the principal
features of the style.
The Egyptians, moreover, surpassed all
succeeding ages and styles in the power
of adapting sculpture and painting to the
decoration of their buildings. Their colos-
sal figures and avenues of sphinxes group
themselves, with their obelisks and temples,
into one great design. Their historical
paintings, also, gliding by degrees into
hieroglyphics on the one hand and into
sculpture on the other, succeed in harmon-
izing all the arts into one grand whole.
Some slight idea of the magnificence of
their works may be obtained from Fig 27,
which is a restoration of the great temple
of Luxor, at Thebes. It shows the broad
sacred way, leading to the temple, flanked
on either side with variously headed sphinxes,
an approach which was sometimes more than
a mile long; the obelisks, on each side of the
entrance; the gigantic seated statues of their
kings, or pharaohs, as they were called; and
the lofty coloured poles bearing banners
floating in the wind.
The surface of the pylon
itself was covered with
highly coloured sculp-
tures of the victorious
Rameses, or other pha-
roah, in his chariot with
extended bow slaying his
enemies, trampling them
under his horse's hoofs,
or dispersing them in
flight. On the other
hand he would be re-
presented seated on his
throne, in godlike atti-
tude dispensing blessings to those around
him. The whole approach, probably, lined
with thousands of soldiers and slaves, with
various chariots, was well calculated to im-
press every beholder with the utmost awe on
approaching the fane
Fig. 28.
of their gods' R-
Mouldings are of ~ H-HE
unfrequent occurrence |
upon their temples,
with the exception of -
a bold hollow cornice º
by which the propylon' **
or entrance is crowned, º
Fig. 28, the hollow be-
ing filled in the centre by a winged globe, as
in No. 10, Plate 3. The torus at the foot
* The propylon, from the Greek pro, before, and pylon, a portal,
was the entrance to an Egyptian temple, and consisted of two huge
pyramidal towers, which were sometimes as much as 200 feet wide
and 100 feet high; in the centre of these was the grand gateway,
from 30 to 50 feet in height (Fig 27).


Fgyptian Ornamentation. 21
of the hollow is continued down the angles
of the building, the remainder of the wall
face being left unbroken for the purposes
of surface decoration in sculpture, painting,
and hieroglyphics, after
the manner of No. 13,
Plate 4.
The interior of their
temples consisted of
open courts surrounded
by columns, and halls
having numerous col-
umns, carrying a series
of stone lintels, which supported the enor-
mous flat stones that formed the ceilings
and roofs. This will be better understood
by reference to Fig. 29, which shows the
similar construction of the roof of a propy-
lon. The columns, although mostly circular
in plan, vary considerably, and their capitals
Fig. 30 are of several forms, but of a
limited number of types and many
varieties. The temple of Luxor
contains some which are formed
of a cluster of eight shafts, or as
if eight stalks of the papyrus
plant were tied together by bands,
Fig. 30, the plan of which is
given at Fig. 31. On the top
of each division is an unopened
bud of the same plant forming the
capital. The shafts get smaller
towards their base, and rise out of
several leaflets as in the natural
plant. The columns are usually
covered with hieroglyphics. The
Hall of Columns in the temple
of Karnac has the side columns
derived from a single stalk of the
papyrus plant of much the same general
form as the previous example, but circular
instead being shafted (Fig. 32), and the
Fig. 32. Fig. 33.
- . . . . - -
?? -->M. rārī
capital is formed of one unopened bud.
The large columns of the Fig. 34.
centre avenue are in the
form of single stalks of an
older growth, with a full-
fºr tº:
blown flower for the capi- º
tal, Fig. 33. Other capitals =lſº
are formed of four flowers, Ç º
as shown by No. 8, Plate 2, V. º/
which represents the half TITIII
|-
H-
of a capital developed or
laid out flat. Capitals are
also sometimes composed of
four Isis heads rising out of the flowers, with
Fig. 35. Fig. 36. Fig. 37.
small temples above, as in Fig. 34, which is
from the colonnade at Philae. Other examples















6


|
|
22 Suggesſions in Design.
are very gracefully formed of the flowers of
the lotus, Figs. 35, 36, or of palm leaves,
Fig. 37. Of this last the temple of Esneh
has a number of beautiful varieties.
A series of piers in the Memnonium at
Thebes, have their fronts formed of colossal
statues, 30 feet high, representing Rameses
II., under the type of Osiris, the great
Egyptian divinity, and hus-
band of Isis, holding the crook
and flail, emblematical of his
protecting care of his people
and of his power to punish
evil-doers, Fig 38.
The carving of his own tomb
out of a solid rock appears to
have been one of the chief
objects of an Egyptian king
during the entire period of his
-- reign. According to the num-
ber of years he continued on the throne, so
would appear to be the extent of his tomb, and
he went on adding chamber after chamber,
diving deeper and deeper into the earth until
arrested by the hand of death. It there-
fore happens that these tombs are scarcely
ever complete. Side by side with chambers
finished and decorated with paintings repre-
senting nearly every kind of employment in
life, are others in various stages of progress,
some half tunnelled in the rock, others with
the stone brought to a smooth surface pre-
pared for painting and sculpture; some
partially carved, others carved and partly
painted; so that in a succession of chambers
the whole process is seen, which each in its
turn had to undergo. The extraordinary
dryness of the climate of Upper Egypt has,
no doubt, contributed greatly to the perfect
preservation of the decorations of these
rock-cut tombs.
It may be interesting to state the manner
of proceeding. The wall was first chiselled
and brought to a smooth surface, or plastered
and covered with a yellow wash. Lines
were then ruled perpendicularly and hori-
zontally with red colour, forming squares
all over the wall, corresponding with the
proportions of the figures to be drawn upon
it. The subjects of the painting, and the
hieroglyphics, were then drawn on the wall
with a red line, most probably by some in-
ferior artist, from a document or model
divided into similar squares; then came the
chief artist, who went over the figures and
hieroglyphics with a black line and with a
firm steady hand, giving expression to each
curve—deviating here and confirming there,
the former red line. The line thus traced
was then followed by the sculptor. In this
stage there are instances of a foot or head
having been completely sculptured while the
rest of the figure remains in outline. The
manner of sculpturing these objects in low
relief was either simply by incising, or by
first incising the line round the object and
then moulding the surface within to corre-
spond with the various parts represented.
This is indicated in the example No. 4, Plate
2. In the Assyrian wall
subjects the ground is
worked away so as to
leave the object raised
above it, although very
slightly; but in the
Egyptian the ground is
left standing, and the
object is sunk below its
level, although the surface of the ornament
is moulded, as in the example Fig. 39, and
as shown by the section Fig. 40. This pro-
cess is distinguished as being in caro reliero.
Fig. 39.
Fig. 40.


A.gyptian Ormamentation. 23
The next process was to paint the figures
in the prescribed colours; and in some cases
the painted line deviates from the sculptured
line, showing that the painter was the more
important workman, and that even in this
last process no possible improvement was
omitted. There are other instances where
a considerable deviation from the position
of a leg or an arm has been made after the
sculpture was completed and painted. The
part was recarved and the defective portion
filled in with plaster, which having since
fallen out furnishes this curious evidence of
their practice.
The whole of this may be seen in various
tombs at Thebes, but in none so well as in
that discovered by Belzoni. When this
tomb, which is that of Oimenepthah I. (B.C.
1200), was opened by this enterprising trav-
eller, it was found in the same state of fresh-
ness as when closed on the death of its occu-
pant. The sarcophagus found there, which
is formed out of one solid block of alabaster,
was removed, and is now in Sir John Soane's
Museum in Lincoln’s-Inn Fields. It is one
of the most interesting objects that has ever
been brought to this country, and deserves
careful study. It is covered with hierogly-
phics and figures inside and out, which re-
present a complete history of the supposed
wanderings of the souls of men after death;
showing their passage, by a boat, through
the various gates of Hades, and their struggles
to overcome the evil one, who is typified in
the form of a serpent.
There are also specimens of paintings
brought from some of the tombs of Thebes
in the British Museum which are very inter-
esting, and with the exception of a few pecu-
liarities, extremely well drawn. One espe-
cially, which represents an Egyptian of high
rank in a boat, accompanied by his wife and
child. He is fowling in the marshes, in which
there is a cat among the rushes, remarkably
well expressed, catching some of the birds,
and evidently trained for that purpose. There
are others representing entertainments, at
which music and dancing are being per-
formed; slaves bringing oxen, while others
are driving geese; slaves carrying hares,
corn, and a gazelle; offerings being brought
to the gods; besides many other subjects.
The colours used by the Egyptians are
usually simple ones, such as red, blue, and
green, with black, yellow, and white—the
three first being the most frequent combina-
tion. The primaries are used invariably
with judgment and knowledge. Red and
blue are never found in juxtaposition with-
out the separation of a narrow line of white
or yellow. Black is invariably contrasted
with yellow; gilding is employed sparingly,
and generally with considerable taste.
The excellent materials for building natu-
rally found in the country, determined in
a great measure their style of architecture.
They had an abundance of both limestone
and sandstone, and at Syene, in Upper
Egypt, unlimited quantities of beautiful
granite, of different kinds, capable of receiv-
ing a very high polish, and resisting the
action of the elements for an indefinite
length of time, as may be seen by the perfect
polish still remaining on many of the Egyp-
tian antiquities now in the British Museum.
Of this granite, which is mostly of a beautiful
red, they were able to obtain enormous
blocks, some of the obelisks of this mate-
rial being as much as 80 or 90 feet long,
wholly in one stone. The largest of these,
which is at the temple of Karnac, weighs
not less than 297 tons, and these, in many


24 Sugges/ions
in Design,
cases, had to be transported from one end
of the country to the other." Basalt, marble,
limestone, freestone, and alabaster were also
found beyond all limit. The country, how-
ever, was very deficient in timber, especi-
ally that sort proper for building. Oak is
not to be found, and the fir used by the pre-
sent inhabitants has to be imported from
Arabia.
Bricks dried in the sun were sometimes
used even in large structures, but were
probably faced with stone or granite. The
masonry is ordinarily set in mortar, com-
posed of lime or plaster and sand, but in
some instances cements of a bituminous
nature were employed. There are, however,
many cases where no mortar or cement can
be detected.
Some of the temples, and many of the
tombs, were hewn out of the rock itself.
The architecture, therefore, of these Egyptian
pharaohs was an enduring one, and their
ambition appears to have been to make their
works last throughout all time. Their tem-
ples were roofed with large flat stones, as
already mentioned, and no appearance of
sloping roofs, pediments, or arches is any-
where to be traced.
One of the most valuable lessons to be
gained by the study of Egyptian architecture
is the exquisite treatment of flat surfaces.
These were for a twofold purpose; that of
serving as a public record of the greatness
and power of this extraordinary nation, and
* The obelisk now erected on the Thames Embankment, which
was brought over to this country at the expense of Mr. Erasmus
Wilson, originally stood with others in front of one of the ancient
Egyptian temples, although many centuries afterwards it was
removed and set up in Alexandria by Queen Cleopatra, from which
circumstance it obtained the name of “Cleopatra's Needle.” This
obelisk, which is 68 feet in height, was hewn out of one block from
the quarries of Syene. It is of the quality of granite, called from
the name of the quarries, Syenite; and it is supposed that it was
formed and polished on the spot where it was raised.
at the same time for the artistic embellish-
ment of their works.
This enrichment of flat surface among
the Egyptians was at the same time essen-
tially symbolical, and was mainly derived
from natural objects treated in a conventional
manner. These, combined with hieroglyphics,
constituted the basis of nearly all their orna-
mentation. The sun itself, as one of their
objects of adoration, was introduced orna-
mentally in a great variety of symbolical
forms; as in the winged globe, No. 10, Plate
3. But there is another image of the sun
which should be mentioned. A ball or sun
is frequently found in connection with a
beetle, and this insect was looked upon as a
sacred object. This appears to be due to the
beetle depositing its egg in the refuse of
some animal, and after forming the portion
containing the egg into a small ball, burying
it in the earth where it will catch the rays
of the warm sun, and in due time bring
forth a perfect insect. This circumstance
seems to have connected the insect in the
mind of the Egyptians with the creator, of
whom the sun was the symbol. A round
ball or sun was therefore placed above the
head of the deified beetle, as shown in the
hieroglyphics No. 13, Plate 4. The disk also
surmounted other deified forms, such as the
haje, No. 2, Plate 3, and many other sacred
objects.
Among plants the types employed in
Egyptian ornamentation were few, and were
mostly confined to the papyrus, the lotus,
and the palm. The equilateral triangle is
said to have been a sacred conventional sign,
as being the supposed origin and source of
all things. It is even thought that the
pyramids, which were formed of four equi-
lateral triangles meeting together in a point


Egyptian Ornamentation.
25
at the apex, had from this reason a highly
symbolical meaning. The stem of the
papyrus being of a triangular form seems to
have recommended it to notice, and when
we find columns formed of bundles of this
plant there can be no doubt again of their
symbolical signification. The lotus, which
was sacred in India as well as in Egypt, was
Fig. 41.
symbolical of the new birth or eternal life.
It formed the ideal symbolization of the
seasons succeeding from generation to gen-
eration—bringing back life when there ap-
peared to be nothing but the apathy of death.
The reappearance of the sacred lily of the
Nile, upon the lowering of the waters, season
after season, gave promise of a happy land.
Thus when we see this flower represented,
as it so frequently is, upon a mummy case
(Fig. 41), it was regarded as an emblem of
faith in an eternal life where this worshipped
flower would bloom for evermore. It is
first seen in bud (Fig. 41), then while still in
bud, rising through the conventionally ex-
pressed water until the fully expanded flower
on the top indicated that the waters having
receded, it was henceforth welcomed as the
harbinger of plenty and a happy land where
scarcity would be never known.
The palm-tree was the tree of life, and was
supposed to be the sacred tree in the paradise
of Osiris. The zig-zag was the type of water,
or the Nile itself. Thus a deeper meaning
than mere enrichment pervaded all Egyptian
ornamentation, giving nearly every form an
ideal and a poetical signification. Some
forms which they used, such as the meander
and scroll, as well as a few others, had
apparently no such meaning, unless, indeed,
we have now lost the means of their inter-
pretation.
The vigour, accuracy, and power of drawing
exhibited by the Egyptians in all their works
have never been surpassed, although, from
their religious principles, they purposely
retained such stiff and rigid forms—to all
appearance resisting the freeness of their
hand. The laws which guided them in their
art were thus closely connected with their
religious principles.
PLATE 2.
No. 1. Head crowned with leaves and
buds. The beard and hair crimped horizon-
tally as represented in Egyptian sculpture.
No. 2. Frieze with flowers and buds in
low relief growing from water.
No. 3. Geometrical arrangement of leafage
or palm grove, with crowned serpents below.
The haje, or African cobra, when excited
stands erect and swells out its body as here
represented. The serpent was considered
sacred in Egypt. It is not uncommºn to


26 Suggestions in /Pesign.
-.
find entire sculptured friezes and borders
composed of a succession of these cobras,
each surmounted by a disk to indicate their
sacred character.
No. 4. The papyrus in flower, bud, and
seed. It is thus represented in low relief
on the pedestal or altar in front of Hapi-
moon, the god of the Nile, with other
aquatic offerings. The statue is in black
granite, and is now in the British Museum.
It was brought from Karnac.
No. 5. Frieze or cavetto containing heads
of the goddess Isis, which are thus found
crowned with small temples (see also Fig.
34). The heads are alternated with serpents
and palm-trees.
No. 6. Leaf cornice. The only kind of
cornice found (if it can be called a cornice)
is formed by a large hollow springing from
a torus or bold bead, as in Fig. 28.
No. 7. Frieze of lotus and cartouche
alternating. Hieroglyphics surrounded by
an oval line either upright or horizontal,
called a cartouche, are of frequent occurrence
and indicate a proper name, as that of a
monarch, the one in the centre of this ex-
ample reading KLEOPATRA. The two
signs on either side of the lower bird indicate
the feminine.
No. 8. One-half of a bell-shaped capital,
developed or laid out flat. Many of the
capitals have the upper portion or lip of the
bell formed of four arcs of a circle surround-
ing a square, after the manner of a quatre-
foil.
No. 9. Lotus growing in water, with band
of eyes and stars above. Water was usually
represented by zigzag lines. The band con-
taining the star indicated the heavens, and,
probably, the eyes represented those of the
deities, looking down upon the acts of men.
No. 10. Symmetrical arrangement of elon-
gated incised lines with lotus and buds.
No. 11. Ornament formed of the lotus.
Band of reeds and vulture. The universal
application of the lotus, or water-lily of the
Nile, which was a sacred plant among the
Egyptians, is very remarkable, and is found
in every variety among the paintings and
sculpture.
PLATE 3.
No. 1. Baboons and fig-tree. The power
of the Egyptian artists in expressing the
character of animals by little more than
simple outline was very remarkable.
No. 2. Iłundles of lotus with the haje or
cobra surmounted by a globe or sun.
No. 3. Spoon or ladle formed of a slave
bearing on his head a bundle of reeds and
lotus. In the Louvre and British Museum
are many utensils ornamented by the lotus,
but the use of the figure in this instance is
somewhat questionable. There are exam-
ples also of a fish being converted into a
dish, a hand into a scoop, &c., but such in-
stances are rare. These conceits, however,
are not confined to the Egyptians, for we
find Etruscan and early Greek vases com-
posed of figures and heads, with cavities
in the cranium (Figs. 42, 43), or covered
with rudely formed animals, Fig. 44, and


Egyptian Ormamentation.
27
Greek lamps made out of masks, feet, hands,
animals, &c., but such applications are hardly
within the province of refined taste."
No. 4. Cobra with the disk and flower
Ornament.
No. 5. Duck, showing the conventional
treatment of the feathers as if formed of
platted reeds.
No. 6. Centre ornament formed of triple
fish and lotus flower.
Nos. 7 and 8. Painted bands, such as are
found on mummy cases. See also Fig. 41.
No. 9. Star-form tile or diaper.
No. 10. The winged globe, accompanied
by asps, the type of the sun, a sacred
emblem of the highest order, and usually
placed over the entrances to the temples.
The wings are supposed to be those of the
hawk, and are also symbolical of the sun, on
account of the elevation to which this bird
continued its flight, and of the faculty which
it was considered to have, of looking at the
sun with a steady gaze.
No. 11. Bold lotus treatment with flowers,
being the same in all four ways that it is
looked at. The flat ceilings of the temples were
usually covered by painting in this manner.
No. 12. Frieze formed of bearded heads
ornamented with head-dresses of banded
reeds, alternating with lotus buds.
PLATE 4.
No. 1. Lotus and aquatic plants bound
together and arranged symmetrically.
* Of a similar character, also, are the owl-headed vases found by
Dr. Schliemann on the site of Troy.
No. 2. Fan-shaped standard ornament.
No. 3. Lotus band. Many of the mummy
coverings, as in the British Museum, have
bands and enrichments of this character,
executed in gold and colour. See Fig. 41,
also incised as Fig. 45.
No. 4. Emblem of security alternating
with buds.
Nos. 5 and 6. Diapers or tiles.
No. 7. Throne bound by aquatic plants
and the lotus of the Nile, emblematical of
Egypt and its fertility.
No. 8. Lotus flowers and buds growing
on the water.
No. 9. Border formed of a row of temples
on a river. An example of doubtful taste,
and rather to be avoided.
No. 10. Band for painting.
with lotus flowers and buds.
No. 11. Bundle of lotus with the emblem
of security and feather crest.
No. 12. Papyrus with emblems of stability
above. Fig. 45.
No. 13. Ornamental | | | | | | | | | |
.. - - All/ave \l
frieze or band divided by §§Y.
º
reeds with cartouches and *
Bound reeds
hieroglyphic writing. ||| ||
Nos. 14 and 15. Papy-
rus and lotus. Fig. 45 represents the lotus
as incised in granite, from the collar of a
figure upon the cover of a sarcophagus in
the British Museum.
No. 16. Decorated cartouche or shield.
No. 17. Circular ornament with lotus
growing in water.


28 Sugges/ions in Design.
C H A P T E R W.
ASSYERIAN ORN AMENTATION.
i; years by the excavations of
iº; M. Botta, French consul at
Mósul, and Mr. Layard, has revealed to us
some marvellous work of a kind hitherto
unknown, but we cannot go so far as to
say that these excavations have brought to
light any complete style of architecture.
M. Botta, on the part of the French gov-
ernment, commenced his excavations at
Khorsabãd in 1842, and in the space of
a few months a large number of halls and
chambers were completely explored, belong-
ing to a magnificent edifice whose walls
were all panelled with sculptured slabs.
In November, 1845, Mr. (now Sir) Austen
Henry Layard commenced his excavations
upon the great mound of Nimroud, and
after some considerable trouble came upon
those colossal human-headed lions and bulls
which are now in the British Museum.
After some months' labour, five-and-twenty
halls and chambers were explored, all
panelled with slabs of alabaster—some
sculptured with figures, others merely in-
scribed with Assyrian writing, engraved
upon the stone in what is called, from their
peculiar shape, arrow-headed or cuneiform
characters. Upon Mr. Layard's return to
Assyria in 1849 further discoveries soon fol-
lowed; among others the vast and magnifi-
cent palace of Sennacherib at Kouyunjik,
built about 700 years B.C. Some idea of the
enormous extent, and of the richness and
variety of decorations in this palace, may be
formed when it is mentioned that
less than seventy-one halls, chambers, and
& 4 In O
passages were explored, whose walls, almost
without an exception, were panelled with
slabs of sculptured alabaster, recording
the wars, the triumphs, and other great
deeds of the Assyrian king; that by a
rough calculation about 9880 feet, or nearly
two miles of bas-reliefs, with twenty-seven
portals formed by colossal winged bulls and
lion sphinxes, were uncovered.” Among the
most interesting bas-reliefs discovered are
some representing the king hunting lions in
a royal park or paradise; a campaign against
the Arabs, who are mounted on dromedaries;
a palace with all its architectural details,
and a bridge with pointed arches; the trans-
porting of the colossal bulls; numerous
battles and sieges; as well as one where the
walls of a city are being knocked down by
a battering-ram. The most important of
these sculptures have now been placed in
the British Museum, and may be there
studied.
The exterior of these palaces, which were
nearly square, had generally two façades,
which consisted usually of three entrances,
each entrance being flanked by two colossal
human-headed bulls or lions. An eagle-
* Nineveh and Babylon, by Sir A. H. Layard.


Assyrian Ornamentation.
29
headed lion of this character is given at
No. 6, Plate 6. The walls, which were
of extraordinary thickness, were solidly
constructed of sun-dried bricks, and were
usually panelled or faced with slabs of
alabaster or some other stone, elaborately
carved with figures and other subjects in
low relief as before mentioned.
The whole of the upper parts of these
buildings, with the exception in some cases
of a few feet of sun-dried brick wall, have
fallen in and perished. All that remain,
therefore, of the Assyrian edifices are those
lower parts which being faced with stone
have been able to resist the ravages of time.
But little is known of what the upper parts
consisted, further than that most probably
they were of wood. Among the edifices
uncovered were some that had evidently
been destroyed by fire, the ruins being buried
in charred wood, and the alabaster almost
reduced to lime. At Nimroud many entire
beams of cedar and other woods were found
in the ruins, some still entire, others that
fell to an almost impalpable powder as soon
as exposed to the air.
It is supposed by Mr. Fergusson that in
the remains of the palaces of the ancient
Persian kings found at Persepolis and Susa
we have a clue to the restoration of the upper
stories of the Assyrian palaces. That columns
of a similar character to those there found
were employed to carry the massive beams
which formed the framework upon which
the roof rested. Some of these columns are
double-headed, of which No. 11, Plate 6, offers
an example of a similar character. The
shafts were fluted and the bases were en-
riched, after the manner shown by the ex-
amples Nos. 4, 5, 12, and 13, Plate 6.
How far this supposition is well founded
it is hard to say; but although we see a vast
quantity of beautiful sculpture, it is evident
we have only the remnants of a style
which in its entirety must have possessed
great grandeur and beauty. That it was
originally derived from the Egyptian there
can be little doubt; still there are many
marked and broad differences.
There is one point connected with the
remains discovered at Nineveh which adds
great interest to them: the similarity which
appears to have existed between the archi-
tecture of the Jews and the Assyrians. In
the description of Solomon's Temple given
in the book of Kings the walls appear to
have been covered up with carved woodwork
much in the same manner as the Assyrian
palaces were panelled in stone: “And he
built the walls of the house within with
boards of cedar, both the floor of the house,
and the walls of the ceiling: and he covered
them on the inside with wood, and covered
the floor of the house with planks of fir.
. . . And the cedar of the house within was
carved with knops and open flowers; all
was cedar; there was no stone seen” (1 Kings
vi. 15, 18). Again, “The two doors also were
of olive tree; and he carved upon them
carvings of cherubim, and palm-trees, and
open flowers” (verse 32). These winged figures,
although carved upon the doors, appear to
answer to the winged figures guarding the
entrances to the Assyrian palaces.
In the mention of the “lily-work” which
formed part of the “chapiters that were on
the top of the pillars” (1 Kings vii. 19), we are
strongly reminded of Egyptian or Assyrian
ornamentation, in which the lotus, the lily
of the Nile, forms such an ever-recurring en-
richment. This flower occurs constantly and
in a great variety of forms. It appears in


30 Suggestions in Design.
|
º
the Assyrian, in the lotus and bud ornament,
No. 2, Plate 5. Hence in all probability the
“lily-work” of Scripture was of this Assyrian
character. It also indicates that as “King
Solomon sent and fetched Hiram out of
Tyre” to work the “molten brass” (or
bronze) of the Temple, that the Phoenician had
a likeness to the prevailing styles of the time.
The delicacy and the extreme care with
which the Assyrian wall sculptures are
wrought, developing the minutest detail with
the precision of works in ivory, is most re-
markable. They are in extremely low relief,
scarcely projecting more than from a quarter
to half an inch.
The ground upon
which the sculp-
ture is wrought
is worked down
—that is, in bas-
relieſ, and no
parts are in caro-
reliero,asis sofre-
quently the case
in the Egyptian.
Many of the
dresses of the fig-
ures are covered
with minute dia-
Fig. 48. pers, as shown
47; and Fig. 48
is an ornamented
band from a head-dress. The faces of all
the figures are in profile, as in the Egyp-
tian; but the shoulders are more natural,
and not squared so much as in the Egyptian
sculptures and paintings. The eyes, which
in the Egyptian are in front view instead of
in profile, are in three-quarter view. There
are many examples of the palm, date-
palm, the vine, fig, tree-fern, and the lily,
as well as a tall-growing grass, probably
maize, introduced upon many of the sculp-
tures. The sacred tree is also a conspicuous
object occurring frequently. It appears to
be a palm-tree conventionally arranged with
a single and sometimes a double band of
flowers or palms surrounding the centre tree.
A portion of one is given at No. 13, Plate 5.
Judging by the examples in the British
Museum from the palace at Nimroud, their
floors also appear to have been often sculp-
tured. The largest example in the Museum,
which is wrought in very low relief, appar-
ently in white marble, is formed into square
divisions or panels, the centre of each of
which is occupied by a rose or patera, from
which radiate to the angles four fir-cones,
and alternating with them, spreading to the
sides of the square, are four lilies or lotus
flowers. These square cen-
Fig. 49.
tres are repeated, forming a
diaper over the whole sur-
face, separated by borders
filled with paterae, Fig. 49.
The whole is surrounded by
a general border, in which
occurs the lotus and bud enrichment, No. 2,
Plate 5.
The Assyrians were also great workers in
terra cotta, of which they made most im:
portant use. “Assyrians wrote on terra cotta
cylinders, or hollow hexagonal prisms. The
cuneiform characters were stamped with
a prismatic stick or rod, or perhaps by the
edge of a square of metal. It is supposed
that 20,000 of these clay tablets or ancient
books of the Assyrians, containing the litera-
ture of the country, have been discovered."
* An account of the flood has been translated from these clay
cylinders, and was read by the late Mr. George Smith before the
Biblical Society.


Assyrian Ormamentation.
31
Thus while the paper and parchment learning
of the Byzantine and Alexandrian schools
has almost disappeared after a few centuries,
the granite pages of Egypt and the clay
leaves of Assyria have escaped the ravages
of time and the fury of barbarism.” Not only
did they also fabricate every kind of vessel
which they required in terra cotta, but they
made peculiar kinds of enamelled bricks and
tiles, inlaid in colour, from which the enrich-
ment No. 19, Plate 5, is taken, and there can
be no doubt that with these they laid many
of their floors, and perhaps lined the walls
of some of their apartments. There are ex-
amples in the British Museum of cast figures
in terra cotta, with the terra cotta moulds
from which they have been produced.
In carved ivory the Assyrians show con-
siderable skill, and some of their works in
this material are also inlaid with coloured
enamel. Many examples in ivory are in thin
plates, probably for inlaying upon other
work, and are incised with lotus and bud,
palm ornaments, borders of paterae, and
guilloche bands. Fig. 50 is a double guilloche
from one of these incised bands in ivory, and
is very similar to those found on the capitals
of the columns of the Erechtheum at Athens.
Although iron was used by the Assyrians,
as well as by the Egyptians, it does not
appear to have been very plentiful, and
bronze was evidently the most common
* History of Ancient Pottery, by Samuel Birch, F.S.A.
y
metal. Knives, adzes, axes, saws, and other
implements were usually made of bronze.
Many bronze bowls have been found, en-
graved with various ornaments, while some
are very skilfully formed in repoussé work;
that is, the figures and other enrichments
are raised by being beaten up by a hammer
from the back, so that they stand in relief,
the details being finished by the graver or
other tools upon the face of the work.
In colour the ancient Assyrians, like the
Egyptians, seem to have revelled. For it
is well known that the bas-reliefs which
lined the walls of their palaces were all
painted and gilded, and in some cases
covered with silver and gold plates. Upon
this point M. Texier, speaking of Persepolis,
says, “I am sure that there was not a corner
of the palace in which could not be found
the most careful and delicate painting. It
was the same at Khorsabād, at Nimroud, and
also at Ecbatana, the capital of Media,
where, according to Polybius, describing
the palaces of the kings of Persia, the
porticoes, peristyles, and the walls were
covered with plates of silver and gold, which
were pillaged by the soldiers of Alexander.”
In this again we see a similarity to the work
of Solomon's Temple, in the description
of which it is stated that “the whole house
he overlaid with gold;” and that this was
probably done in gold plates we have the
further explanation in reference to the doors,
that he “covered them with gold fitted upon
the carred work” (1 Kings vi. 85).
We discover, therefore, by these Assyrian
antiquities which have lain so long hidden
from view, but which now form such a
magnificent collection in our national mu-
seum, that the ancient Assyrians cultivated
the arts with no mean power six or seven


32 *
Sugges/ions in Design.
centuries before our era. In their sculptures
we find every variety of action and move-
ment expressed with great judgment and
ability. Although the muscles of the arms
and legs of their figures are represented in
excess, it shows that they took nature for
their guide, and did not follow a mere con-
ventional rendering of the human form, as
was the case with the Egyptians.
Symbolism, as in all early forms of archi-
tecture and decoration, was a guiding prin-
ciple, and entered very much into most forms
of Assyrian art, although not to the same
extent as in Egyptian sculpture and orna-
mentation. Most of the Assyrian wall
sculptures were purely historical records of
events, which took place during the reigns
of the various Assyrian monarchs whose
deeds they chronicled.
The primitive or Pelasgic Greek was evi-
dently based very much upon the Assyrian
ornamentation, and the form of the Greek
honeysuckle may be undoubtedly traced to
such examples as No. 13, Plate 5, and No.
3, Plate 6. The guilloche, so frequent in the
Greek, is found in the Assyrian, as in the
lower part of No. 19, Plate 5. The double
guilloche, as found in the capitals and bases
of the Erechtheum, may be seen on Assyr-
ian ivories, as already noticed, Fig. 50.
The patera also, which is of such frequent
occurrence in the Greek, is found in the
Assyrian, Fig. 49. What is commonly called
the wave or “Vitru.
Fig. 51. vian scroll,” is not un-
XGXGXGN common, as in the ex-
'Si!'Ní's 's ample Fig. 51, which
is from the British
Museum. Without, therefore, in any way
depreciating the skill of the Greeks or the
refinement which their genius stamped upon
their works, it is extremely valuable and
interesting to note from what sources they
borrowed some of their forms.
PLATE 5.
No. 1. Lotus and bud ornament, evidently
a reminiscence of some of the Egyptian orna-
mentation, enamelled or inlaid with colour.
No. 2. Lotus and bud ornamentation
sculptured in low relief, after the manner of
that forming a border to the pavement from
the palace at Nimroud, now in the British
Museum. -
Nos. 3 to 9. Small ornaments, parts of
thrones and chairs from the wall sculptures.
No. 10. Centre ornament, giving four
different varieties or terminations after the
manner of those found among the Assyrian
sculptures.
No. 11. Foot of sculptured chair or throne.
No. 12. Castellated termination, suggested
by forins found among the sculptures.
No. 13. Palm flower from the terminals of
the sacred tree, probably the origin of the
Greek honeysuckle.
Nos. 14 and 15. Centre ornaments.
No. 16. Wave and bandolette pattern for
painting.
No. 17. Fan and fir-cone ornament. The
fir-cone frequently occurs in Assyrian orna-
ment, and some of the priests in the sculp-
tures have fir-cones in their hands.
No. 18. Fir-cone and lotus-bud ornament,
somewhat resembling the patterns found
edging the robes of the Assyrian kings.
The fir-cone is symbolical of fire, the lotus
of water.
No. 19. Fan or Palm ornament and alter-
nating bud with guilloche band below.
These are found executed in black and white
in a species of glazed earthenware tile.


Assyrian Ornamentation. 33
No. 20. Reeded columns with lotus-bud
capitals supporting reel and bead, from Per-
sepolis.
No. 21. Opening bud and fir-cone border,
from the edgings to the draperies of the
figures in the sculptures.
PLATE 6.
No. 1. Eagle-headed lions and ornament,
designed in the Assyrian manner.
No. 2. Rosette or patera. These are of
frequent occurrence in the sculptures, as in
the pavement from the palace at Nimroud,
forming bands of ornament which divide
the whole into squares, the squares being
filled in with fir-cones and the expanded
lotus. - -
No. 3. Fan or palm ornament in metal
filled in with enamel in two colours, from
Nineveh. A form of flower which is pro-
bably the origin of the Greek honeysuckle.
Nos. 4 and 5. Enrichments from the bases
of columns found at Persepolis. These are
not strictly Assyrian, but in a closely allied
style.
No. 6. Colossal eagle-headed and winged
lion, after the remains found at Nineveh and
Persepolis. These monsters, found guard-
ing the portals of Assyrian palaces, may
in many respects be taken as models of
appropriate conventional treatment of animal
forms, the majestic strength of the creature
being well maintained without a too literal
imitation of nature, the graceful attributes
of the bird being combined with that of the
quadruped. The winged bulls and human-
headed lions in the British Museum have
the forelegs straighter than in our example,
and consequently they have a greater appear-
viewed diagonally, five legs. This is a de-
fect which is caused by the attempting to com-
bine semi with whole relief. The muscles of
the legs are very much exaggerated.
No. 7. Sacred tree and pomegranates.
These sacred trees occur upon the sculptures
in different forms, often with priests or winged
eagle-headed figures on either side, with a
fir-cone in one hand advanced towards the
tree, and a vessel in the form of a bucket in
the other, said to be symbolical of the sacred
elements, fire and water.
No. 8. Sacred ornament with acorn ter-
minations. - -
No. 9. Diaper and fringe from the sculp-
tured hangings upon the chariot horses.
Many of the dresses, harness, and other
accessories upon the king's robes, their
chariots and horses, are elaborately orna-
mented and executed with minute delicacy.
See Figs 46, 47, and 48, already given.
No. 10. Bas-relief diaper from the sculp-
tures, inclosed pateras and semi-pateras.
The sculptures which lined the walls of the
palaces were invariably in very low relief,
never casting deep shadows or violating that
appearance of solidity and flatness so desir-
able in mural decoration.
No. 11. Twin lions, after the manmer of
an Assyrian sword-hilt. The capitals of
columns from Persepolis are frequently
formed with double heads in this manner.
Double-headed capitals are also found in the
Indian, as may be seen in the sculpture of
the cast of the gateway from the Sanchi
Tope in the South Kensington Museum.
No. 12. Enrichment from the capital of a
column from Persepolis.
No. 13. Sculptured base from a Persepoli-
ance of strength. They have also, when
tan column.


34 - Sugges/ions in /)esign.
|
C H A P T E R VI.
G RE E R O RN AMENTATION.
#YSTERY and fable enshroud
i H the early history of Greece.
| The primitive inhabitants
--- 㺠were called Pelasgi, hence
we hear of archaic Greek art being dis-
tinguished as Pelasgic. At an uncertain
but very early date, an Asiatic people named
the Hellenes immigrated into Greece, in
some cases expelling the Pelasgi, and in
others intermingling with them, so that in
process of time all the inhabitants of the
country came to be called Hellenes.
The Greeks were from an early period a
great colonizing people, planting colonies
and settlements in Asia Minor and the
islands of the Archipelago, so that their in-
fluence became diffused over an extensive
region, including portions of Italy, Sicily,
and other parts of Europe and Western
Asia. Wherever the Greeks settled they
appear to have preserved their nationality;
indeed, the cities and territory in Southern
Italy which they had occupied were collec-
tively called Magna Graecia. In no country
inhabited by the Hellenic race, with the
exception of Athens itself, were the arts
more highly cultivated than in the ancient
Greek colony of Ionia in Asia Minor.
Besides many other works, the Ionians
erected the magnificent temple of Diana
at Ephesus, which was considered one of
the seven wonders of the world.
Greek art can, without doubt, be traced to
the Egyptian and the Assyrian, although the
Athenians and other Hellenic races purified
and refined the forms handed down to them.
The remains which have been found of the
mausoleum at Halicarnassus all point to-
Mr. R. P. Pullan, in
a lecture which he delivered at the Royal
wards this origin.
Institution on the “Excavations in Asia
Minor,” after adverting to Asia Minor as the
land of Homer and the I/iad, said “ that it
was the cradle of Hellenic art, in which
respect also it was invested with a never-
dying interest. It was there that they could
best study the relations between classical
art and architecture and those of ancient
Egypt and Assyria. At Halicarnassus they
found that the oldest Greek remains bore
a distinctly Assyrian character. At Assus,
also, where there were to be seen the ruins
of some of the most ancient Hellenic
temples, they had been struck with the pal-
pable traces of the same assyrianizing ten-
dency. The Greek sense of beauty had,
however, infused a new life into the more
antique and ruder forms borrowed from the
banks of the Tigris, the Euphrates, and the
Nile.” Thus the more these early works in
Asia Minor are explored, the more com-
pletely will the connecting links between
Greek, Assyrian, and Egyptian art be
supplied.
The elements of all architecture are few
January 22, 1876.


36 Sugges/ions in /Pesign.
*
º
of their art history affords so striking an
instance of sudden and rapid progress, as
during the age of Pericles, which lasted only
from 466 to 429 B.C. Athens at that time
had reached the height of her greatness.
“She had now, in fact, become the capital
not merely of Attica, or even of Greece
proper, but of the whole civilized world;
and by the liberal rewards which her
princely wealth enabled her to bestow on
men of genius and learning, had drawn into
her bosom the most eminent philosophers,
orators, poets, and artists, from all parts of
the earth.” "
It appears to have been the primary object
of Pericles to render Athens the most
brilliant city in the world, not only for
power, but for the display of works of art
and the cultivation of literature. The Par-
thenon, the most important and the most
beautiful of all the buildings erected at
Athens during this period, was commenced
by Pericles in 444 B.C. Standing on the
highest part of the Acropolis, this noble
temple was dedicated to Athena (called
Minerva by the Romans), the tutelary god-
dess of Athens. Its form was of the utmost
simplicity: a parallelogram 227 feet long and
100 feet broad, consisting of a continuous
peristyle of columns inclosing the cella,
which formed the actual temple. It is of
the Doric order, and was erected under the
superintendence of the architects Ictinus
and Callicrates. The whole edifice was
constructed of Pentelic marble, with ex-
ception only of the tiles of the roof, which
were of Parian.
The temple was adorned with those
master-pieces of sculpture executed by
or under the immediate control of the
sculptor Phidias, many portions of which
are now deposited in the British Mus-
eum, and known as the Elgin Marbles.
These, as must be acknowledged by all
who examine them, evince a wonderful
power; the human and animal forms being
full of life and motion, combined with
the utmost gracefulness in composition.
They far exceed anything that had existed
before that time, and for sculpture pos-
sessing such high and intellectual char-
acteristics we may search in vain during all
the centuries which have elapsed since the
age of Pericles. They therefore remain to
us as precious models and examples of the
highest class of art; and although one may
regret their having been torn from the
temple which they adorned, yet possessing
them, as we do, we ought to appreciate
them as treasures of priceless worth.
The whole of these sculptures had refer-
ence either to the goddess Athena, or to the
people by whom the temple was erected.
They may be divided into three classes:-
1. The statues filling the typanums” of the
pediments. These consist of figures much
above the size of life, and at one end refer
to the birth of Athena or Minerva from the
head of Zeus (Jupiter), and at the other to
the contest between Athena and Poseidon
(Neptune) for the soil of Attica.
2. The metopes, or square spaces in the
frieze between the triglyphs, which were
filled with alto-relievos representing the ex-
ploits of the goddess herself and the strug-
gles between the Centaurs and Lapithae.
3. The frieze or band which ran entirely
round the top of the external walls of the
cella, sculptured with figures in bas-relief
* Chambers's History of Greece.
* Triangular spaces formed by the slope of the roof at each end of
the temple.


Greek Ornamem/afiom. 37
representing the Panathenaic festival, cele-
brated in honour of Athena, and held once
in four years, in the third year of each
Olympiad. Many of the figures in the
procession are on horseback, others are
about to mount; some are in chariots, others
on foot. But the chief object of the
entire procession is the delivery of the em-
broidered veil and mysterious baskets into
the hands of the reigning archon and a
priestess.
These sculptures were, after all, but a
portion of the matchless works of Phidias
which originally beautified the temple. The
acroteria or pedestals on the pediments sup-
ported groups of sculptured figures, which,
doubtless, were of the greatest excellence;
and the temple contained also a statue of the
goddess Athena, said to have been one of the
greatest works of Phidias, and wrought by
his own hands. It was formed of ivory and
gold, and was 47 feet high. The interior
of the temple was divided into two parts,
the inner one containing the statue of the
goddess.
Other examples of Doric architecture exist
at Athens, none of which, however, are so
rich in sculpture as the Parthenon. Of these
may be mentioned the Propylaeum or en-
trance to the Acropolis, and the Theseum
or Temple of Theseus. The latter, although
much smaller, is second only to the Parthe-
non. It was erected about thirty years
before that building, which it resembles in
its most essential points.
The Theseum was ornamented with a
sparing hand, but the arrangement of the
sculpture was so judiciously managed as to
produce the greatest possible effect. The
ten metopes in front of the eastern portico
exhibit the labours of Hercules, while
those on the flanks refer to Theseus. The
sculptures from the pediment have dis-
appeared. Remains of the painting are in
Some parts very conspicuous.
Although it was for some time disputed,
there is now but little doubt that painting,
or what is more correctly termed poly-
chromatic decoration, formed a conspicuous
and distinguishing feature in all the Greek
temples, and that not only architectural mem-
bers, but the beautiful and delicate sculpture
as well, was elaborately painted and gilded.
But as to what the colours were, or what
portions were gilded, there is still a con-
siderable difference of opinion; there can
be no question, however, that the Greeks
used strong and positive colours. In excav-
ating near the Parthenon “there were found
many pieces of marble, and among these frag-
ments parts of triglyphs, of fluted columns,
and of statues, particularly a female head.
These three last-mentioned fragments were
painted with the brightest red, blue, and yel-
low, or rather vermilion, ultramarine, and
straw-colour, which last may have faded in
the earth. The colours are laid on in thick
coats. The female face had the eyes and
eyebrows painted.” Distinct traces of ver-
milion, and other colours also, can still be
distinguished, although in minute quantities,
in some of the examples preserved in the
British Museum. As to the forms of the
painted enrichments we have clear evidence,
as their outlines are frequently indicated on
the marble by an incised line engraved by a
sharp tool, which was probably done by the
aid of stencil-moulds.
It is necessary to explain that the mould-
ings of the Doric temples were, with very
few exceptions, left plain and uncarved, but
1 Mr. Bracebridge in Wordsworth's Athens and Attica.
10


38 Sugges/ions in ZOesign.
were enriched by painting; while, on the
contrary, the mouldings of the Ionic tem-
ples were elaborately carved as well as
painted. Upon the cymatium of the raking
cornice of one of the pediments of the
Parthenon was
discovered avery
a bright blue, with gold stars, to indicate
the heavens, as in Fig. 58; or they contained
cºmmºn. of the anthemion ornament,
Fig. 59, which is formed of the honeysuckle
and lotus. Fig. 60 represents one of the
antefixal ornaments which terminated the
rolls of the tiles above the cornice at the
elegant form of sides of the Parthenon.
the anthemion
ornament," Fig.
56, and probably
the fillets above and below it, as well
as the plain fascia of the cornice, were
covered with fret ornaments. As a rule,
plain fillets, bands, fascias, friezes, and
the abacuses of capitals were ornamented
by what is commonly called the Greek fret
or meander—in a simple form on the smaller
members, but more elaborate on the larger
surfaces. Fig. 57 is a meander from the
fragment of a frieze dug up near the Par-
thenon, and supposed to have formed a
portion of that building. The meander
ornament, variously treated, is common on
all the other temples, both Doric and Ionic,
as well as upon Greek vases and dresses.
It was frequently used to enrich the beams
that formed the ceilings of the temples, and
divided them into square panels or spaces
called lacunaria. These were usually painted
* Another very similar example is given in Stuart & Revett's
Antiquities of Athens, from a frieze in the small Ionic temple on the
Ilissus.
Fig. 59.
The Ionic order, which at first was confined
to the Ionian states in Asia Minor, is said to
be coeval with the Doric. A very simple
example of this order existed at Athens,
in the small temple which stood on the
banks of the Ilissus, but is now destroyed.
The richest and the most beautiful example,
however, still remains in the triple temple
on the Acropolis, called the Erechtheum.
It contained the Temple of Erechtheus, the
Temple of Athena Polias, and the Temple
of Pandrosus. War and other causes
hindered the completion of this temple;
and an interesting inscription has been
found, which contains the particulars of
a minute professional survey of the un-
finished parts, made shortly after the erec-
tion of the building, and conducted under the
direction of an architect named Philocles.
The date of this temple is supposed to be a
little later than that of the Parthenon.
The Erechtheum has three porticoes, two
of which are Ionic, very richly decorated,
with the anthemion ornament sculptured


Greek Or//a///eſ//aſio/.
39
under the volutes of the capitals, and form-
ing a band round the neck of the column,
the whole being of extreme delicacy of
execution. The same ornament is also
used as a continuous frieze under some
portions of the entablature. The mouldings
of the entablatures, as well as the capitals
of the antae and other parts, are most
beautifully carved. Of the remains of these
which have been brought to this country,
and are now deposited in the British
Museum, the late Sir Digby Wyatt said in
his Slade lectures, “I may aver without
hesitation, that there are no other archi-
tectural fragments so beautiful in all the
world.” Fig. 61 represents one of the
Fig. 61.
/ º,
*NA|| | ||||ſ/, |Fº
Č. y ~ - %2 W.
W. G=S !? *—" º º º >
£º
2% Şs-º Š- 22 SS
friezes or bands from the capitals of the
antae. Fig. 62 is the enrichment from the
cymatium of the great doorway; and Fig.
63, a patera—a form of ornament which
is of frequent occurrence in Greek archi-
tecture—from the architrave of the same
doorway. -
The portico of that part of the Erech-
theum called the Pandroseum is supported
by female figures called Caryatides in lieu
of columns. These figures have a kind of
architectural cap upon their heads, upon
which rests the entablature. With excep-
tion of these figures there is no trace of any
sculpture having ever existed in any part
of the Erechtheum. In the British Museum
there is an example of a Carya-
tide figure, of great elegance
and beauty (Fig. 64), which
was found near Rome, but is
of Greek workmanship of the
best period.
There are other examples
of Ionic temples in Asia Minor,
the remains of which show
that they must have been of
beauty,
especially the Mausoleum at
Halicarnassus, the Temple of
Diana at Ephesus, and the Temple of Min-
erva at Priene. Portions of these works
have been brought to this country and are
now in the British Museum.
considerable II) Ol’6”
Of the Corinthian order there is but one
purely Greek example in existence—the small
Choragic Monument of Lysicrates at Athens,
the workmanship of which is carried to the
highest pitch of refinement. This monument
is known to have been erected in the year
335 B.C. There is another example of a
foliated capital in the Tower of the Winds
at Athens, but it cannot strictly be called
Corinthian. Although it has been supposed
that the Corinthian capital was invented by
Callimachus, there cannot be a doubt that
it was borrowed in some measure from the
bell-shaped capitals of the Egyptians. The
capital in the Tower of the Winds appears
to be intermediate between the Egyptian and
the fully developed Corinthian, from its
having no angle volutes.
The Greeks were, apparently, the first


40 Suggestions in /Pesign.
people who developed the acanthus foliage.
Nothing of the same character can be found
in any previous style of architecture. It
formed the leafage of the
Fig. 65.
Corinthian capital, and as
far as we can judge by
the small capital from the
Monument of Lysicrates,
it was of great beauty and
elegance. Fig. 65 shows
a portion of one of the
leaves from the capital.
On the roof of the same monument are
some beautiful scrolls having sheaths of the
acanthus foliage. One of these scrolls is
given, Fig. 66, from Vulliamy's examples of
ornamental sculpture in architecture. The
Greek acanthus foliage is of a sharp spiky
form, and is supposed to be conventionalized
from the plant Acanthus lanceolatus. .
Similar foliage is to be found in some of
the examples of an-
tefixal ornaments
which are fre-
Quently of terra
COtta.
Fig. 67.
©)
Gº
It is seen
again combined
with the honey-
suckle upon the
stelae or sepulchral
monuments of the
Greeks, Fig. 67. In all the examples the
same character of sharp zigzag outline of
the foliage with circular eyes is to be dis-
tinguished. It is much to be regretted that
so few examples of such elegant foliage
have been preserved in Greece. In all proba-
bility, when the Romans overran the country
they became so enamoured with this species
of ornament that they carried with them to
Italy many specimens of it, which are now
lost for ever.
Besides the acanthus the Greeks did not
select many natural types for their foliage,
and employed even these in a highly conven-
tional manner. They consisted principally
of the honeysuckle, of which an example
from the roof of the Monument of Lysi-
crates is given, Fig. 68; the laurel, of which
a very beautiful wreath (Fig.
69) is from the Monument of
Thrasyllus; the holly, of
which Fig. 70 is an example,
in a sculptured moulding from
the Erechtheum; and the
lily or lotus, as seen in the anthemion orna-
mentS.
But it must be remembered that Greek
ornament is considered to be purely aesthetic
and ideal, devoid of all symbolical meaning,
and that it can be but obscurely traced to


-
*
Greek Ormamze/afałion. " 41
natural types. What is called the “Greek
honeysuckle” has but slight resemblance to
that flower, and it appears more probable that
it is a refinement upon the palm as found in
Assyrian sculptures. Again, the acanthus
foliage is as likely to have been suggested
by the thistle or the sea-holly as by the
natural acanthus. The Greeks pursued
principles rather than a literal adherence to
nature. These principles embraced sim-
plicity and gracefulness of form, symmetry,
and repetition. Symmetrical ornaments
are found in such examples as Fig. 67;
repetition in Figs.
68 and 70, and in
the long lines of the
Fig. 71.
echinus or egg-and-
tongue moulding (Fig. 71), in the astragal
or reel-and-bead, and in the enriched ogee
or cyma-reversa.
That they sought beauty by simple repeti-
tion may be seen from the long vistas of
columns in their porticoes and peristyles.
But they further understood the value of re-
petition with variety, as found in their sculp-
tures. In the Panathenaic frieze the long
procession of graceful horses and their riders
are repeated with regularity but variety.
So with the metopes of their entablatures.
The triglyphs carry out repetition only,
but the sculptures of the metopes add
variety. The Parthenon is the highest
exemplification of the principle “unity with
variety.”
The beautiful antique statues and bas-
reliefs, of which examples are now pre-
served in nearly every important public
museum of Europe (such as the Apollo
Belvedere, the Venus of Milo, and a vast
number of others), are for the most part
of Greek workmanship, and many of them
of the best period. As long as Greece
remained free, sculpture retained its high
character, but upon the capture of Corinth
in 146 B.C. thousands of magnificent works
of art were dispersed. Many were sold,
while others were sent to Rome. From
this period the history of Greece must be
sought in that of Rome. Greece became
a mere province, and her inhabitants will-
ingly exercised their talents for their new
masterS.
The most important manufacture of the
Greek period of which remains exist, was
that of terra-cotta vases, and on these
we find all the characteristic ornaments of
the best epoch of Greek decoration. These
vases, which are commonly termed Etruscan,
will be more fully described in the following
chapter.
PLATE 7.
No. 1. A free adaptation of the anthemion orna-
ment. Many varieties of it are found on Greek
VaSeS. -
No. 2. The honeysuckle and lotus alternating,
but not connected by scroll work, as in the anthe-
mion ornament. The arrangement is after the
manner of the Egyptian, from which the Greek orna-
ment was derived.
No. 3 are examples of flower-form ornaments,
usually termed paterae, frequently found in Greek
architecture. Derived from the Assyrian. -
No. 4. A simple form of frieze ornament for
painting.
Nos. 5 and 6. Atlantes, given as suggestions for
introducing in front of a pier or pilaster to support
the entablature above. See also No. 4, Plate 10.
The idea of these male figures, which are some-
times called Telamones or giants, is taken from the
temple of Agrigentum, where they are represented
supporting the superincumbent weight upon their
head and arms. -
No. 7. A four-way wave scroll, forming a panel
for inlay or painted decoration.
Nos. 8,9,10,11, 12 contain suggestions for meander

11


A:fruscan Ornamentation.
43
C H A P T E R W II.
ETR U S CAN ORN AMIENTATION.
; º TRURIA, the modern Tuscany,
was a large and important
É country in Central Italy. Its
* colonization and early history
are involved in much uncertainty. It is
supposed by some, that the Etruscans emi-
grated from Lydia in Asia Minor at a
period long before the Christian era, and
that they carried with them the germs of
Greek art. They appear to have made
early progress in the art of working bronze
and the precious metals, but more especially
in the production of beautiful pottery ware,
seen in the elegant vases found so plenti-
fully in various parts of the country. Many
thousands of these vases were discovered
in the year 1829; about three thousand being
excavated from the site of Vulci alone. They
were found in small grotto tombs, some-
times built, but usually hollowed out of the
rocks, and are of various styles and periods
of art. Some writers, notwithstanding the
fact of there being Greek inscriptions upon
many of the vases, claim them as purely Etrus-
can works; while others assert that they were
imported from Greece. The difficulty, how-
ever, of transporting them in such numbers,
in consequence of their extreme fragility,
renders it more probable that the potters
themselves rather than their products were
imported. Potteries producing works of the
highest style of art existed at Athens and
Corinth, and as it is well known that Etruria
beautiful objects.
received fresh infusions of Greek blood at
various times, it may be assumed that
among these colonists were potters and
artists, who brought with them the neces-
sary skill for fabricating and painting these
From the vast numbers
found, these vases had evidently been for
a long period in great demand among the
Etruscans, and this circumstance would
doubtless attract fictile artists from Athens
and other places throughout Greece. Al-
though popularly known as Etruscan, these
vases may therefore be considered of Greek
workmanship, and in fact many vases in
similar styles have been found in Athens,
Corinth, Sicily, Samos, and other Greek
islands.
The ceramic arts are among the earliest
practised by mankind works in burned
earth or terra cotta are found in Egypt,
and in many parts of the habitable globe,
but nowhere more plentifully than in Asia
Minor and the various states of Greece.
Although the Egyptians never attained to
any high degree of excellence in this art,
yet the use of such vessels among them
was universal. The celebrated flesh-pots of
Egypt were of terra cotta, and for many
purposes for which iron is now used, clay
was in use during the time of the Pharaohs.
The ancient potter's wheel was of very
simple contrivance, and was turned by the
foot of the workman himself; yet the


A fruscam Ormamentation.
45
Afterwards it was returned to the work- representations of many products, instru-
shop, where a workman or painter with a ments, and processes in the mechanical arts.
pointed tool scratched in the details, when
the decorations were black. But it is
evident that these stiff lines were quite
inadequate to express those softer con-
tours, which melted, as it were, into one an-
other, and which marked the more refined
grace and freedom of the rapidly advancing
schools of sculpture and painting. By chang-
ing the colour of the figures to red or orange,
according to the nature of the clay, the artist
was enabled to draw lines of a tone or tint
scarcely darker than the clay itself, but still
sufficient to express all the fine anatomical
details; while the more important outlines
still continued to be marked with a black
line finely drawn. The change was produced
by tracing the figures on the clay with a fine
point, and then working in the whole ground
in black.
The subjects represented upon the vases
relate most frequently to heroic personages,
such as Jason, Achilles, Hercules, and others
belonging to Greek mythology; but many
scenes are of a more ordinary and even of a
domestic character. Thus some represent the
chase, the public games, women drawing
water at a fountain, or employed in their in-
door occupations.
The figures are generally drawn in profile,
full faces being very rare. Temples also are
occasionally introduced, with Doric or Ionic
columns.
or bordered with ornament, and armour and
Many of the dresses are diapered
altars are of frequent occurrence, as well as
furniture, such as chairs, upon which some
of the figures are seated. Many curious parti-
culars maybe learned from these vase pictures,
in reference to the Hellenic ritual, games,
festivities, and domestic life; and there are
Besides figures and similar subjects, Etrus-
can vases were also very elegantly enriched
by bands of beautiful foliage, formed with
spirals and honeysuckles of the most varied
description, of
which an ex-
ample is given
in Fig. 78. These
enrich ments
are full of the
most valuable suggestions to the ornamen-
tist. They bear great similarity to the
decorations found in Greek architecture,
of the bands contain some
and many
beautiful
variations
upon the
Greek an-
themion or-
nament —
one of which is indicated by Fig. 79.
Frequently more natural foliage is intro-
duced, as in Fig.
80, which repre- - •e
sents the berries Tºº C. § 2
of the ivy alter- Tº 3 s
• *- •'s". v,
nating with the
plain leaves of the ivy, which in nature are
always found of this undivided form when
on the same stem
Fig. 80.
which bears the º e tº: e º
flowers and ber- SW/V/\!/
ries. The Greek -
Fig. 82.
egg-and-tongue
or echinus orna-
ment, Figs. 81
ºn NBNZN
monly introduced very skilfully varied, from
the more rigid sculptured form. Upon the


12


46
Sugges/ions in Design.
handles of many of the vases a heart form or
leaf enrichment with a central stem is of
constant occurrence,
Fig. 83. The meander,
with flowers or crosses
at intervals, almost
invariably occurs as a
band round the vase under the feet of the
figures, as if to represent the ground.
Other characteristic ornaments are
olive-leaf band (Fig. 84), and a leaf or bud
with interlacing
de à ébébébée
QPQ2 QPQ2 2 º'
all
Fig. 84.
semicircles, as in
Fººt, Fig. Sº . This
last is again fur-
ther varied, as in Fig. 86, which may also
be considered as another variation of the
There are besides a
vast variety of the
most elegant arrange-
ments of Greek leaf
and scroll form to be
found upon these
vases, and the large collection of them which
is now in the British Museum presents end-
less examples for the purposes of study.
They all appear to
have been painted by
hand, and the lobes of
the leaves and flowers,
when in black, are
evidently produced
rapidly by a species of brush form united
and brought together with the utmost
grace and elegance. When, however, the
ornament is left in red, as is so frequently
the case in the second class of vase, the
process is much more difficult, and the skill
required is proportionately greater. The
painter has then to go round the leaves
and scrolls, leaving them of the colour of the
anthemion ornament.
Fig. 85.
ſ \ N
Z\Z\Z\Z\AS
-
Fig. 86.
ASZNZSZSZSZNZSZ
|
t
|
W #|
iſ
ground, as in Fig. 84. Even such elaborate
enrichments as that shown by Fig. 79 are
frequently left in red and the ground filled
in black. Although the artist was doubtless
assisted by a tracing upon the clay, yet the
care and skilful handling required to stop-
out the ground and leave the ornament in
red must have been very great.
The forms which these vases present is an-
other element of beauty, and an interesting
and valuable study to the art-workman, but
into this subject it is impossible to enter
The
names of only a few of the different kinds
within the limits of the present work.
show the variety which existed among them:
as the hydria, for water; the amphora, for
wine; the krater and or/bapha, large vases
with two handles; and the oinochoë, or wine
jug.
upright vase, as shown by Figs. 73 and 74;
the situ/a or bucket, Fig. 75; and the kulir,
Fig. 76, of which Fig. 77 shows the top or in-
side. These forms were modified and altered
The lekythos is an elegant form of
during the long period of time the manu-
facture lasted, and in some of the later vases
the figures and enrichments were executed
in relief. -
The Etruscans were also skilful workers
in metal. Besides fictile vases, great quan-
tities of bronze work and jewelry of the
very highest degree of excellence have been
discovered in the excavations. The smaller
works in pure gold consist of diadems and
coronets set with intaglios and precious
stones; also hair-pins, earrings, collars,
necklaces, bracelets, rings, and other objects,
all worked with such perfection, extra-
ordinary lightness, and delicacy, that they
leave far behind all modern examples of the
jeweller's art. Armour and weapons, and
many instruments requiring a fine edge, such


48 Suggestions in ZOesign.
torrents of volcanic mud that filled the latter
city hardened into a coarse stone, and subse-
quent eruptions had covered it to a depth
varying from 70 to 112 feet.
In 1711, whilst sinking a well, the site of
Herculaneum was accidentally come upon.
Its existence was so little dreamed of that
a modern village had been erected above
its buried remains. Marble columns and
statues of surpassing beauty were brought to
light by the aid of the well which had been
dug, but the Neapolitan government inter-
fered, and for nearly thirty years operations
were suspended. In 1738, however, the
Marquis Venuti was appointed superinten-
dent of the excavations, and he commenced
by carrying on a kind of tunnel from the old
well. In a short time two bronze eques-
trian statues were found, and soon after
three full-length marble figures, with massive
piers of brick, plastered with stucco, and
painted with arabesques in various colours.
The excavators had now reached the in-
terior of the theatre, as the numerous steps
and seats clearly indicated. The ancient
name of the city was found on a pedestal,
and the certainty that these remains formed
part of the buried Herculaneum is said
- to have materially increased the energy
of the explorers. Vast numbers of wall pic-
tures, statues, and other works of art were
brought to light.
But the difficulty of proceeding with
the excavations at Herculaneum in con-
sequence of the hardness of the material,
the great depth at which they had to be
carried on, and the crowded habitations
which existed above, compelled the govern-
ment to abandon them and turn their
attention more particularly to Pompeii. In
1750 the disentombment of this wonderful
city was commenced, and since then the
work has proceeded with more or less
interruption. The Italian government now
grants a sum of money annually for the pro-
secution of the excavations, and a regular
plan has been adopted, by which the ruins
are systematically explored and carefully
preserved. Up to the present day, the gen-
eral result of discovery may be stated as fol-
lows:—Three forums, nine temples, a basil-
ica, the Chalcidicum (probably employed as
an exchange), three piazzas, two theatres,
an amphitheatre, a prison, double baths,
nearly one hundred houses and shops, several
villas, town walls, eight gates, and twelve
tombs. All were as fresh when discovered,
and the paintings on the walls as bright, as
if they had been buried but yesterday.
The abundance of works of art and means of
luxury found in this ancient provincial city
of some thirty thousand inhabitants, affords
us a vivid idea of the splendour of Italian
cities under the Empire.
The houses of Pompeii illustrate in a
remarkable degree much of the private life
and manners of their ancient occupiers.
The principal divisions of a Pompeian house
consisted of three square chambers, leading
one into the other; the first and last of these
were lighted each by a square opening in
the ceiling open to the sky, but the central
apartment was only lighted from the rooms
on either side. There was no division
between the apartments, beyond that made
by curtains, by which the light from the
other rooms could be regulated at pleasure.
The first room, which was generally the
largest, was called the atrium, and had a
square tank or basin in the middle of the
floor, to collect the water dropping from the
roof and receive the rain falling through the


Aompeian Ornamentation. 49
opening. This arrangement for the free
descent of rain afforded two essential luxur.
ies to the inhabitants of a southern climate—
shade and moisture. In a country like our
own it is scarcely possible to estimate their
value.
The accompanying illustration, Fig. 87,
is a restored interior view of the house which
has been named “the house of the Tragic
Poet.” It shows the three apartments
spoken of: first, the atrium, out of which
opens the tablinum, the central apartment,
through which is seen the peristylium, so
called because surrounded by columns. This
had a larger aperture open to the sky than
the atrium, and the open space below was
laid out with plants like a garden. The
atrium was generally surrounded by smaller
rooms, called cubicula or bedrooms; and the
square of the atrium was broken by the
Fig. 87.-House of the Tragic Poet (so called), Pompeii.
further part being widened into alae or wings.
The tablinum was narrowed by a partition,
which took off a side passage, called fauces,
through which the servants passed from one
end of the house to the other without dis-
turbing the occupants of the middle chamber.
On one side of the peristyle was the triclin-
ium or dining room, and on the other the
culina or kitchen. There were also rooms
for slaves, generally, in a story above.
As in our modern houses, the proportions
varied according to the fancy of the owner
or the limitations of space. Some had a
greater number of apartments, others a
double set ; but in all well - constructed
houses, whatever the rank of the owner,
the atrium, tablinum, and peristylium remain
the essential portions. In the atrium the
owner of the house received his clients and
friends, transacted business, and was waited
upon by his slaves. It was only in the tab-
linum that he could indulge in privacy.
The style of the buildings and decorations
which have been discovered may be correctly
distinguished as being of late or debased
Greek, with a frequent admixture of Roman;
it is sometimes called Graeco-Roman, and
there cannot be a doubt but that Greek

13


50 Sugges/ſouls
in ZOesign.
or Etruscan artists, both sculptors and
painters, were very largely employed by the
Pompeians. The architectural details, how-
ever, were carelessly and ungracefully de-
signed. These artists did not depend so
much upon form for effect as upon colour.
The whole of the architecture of Pompeian
houses was coloured and decorated, and the
walls covered with paintings and arabesque
designs. The painters therefore depended
principally upon the fanciful manner in
which these decorations were worked out.
£º
ºiliº
They appear to have delighted in represent-
ing every form of architectural detail in the
lightest and most graceful manner, often in
perspective, Fig. 88. Scroll-work of the
Fig. 89.
brightest hues, with every variety of orna-
mental conceit, were brought together (Fig.
89), but their playfulness and elegance re-
lieved them from vulgarity. Paintings were
often enriched by fanciful borders (Fig. 90);
floors were inlaid with elaborate mosaics,
and the borders with meanders and other
devices shaded in colours (Fig. 91).
The decoration in many instances was
evidently executed with a marked Greek
feeling, as indicated by Fig. 90, and had a
pleasing and chaste character. It was com-
posed for the most part of conven-
tional ornaments in flat tints,
Fig. 91.
Nº
either painted dark on a light ground, or light
on a dark ground, but without any attempt
at shade or being represented in relief. In
contrast to this, however, much of it was in
a very different style, shaded and coloured
in the most fantastic and capricious manner.
Of this style, Fig. 89, represented in outline,
presents an example. This is clearly of a
toman character, and was based upon the
acanthus scroll, frequently interwoven with
ornament in direct imitation of nature.
Again, in many of the floor mosaics, repre-
sentations of raised surface, as in Fig. 91,
were of constant occurrence.
That the Pompeians highly prized Greek
art is evident from the number of Greek
bronzes that have been found among the
ruins of the city. Among these the bronze
candelabra are very elegant, with Greek
foliage, gracefully introduced between the
tripod legs; and they are precisely the same
in style and character as the numerous
examples which have been discovered in
Etruria.
Some visitors to Pompeii may be struck
with the intensity and crudeness of the
colours on the walls, but this was to some
extent toned down by the amount of shade
in which the rooms were kept. In hot
countries the exclusion of light and heat
from the rooms in the daytime is a necessity,
and the brightness of the colours is therefore


A'oman Ormamentation. 51
**
much lessened on account of the sombre
light in which they are usually seen. In all
the variation of colour on Pompeian interiors
there is one pervading principle, namely, that
the strongest and darkest colours are con-
fined to the lower part of the wall. Thus
if the dado be black, the upper part will
be red or yellow, and the ceiling white; if
the dado be red, the rest of the wall will
be yellow or blue; and if the dado be
yellow, all the rest of the room will be white.
The arabesque devices, which occupy so
much of the wall space of Pompeii, are
replete with imagination and ingenious
variety. There is so much playfulness and
elegance in the combination of objects so
unexpectedly brought together, that the
incongruities are overlooked, and the whole
comes to be regarded as a dreamlike suc-
cession of images, passing easily from one
extreme to the other without consideration
of that which has gone before. The children
rising out of flowers are charming; while
the lions rushing through scroll-work of the
brightest and most varied hues are purely
ornamental conceits. The whole style of
decoration constantly exhibits indiscriminate
extravagance, and a recklessness as to cost
or expenditure of labour, and plainly indi-
cates the luxury and magnificence in which
dwelt the proud and wealthy inhabitants
of this ancient Roman city.
PLATE 14.
No. 1. Painted arabesque for narrow panel.
No. 2. Grotesque panel painted in relief. All
kinds of animals, monsters, and children were thus
introduced in the most incongruous manner.
No. 3. Wall decoration, painted in the brightest
hues, with arabesque borders varied, the centre in
perspective as if seen through an opening.
No. 4. Arabesque pilaster or filling for panel.
Nos. 5 and 7. Painted borders.
No. 6. Dolphin brought in with scroll-work.
Griffins and many other animals were often most
playfully intermingled with the foliage.
CHA PTER IX.
ROMAN ORN AMENTATION.
its variations are mainly those
of detail and arrangement. In Greek and
Roman architecture there are the same
orders—the Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian.
The two orders that the Romans are sup-
posed to have added cannot truly be called
separate orders, the Tuscan being simply
a variation of the Doric, and the Composite
a mixture of the Ionic and Corinthian.
The Corinthian was the order that was
most in favour with the Romans, and it was
the style adopted for some of their largest
and most important temples, as well as for
many of their triumphal arches.


52 Suggestions
-
in Design.
The Corinthian capital was made far
more perfect than any Greek example of
that order which has been handed down
to us, and the entablature was most ela-
borately enriched by foliated sculpture. In
effecting these alterations and improvements
the Romans availed themselves greatly of the
exquisite talent of the Greeks, by inviting
many of the artists of Greece to reside
among them, and by intrusting to them all
their most important buildings. Such was
the admiration of the Romans for Greek
art, that they sought for it wherever it
was to be obtained; and upon the conquest
of Greece they brought away many of the
most beautiful works of sculpture and set
them up in Rome. The statues of the Apollo
Belvedere, the Venus de Medicis, and many
other highly-prized antiques are Greek
works, and were probably executed at the
time of Greece's greatest prosperity.
The Romans also greatly extended the
use of the orders, by applying them not
only to temples, but to basilicas, theatres
and amphitheatres, baths, palaces, tombs,
triumphal arches and pillars of victory,
gates, bridges, and aqueducts. Although
not the original inventors of the arch, they
employed it extensively in their architecture,
a feature that was never adopted by the
Greeks, although its form was known to
them at a very early period. One of the
few instances of the arch or domical form
being used by the Greeks is found in the
Treasury of Atreus at Mycenae. The joints
of the stonework, however, do not radiate
with the curve, as in a true arch, but are
kept horizontal, forming a series of corbel-
lings with the underside worked to the form
of an arch. Although undoubted instances
of the true arch have been found among the
works of the Egyptians, as well as in those
of the Assyrians, such as have been dis-
covered at Nimroud and Khorsabād, yet
apparently, the principle of the arch was
unknown to the Greeks.
The arch was frequently applied by the
Romans in a somewhat inferior position—
that of filling in between columns, which
were set rather wide apart, and made to
support an entablature, Fig. 92. It was used
in this manner in the triumphal arches,
theatres, and other build-
ings. Afterwards the arch -
E; tº;
was placed above the en- Iſ Iſ Iſ Iſ Iſ IT C
tablature, but the entab -
*
lature was discontinued
between the columns, and
retained only immediately
above the capitals. Although the entabla-
ture was omitted in some cases in the palace
of Diocletian at Spalatro, it was not until
the Romanesque period that it disap-
peared entirely, and that the arch was made
to spring immediately from the capitals of
the columns.
The most important use of the arch, how-
ever, was its application to vaults and domes.
As exemplifying the perfection attained by
the Romans in such construction, the Pan-
theon is one of the most interesting buildings
of antiquity. It is covered by a hemi-
spherical stone dome, which has an internal
diameter of 139 feet, and is the earliest of
any great size in existence. The dome
springs from a height of 75 feet above the
ground, and has a circular opening at top,
27 feet in diameter, for lighting the building.
Of vaults, as developed by the Romans,
the Basilica of Maxentius (sometimes called
the Temple of Peace) offers a good example.
The plan is a parallelogram divided into


A’oman Ormamentation. 53
nave and aisles. The nave was vaulted
with intersecting cross vaults, forming three
semicircular groins supported on columns
which were 83 feet apart. The height of
the vaulting from the pavement was about
116 feet. The aisles were roofed by three
transverse arches, which were each 72 feet
in span. The arch was also used exten-
sively by the Romans in their aqueducts;
and nothing impresses the traveller more
than these structures, stretching as they
do across the Campagna in long lines
of arches, often of two stories. Although
formed simply in brick, and devoid of all
architectural pretension, yet they are among
the most beautiful examples of Roman
skill. Their bridges likewise were designed
on a grand scale. The one built by the
Emperor Trajan over the Danube has piers
which are said to be 150 feet in height from
the foundations, and twenty arches each
170 feet span.
It was this remarkable skill of the Romans
in the engineering treatment of the arch
which enabled them to invent that new
system of vaulting, which when developed
into groins and domes formed one of the
grandest improvements in the constructive
and scientific application of stone that had
ever before taken place. This invention was
destined, in later styles, to lead to the
happiest results, to the conception and
construction of the magnificent domes of the
Byzantine and Renaissance periods, and to
the intricate and fairy-like groining of the
Gothic cathedral. It caused a complete
and extraordinary revolution in architec-
ture, and through the pointed arch being at
length adopted in place of the semicircular
it became the origin and mainspring of all
the mediaeval styles.
By these great works, handed down to
those who followed them, the Romans have
successfully shown their wonderful ability
in construction. In whatever part of the
world the remains of their works are to
be found, their profound skill in the use of
materials is a marked feature. There can-
not be a doubt but that their engineering
skill was equally manifested in the use of
wood, for we read of bridges of remarkable
dimensions having been erected of that
material, although from its perishable nature
it is not to be expected that any of them
should still exist.
Their ornamental details and architectural
sculpture, however, are not of the same high
character as their construction. For these
portions they employed Greek artists, who
have left us examples which present the
utmost skill in workmanship and the most
elaborate fulness or intricacy of detail. We
cannot but admire these works and examine
them with wonder; but they do not impress
us with that intense sense of the beautiful,
which we so much appreciate in the more
simple and less elaborate enrichments of the
ancient Greeks. In the Roman sculptures
there is a softness and, as it were, a volup-
tuous magnificence, but there does not exist
that crispness of form and delicacy of line
with which we are so struck in the exquisite
works of Phidias.
Their Corinthian capitals were wonderfully
elaborated. That from the Temple of Jupiter
Stator at Rome (Fig. 93) was perhaps the
most richly foliated example which has ever
existed; but the height at which it was placed
must have concealed much of its delicate
workmanship. The foliage is said to have
been taken from the Acanthus mollis, but
it has very little likeness to any natural
14


54 Sugges/ions in /)esign,
type. Sir William Chambers says that
almost all the antique Corinthian capitals
Fig. 93. at Rome are
which was again different from that which
was adopted in the capitals.
Fig. 97.
en rich ed
with olive
leaves; the
a can thus
being seldom
employed
but in the
Composite. But as the olive leaf is a
simple plain leaf like that of the laurel,
and not divided into separate parts as in the
Corinthian leaf (Fig. 94,
which is from one of the
capitals of the Pantheon),
it only amounts to the
points of each lobe being
similar to the terminal half
of the olive leaf. Nor do
the leaves of the Compo-
site bear any closer resemblance to the acan-
thus. Fig. 95 represents a portion of a leaf
from one of the Composite capitals in the
Arch of Septimus Severus;
but as it is said that parsley
was sometimes used as a model,
this must be one of the ex-
amples meant, for the mode of
division in these leaves is much
the same as in the natural
leaf of the parsley, and it is not at all
similar to that of the acanthus.
The cornices in Corinthian entablatures
were highly enriched (Figs. 96, 97, which
represent a section and front view), and no
part was left plain as in the Greek. Mould-
ings and fascias were richly foliated (Figs. 98,
99), and friezes were filled with foliage and
figures, Fig. 100. This example also serves
to show the elaborate nature of the foliage,
>5-5-5,
Another mode of enriching friezes was by
representations of the skulls of oxen, supposed
to be the
heads of
those sac-
rificed to
the gods, *———
with tº º -
toons of *
w *
Fig. 99.
flow er's
and fruit suspended from their horns by
ribbons, Fig. 101. Many of the Roman
Fig. 100.
friezes were of the most elaborate and in-
tricate workmanship, of which some few
fragments Fig. 101.
have been
h a n d e d
down to
us, execu-
ted in the -
most delicate manner. They exhibit great
fancy and playful imagination, containing


A’oman Ornamentation.
55
frequently figures, animals, birds, insects,
and other objects.
In their houses, baths, and public build-
ings, the Romans were extremely fond of
mosaic pavements, many fine examples of
which occur at Pompeii and in the baths
of Caracalla at Rome. Indeed, scarcely a
house of any size at Pompeii was without
some kind of tesselated pavement; and
wherever Roman colonization extended we
find traces of such pavements.
In the enrichment of the earlier Roman
works, Greek taste prevailed until about
From this period
elaboration and abundance of ornament
the time of Alexander.
supplanted the more refined style of art.
Carving of surface, as in friezes and mould-
ings, became universal; foliage was made
intricate in outline, and its surface carving
was so exaggerated that although extreme
fulness and richness were thereby gained, it
was invariably at the sacrifice of simplicity
and beauty of form. Scrolls grew out of
each other, as in the Greek, but the foliated
sheaths became long, and formed into a
number of divisions and subdivisions, often
ending in an elaborate centre flower. The
sharp and crisp forms of the Greek foliage
became lost in the imitation of obtusely
pointed or round-lobed leaves, more like
the leaves of the Chrysanthemum than any
other form of natural leaf. -
The frequent introduction of animals and
monsters, such as the sphinx, the triton, the
griffin, often with their extremities passing
into foliage, is a marked and distinguishing
feature of the Roman style. Ornamental
vases and tazzas of great size, executed in
the finest marble, enriched with foliage, and
frequently surrounded with bacchanalian
processions,— marble state chairs, seats,
baths, altars, sarcophagi, and candelabra,
covered by ornamentation, or supported on
griffins,—indicate to some extent the luxuri-
ousness of the Roman citizens of high rank
and their love of magnificence. We may
fairly assume that the houses of Pompeii,
although adorned with sumptuousness, fell
far short of the splendour, boundless wealth,
and richness in marbles and works of art
which must have been found in many of the
palaces of imperial Rome. Besides their
rich architectural features and tesselated
floors, wall paintings doubtless everywhere
adorned their interiors, rendering them
dwellings of the utmost luxuriance. The
few examples of wall paintings which have
come down to us from the public baths,
show them to have been of very similar
character to those discovered at Pompeii.
PLATE 15.
Nos. 1 and 2. Animals, monsters, and various
chimerae were commonly introduced by the Romans
among their carvings, such as sea-horses, No. 1; or
griffins with their extremities running off into scroll
foliage, as in No. 2.
Nos. 3 and 4. What are called terminti are charac-
teristic features in Roman decoration and furniture.
The terminus or terminal was a form commencing
with a head, and sometimes shoulders, finishing
with feet, with claws, or with a plinth at bottom,
the intermediate space being filled with a square
portion tapering downwards. No. 3 is a terminal
emblematical of Bacchus, filled in with the thyrsus
and grape vine; No. 4, indicative of the god Mercury
upon the globe, with cap and wings attached to the
head and wings to the feet, the centre being filled
with the caduceus or wand of Mercury.
Nos. 5 and 6. Comic and tragic masks. The
Greeks and Romans usually wore masks in their
theatrical performances, hence masks are often found
used as ornaments.
No. 7. We have not many examples of Roman
wall paintings; but there can be little doubt that
their rooms were decorated by painting of the most


56 Sugges/ions in /9esig/.
elegant description. No. 7 represents an ornamental
fountain of fanciful design, such as may have been
used for a panel in wall decoration, or might be
suitable for carving in low relief.
Nos. 8 and 9 are ornaments arranged after the
manner of masks.
PLATE 16.
Nos. 1 and 2. Female head flanked with monsters.
No. 1, lion winged with bird's claws; No. 2, bird
with animal's hind legs. For carving in low relief.
Nos. 3 and 4. Rings in bronze for gates. The one
represents the head of a satyr, the other a conven-
tional lion's head.
Nos. 5 and 6. Running ornaments for painting.
No. 5, a variation of the egg-and-tongue; and No.
6 after the type of the Greek anthemion ornament.
No. 7. A double-bodied sphinx supporting a ped-
estal carrying a lamp, flanked bysitting female figures
representing Industry and Law, with a back-ground
formed by the rays of the rising sun. Applicable
to wall decoration in painting or low relief.
Nos. 8 and 9. Painted or inlay ornaments for
pilasters or upright panels.
Nos. 10 and 11. Terminal angles of altars. No.
10, winged lion and foot, with shaft of column with
twisted flute and foliated base. No. 11, griffin's
head terminating in a horse's hoof.
No. 12. Female terminal figure in the centre, from
the base of which springs foliated scroll-work, carry-
ing flower-baskets. For painted decoration.
PLATE 17.
Nos. 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, and 10 are ornaments more
after the Etruscan manner, but such as may reason-
ably be supposed to have been used in their painted
decoration by the Romans, who frequently employed
Etruscan artists in their house decoration.
No. 1. Foliated ornament for cresting or border.
No. 2. Ornament formed upon the honeysuckle,
and with acanthus foliage.
No. 3. Ornamental fluting for columns or for
carving in wood-work for a dado or other purpose.
Nos. 4, 5, 6, and 7. Upright running ornaments
for painting, containing branching foliage and
flowers; leaf and berries, upon a wave line; a varia-
tion upon the Vitruvian scroll, with the reel and
bead; and ivy with berries.
No. 8. Fanciful mask of Neptune with beard
worked into dolphins and trident: eyebrows and hair
formed of sea-weed and earrings of escallop shells.
Nos. 9, 10, 11, and 12. Ornaments or borders for
inlay or painting.
No. 13. Surface decoration in relief.
No. 14. Bracket formed with African elephant's
head at the angle; the centre flower and festoons
interlacing with the animal's trunk.
No. 15. Tablet with pendant, buffalo or ox's skull
with swag of fruit and flowers. The ox's skull was
frequently used in Roman ornament and decoration.
See Fig. 101.
PLATE 18.
Nos. 1, 2, and 3. Medallions. No. 1, head with
dolphin helmet; No. 2, the triumph of Love; No.
3, Romulus and Remus suckled by the wolf, emblem-
atical of the foundation of Rome.
No. 4. Terminal composition for a base, suitable
for sculpture.
Nos. 5 and 6. Acorn and grape batons.
No. 7. Ornament in the form of a horn, with
foliations springing from a boar's head.
No. 8. Central composition of swans and foliage,
suitable for carving.
No. 9. Bracket supporting statuette of a Bacchante
flanked with scrolls.
Nos. 10 and 11. Grotesque centre. Comic mask
with side scrolls, supporting (10) conventional eagle
with foliated wings, and (11) conventional winged
panther.
PLATE 19.
Nos. 1 and 2. Roman altar or pedestal with shield
of Minerva in the centre, containing the head of
Medusa, the Gorgon, supported by a cupid. The left
side finished with a fluted pilaster and foliated frieze
panel, with a terminal figure in profile; the right-
hand side pilaster panelled and filled in with inter-
lacing vine foliage with grapes and birds. Ram's
head terminal in profile.
Nos. 3 and 4. Grotesque lion and ram's heads,
for application to ornamental purposes. -
No. 5. Cupid with foliated termination carrying
a basket.
No. 6. Panel in relief: the head of the Gorgon
Medusa, and claws of harpy.
No. 7. Trophy with heads of Hercules, Ajax, and
Agamemnon, accompanied by lion's skin and clubs
arranged ornamentally.
t


Chinese Ornamentation.
57
No. 8. Angle terminal.
No. 9. Centre terminal.
and hoofs.
No. 10. Dolphin terminal or angle of pedestal.
No. 11. Angle of pedestal flanked by cornucopia,
the ever-fruitful horn of Amalthea. The angle
filled with reaping-hook and corn.
No. 12. Border formed of spiral line and convol-
vulus bell.
Convolvulus, horse-shoe
PLATE 20.
No. 1. Ornamental composition in bas-relief, con-
taining boy in vase with two cupids, scroll-work,
and ram's head.
Nos. 2 and 3. Ornamental vase with varied sides
for carving.
No. 4. Frieze in bas-relief, with boys as warriors,
cupids, birds, animals, and reptiles, among the foliage.
No. 5. Fret inlay for wood panelling or marquetry.
No. 6. Scroll-work border of foliage with swans,
fountain, and fish, for painted decoration.
No. 7. Fret border for painting or inlay.
Nos. 8 and 9. Fretwork for inlay or mosaic.
Similar examples are found in ancient pavements
shaded as in No. 9."
"All decorations of pavements should be by flat ornament and
not shaded as if in relief. If applied to a wall surface the decora-
tion may with propriety be executed in relief, but not shaded if in
flat ornament.
C H A PTE R X.
CHIN E SE ORN AMENTATION.
l: Fall known forms of architecture
and ornament, that of the
Chinese is generally considered
=# the most ancient, or at least
that it is quite as ancient as the Egyptian.
But the origin of Chinese art is involved in
mystery, and so little do we really know of
its commencement, or of its progress, that
we are quite unable to trace its history.
Much of the Chinese ornament and other
minor works which are now brought to this
country, appear to indicate the existence of
a higher state of art at some former time
than can be assumed of the Chinese at the
present day. Their works strike one forcibly
as being a somewhat dim reflection of a
more lofty cultivation and much higher
attainments in art, which may have existed
among them at some remote period of their
history.
As a people they have, doubtless, many
of the elements of a great nation. They
are endowed largely with skill, industry,
patience, and application. They are the
working bees of the great human hive.
They excel in constructive talent and in the
technic arts, but they manifest no progress
in the inventive faculty. Were they always
so One can hardly answer in the affir-
mative; for their present comparatively high
state of cultivation could not have been
reached but by degrees. We are, therefore,
necessarily obliged to fall back upon another
supposition—that they were, at some distant
time, a much greater people—that they then
cultivated the arts with a much higher
power than they now possess—and that,
after having reached a lofty summit, they
are now gradually receding, and retain only
the remains of their former greatness. The

15


58 Sugges/ions in /9esign.
empire is of so high an antiquity, that, if
one may be allowed the expression, it
seems to have reached a second childhood,
and therefore exhibits no sign of progress.
The Chinese show much skill in orna-
mental workmanship, cutting and working
granite with great perfection. Their garden
structures, balustrades surrounding tombs,
and many parts of their public buildings,
are executed in marble in an admirable
manner. In the manufacture of bricks they
are unrivalled. These form their usual
building material, and they put them together
with great precision, forming with them
triangles, squares, circles, and even flowers.
Their roofs are covered with tiles, often of a
brilliant yellow—the imperial colour. For
ordinary buildings other colours, such as
green and red, have to be adopted. The
roof tiles suggest that bamboo was first used
for roofs, and gave origin to the round form
of the upper tiles. Each end of the ridge of
the roof is often ornamented by a dragon.
and in some of the grander temples and
palaces, these are formed of very large and
beautiful pieces of majolica work. On the
hips, leading to each corner of the roof, are
a number of smaller animals; which, as well
as the dragons, are supposed to protect the
house.
The architecture of the country is essen-
tially wooden, and these wooden forms, as
in other countries, may be found repeated in
stone, marble, and metal. Many temples,
houses, and garden pavilions (Fig. 102)
are, however, wholly of wood, and the
roofs are commonly supported on triple
brackets, a striking feature, and bearing a
strong resemblance to Japanese and Indian
construction. The houses are erected upon
one common type: the front facing the
street is either entirely plain, with no
opening but the door, or is occupied as
shops. The houses of the better classes
Fig. 102.
have a gallery or verandah in the upper
story, and terraces are often formed upon
the roofs, surrounded by neatly painted
railings.
A number of very handsome pailows, or
monumental gateways, are to be found
throughout the country erected in granite,
marble, or glazed tiles, in yellow or green,
and having a very good effect; but no
one who is acquainted with the gateways
of the Sanchi Tope, in India, can fail
to notice the marked resemblance, and
their wooden origin is evident at the first
glance.
Ancestral worship in China leads to such
a profound veneration for graves, that a
Chinaman never disturbs one; he will plough
round it from generation to generation, but
he would never be guilty of the sacrilege of
destroying it. The result is that the whole
country is one vast cemetery. The usual
form of the grave is a mound commencing
from a yard in diameter, and there are parts
of the country where, as far as the eye can
reach, nothing but mounds can be seen.
Among these the tombs of the Ming dynasty
(which ended in 1628), situated about 40 miles
t


Chinese Ormamentation.
59
north of Peking, are of very imposing ap-
pearance. They are approached by a long
avenue, with colossal stone figures on each
side, and pailows or gateways in white
marble. At the end of the avenue the
tombs become visible, extending for some
miles round the base of the hill. There are
thirteen of them, that being the number of
emperors buried at this place. The tomb
of Yung-lo, who was the first of the Mings
buried here (in 1425), consists of an artificial
earthen mound about half-a-mile in circum-
ference inclosed by a wall 20 feet high all
round. To the south of the mound is a
rectangular space of about 1200 feet long by
500 feet wide, inclosed by a wall, containing
temples and other buildings, at the altars of
which offerings are made. The temple at an
emperor's tomb is for this purpose, and is
an important addition to the original tumulus,
its plan being exactly that of a yamun or
palace. In China the difference between
domestic and ecclesiastical architecture does
not exist. The temple there is only a better
kind of house. If it is a grand temple, it
resembles a palace, and this is the case at
the tomb of Yung-lo. The tablet or tomb-
stone within it is a tall block of marble
placed erect on the back of a tortoise.
Another building of importance is the grand
hall, which in this case is one of the finest
of its kind in China. It is placed on a stone
platform, surrounded by a low marble balus-
trade. The hall is 220 feet by 92 feet; and
the roof, covered with tiles of a rich yellow,
is supported by sixty pillars, sixteen of
which are 60 feet high and the others
about 40 feet. The wood is teak, and
although full 400 years old, the building is
as perfect as on the day of its erection. It
has the usual frieze, including a triple row
of brackets, and the roof is like that of all
other imperial structures."
The city of Peking is but an extended
village of dirty streets and crumbling walls
going to ruin. Near the Summer Palace of
the emperor, and standing on a terrace, is a
temple wholly constructed of beautifully
coloured majolica, rich and bright in effect,
all covered with ornament and Buddhist
figures. Close beside it is a very fine temple,
formed entirely of bronze, with the wooden
forms repeated in metal. Besides these,
there are a number of imperial temples, such
as the Temple of Heavenor the Great Dragon,
the Temple of the Earth, the Temple of
Agriculture, the Altars of the Sun and
Moon, and others.
Among the most remarkable and peculiar
buildings in China are the towers called
pagodas; their origin is involved in mys-
tery, although it is known that the cele-
brated porcelain pagoda at Nanking was
a memorial of gratitude, while others were
commemorative of victories. Many of them
are of great antiquity; one about 30 feet
high Mr. Gutzlaff considered to be about
twelve hundred years old. They are gener-
ally built of brick, and sometimes cased with
porcelain. They mostly consist of nine stories,
though some have only seven, and others not
more than five; but the stories are invari-
ably in odd numbers.” Their form is usually
octagonal, and each story has a gallery with
ornamental gilt iron rails, below which are
projecting roofs turned up at the angles,
and covered with glazed tiles of a rich
yellow colour, which receive from the sun
* Condensed from a paper on the architecture of China, read in
1873 at the Royal Institute of British Architects, by William Simpson,
F.R.G.S. -
* Every part or form in Chinese architecture has a symbolical
meaning—thus Heaven is odd, Earth is even; again, Heaven is round,
Earth is square. -


60 - Suggestions in Design.
a splendour equal to burnished gold. The
apex of the tower is finished with a pole
surmounted by a ball with chains and iron
hoops, and at each angle of the several roofs
a bell is suspended, which is rung by the
force of the wind, producing a jingling sound
not altogether unpleasant.” The pagoda at
Nanking, erected in the early part of the
fifteenth century, now in ruins, was 236 feet
high, and consisted of nine stories.
The Chinese employ polychromy as an
important and essential part of their archi-
tecture; so much so, indeed, that with them
colour becomes more important than form.
The result is so singularly pleasing and
satisfactory, that there cannot be a doubt
that a more extensive use of colour would
be advantageous in other styles of archi-
tecture. “In statuary they do not appear
to have ever been very successful, but in
other carving they are perfectly at home,
and it would be difficult to surpass some of
the dragon-entwisted columns to be found
in the temples of Central China. There
is also great grace in the leaf tracery OCC8-
sionally to be met with in the balustrades
with which they delight to adorn their quays
and gardens.”
It is, however, in the ceramic art that
the Chinese excel, although even in this art
the Japanese have gone far beyond them.
They prefer to imitate rather than to origin-
ate; and the utmost that can be said is,
that some of their imitations are as perfect
as, and in truth undistinguishable from, the
more ancient wares from which they are
copied.
When porcelain was first made is not
' Dictionary of the Architectural Publication Society.
* Catalogue of Chinese Objects at the South Kensington Museum, by
C. Alabaster.
known, but, in all probability, that kind
commonly called by us “china” originated
in that country. The great Ming dynasty
(about A.D. 1400) is generally cited as the
period when porcelain was brought to per-
fection, and first began to be decorated
with flowers and buds in rich enamel colours.
How highly these products were valued in
Europe, when first introduced, may be
inferred from the costly and persistent
efforts made alike by governments and
individuals at Dresden, Sèvres, Berlin, and
in England, to discover the materials and
the processes employed, and to produce
similar works.
The ornamentation found upon porcelain
consists mainly of flowers and foliage;
dragons and birds, conventionally rendered
from nature; scenes in gardens containing
houses and terraces; and figures delineated
in a soft manner but without much expres-
sion. There exists a great similarity between
the ornamentation of the Chinese and their
neighbours the Japanese, and without doubt
the latter have borrowed largely from the
former. The Japanese, however, are gifted
with a higher artistic ability, and they give
evidence of a progress which, whatever may
have been the case in former times, we now
look for in vain among the Chinese.
The principal charm, however, in oriental
china is its harmonious colouring, in which,
as with colour when applied to buildings,
the Chinese appear to hold a far higher
position in art than they do in regard to
form. Without being able to observe any
clearly defined rules by which they are
guided, their colours are strangely fas-
cinating to the eye and rarely inharmon-
ious. Apparently they proceed more by
a sort of instinct or some natural gift,


62
in /Pesign.
Sugges/ions
upon the same form, Fig. 108. There are
arrangements upon the hexagon, the square,
and octagon (Fig. 109), as well as upon the
diamond, zigzag, and other forms.
Fig. 108. Fig. 109.
:^^xº~zº
Some of their borders of curved lines, as
in Fig. 110, appear as if derived from classic
mouldings; but
Fig. 110.
one can hardly
imagine the
Chinese bor-
rowing ideas of art from any other country.
They are particularly fond of every variety
of the fret form, but
these usually differ
all
in their not
Fig. 111.
from classical
frets
being continuous.
Fig. 111 is an example as applied to railing
They have a very clever
for a balustrade.
Fig. 112.
fret or key diaper, Fig. 112, which is also
frequently found in Japanese work, as in
the ground No. 10, Plate 22. It is a fav-
ourite ground for vases, screens, and other
work. Scale or imbricated forms (Fig. 113)
are frequent, worked out in various ways
and in a variety of colours. Combinations
upon these simple arrangements are very
numerous, and many of them extremely
They may be fre-
quently adopted as suggestions for other
puzzling and ingenious.
combinations, where geometrical diapers or
borders are sought for.
In the carving of all kinds of wood, ivory,
and jade the Chinese display great fancy
and ingenuity, as well as extreme delicacy;
and, notwithstanding their love of the gro-
tesque, they frequently obtain an effect which
excites considerable admiration.
In lacquer-ware they are scarcely equal to
the Japanese, although the art is largely
practised among them. The art of enamelling,
again, though it was formerly much pursued,
is now apparently neglected, and the Japan-
ese far excel them both in beauty and
finish, more especially in the kind known as
Cloisonné enamel."
The working and casting in metal has
been practised by the Chinese from remote
antiquity. They have bells, dating from
almost prehistoric times, many of them
of such enormous size that the largest
bells in Britain would appear small in com-
parison.
Works in bronze—such as figures, animals,
incense-burners, gongs, and numerous other
articles—have always held a prominent place
among the Chinese, and the art has been
practised by them at certain periods with
considerable success. Iron bridges were
erected centuries before they were ever heard
of in Europe, and in Northern China many
an enormous joss or idol, cast in iron, is dis-
covered standing amid ruins of temples, des-
troyed by time or iconoclastic rebels.
* This kind of enamelling derives its name from the pattern being
formed by wires or bands of metal soldered to the ground of copper
or brass, separating the various coloured enamels, and appearing on
the surface of the work surrounding and outlining each object.
Each separate compartment is called a cloison.


japanese Ornamen/a/ion.
63
PLATE 21.
the bamboo, with the hanging vase, the gracefully
arranged flowers and foliage, and the life added to
the composition by the birds and insects, is very
pleasing, and in the Chinese manner, although it
may not be very high art. If looked at as a “motif.”
- for panel decoration, it offers an excellent suggestion,
and should be worked out in colours on a light toned
or a gold ground.
No. 2 is three fans arranged triangularly in
a circle, with intermediate flowers on a gold
ground.
No. 3 consists of three overlying circles, in a
trefoil form upon a fish-scale ground, containing
geometrically formed four-petalled flowers.
No. 4 is formed by a diagonal zigzag line in two
colours with filling-in cf flowers and leaves, applic-
able to textile stuffs.
No. 5. A panel showing the conventional treatment
The borders are
made up with flowers and other forms peculiar to
the Chinese.
No. 6 has a fret-formed square panel in a circle
containing a flower. Around the circle is a border
with trefoil foliage flowing from the circle, the
oblong sides being filled up with geometrical forms
and flowers.
No. 7 contains dragons or hydras, with corner
flowers and “crackle” filling-up in the spandrels.
These grotesque and quaintly drawn dragons fre-
of a female figure in a garden.
quently occur, and form
features in Chinese ornamentation.
In the panel No. 1 the picturesque treatment of
highly characteristic
They typify
the evil spirit which is supposed to exist in the
world, and when placed on roofs are sometimes
shown as pinned down to the building by a sword.
The idea is the same as the superstition in this
country of the horse-shoe nailed over the door, to
prevent the entrance of all warlocks and witches.
The Chinese notion of an eclipse is represented by
a golden ball, with a monster of the dragon species
floating in mid air, and supposed to be advancing
with open jaws to swallow up the golden orb which
Thus they typify what they
consider to be evils, as dreadfully ugly monsters,
ready to appear out of darkness to engulf them in
their enormous jaws.
No. 8 is from a heart-shaped hand screen or fan,
containing a dragon vase from which grows a rose,
supported on a flower-stand with earth and side
indicates the sun.
foliage.
No. 9 has a flower represented symmetrically on
each side of the centre of a hand screen or fan,
issuing from a shell. The flowers are in colours
upon a gold “crackle” ground. This crackle is
taken from the china, in which the glaze has been
cracked by heat or time, and therefore such examples
are supposed to be of ancient date. In modern
work the crackle is frequently imitated by painted
lines, and its origin is found in the Chinaman's love
of the antique, and his desire to reproduce the effects
of time or imperfectly glazed specimens of early
workmanship.
C H A P T E R XI.
JAIPANE SE ORN AMENTATION.
*ATIVE art in Japan is close.
# ly allied to that of China,
j: # and both nations appear to be
i * alike gifted with art powers,
indigenous to the soil, and apparently flour-
ishing without care or culture. More par-
ticularly is this the case in that marvellous
perception of form and colour, founded
upon the laws of nature, that seems to
be intuitive in Asiatic races. In contrast-


64 Suggestions in Design.
ing the arts of China and Japan, what
strikes one forcibly is the marked differ-
ence in the expenditure of labour upon their
respective works—the Japanese aiming to
produce the greatest possible effect with
the least amount of trouble, whilst the
Chinese make minute painstaking a prin-
cipal virtue."
Whilst the people of Japan have sought
safety in seclusion, they seem to be by no
means insensible to outward influences.
With all their love of feudalism and seclu-
sion, however, they appear to be much more
free in thought than their neighbours the
Chinese; and while they are strongly bound
by tradition, they are ever ready to learn from
others, as many of their arts and manufac-
tures clearly demonstrate.
In their architecture, construction usually
comes, as it should, before decoration. It
may be said that the man who constructs a
common deal box by dovetailing it together
Fig. 114. produces at the same time a
Z RTZ R-7 V beautiful ornament (Fig. 114),
and the dovetail which he
forms becomes doubly beautiful because it
grows out of the construction. So with
the Japanese: in their buildings they cut
their corbels and brackets into pleasing
forms, carve their beams, and shoe their
rafters with gilded and engraved bronze,
but all rises naturally out of the construc-
tion, Fig. 115.
Architecture, however, in its highest
sense, is an art unknown among the Ja-
panese. They make for themselves and their
gods only temporary homes and shrines,
commonplace in construction, and tent-like
' in design. Their houses and temples are
mostly of one story, although occasionally of
two. They are formed of wood framed to-
Fig. 115.
gether, with elaborate bracketing supporting
| widely projecting tile roofs, the whole being
carried on stone foundations. As with the
Chinese, the form of the roof is generally con-
cave, and turned up sharply at the angles; or
it has a double curve, convex at the ridge
and concave at the eaves. The tiles with
which it is covered are of a grayish black
colour, and the
joints are cover-
ed with a thick
roll of white
cement. The
ridge and hip
OrnamentS are
of great size,
and are formed
of several cour-
ses of tiles and | - - II.
cement, ter- -
minated at the extremities by well-designed
terra-cotta ornaments, Fig. 116.
The frequent occurrence of earthquakes in
* The matter of this chapter is partly taken from a Discourse on
Japanese Art, delivered by John Leighton, F.S.A., at the Royal
Institution of Great Britain, May, 1863.
Japan may probably be the reason why the
Japanese limit the height of their buildings;


Japanese Ornamentation.
65
and the same reason may also render a
wooden construction, in which each part is
firmly framed together, an absolute necessity
The general appearance and arrangement of
the ordinary houses have not altered since
very early times. The walls are constructed
of vertical and horizontal framework of posts
and beams, mortised and tenoned together,
filled in with bamboo laths, coated with mud
in several layers, and finally plastered over
One external wall or more, and most of the
internal walls, are not covered with plaster;
being filled in between the uprights with
light wooden screens, sliding past one
another upon porcelain rollers in grooves
formed in the heads and sills of the frame-
work, so that the whole or any part of the
partition can be thrown open at pleasure.
Where light is required, these partitions are
filled in with tough translucent paper, which
In other cases,
in interiors, these sliding screens are covered
serves the purpose of glass.
with paper decorated with patterns or paint-
ings.
ing, and, except in the largest houses,
passages are of rare occurrence.
The temples of Japan are by far the most
interesting buildings to be found in the
country. They are usually placed in quiet
and shady groves approached by imposing
Each room opens into the one adjoin-
flights of stone steps, and long avenues
bordered with lamps both of stone and
bronze. Those temples of the Buddhist faith
are accompanied by gigantic statues in bronze.
At Kamakoura a bronze effigy of Buddha,
sitting on the lotus throne with his legs
doubled beneath the body, is 60 feet high,
and was erected more than six centuries ago.
The temples abound with wood carving,
tastefully disposed, representing animals,
birds, and flowers of every kind, sharply
and beautifully cut, the whole being often
enriched by well-harmonized colours, with
gilding and bronze ornaments. From the
frequent recurrence of the elephant in their
carvings—an animal almost unknown in the
country—there can be little doubt but that
they have derived much of their architec-
ture and sculpture from India along with
their religion. It is also very curious to
find many types from the ancient Egyp-
tian, Assyrian, and Greek perpetuated in
the works of this remarkable people.
In their cemeteries there are hundreds
of tombs, the typical form of
which is represented by Fig
117, a form suggested by the
sacred bean and lotus, and of
Fig. 117.
very frequent occurrence in
India. The ornaments, Figs.
118' and 118°, are purely classic. The
Greek fret and echinus, or egg-and-tongue
moulding, are both used in 118.
China and Japan, and key or l
fret patterns, of which an in-
finite variety have been pro- 2
duced, are very popular. Fig. g-&-
118°, in which scrolls are united rºm
to a bud in the centre, after the
manner of the Greek anthemion ornament,
is also common, though it has more of an
Assyrian feeling than either of the others.
But it is in decorative art, as applied to
almost every object of daily use, that the
Japanese show their superiority over most
In the ornamentation of
other nations."
* Much of this superiority is no doubt due to the wide diffusion
of art instruction in Japan. In a collection of Japanese books
recently made by Professor Nordenskjöld were the following pro-
portions of volumes:—history 176, poetry 137, art of war and fencing
41, dictionaries and grammars 18, geography and maps 76, natural
history 68, medical 13, trades and farming 43, and books containing
patterns 73. Most of the books are provided with innumerable
drawings, some of them perfect master-pieces; and the 73 pattern-
books must be of value not only as to the history of art in the
country but as to different branches of industry. 17


(36
Sugges/ions in Design.
“some of the commonest fabrics, such as
towels and dusters of the least costly
materials, may be seen choice designs con-
sisting of the most simple elements. A
broken bamboo or two in counter-changed
colours, a flight of birds or a few creeping
plants, suffice in their hands to produce the
most pleasing effect, as artistic as they are
original.” But by far the most striking
feature in all their works, and that which
creates the greatest surprise in the minds
of European artists, is their extraordinary
fertility and readiness of invention—a fer-
tility which produces such an apparently
endless and astonishing variety of design
and arrangement. Sir Rutherford Alcock
says that, “ of the thousands of cheap
fans now scattered over Europe, he doubts
whether two would be found exactly alike.”
It is this extreme love for producing
variety, united to their graphic power of
faithfully representing natural objects with
every variation of form, movement, and
expression, which is at the root of all Japan.
ese art. In going to nature for their inspir.
ation they have perceived that no two parts
are exactly alike, even to the two halves of
a leaf-that all is unstudied and irregular,
producing endless variety both in form and
colouring. But they have not failed to go
further than the mere surface of things,
and have discovered that, beneath all this
irregularity and apparent confusion in nature
there exists the strictest geometrical pre-
cision and regularity. Upon these two
opposite and seemingly contradictory prin-
ciples the Japanese have founded their art.
They shun an equality of parts, or rather
the appearance of an equality of parts—
* Art and Art Industries of Japan, by Sir Rutherford Alcock.
2 Ibid.
weighing with the steelyard B, instead of the
scales A, Fig. 119; and although they give
...; y - I -
weight and bal Fig. 119.
j . .
I | Ö
diametrical
vision, therefore they reject the division
of Fig 120, and adopt that of Fig. 121:
ance in another
way, it is not
by uniformity.
They dislike
di-
frequently - -
- - Fig. 120. Fig. 121.
going still
further by
following the
precedent of
Nature, who
never repeats
herself either
in spangling the skies with stars or the
While, on
the other hand, symmetrical arrangements
earth with daisies, Fig. 122.
Fig. 122. Fig. 123.
are not discarded by them, and geometrical
diapers (Fig. 123) are adopted whenever it
suits their purpose. Many of their diapers
are the same as those used by the Chinese,
some of which will be found illustrated on
pages 61, 62.
The Japanese do not appear to have
any precise rules for their guidance in
their compositions; but they usually attain
a happy blending of the regular with the
irregular—the symmetrical with the unsym-


}apanese Ormamentation.
67
metrical. At one time the sole ornamenta-
tion of an object consists simply of a bird on
a branch of bamboo (Fig. 124); at another,
Fig. 124.
the whole surface is entirely covered with
elaborate ornamentation, circles and other
forms being arranged in a perfectly regular
manner, yet variety is obtained by the way
in which these forms are filled in, or by the
arrangement of the subsidiary ornamentation.
Their natural love of the irregular is still
dominant.
used, they are broken off abruptly, or are
left in parts uncompleted. At other times
the colours are varied, or the diaper is cut
When geometrical diapers are
into some prescribed form, but repetition
is seen and acknowledged as one of the
means of obtaining beauty. The regular is
sometimes maintained by the bringing of the
irregular into geometrical forms; as when
birds and foliage are arranged in circles,
squares, hexagons, or other figures—for
example, the bamboo in Plate 24, No. 2.
The regularity of the circle is occasionally
broken by the overlapping of another circle,
Plate 23, No. 7; or it is bent over the edge
of the object. Their power of thus obtain-
ing variety is apparently unlimited. They
never appear to be long of one mind, but are
always seeking for change in design; at the
same time they invariably retain an artistic
balance, either by form, colour, or plain
space. Variety is the distinguishing char-
acter of Japanese work, yet it never fails in
symmetry; though in what constitutes sym.
metry these artists have a very different
feeling from what we have.
The arts in Japan may be said to depend
in an eminent degree upon the picturesque,
though rarely to reach the pictorial. That
is to say, the Japanese never produce a
| picture, because the principal element of
pictorial art—light and shade—is wanting.
Art of the highest kind may, and often does,
exist without chiaroscuro, as in the com-
positions of Flaxman, which owe none of
their world-wide fame to light and shade or
colour. In the works of Japanese artists
may be observed the effects of light and dark,
somewhat akin to that of chiaroscuro,
rendered with much truth to nature, and a
dignified simplicity that many of our artists
would find it difficult to imitate.
In ability of drawing Japanese examples
vary greatly; therefore it is of the utmost
consequence to the art student to know
what to study. Many
of their rocks, skies,
and water appear to
be borrowed directly
from the Chinese, and
are represented purely
in their own conven-
tional and peculiar
manner; but their rendering of birds, plants,
and flowers (Figs. 125 and 126), fish and
insects, is marvellously true to
nature, and all done with the
lightest touch of the brush. Cranes,
storks, ducks, and geese (Fig. 127)
have all their characteristic move-
ments hit off with wonderful pre-
When, however, we
Fig. 125.
Fig. 126.
cision and fidelity.
come to the higher class of drawing, as
in the human figure, we find a deficiency.


ja/anese Orname/l/a/ion.
69
other compound colours, which they use in
grounds and large masses generally
The principles of surface decoration
adopted by the Japanese can nowhere be
better seen than in their lacquer ware, which
exhibits the greatest fertility of invention.
The manner in which flowers and birds
are bent and twisted over surfaces is highly
curious, as also the
way they suggest
ideas for shapes—
sometimes so true to
nature as to make
one wonder at the
draughtsman's skill,
in others so highly
conventionalized as
to make one doubt
the authority. Haw-
thorn, blackthorn
(Fig. 130), bamboo,
and rush are very
common and characteristically rendered, as
also cranes and tortoises, and landscapes
touched in golden outline.
Small round ornaments are very popular
in Japan, probably from their resemblance
to the crests or badges of the daimios—
forms defended by law, in the same way as
lions rampant and dragons displayed, are
popular among ourselves. It is curious that
nearly all these badges (Fig. 131 A,B,C,D,E)
should be derived from floral ornaments,
Japanese heralds being doubtless guided by
some principle—for in a first book for
children may be found a popular badge in its
conventional form, with a plant it is derived
from, E, Fig. 131. A red sun, or rather a red
ball, as we should call it, is the emblem of
the empire of Japan, and is seen frequently
in their books, as well as on their official
documents.
Their belief in the air being peopled with
evil spirits causes the Japanese artists to
bring in dragons and other imaginary
animals into their decoration and carvings.
They represent the typhoon as a horrid
dragon tearing up the earth and sea; thunder
and lightning they depict as a grotesque
demon, with a mallet or stick in each hand,
beating half a dozen cymbals arranged in a
circle over his head; and the winds, as an
old man of sinister aspect, with an inflated
bag on his shoulders, allowing the wind to
escape from the corners, which are held by his
hands. They have many other demons of a
similar character, some of which, like the
Chinese, they carve upon their buildings as
a protection against others.
The Chinese are known to have been
skilled as engravers upon wood and metal
long before Europe had dreamed of tomes
in black-letter; but who, a few years ago,
would have ventured to claim for Japan also,
a similar priority in colour-printing? Yet
this appears really to be the case; for in no
instance do their specimens bear evidence
of having been copied from anything done
in the western world, being hand-proofs,
worked in flat tints, without a press.
If their printing excites our surprise, what
shall we say of their paper? Certainly we
have nothing like that article which plays
so important a part in Japanese life, serving
a hundred purposes unknown to us: alike
protecting them and their houses from wind
and weather; windows, coats, and handker-


18


70
in Design.
Sugges/ions
chiefs being all made out of that substance.
It is not manufactured from rags, as our
papers are, but of the bark of the paper
mulberry, which furnishes an article much
tougher than ours. The toughness and
pliability of this paper is surprising, espe-
cially in the thinner sorts. The papers by
which their walls or screens are covered
internally exhibit great originality, variety,
and striking effects of colour and pattern.
In pottery, as in some other arts, the
Japanese greatly excel Europeans. The
ornamentation of their works, of whatever
kind, is skilfully adapted from nature, and
is rendered in a striking and appropriate
manner peculiar to themselves. In the art
of enamelling, especially in that sort known
as “cloisonné,” they are very proficient.
But whether it be porcelain, leather, paper,
wood, stone, metal, textile fabrics, or any
other material, the skill displayed in the
decoration of these various substances is
worthy of all praise. In artistic feeling they
possess much of which our works are often
lamentably deficient. The ease and facility
which are so apparent in Japanese drawing,
when contrasted with some of our own stiff
and laboured productions, are qualities that
we may look upon with envy and wisely
seek to imitate.
At the same time, in the examination of
Japanese art, we must be careful to dis-
criminate between that which is worthy of
imitation and that which is vicious in prin-
ciple. For there can be no greater mistake
than to suppose, because we find such subtle
art feeling among the Japanese, that there-
fore all their work must be equally good.
Those who have taken up Japanese art, and
who affect the manner of the Japanese in
their own works, will probably, like most
copyists, be more liable to seize upon
and reproduce their errors rather than to
The object,
therefore, of every art-student should be
catch their better qualities.
not to copy, but to seek inspiration at the
same fount that they have sought theirs—
nature; and then to embody his conceptions
in his own way, after having learned what
he can, not only from the Japanese, but from
every other available source.
PLATE 22.
No. 1. Aquatic birds and river plants, all full of
expression. Japanese treatment of circular figures
is very various.
No. 2. An unsymmetrical arrangement of inter-
laced lilies.
No. 3. A wheel or spring form, as if in movement.
No. 4. A curious diaper of conventional birds
swimming on water, represented as looking down
upon them.
No. 5. Birds as seen in rain.
No. 6. Sections of flowers unsymmetrically ar-
ranged.
No. 7. Bird pattern arranged symmetrically.
No. 8. Birds and flower brought into a circle.
No. 9. Butterfly diaper; the insects being placed
bi-symmetrically and counterchanged in colours.
No. 10. Square on octagonal form, placed on the
key or fret diaper, similar to what is found in the
Chinese, Fig. 112.
No. 11. Conventional flower decoration.
No. 12. Natural flowers on a conventional form.
PLATE 23.
No. 1 presents an interesting example of the
symmetrical arrangements which are occasionally
met with. It embraces a great variety of objects,
very cleverly disposed and full of life, as if on the
sea-shore: a crab in the centre, with lobsters on each
side, dolphins and flying-fish; one of the flying-fish
forming the centre over the crab being represented
skimming the distant water and approaching towards
us. The breakers on the shore are very conven-
tionally rendered, giving the whole an odd mixture
and quaint conceit, which is far from being un-
pleasing.


j'affanese Ornamentation.
71
No. 2. Classic forms imitative of Greek or Roman
furniture are sometimes met with in Japanese
works, as in this example, which represents a tripod-
chair in which is placed a vase of flowers. It is
probably a recollection from books shown them by
missionaries or others from the West. An imi-
tative people are sure to be struck with any new
form they may see.
No. 3 contains some of their peculiar fret-forms
growing from a bulb, the whole being arranged in
the form of a trefoil issuing from a circle.
No. 4 is a conventional and yet lifelike arrange-
ment of interlaced fish surrounded by a narrow
border of water, which partakes of the general
outline, and by its dark colour throws up the fish
with great distinctness.
No. 5 is somewhat of the same character as No.
3, taking up the vase-form, which is filled in with
fret and leaf ornaments.
No. 6 is a landscape, with bird of prey evidently
intent upo the fish, which is attempting to ascend
the cascade. The sun with clouds, the gnarled trunk
of the tree, and the plants in the foreground are all
worth noticing, and are highly characteristic of
Japanese art when representing nature.
No. 7 shows two overlapping circles, as may have
been suggested by seals or coins. The first contains
a fan, with a floor indicated by fret-work, and the
sky studded with stars. The underlying circle has
a wheel form of eight arms indicated in two colours.
Pattern upon pattern, and form upon form, is by no
means uncommon in Eastern art, but the way
in which circular patches are placed upon frets and
grounds is peculiar to China and Japan.
PLATE 24.
No. 1. Four-petalled flowers contained in contin-
uous vesicas, the colours alternately change on each
side the centre line.
ribbon border.
The lower margin contains a
No. 2. Hexagonal figure formed with bamboo,
the articulations of the stem forming the angles,
from three of which issue a triple arrangement of
leaves, the centre ones meeting in the centre of the
circle and the lateral ones turning down to the
unoccupied angles. The ground is spread with
flowers irregularly.
No. 3 is a hexagon with three spirally-formed
petals, alternating with what are apparently meant
for stamens.
No. 4. Fans, a damio's device. An odd admixture
of animal and vegetable life, among which is seen a
portion of a sculptured head in bas-relief. The
birds among the reeds, the animal climbing a tree,
the mermaid and her offspring, and the triple
arrangement of the leaves of the water-lily, each of
which also contains the flower, but, above all, the
poor old horse standing shivering in the wind up to
his fetlocks in rank coarse grass, which is evi-
dently not inviting to his palate-all show what
intensity of expression these artists are able to
throw into comparatively minor objects. Not a
line out of place or that could be spared.
No. 5 is a fret diaper in two colours, carried
diagonally by a Z-like line.
No. 6 is a leaf border with fret edge on a matted
ground.
No. 7 is a treble diagonal key-fret border, with
zigzag edges and circles in the intervals.
No. 8 contains one of these extraordinary con-
ventional birds, which, although so unlike anything
in nature, is yet full of life and vigour. The
clouds are indicated by curiously formed curly out-
lines.
No. 9 is a border formed of the nautilus, sailing
on a conventional sea, with the sand of the sea-shore
in the foreground, and curiously formed clouds
above.
No. 10 has a triple leaf-formed arrangement, with
a spur or three-pronged figure in the centre.
No. 11. An S-form on an oval flower.
No. 12 represents a tortoise and aquatic animals
among reeds and bamboo.
No. 13. Fish with water and land back-ground.
Nothing seems to come amiss to the Japanese,_
every form in nature is introduced in some shape or
other. Whatever does not in any way accord with
their ideas of the beautiful is altered by them at
once, and rendered in their own odd, conventional
manner.


72 Sugges/ions in ZOesign.
C H A P T E R XII.
INDIAN ORN AMENTATION.
examples of its ancient art
:::::::::::::::: ºft which are still extant, render
the examination and study of the architec-
ture and ornament of India a difficult and
extremely intricate subject. Instead of one
style of architecture, many styles have ex-
isted, some of which commenced many cen-
turies before our era. And there is the
further difficulty, that we possess scarcely
any documents to assist in unravelling the
large and truly tangled skein of the history
of Indian art.
Mr. Fergusson, our highest authority on
Indian architecture, says: “One of the
greatest difficulties that exists—perhaps the
greatest—in exciting an interest in Indian
antiquities arises from the fact, that India
has no history properly so called, before the
Mahommedan invasion in the 13th century.
Had India been a great united kingdom, like
China, with a long line of dynasties and well
recorded dates attached to them, the task
would have been comparatively easy, but
nothing of the sort exists or ever existed
within her boundaries. On the contrary, so
far as our knowledge extends, India has
always been occupied by three or four
different races of mankind, who have never
amalgamated so as to become one people,
* History of Indian and Eastern Architecture—a valuable work,
to which we are much indebted for the material of this chapter.
and each of these races have been again sub-
divided into numerous tribes or small nation-
alities, nearly, sometimes wholly, inde-
pendent of each other—and what is worse
than all, not one of them ever kept a chron-
icle or preserved a series of dates commenc-
ing from any well-known era.” This absence
of any historical record is the more remark-
able, because India possesses a written
literature of great variety and extent.
At a very remote period, supposed to be
about 3000 years B.C., the Aryans, a people
coming from Central Asia, entered India
across the Upper Indus. About six or seven
centuries before Christ Buddha was born,
although Buddhism did not become the
state religion until about 250 B.C. With the
adoption of Buddhism, temples and other
works, which previously had been of wood,
were erected in stone. From this period,
therefore, we have a series of architectural
monuments handed down to us which are
Buddhist in style, and are so for five or six
centuries after that time, when Buddhism
ceased to be the religion of the country.
Then arose the architecture of the Jains,
but the religion of the Buddhists and that
of the Jains are so similar that the style of
their architecture and their sculptures are
almost identical.
These early remains are very numerous,
and consist of structural buildings and cave
temples cut out of the solid rock. The


Amalian Ormamentation.
73
character of the former is that of great
elaboration of ornament, the entire surface
of the structure being covered with sculp-
tured work. The caves are cut out in exact
imitation of the interior of an actual structural
building. The most interesting of these are
the Chaitya Halls, or places of worship of
the early Buddhists. They are exact coun-
terparts of the churches of the Christians,
not only in form
but in use. One
of the oldest of
these, probably
executed before
the Christian era,
is situated at a
place called Bhaja.
Fig. 133 is a plan
and Fig. 134 a
transverse section
of this Chaitya
Hall. It is 60
feet in length, and in the form of nave
and aisles, with a semicircular end, in the
Fig. 133.
axis of which is a dagoba
or altar.
These caves ap-
pear to imitate wooden
structural buildings, and in
their details are a transition
from the use of wood to
The ceilings, which are semicircular
in the centre and a quadrant of
a circle for the aisles, have ribs
cut in the rock, but which are
evidently copied from the wooden
forms of previous structures. In
front was a wooden screen, which
has now disappeared, but the
holes to receive its posts and the
mortises by which it was attached to the
stonework are still there.
Stone.
Fig. 132.
Many other Chaitya caves exist, the
largest and finest of which is at Karli on
the road between Bombay and Poonah. In
plan and section it is very similar to the
one already described, consisting of a nave
and aisles terminating in an apse round
It is 126 feet
long by 45 feet 7 inches in width, but it is
which the aisle is carried.
only about 45 feet from the floor to the apex.
Fifteen pillars on
each side separate
the nave from the
aisles; each pillar
has a tall base, an
octagonal shaft,
and richly Orna-
mented capital, on
which kneel two
elephants, each
bearing two fig-
ures, all very much
better executed
than such ornaments usually are. Above this
springs the roof, semicircular in general sec-
tion, and ornamented, even now, by a series
of wooden ribs probably coeval with the ex-
cavation. Immediately under the semi-dome
of the apse, and nearly where the altar would
stand in a Christian church, is placed the
dagoba. The general effect of these Chaitya
caves will be more clearly understood by
Fig. 134, which represents the interior of
the Bisma Kurm, at Ellora. This indicates
the stone-ribbed ceiling of the nave, with
the dagoba, containing a sitting figure of
Buddha, in the semi-circular apse.
These peculiarities are found more or less
developed in all the other caves of the same
class in India, varying only with the age and
the gradual change that took place from the
purely wooden forms that prevail in these





19


74 Suggestions in Design.
ancient caves to the stone architecture in
the more modern ones.
Other caves, called Viharas, were formed
with a central hall, with cells
around, as in Fig. 135, from
Ajunta. They were a species
of monasteries for the Budd-
hist priests or hermits. Such
monasteries were also fre-
quently erected in regular
structural buildings, and of several stories
in height.
Besides the caves already described,
others have not only been excavated in-
ternally, but have been carved and formed
on the outside as well, so as to present the
appearance of buildings erected in the usual
way. Of these the rock-cut temple at Ellora,
known as the Kylas, is one of the most
notable examples. It belongs to the ninth
or tenth century. In describing the Kylas
Mr. Fergusson says that, “it is not a mere
interior chamber cut in the rock, but is a
model of a complete temple, such as might
have been erected on the plain. In other
words, the rock has been cut away externally
as well as internally, but in cutting away the
rock around it to provide an exterior, the
whole has necessarily been placed in a pit.”
This difficulty has been avoided in the Raths
or pagodas of Mahavellipore, as these were
hewn out of enormous boulders of granite
which were found lying near the sea-shore.
They present the appearance of perfect iso-
lated structures, and are supposed to be as
early as the tenth century.
Among the monuments which have been
left by the Buddhists none are more interest-
ing than those which are called topes The
most extensive group of these is that known
as the Bhilsa Topes, from a town of that
name in the kingdom of Bhopal, near which
they are situated. The group comprises about
twenty-five or thirty examples, and the
principal one among them is known as the
great tope at Sanchi. Little is known
regarding their object, but it is supposed
that they were for containing precious relics,
or to mark some spot sanctified by the pre-
sence or by some act of Buddha. The tope
at Sanchi, constructed about 500 B.C., con-
sists of a solid dome somewhat less than a
hemisphere, 106 feet in diameter and 42 feet
in height. On its top is a flat space about
34 feet in diameter, formerly surrounded by
a stone railing, some parts of which are still
lying there; and in the centre of this once
stood a feature known to Indian archaeolo-
gists as a tee.
The whole was surrounded by stone rails,
which inclosed a space of about 140 feet
in diameter. These rails are supposed to
have been erected about 250 B.C. There
are also four gateways, or torums, as they
are more properly called. Of these the
south gateway is the oldest, dating about
10 A.D." These gateways are covered with
the most elaborate sculptures both in front
and rear, representing various scenes in
Buddhist mythology. They are formed of
two upright square posts in stone and three
horizontal beams above, slightly arched
in the centre, extending considerably beyond
the uprights, and looking like a gigantic piece
of timber-work which has been imitated and
copied in stone. But it is the sculptures and
ornamentation, which are executed with
great care and minuteness, that cause these
gateways, very deservedly, to be considered
excellent examples of Indian art at one
1 A cast of the eastern gateway from this tope has now been placed
in the South Kensington Museum. It is supposed to have been
erected a little later than the south gateway.
-
*
:


Amaiazz Ornamentation.
75
of its best periods. The front of one of the
piers of the eastern gateway, for they are
all different, is divided
into stories containing
figures with columns in
bas-relief, and among
these we perceive the two-
headed capital,
to those found at Perse-
similar
polis. There are other
parts which strongly re-
one of Assyrian
The side of one of
mind
work.
the piers or uprights is
filled in with foliage (Fig. 136), consisting of
large flowers probably meant for water-lilies,
and some of
the spaddrels
betweenthem
are composed
of the lotus,
having a.
headed serpent or naga. The top rails are
held in their position by tenons cut on the
top of the pillars, and the rails, which are
lens-shaped, are slipped into holes prepared
to receive them on either
side of the pillars, the
whole showing an essen-
Fig. 137.
tially wooden construction.
These rails play an im-
portant part in Buddhist ar-
chitecture, and upon them
the workman lavished the
utmost resources of his art. The rail which
has been discovered at Amravati, of which
some portions are preserved in the India
Museum, is covered with intricate ornament
and elaborate
sculpture of
a most inter-
esting char-
acter.
|
There are
strong resem- various other
blance to the styles of In-
Assyrian– dian architec-
(Plate 5, No. ture, differing
2). These essentially
and other Fig. 138–Great Temple at Bhobaneser. from those
parts evidently point to a certain amount
of classical origin.
The rails that surround the topes to which
these gateways are the entrances, are also
formed in stone and put together after the
manner of wood-work, and are frequently
very richly sculptured. The rail at the
Sanchi tope is quite plain, but in a smaller
one in the same group circular discs are
added in the centre of each pillar and half
discs at top and bottom (Fig. 137). The
pillars are octagonal, and the discs are
carved with roses, animals, and the five-
of the rock-cut temples and topes, and in
which the buildings are regularly constructed
of solid masonry. Of these it will be suf-
ficient to mention the great temple of Bhob-
aneser as the type of many others (Fig. 138),
which seems almost certainly to have been
built by Zelat Indra Kesari, who reigned
from A.D. 617 to 657—and taking it all in
all it is perhaps the finest example of a
purely Hindu temple in India.
The Hindus, although they frequently
used the arch form for their roofs, never
erected them upon the true principle of an


76 Suggestions in ZOesign.
arch, with radiating voussoirs or truncated ever, the bearing is long, the weight is
wedges, but invariably kept the beds of their
stonework horizontal, as seen in the well-
known example of the Treasury at Mycenae.
It was, in fact, a series of brackets or corbels,
ri. Iso advancing towards each other as
~
they rise, and at last closed in with
a single stone; the internal surface
being then worked to an arched
form. The capitals of their piers
or columns were all again formed upon the
same principle, that is, by brackets, to reduce
the intermediate
space to be spanned
by the flat stone
beam, Fig. 139
Even a kind of
stone strut, which
is often found rising
from the columns,
is formed by a series
of S-shaped brack-
ets joined together.
The Jaina domes,
ceilings, and curved
roofs, which are extremely numerous, are
all formed upon the same horizontal or
bracketing system.
The temple of Vimala Sah, on Mount
Aboo, is one of the most perfect and
beautiful of the Jaina temples. It is
constructed wholly in white marble, and
dates from about the year 1032 A.D. Fig. 140,
which represents a portion of the dome and
the pillars supporting it, will give some
general idea of Indian bracket construction.
The columns finish with the usual bracket
capital, from which an upper portion is
carried up with additional brackets, and
upon these rest the great beams or archi-
traves which support the dome. As, how-
Fig. 140. –Vimala Sah, Jaina Temple, Mount Aboo.
relieved by the curious shaped strut or truss
formed of S-shaped brackets, mentioned
above, which, springing from the lower
capital, seems to support the middle of the
beam.
In the early part of the thirteenth century
the country was conquered by the Moham-
medans, who at once commenced erecting
mosques upon a grand scale, or altering
native temples to suit the purposes of their
own religion. From that time a Saracenic
or Moorish char-
acter was ingrafted
upon the native
Hindu styles, and
the Moorish arch
was introduced.
But the native ar-
tists, who were
largely employed by
their new masters,
constructed it at
first upon the hori-
zontal principle, and
it was not until a later period that they
learned the manner of erecting a true arch
by the aid of voussoirs.
The bulbous domes of the Moors, as well
as many other features, were also introduced
at this period, and a new style was, in course
of time, engendered which in many respects
differed essentially from the ancient Hindu
which had hitherto prevailed in India. In
this fresh development, which was mainly
due to Saracenic influences, there arose an
extreme fondness for inlay with precious
stones and coloured marbles, and decoration
of every kind was carried to the utmost
exuberance and elaboration.
After the Mohammedan conquest many


Audian Orname/l/a/ion.
77
powerful dynasties were established, among
the most splendid of which was that of the
Moguls, which commenced about A.D. 1494.
and had its seat at Delhi. The palace
of the Moguls at Delhi built by Shah Jehan,
is, or rather was, the most magnificent palace
in the East—perhaps in the world. It
measures 1600 feet
east and west by 3200
feet north and south.
Many other palaces
were erected pre-
viously to that at
Delhi, at Agra and
by
Akbar, who reigned
from 1556 to 1605,
and who was one of
the greatest builders
of his race. The
palace at Allahabad,
which was the favour-
other places
ite residence of this
has been
obliterated,
its materials being
monarch,
nearly
Fig. 141.-Interi
used to repair the fortifications. But in
spite of English desecration the plan of the
great hall can still be made out.
Besides their magnificent palaces, each
Mogul emperor in India, like the Egyptians
of old, appears to have employed himself in
building his own tomb. Of these, many
beautiful examples still remain, which amply
testify to the skill and extraordinary talents
of the architects and sculptors of that time.
One of the most justly celebrated as well
as the most elegant is the Taje Mahal at
Agra, erected by Shah Jehan as the mauso-
It is
almost impossible to convey an idea of the
leum of his queen Muntaz Mahal.
the
extreme beauty and delicacy of this monu-
ment, or of its complexity of design.
Beautiful as it is in itself, the Taje would
lose half its charm if it stood alone. It is its
combination with other works—the platform
on which it stands, with its tall minarets,
and the perfect manner in which each is
subordinated to the
other—which makes
up a whole that can-
not be matched again
in the world. The
mausoleum proper is
surmounted by a
dome 58 feet in dia-
meter and 80 feet in
height, and the light
is admitted through
double screens of
white marble trellis
work, of the most
exquisite design, one
on the outer and one
on the inner face of
the These
serve to temper the
glare that would otherwise have been in-
-
Mahal at Agra.
walls.
tolerable in a building composed entirely of
white marble.
The interior is represented in Fig. 141. In
the centre of this apartment, and seen in the
softened gloom of the subdued light, is the
octagonal inclosure formed by a rich screen
of perforated work of white marble, within
which stand the tombs—that of Muntaz
Mahal in the centre and of Shah Jehan on
one side. These tombs, as well as the
screens which surround them, are exquisite
examples of that system of inlaying with
precious stones which became the great
characteristic of the style of the Moguls after



20


78
Suggestions in /9esign.
the death of Akbar.
“All the spandrels of the Taje, all the angles
and more important architectural details, are
heightened by being inlaid with precious
stones, such as agates, bloodstones, jaspers,
and the like, combined in wreaths, scrolls and
frets, as exquisite in design as beautiful in
colour, and relieved by the pure white marble
in which they are inlaid.”
From this cursory glance at the architec-
ture of India, and the illustrations of it
Mr. Fergusson says,
which have been given,
it will be understood
that it consists of a
series of styles, extend-
ing over a vast period
of time. That these
various styles natur-
played upon them. The buildings look like
sculptured rocks; indeed it may be said that
they are really so. For, apart from those
temples which are carved externally as well
as internally out of the living rock, these
indefatigable Hindu workers seem to have
piled up mountains of stone in flat layers or
beds like the natural rock itself, in the same
manner as the Egyptians piled up their
pyramids. Then commencing at the apex,
as in the great temple at Seringham, and
many other examples,
they proceeded to
carve, literally, every
inch of space with
figures and elaborate
ornament until they
F-F-T-
reached the ground;
ally form two great
divisions, each of
which is perfectly
distinct and separate
from the other: 1. Hindu Architecture,
which embraces the whole of the periods
previous to the Mohammedan conquest;
and, 2, the architecture subsequent to that
conquest, and extending to the present time,
which may be more properly distinguished
as Indo-Saracenic.
What one is more particularly struck with,
is the extraordinary lavishness of labour,
the wonderful elaboration of the ornamenta-
tion, combined with the utmost luxuriance
of fancy, the picturesqueness of outline,
and the grandeur of the masses which Hindu
architecture displays. In most instances
the architectural forms are very simple, some-
times consisting almost entirely of very
steep roofs or lofty domes, apparently
adopted for the sole purpose of showing
how much sculpture and carving can be dis-
Fig. 142. – Tomb of Shah Jehan in the Taje Mahal.
and whatever the
amount of ornamen-
tation, it very seldom
obtruded itself so as
º Cº-
to destroy the dignity or impair the general
form of the structure which it enriched.
Whatever the sect or religion, they carried
out their works in the most durable of
materials, and spared neither time nor
labour even in modern times. Whether
the material was granite, amygdaloid trap,
or marble, the work had to be wrought into
the most intricate and difficult forms, often-
times into the most elegant and delicate
tracery. A window in a desecrated mosque
at Ahmedabad—in form a slightly pointed
arch—has tracery representing three ordi-
nary trees and four palms, their branches,
leaves, and flowers extending over its whole
surface. Mr. Fergusson says, “It would be
difficult to excel the skill with which the
vegetable forms are conventionalized just to
the extent required for the purpose.”


Indian Ornamentation.
79
Among plants the lotus was constantly
used by the Buddhists, and evidently had a
typical and symbolical meaning. The large
roses or pateras, found on the rails and on
the gateways of the topes, were striking
and conspicuous forms of ornament. String-
courses and bands formed of minute repre-
sentations of the rails surrounding the topes,
are of frequent occur-
Fig. 143.
rence, consisting of two
horizontal
beads with square cross-
bands at intervals (Fig.
143). The large horse-shoe windows that
lighted their Chaitya Halls was another con-
structive form which was turned into orna-
ment. Continuous beads or pearlings are
often met with, as in the border lines formed
of them in Figs. 145, 146, also beads at inter-
vals carved out of a
horizontal bead (Fig.
144); four-petalled
roses placed in a hol-
or three
low at intervals, Fig.
145. Another exam-
ple consists of roses
with intermediate
ones coming partially
behind the others, Fig.
146. Other varieties
have one edge of each
rose concealed by the next. The flowing
line shown in Fig. 147 is frequent, and the
Fig. 147. continuous
scroll is not un-
The
Assyrian hon-
ey-suckle and
lotus is found on the capital of a commem-
orative pillar at Allahabad, and capitals hav-
ing a strong resemblance to the Corinthian
COIn In On.
have been found in a monastery at Jamal-
giri, pointing evidently to a classical origin.
Upon the lower part of the tope at Sar-
nath, near Benares, Fig. 148.
is a very ingenious E^2 Kºſº
- - º: "R NNRTITI,
and singular diaper +. +:NNH;
MT T Lºſ
the |- "4 – º --
stone work, con- | H.T. NºHºº!
|+ º
| - -I
§: TV. ---
| º
sisting of a geo-
metrical Tºl- *L*
N t | H
tricacy, a portion }S Hºl
of which is represented by Fig. 148. Many
wrought in
arrange-
ment of great in-
of the ornaments upon the Buddhist remains
are emblems, conspicuously among which
may be often observed the five and seven
headed maga or serpent, the suastika (see
Fig. 55), and a triformed ornament called
the trisul.
In the inlay work of the later Mogul
period the beauty of the design is beyond
all praise, and is often of the most elaborate
description, representing all kinds of flowers
worked in the most skilful manner in precious
stones, the stones being carefully picked for
each particular leaf or petal, so that all shad-
ing of the surface of the leaves is obtained
by the graduated natural colour of the stones
themselves. Fig. 149 represents a portion
of an inlaid border
Fig. 149.
of modern work-
manship. Native
artists appear to
have a natural
instinct common
to most eastern nations for producing really
art works, and they still are gifted even at
the present time, when uninfluenced by
European ideas, to an extraordinary degree.
In modern carving, as in Fig. 150, which is
from a carved sandal-wood box in the India


8()
Sugges/lous in /9esign.
Museum, we perceive the same feeling and
artistic delicacy that is found in works exe-
cuted centuries before
Our Gra.
When we turn to
woven fabrics, for the
dia has been justly
celebrated for many
centuries, we observe
the same fulness and
elaboration of ornament that we perceive
in their carvings and inlays; added to which
their warm and harmonious colouring gives
them a quiet richness and charm which is
particularly agreeable. In fabric ornament
the Indian pine enters more into the designs
than almost any other form, and has been
worked out in thousands of variations both
of minute detail and colour: sometimes by
repetition in borders or diaper work, at
others as the central feature of an elaborate
floral composition.
The outlines of modern Indian ornamen-
tation are often ungraceful, although the
filling in is usually extremely rich and ingen-
ious. Plant form is frequently very elegantly
conventionalized,
flower often met with, resembling the car-
especially a branching
nation, as in No. 12, Plate 25, the whole
flower flowing with its leaflets after the
manner of a feather. Flowing lines with a
repeated conventional flower, as in No. 13,
Plate 26, are very characteristic both in
modern carving and woven fabrics.
PLATE 25.
No. 1. Upright outline ornamentation of con-
ventional forms, which have occasionally a slight
resemblance to the classic. Often again filled in
with minute detail.
No. 2. Conventional growing ornament.
beauty of which In-
No. 3.
Vase and flowers, arranged after the
manner of a branching tree.
Nos. 4 and 5. Foliated sprigs.
No. 6. Superficial pattern, for woven fabric in
colours.
No. 7. Pear and heart shaped ornament, with
flowers slightly varied from nature.
No. 8. Pine-cone section, for shawl or other woven
fabric.
No. 9. Symmetrical and non-symmetrical or-
nament combined in symmetrical outline, for colour.
No. 10. Symmetrical growing pattern, for raised
work or for two colours.
No. 11. Symmetrical disjointed pattern, for raised
work, inlay or colour.
No. 12. Flowing feather-formed flower border, for
colour.
No. 13. Border of alternating and flowing triple
leaf in red and gold.
PLATE 26.
No. 1. Cross arrangement of heart-formed leaves,
diapered with foliage.
No. 2. Upright branch-leaved ornament.
No. 3. Foliated heart-form symmetrical ornament.
No. 4. Surface decoration growing from central
octafoil filled in with cross form and foliage. The
star completed by eight lobes of leaf form.
Nos. 5 and 6. Sprigs conventionalized from
nature.
Nos. 7 and 8. Upright patterns of symmetrical
ornament for coloured decoration or inlay.
Nos. 9 and 10. Flowing and upright borders, for
lace or other delicate work.
No. 11. Border to use any way. Red ornament
with gold bead or pearled outline upon black.
No. 12. Disjointed diamond border in blue, white,
and gold.
No. 13. Flowing wave-line flower and leaf
border for carving in low relief or inlay in hard
wood, the lines engraved and filled in black.
No. 14. Diagonal bordering filled in with double
pine and branched leaves. The following diagonal
form to be reversed so as to leave a triangle between
filled in with half leaf-form flower. -
Nos. 15 and 16. Sprig-form flowers on ornamental
forms. Indian detail fits one part into another so
that the whole surface is covered with minute
form or intricate combinations of colour.


Aºersian Ormamentation.
81
C H A P T E R XIII.
PEIRSIAN OBN AMENTATION.
ÉERSIA has existed as a separate
and independent kingdom from
a very remote period. The con-
::: # quests of Alexander the Great
in ancient times, and those of the Moguls,
the Arabs, and the Afghans in times more
recent, have each left this ancient king-
dom comparatively unchanged, not from
its power of resisting attacks, but from its
faculty of absorbing its conquerors; and
this long-continued national existence has
probably been favourable in developing art
among the people, for even before the time
of Alexander they had attained a very
high degree of perfection in architecture
and sculpture.
Art in Persia, as exemplified by the
ruins found at Persepolis and its neighbour-
hood, dates from a very remote age. These
ruins are probably nearly of the same age
as the works of the Assyrians excavated at
Nineveh, and they bear a strong resem-
blance to the latter.
Persepolis was the favourite residence of
some of the ancient Persian kings, and the
ruins found there are of great extent. The
remains of the palace of Darius and the
hall of Xerxes indicate a magnificence and
grandeur which must have been unequalled
when the buildings existed in their original
splendour. In some cases sculpture occurs
upon the walls and human-headed winged
bulls guard the entrances, which are almost
facsimiles of those found in Assyrian palaces.
But features have been discovered in the
architecture of Persepolis which are not
to be found at Nineveh, yet having such
affinity of character that what is found in the
one place assists in explaining much that is
wanting in the other; and this, together with
the correspondence in other features, shows
conclusively that the styles of Nineveh and
Persepolis are one and the same. Among
the most important of these missing forms
found at Persepolis, are columns which
have a double capital formed of the halves
of animals, but with bases Fig. 151.
and other parts which are º
similar to Assyrian work. gº
The explorations of Mr. [.
5.
ſ
Loftus at Susa have laid ºlºlººl
bare the foundations of a
palace almost identical with
tº
the palace of Xerxes at
Persepolis, and among these
ruins have been found col- |
umns of a similar character
(Fig. 151). Others are again
seen in the rock-cut tomb
of Darius at Naksh-i-Rus-
This form of capital
is also extremely interesting as pointing to
the evident origin of the double-headed
animal capitals found in the early Hindu
temples.
For
tam.
several centuries after the Arab



21


82 Sugges/ions
in /)esign.
conquest, which occurred A.D. 641, there is
a complete blank in the architectural history
of Persia. Scarcely any examples of work
from that period until about the thirteenth
century are known to exist. This arises
mainly from the circumstance that Persian
palaces were built of perishable materials
which have gone entirely to decay, the walls
being usually of sun-dried bricks, roofed
and covered with wood,
Among the oldest re.
mains of this period are
probably the ornamental
glazed tiles with which
the domes and walls
of the Mohammedan
mosques were decorated.
The mosques in which
this mode of protection
and decoration was
principally adopted are
among the few buildings
that remain. In some
cases the whole building,
both externally and inter-
nally, was covered with a
perfect mosaic of tiles or
glazed bricks, of brilliant colours and intri-
cate patterns. Colour has always been in
Persia a more essential element of architec-
tural magnificence than form, and but few
examples in any European style of orna-
mentation can, for richness, be compared
with that of Persia during its zenith in the
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries of our
Gra.
“Persia is in all probability the country
from which the Arabs derived the arts
afterwards developed by them in Spain and
elsewhere. The powerful khalifs of Bagdad
no doubt summoned to their court men of
science and learning from all the countries
under their sway, Persia furnishing them
with architects and other artists. Skilled
Persian workmen were no doubt employed
in large numbers in decorating the mosques
and palaces in the Arab capital, situated as
it was on the very frontier of their own
country. Thence, doubtless, arose the so-
called Arabian or Arabesque style of
ornament, afterwards so
widely spread and now
so well known. The
peculiar pendant orna-
mentation of vaults and
niches, of which the
Alhambra is so typical
an example, is identical
in style with that used
throughout Persia to
the present day. Speci-
mens have been found
of this species of con-
struction in the ruins
of Rhages, a city finally
destroyed six hundred
years ago. Persia, al-
ways an artistic country,
could hardly have borrowed it from her rude
conquerors.”
The most successful epoch of this form of
Persian art was during the reign of the great
Shah Abbas, which terminated in 1629.
His works rendered Ispahan one of the most
splendid and magnificent cities of the East.
Among these works, by far the most
celebrated was the great Maidan or bazaar,
with its accompanying mosque and other
subordinate buildings. It occupies an im-
mense rectangular area, 2600 by 700 feet;
the principal court measures 225 by 170
* Handboºk of Persian Art, by Major R. Murdoch Smith, R. E.


Persian Ornamentation.
83
feet, and is surrounded on all sides by
façades in the richest style of Persian poly-
chromatic decoration, the brilliancy of which
is almost unrivalled by any other example
of its class. The mosque is surmounted by
a dome 75 feet in diameter and externally
165 feet high. Of nearly the same period
and same style is the mosque of Sultan
Hussein at Ispahan, represented by Fig. 152.
The Persian princes showed great taste and
splendour in their palaces, but from the
character of the buildings they did not
admit of so much architectural display as
their mosques. They generally consisted of
a number of pavilions and detached halls,
with trees and gardens connected by covered
arcades or long lines of canals, and adorned
The various parts
were frequently of great beauty, and elabor-
ately ornamented, but were wanting in
with elegant fountains.
architectural grandeur.
The practice of decorating buildings in
Persia by encrusting them with tiles of
various patterns, both externally and inter-
nally, was very prevalent in early times, and
has continued in general use until the present
day. Different kinds of tiles, often embrac-
ing very elegant geometrical combinations,
are also in common use for floors, plinths,
and dados in private houses. The impression
produced was generally pleasing, and the
colouring was often brilliant and extremely
effective. The more ancient tiles had a
metallic lustre, and parts were sometimes
in relief. These were used principally for
embellishing the domes and walls of mosques
and other sacred buildings. They were in
some instances of great size, very elaborate,
and having Kufic inscriptions from the
Koran.
The smaller uninscribed tiles were com-
monly divided into various geometrical
figures and combinations, as in Fig. 153,
which is of an octa-
Fig. 153.
gonal star form and
glazed, the pattern
being in chocolate
and white. These
fit into and are com-
bined with rich dark
blue tiles of a cross
form, which fill up
the interstices left by the star-formed tiles,
forming a very agreeable and highly effective
pattern. Many of these tiles are as early as
the thirteenth century. In other cases the
tiles are all kept square, and
the figures or geometrical com-
binations are worked upon
the tiles themselves, each tile
forming a centre, as in Fig.
154, which is a diagonal cross
in dark blue upon a circle
and foliage in light green,
the ground being white; or
the design is carried on, as in
the example Fig. 155. The
general line on this tile is a frequent one in
Persian work, and may be called the alter-
nated tulip pattern. The colours are dark
blue and light green, on white ground.
The porcelain of Persia, although not
equal to that of China or Japan, is often of
great excellence. The Persians valued the
works of China highly, for numerous articles
are not only imitations but actual copies of
Chinese porcelain, and many of them bear
makers' marks in Chinese characters. The
art of pottery, however, gradually degener-
ated after the time of Shah Abbas, since
whose reign nothing of much value has been
produced. The earthenware of the present


84
Sugges/ions in 19esign.
day, as regards both materials and work-
manship, is of the commonest description.
That the knowledge of art has been long
widely spread among the Persians is shown
by the great pains they take to ornament
articles of daily use and of little intrinsic
value. The form of the object having been
decided upon, the whole surface is then
covered with of
various design in low relief. This practice is
elegant ornamentation
common to the Moors, Arabs, Indians, and
nearly all Eastern nations where the religion
of Mohammed prevails, and to the style to
which the general term Saracenic art may be
applied. An innate artistic feeling appears
to follow the course of Mohammedanism,
which enables the people to beautify an
object without distorting or twisting its
shape; a fault which is so common among
ourselves, under the mistaken idea of mak-
All their decoration
is flat and unobtrusive, full of ingenious
devices both of foliage and figures, and inter-
ing it more beautiful.
laced with the most extraordinary combina-
tions of geometrical lines.
The method of carving d jour, that is,
pierced, and without a ground, appears to
have been long practised in Persia, and is
still much employed in the ornamentation
of houses and other buildings, particularly
for doors and windows, as well as for
terrace balustrades and similar works.
Pierced ornamental work is also introduced
upon carved wooden boxes and other
articles. Some remarkable specimens of
this work are sherbet spoons carved in pear-
tree. They have large flat handles in orna-
mental pierced work with very deep and
thin bowls, which are partly supported
underneath and connected with the handle
by a kind of keel or rib in carved pierced
work. These spoons are made almost ex-
clusively at Abadeh, a large village in the
centre of Persia, and the only implement
employed in carving them is said to be an
ordinary penknife.
Many of the examples of Persian decor-
ation in metal work are as old as the Arab
conquest. The art is still practised by the
Persians at the present day with very little
diminution of its beauty, and the skilful
manner in which firearms, sword blades,
bits, and stirrups are engraved or damas-
cened is worthy of the highest praise.
The more remarkable examples of orna-
mentation in metal consist of a great variety
of objects elaborately engraved, with foliage
and figures, in geometrical divisions, and
covering nearly the entire surface, giving the
object a very rich and chaste appearance.
In this manner are decorated bowls, vases,
lamps and lamp-stands, hookahs, incense-
burners, and every variety of utensil and
These
are usually of steel, brass, or copper, and
vessel to which metal is applicable.
are often also pierced or damascened in
The example
Fig. 156 is an engraved border from the
silver or gold in addition.
Fig. 156.
edge of a bronze basin, the interstices of the
ornament being filled in with black varnish.
When the intervening spaces between the
foliage are cut away, the foliage is arranged
with connecting branches so as to support
itself. In the example Fig. 157, which
i


Aersian Ormamentafiom.
85
is from a brass incense-burner, and Fig.
158, from a brass lamp-stand, both from
the South Kensington Museum, the black
portions are entirely cut out, and engraving
introduced upon the flowers or animals
where necessary. These
are indeed works of very
great beauty. In addition
to the open work, engraved
medallions are frequent-
Fig. 157.
ly introduced, containing
hunting scenes and other
subjects, as well as in-
scriptions filled in with
black varnish or inlay of silver. The en-
graved medallions are introduced among
the pierced work, as
shown by Fig. 159,
which is from another
brass incense-burner.
Many of the minute
representations of men,
animals, and monsters
are highly artistic, and
are ingeniously interlaced with foliage and
scroll-work, separated by borders and en-
graved lines, or margins of geometrical or
nament or continuous scroll-work.
The people of Persia have long been
celebrated for their various kinds of tex-
tile fabrics, and more especially for their
carpets.
sleeping upon the ground naturally leads to
an extensive demand for fabrics specially
made to meet the requirements of that
The Persian habit of sitting and
custom. The designs for these articles are
very numerous, display
Fig. 160.
a remarkable facility of
and elegant appearance.
The conventional com-
of natural
flowers and the harmon-
binations
colours have
much sought
ious arrangements of their
caused these fabrics to be
after and highly valued by
Europeans. Fig. 160 repre-
sents a portion of a carpet
of simple but good design,
having red flowers and green
stems, on a white ground.
The border lines are of dark
brown. Fig. 161 is a con-
ventional form of frequent
occurrence, having red flowers and green
stem. The flowers are represented in outline
without any intermediate filling in.
In seal and gem engraving the Persians
are deservedly famous, and the art is exten-
sively practised on account of the universal
Eastern habit of sealing instead of signing
letters and documents. At the present day
pachas and other high personages in Turkey,
Egypt, and other countries, get their seals
engraved in Teheran.
In many Persian manuscripts, copies of
the Koran for example, the illuminations are
very beautifully and minutely worked out.
Frequently the first pages and headings of
chapters are extremely elaborate, the flowers
being usually represented very naturally, and





22


86 Sugges/ſons in /Design.
º
in their way are perfect works of art. A
number of these manuscripts may be seen in
the British Museum and the South Ken-
sington Museum.
The general lines of Persian ornamentation
are very similar in character to the Moorish
and Arabian styles, modified by a feeling
which is peculiar to Persia, and which has
again a strong affinity to Indian work. The
flora is more natural than the Moorish or
Arabian, and figures and animals are of fre-
quent occurrence, there being no restriction
as to their use among the Persians. The
whole surface of a work—whether it be a
building, a piece of metal, or a simple carpet
—is often literally covered with ornamen-
tation, no space is left unadorned, and yet no
one part is obtrusive or overpowers another.
All is in perfect keeping, and no part is
crowded or would bear to be omitted. It
may be described generally, as being subor-
dinate to the object ornamented, founded on
a geometrical basis, and nearly always limited
to the decoration of plain surface. These
are qualities, however, which are not con-
fined to Persia, but are found repeated in
Moorish work, as will be seen by the next
chapter.
PLATE 27.
No. 1. Pine-cone flaming ornament. Fire worship
has been a wide-spread superstition among the Per-
sians, hence the prevalence of flowing flame form.
Nos. 2 and 3. Conventional scroll engraved borders
for metal work, filled in with black varnish.
No. 4. Peacock on inverted vase. The spreading
tail is developed by eyes, which would be enriched
by the most brilliant colours, the breast of the bird
being contrasted by dark blue sheen of greenish
hue.
Nos. 5 and 6. Borders of conventional ornament,
which have a strong affinity to the Moresque.
These would be enriched by various colours, or
engraved on metal.
Nos. 7 and S. Small upright engraved ornaments.
Nos. 9, 10, and 11. Central ornaments for glazed
tiles or other works, with natural leaves of the ivy,
&c.
No. 12. Ornament for shawl or other textile
fabric; the colours being harmoniously blended and
intermingled as indicated by lines.
Nos. 13 and 14. Fanciful forms filled with char-
acteristic ornament, allied to the Indian, which it
frequently closely resembles.
CHA PTER x IV.
MooRISH OR SAIFRACTE NIC ORN AMENTATION.
iáOT only the elements, but
§ many of the characteristic fea-
tures of that style of archi-
| tecture usually called Moorish
or Moresque are found spread over the vast
extent of country reaching from the shores
of the Atlantic to the Bay of Bengal.
Known also as Arabian and Saracenic, we
find it developed in Arabia, Persia, India,
Turkey, Egypt, and Spain; in fact it was
the architecture of the Mohammedans modi-
fied according to the country in which they
settled, just as Gothic was the architecture
of the Christians.
Before the appearance of Mohammed and
the subsequent establishment of Islamism in


Moorish or Saracenic Ormamentation.
87
the seventh century, the Arabians were by no
means celebrated for their skill in architec-
ture. But the extraordinary conquests from
the Indus to the Nile under the Caliph
Omar the First, A.D. 636–44, brought the
victorious Moslems in contact with nations
much more civilized than themselves; and
as their empire extended, their love for the
arts and sciences increased. The ancient
city of Damascus, which became the seat
of the empire, was considerably enlarged
and vastly improved. Among its numerous
splendid buildings was the celebrated mosque
founded by Alwalid II., who introduced the
aminaret, which, though an innovation at the
time, seems in later years to have been as
necessary a portion of the mosque as the
main body of it. Great, however, as these
works were, the removal of the seat of the
empire to Bagdad, on the western frontier of
Persia, gave an impulse and a lustrø to
Arabian art which almost surpasses belief.
The powerful caliphs of Bagdad summoned
to their court men of science and learning
from all the countries under their sway,
Persia furnishing them largely with archi-
Skilled Persian
workmen were doubtless employed in large
numbers in decorating the mosques and
palaces in the Arab capital, situated as it
was on the very frontier of their own country.
This extraordinary city, which was founded
in A.D. 762, remained the imperial seat of
these Arabian caliphs for a period of five
hundred years.
The Moors were originally the people in-
habiting Mauritania in Northern Africa,
corresponding to the modern empire of
Morocco and part of Algeria.
tects and other artists.
For a time
they resisted the progress of the Arabian
conquerors, but were finally overcome about
650 A.D. In 711 the Moors from Africa
invaded Spain, and in a few years the
greater part of that country fell under the
Moslem yoke. Scarcely a town in Spain
that was occupied by the conquerors but
retains still some traces of their architecture,
although many examples have disappeared
from the effects of time or from the ruth-
lessness of their successors in power.
The most interesting example of early
Moorish architecture in Spain is the mosque
of Cordova. It was commenced in the
year A.D. 786, and was enlarged and orna-
mented at various subsequent periods, so
that it contains examples of all the styles
employed by the Moors in Spain from the
earliest times. It is a low building of im-
mense size, and covers a larger superficial
area than that of any Christian church ex-
The sanctuary of
the mosque, erected in 965, is formed of
white and coloured marbles, beautifully en-
riched with true mosaic work, and is one
of the most beautiful specimens of the
Moorish style in Spain. A mosque, now
the Church of S. Cristo de la Luz, and many
other Moorish works of a very interesting
character, exist at Toledo."
In 1236 the kingdom of Granada was
formed, and the royal palace and fortress
of the Alhambra was commenced in 1248
and finished about 1314. This is perhaps
the most perfect model of Moorish archi-
tecture which has ever existed. Other
phases of the style are to be found in the
mosques of Cairo, India, and Constantinople
—indeed wherever the religion of Mohammed
has been planted.
The Moorish was not a stone architecture,
but was mostly composed of brickwork
cept St. Peter's at Rome.
* See Gothic Architecture in Spain by G. E. Street, R.A.


88 Sugges/ions in /Pesign.
covered with tiles or ornamented stucco. As what more than a semicircle, and therefore
has been said it was evidently derived in |
great measure from the Persian, although the doorway shown in Fig. 162. Examples
narrower at the springing than above, as in
many of its early characteristics of it, however, are frequently
were no doubt Byzantine. In found pointed at the apex, after
accordance with what appears to the manner of Gothic arches.
have been the prevailing mode of Other examples are further de-
decorating their works through- veloped into cusps of a trefoil or
out all Eastern nations, it was cinquefoil form. Later, as in the
an incased style, handed down Alhambra, they became formed
probably from traditions of the into a numerous succession of
sculptured and incased walls of cuspings, each cusp being again
Assyria, Babylon, and Persepolis. frequently trefoiled, giving the
The forms of its architecture, whole arch a very rich and ele-
when stripped of surface enrich-
ments, are very simple. The dome was one this style were usually slender (as shown
of its leading characteristics, and formed a in Fig. 163), and the ornamentation of
graceful and highly en- their capitals was ex-
riched feature in a Mos-
lem mosque. The min-
arets used in calling the
Fig. 162
Moorish Doorway in Cordova.
gant appearance. Columns in
tremely varied.
Beyond the various
forms of the arches and
faithful to prayers are columns there are scarcely
equally distinctive, and any mouldings, but an
possess an elegance of immense variety of effect
style and completeness of is obtained by corbelling
construction which ren-
der them, perhaps, the
most beautiful form of
in pendentives for sup-
porting the angles of
domes, the principles of
which are well worthy of
being attentively studied.
The system is peculiar to
tower architecture that
has ever been invented.
But the most striking and
distinguishing feature of
Moorish or Saracenic
the Arabians and Moors,
and has no analogous
architecture is the horse- - - feature in any other style
shoe form of arch. This º of architecture. It has
is an almost invariable Fig. 1g-court of the Lions in the Amambra been, most appropriately,
accompaniment of the style, and serves to called stalactite work, and it is remarkable
distinguish it from all other styles or modes both for its beauty and for the simple means
of construction, in whatever country they by which it is produced.
are found. The horse-shoe arch is com- || The examples in the Alhambra, as
monly of a semicircular form, but some. described by Owen Jones, are composed


90 Sugges/ions in /9esign.
S&S S.
sometimes called the “star of Solomon,”
Fig. 170. These frequently exhibit the
utmost exuberance of fancy, and when
united to the multiplicity of forms in their
foliage and other combinations offer a wide
and interesting field for study. They coll-
tain innumerable hints and suggestions for
design, which cannot fail to be of the ut-
most value to those who are in search of
materials from which to elicit new beauty and
elegance in ornamentation. Combinations
Fig. 171. of the star form
Zºº are also worked
out with great ela-
boration in glazed
tiles for mosaic
pavements and wall
decoration. Fig.
171 presents an ex-
Rºº-ºº ample of the latter
from the Alhambra, the colours being blue,
green, buff, yellow, and purple, separated
by white lines.
Moresque ornamentation is very much
confined to the decoration of surface. But
although literally covered with intricate
form, embracing lines of the greatest
elegance and beauty, the ornamentation
is so subordinated to the object itself,
whatever it may be, that no part can be
said to be over-ornamented—all is pro-
perly subdued, and no part is more
prominent than another. We find this prin-
ciple so invariably adhered to in Eastern
art, and it is one so necessary to all truly
artistic work, that the attentive student
would do well to pause and consider its
importance. It gives a character and charm
to all Mohammedan work, which may be
sought for in vain elsewhere, unless this
simple principle upon which the Orientals
proceed has been fully understood and
adhered to.
The decorative forms used for surface
work are usually double, that is, the main
lines are geometrical combinations of inter-
lacing straight lines, and formed of two
fillets; while the filling-in, or secondary
Fig. 173.
º -
forms, are interlacing curved lines of foliage,
with centres of star forms at intervals, as in
Fig. 172, from the Alhambra. There is also
a very slight difference in the planes of the
two systems, the surface of the foliage being
kept slightly lower than that of the fillets.
Frequently there is a third species of
ornamentation, which is introduced upon
the leaves of the foliage itself, as indicated
on Fig. 173, from a ceiling in the Alhambra.


92 Sugges/ions in /)esign.
the relief of the ornament itself;-and this
appears to be an absolute principle required
in colouring—colours should necer be allowed
to impinge upon each other."
The Moors were long celebrated for the
manufacture and artistic decoration of arms
and armour. Among the productions of
this kind none were more justly famous or
more delicately worked than swords, and
the sword manufactory of Toledo acquired
great celebrity from the perfection with
which the blades were tempered. The most
noteworthy specimens of this work now
existing are the sword, dagger, and double-
handed sword which belonged to Boabdil, the
last king of Granada, now in the possession
of the Marquis of Villaseca, at Madrid.
The sword is 39 inches long, has a Toledo
blade, and the hilt is formed of solid gold
enamelled in blue, white, and red. The
dagger is of great artistic merit. The hilt
is of iron ornamented with ivory delicately
engraved in arabesque. The blade is dama-
scened in gold with Cufic inscriptions on
each side. The scabbard is most beautiful.
Its chapes are made of silver enamelled
in green, and the remainder is of crimson
velvet embroidered in gold, from which
hangs a fine tassel of silk and gold thread.
A small eating knife is fitted into this
same scabbard, but it possesses no artistic
merit. The double-handed sword has an
iron cylindrical hilt, inlaid with ivory, and
on it appears the motto of the Kings of
Granada, “God alone is the Conqueror,” in
Cufic letters.
The helmets used by the Spanish Moors
were similar in form to those of the
Christians, but the shields were more varied.
* This account of the method of colouring pursued in the decoration . - -
in Gothic characters; and it forms the
of the Alhambra, is condensed from Owen Jones,
They were generally round, formed of wood
or thick cow-hide, and were decorated
outside in a variety of ways, sometimes
with pierced iron plates, or bands of leather
forming arabesques; and at other times
with an ornamentation of iron, and leather
embroidered with gold and silver, with
rich hanging tassels and pendants.
The Moorish style as applied to furniture
is sometimes found in Spain, in combina-
tion with the Gothic. A very remarkable
specimen of this combination of Moorish
and Christian art exists at the Academia
de la Historia, Madrid, consisting of a trip-
tych of very large dimensions, formerly in
the church of the Monasterio of Piedra in
Arragon. When the doors are closed six
compartments appear on each, surrounded
by a border headed by a wide cornice.
This cornice is divided in sixteen spaces
formed by arches adorned by stalactite
ornamentation in the Moorish style; inside
each span is painted the figure of a saint;
there are also subjects from the life of our
Lord. The border which surrounds these
doors is formed of a beautiful geometrical
ornamentation in the purest oriental style,
while in the upper and lower parts are
inscriptions in Gothic characters with the
date 1390.
Another interesting "specimen of this
combination of styles is a recess or cupboard
of the fourteenth century, now in the South
Kensington Museum, and formerly in the
court of an old house at Toledo. It is
5 feet 4 inches high by 8 feet wide; and is
composed of an outer arch, with the
tympanums ornamented with fine arabesques
in relief, made of stucco. The arch is
surrounded with two Latin inscriptions


Mooris/ or Sarace/lic Or//a/le/l/a/io/l.
93
opening to the cupboard, which is about a
foot deep, and is divided into two compart-
ments with two rows of shelves. Each
of these is supported by a series of Moorish
arches, the which
ornamented with tracery, or an ornamenta-
tympanums of al’e
tion of leaves in a geometrical and oriental
manner. On the lower shelf is a Spanish
inscription in Gothic characters.
PLATE 28.
No. 1. Interlaced ornament with foliage.
Nos. 2 and 3. Upright borders—interlaced fret,
and foliage with interlaced form.
No. 4. Symmetrical flowing form. It is a
common characteristic feature in Moorish ornament
for one form to be flowing round and fitting in to
fill up the interstices left by another form.
Nos. 5 and 6. Small symmetrical ornaments.
Nos. 7 and 8. Outline centres of foliated and
interlacing form.
Nos. 9 and 10. Flowing, angular, and interlaced
terminals.
No. 11. Geometrical diaper.
No. 12. Interlaced square and diagonal design,
with cross-form foliage in the centre.
No. 13. Interlaced geometrical design for tile
flooring or parquetry.
No. 14. Interlaced outline ornament.
PLATE 29.
No. 1. Arabesque pierced stone battlement inlaid
with flat foliage.
Nos. 2 and 3. Upright ornaments, honeysuckle
and pine.
No. 4. Geometrical and foliated centre ornament.
Form laid upon form.
No. 5. Cross-form pine ornament.
No. 6. Eight-pointed star filled with radiating
foliage, in oval or vesica; the intermediate space
being diapered with pointed ogee line from star, and
foliage. -
Nos. 7 and 8. Oblong centres for panel decoration
in colour.
No. 9. Interlaced fret tile pattern. There is a
great variety of patterns, somewhat similar to this,
to be found in the wall decoration of the Alhambra,
all formed by the intersection of equidistant lines,
and which, Owen Jones observes, could be traced
through the Arabian to the Greek fret. A pecu-
liarity, however, which the Moorish fret possesses is
the addition of the diagonal line, without which the
power of interlacing would be greatly limited.
No. 10. Flowing foliated upright form for colour
or engraving.
No. 11. Panel in low relief for colour with shield
surrounded by foliage. The Moors occasionally in-
troduced the shield charged with armorial bearings,
The elaborate diapers
and other designs on the walls, and other parts, in
the Alhambra are all worked in low relief in plaster
but not very frequently.
and afterwards picked out in colour and gold.
PLATE 30.
No. 1. Upright flower interlaced with geometrical
trilobed line.
Nos. 2 and 3. Conventional foliated forms with
semi-conventional leafage.
No. 4. Pointed quatrefoil centre filled in with
foliage.
Nos. 5 and 6. Damascene ornaments for metal.
No. 7. Geometrical superficial ornament for colour
or inlay.
Nos. 8 and 9. Geometrical outlines for diapers,
which may be further filled in with foliage according
to the scale of the work or the degree of richness
required.
No. 10. Arabian scrolls working one into the
other, as is so frequently the practice in the style.
No. 11. Disjointed interlacing ornament.
Nos. 12 and 13. Oblong panel decoration formed
with flowing and interlaced line and heart-form
centre filled in with foliage. The two sides varied.
PLATE 31.
Nos. 1 and 2. Oblong panel formed with interlaced
fret-form square centre, carried into scroll foliage.
Two sides varied.
Nos. 3 and 4. Terminal flowers. Conventional-
ized harts'-tongue leaf and honeysuckle.
No. 5. Centre ornament for panel in low relief,
and colour, interlacing foliated forms.
Nos. 6 and 7. Geometrical upright diapers for
paper or wall decoration.
Nos. 8 and 9. Interlacing arabesque foliage, for
colour and slight relief.
24


94 Sugges/ſouls
& S.
in ZOesign.
|--
No. 10. Double triangle in circle, interlacing with
hexagonal form and circles.
Nos. 11 and 12. Interlaced square and diagonal
lines, with foliage for diaper or panel decora-
tion.
These designs do not follow literally the principles
found in Arabesque ornament, but are intended to
suggest the application of a few of their ingenious
and beautiful lines to the purposes of modern
ornamentation.
C H A P T E R XV.
BYZANTIN E O RN AMENTATION,
WITH NOT ICES OF R O M A NES QUE AND C E L TI C.
sh E here employ the term
# Byzantine in its most ex-
# tended sense, as including
-- # what is usually denominated
Romanesque art. Out of these two great
divisions certain sub-styles are considered to
have arisen, as the Lombardic, our own
Norman, and perhaps the Celtic or Irish,
the last of these being principally exemplified
in illuminated manuscripts, stone crosses,
and similar works.
The Byzantine form of architecture
originated in the ancient city of Byzantium
or Constantinople, which upon the division
of the Roman Empire became the seat and
capital of the Eastern or Greek Empire. It
has, therefore, in many of its minor details,
an evident Greek origin. The Romanesque,
as its name indicates, arose out of Roman
architecture; it spread throughout the whole
of Europe, and was much more extensively
adopted than the Byzantine. There was,
however, a charm, a greater richness and a
beauty, about Byzantine art that produced
a strong undercurrent in its favour. Its
influence was almost universally felt, and
from the fourth to the twelfth centuries
Byzantine art was eagerly sought after, and
it was a style largely employed in those
countries professing the Greek form of the
Christian religion.
When Constantine, the first Christian
Emperor of Rome, removed the seat of
empire from Rome to Byzantium, about A.D.
330, he determined that his new capital
should stand without a rival for magnificence
and beauty. In this view he carried with
him as far as possible all the arts of Rome,
and also encouraged the employment of
Greek artists, inviting them to Byzantium,
as well as others from Persia, or from
whatever country the highest talent could be
obtained. Thus originated that combination
of Roman, Greek, and Oriental architecture
which has been denominated Byzantine.
The most important period of this style
was the time of Justinian, who ascended the
throne A.D. 527. He was a great builder of
churches, and erected the celebrated Church
of St. Sophia as well as others at Constan-
tinople. Contemporary with the erection of
St. Sophia was that of San Vitale at Ravenna,
.


Byzantine Orname/u/afiom.
95
which was founded by the piety of Julian,
the treasurer of Justinian. From the time
of Constantine to that of Justinian there
appears to have been no marked difference
between the architectural styles of the
Eastern and Western Empires, but with
Justinian a distinct separation of the
empires took place, which induced a de-
cided difference between their styles of ar-
chitecture. Continued disputes were main-
tained between the East and West, and
differences in the forms adopted in the
arrangement of churches became strongly
marked. The Greek cross inscribed within
a square and surmounted by a dome, with
four smaller domes over the arms of the
cross, was the typical plan adopted by the
Byzantines; while the form of the Latin
cross, founded upon the old Roman basilicas,
and terminating with a circular apse, was
the plan adhered to by Rome.
Existing buildings of purely Byzantine
character are few and isolated, although
Byzantine features may be distinguished in
many. In Venice the style was carried out
in all its purity, and the grand Church of
St. Mark, commenced in the tenth century
and erected by Byzantine architects who
had been invited from Constantinople,
remains one of the finest monuments of the
style.
The most prominent feature in the
Byzantine and Romanesque styles, distin-
guishing them strongly from the antique
Greek and Roman, was the universal adop-
tion of the semicircular arch, and the entire
omission of the classic entablature. The
arch was made to spring immediately from
the capital itself without the intervention of
the entablature (Fig. 174). This had been
done previously by the Romans in some of
their latest works, as in the palace of the
Emperor Diocletian at Spalatro, but it did
not become the uni-
Fig. 174.
versal practice until
a later period. This
mode of employing the
arch without an en-
tablature produced a
complete revolution in architecture. In the
Romanesque it led to the development of
vaulting and groining, and in the Byzantine
to the extended use of that most beautiful
of all architectural features the dome.
From the sixth to the twelfth centuries
Greek taste was held in the highest esteem
in Constantinople and throughout the East.
Thence were distributed over Europe num-
erous works of ornamental art, which were
eagerly sought after, such as richly woven
and embroidered stuffs, wood and ivory
carvings, ornaments in gold and other
metals; enamels and paintings on panel,
and many other objects of Byzantine art.
Numbers of these were brought to this
country by crusaders returning from the
Holy Land, or by traders from Venice and
These were justly
other eastern cities.
esteemed treasures of art, and became ob-
jects of admiration and examples for imita-
tion among our native artists.
When the separation between the Eastern
and Western Churches occurred, and their
architectural styles diverged, a marked dif-
ference naturally followed in the various
architectural details. The Byzantine foliage
was strongly tinged by a Greek feeling, and
preserved much of the sharp zigzag out-
lines of the antique acanthus leaf, Fig. 175;
the Romanesque, on the contrary, followed
the soft rounded lobes of the leafage of the
Roman capitals, Fig. 176.


96
Sugges/ions in /Pesign.
A distinctive and characteristic feature in
Byzantine foliage, and one which may be
plainly traced in many examples of our
Fig. 175.
own Norman work, is its being nearly all
carved with a V section from out of the
surface of the stone: also a peculiar fitting
together of the points of the leafage, so as to
leave scarcely any portion of the ground to
be seen, as in Fig. 177, which is a large car-
ved stone bead or string course from the
Church of St. Sergius at Constantinople.
The anthemion ornament of the Greeks,
carved after the same manner and arranged
in a heart-form, is of frequent occurrence,
and is thus found used as a string-course or
as the abacus to capitals in many of our
Fig. 178 is the heart-
form anthemion ornament
Norman buildings.
as found at
Constantinople, and examples almost iden-
tical may be observed in this country.
These are plainly reminiscences of the
antique Greek foliage, retaining the sharp
zigzag outline and simple V section of sur-
in Fig. 179 from St.
the round-lobed foliage of the Roman
period, Fig. 176. This sharp form of foliage
indicates the employment of Greek artists
during the early development of Byzantine
architecture. A favourite arrangement of
the heart-form enrich-
Fig. 179.
ment, frequently met
with in early Greek
churches, was that in
the form of a cross, as
Mark's at
Occasionally carvings
Venice.
are found which are
evidently direct imitations from nature,
and indicate a desire to depart from the
more ordinary con Fig. 180.
ventional foliage,
as in the example
Fig 180 from the
same church.
Another impor.
tant and distinc-
tive feature in Byz-
antine art was the
covering the walls
with gorgeous mo-
saics, executed in
colours on gold grounds, representing colos-
sal figures of the Deity, and of saints,
apostles, and
prophets.
Glass mosaic
Fig. 181.
*Zaº
* /
formed in -
small geo-
metrical pat-
terns in gold and colour was also of frequent
occurrence in borders, panels, and otherminor
details. Of these Fig. 181 from St. Sophia, and
Figs. 182, 183 from the Church of St. Francis
face, as in Fig. 175, as distinguished from at Assisi, represent some of the most simple


Aygamfine Ornamentation.
97
forms. This beautiful mode of decorating wall
surface with a profusion of mosaics in gold
and colours forms one of the most lovely and
imposing features of the Byzantine style of
Fig. 182.
architecture. In St. Mark's at Venice the
whole of the vaults and domes are literally
Fig. 183.
The Byzantine and the Romanesque,
however, embrace other versions of the
round-arched style besides those of Con-
stantinople, Ravenna, and Venice. Of these
the Lombardic is justly celebrated. San
Michele at Pavia, San Thomaso near Ber-
gamo, and many other churches of Northern
Italy, are existing monuments of this style;
the Baptistery at Florence was also built
under the Lombard dynasty.
Lombardic branch that we obtain more
It is from this
immediately much of our own Norman
* version of the Romanesque.
Another element that became mixed up
j with Byzantine and Romanesque archi-
ºtecture was the Celtic form of ornamenta-
covered with gorgeous colour in this im-
perishable material." Floors were frequent-
ly inlaid with marbles of the most costly
description. Fig. 184 is an example from
Fig. 185.
º
Cºº
Yº:
º º
AN º
º
the Duomo at Florence, and Fig. 185 from
St. Mark's at Venice.
* “The apse of St. Mark kindled by the western sun into one
blaze of gold, fairly rivals the storied windows of Rheims in all the
glory of the same happy moment. How much the unrivalled effect
of St. Mark's is due to the gorgeous mosaics is best felt by com-
paring it with such a church as that of St. Anthony at Padua, where
the domes—of no contemptible design, at least within—cry aloud for
the same kind of relief to their bareness and whiteness.”—Historical
and Architectural Sketches, by E. A. Freeman, D.C.L., LL.D.
tion, the origin of which is most mysterious,
and its ramifications among the earliest
forms of mediaeval ornament very remark-
able. Wherever the Northmen went—
whether Goths, Ostrogoths, Visigoths, Huns,
or by whatever name the numerous bar-
barous tribes which overran Europe in
the fourth and fifth centuries may have
been called—there, remains of this peculiar
ornamentation are to be found, strangely
mingled with forms clearly traceable to a
classic origin. It has been sometimes termed
“Runic,” a name derived from the Scan-
dinavian word rune, a mystery; but is
better known as Celtic. The influence of
this style of ornament not only extended to
Italy, France, and England, but it was, as
far as can be ascertained, the indigenous
style throughout Scandinavia and the Isle
of Man, but more especially so in Ireland.
Whether the Celtic or Runic style was
really derived from the Byzantine is im-
possible now to discover. Most probably it
arose independently of it. But there can be
no doubt that it had a decided influence


98 Suggestions in /Pesign.
upon many of the later forms of Byzantine An example, forming a portion of a letter
and Romanesque work. The character of
Celtic ornamentation may be clearly distin-
guished in the many beautiful and highly
interesting stone crosses which still exist in
Ireland. The enrichments on these consist
“of interlaced ornaments, bands, cords,
serpents, birds, and even human beings,
weaved and interlaced in the most intricate
manner; vegetable forms are very rare.”
The same character of elaborately interlaced
and knotted ornament is also found in the
ancient and beautifully illuminated manu-
scripts for which Ireland is justly celebrated,
as well as in the Anglo-Saxon manuscripts,
which are very similar in style to the Irish.
The oldest of these Celtic manuscripts date
from the sixth century, and exhibit a series
of entirely original features in the extra-
ordinary illuminations with which they are
decorated. No manuscripts require for their
execution greater truth and delicacy of hand
than some of these Irish productions, more
particularly such as the “Book of Kells”—
which tradition asserts to have belonged to
St. Columba himself, and which is now
preserved in the library of Trinity College,
Dublin. “The leading elements of the
ornament in these manuscripts are inter-
lacing bands, terminating in spirals coiled
eccentrically one within another, and inter-
weaved birds and animals struggling as if in
interminable contest.” All therefore are of
the same general character as the ornament
found on the crosses.
Examples of this peculiar form of orna-
mentation, as found in the Irish and Anglo-
Saxon manuscripts, are given in Plate
32, Nos. 2, 3, 4, and Nos. 2 and 3, Plate 34.
* O'Neill's Crosses of Ireland.
*Sir M. D. Wyatt, Trans. Royal Inst. Brit. Archts. 1860.
from an illuminated manuscript in a later
style (the twelfth century), is given in Fig.
186, and shows the use of animal
Fig. 186.
form interlacing with straight
lines.
An interesting development of
the Celtic or Runic style of orna-
mentation is found among the
wooden churches of Norway.
Although these churches do not
date so early as the Irish manu-
scripts, still the same feeling in
treatment and the same interlacing
of animal form in long strap-like
lines are discernible in both. Fig. 187 is an
example carved in pine from a wooden church
of the eleventh or early part of the twelfth
centuryat Sauland,
in Norway. It has,
as will be noticed,
an admixture of
foliage which is
seldom found in
Irish examples, but
which is met with
in our own Norman
churches. Numer-
ous examples of
this admixture
might becited from
various parts of
the country,butone
(Fig. 188) from the
south door of Iffley
Church, Oxford-
shire, will be sufficient to indicate the resem-
blance. In both examples it will be observed
that the animals are biting the strap-foliage,
and that the stems are beaded or pearled, a
common form of enrichment in all Norman


Byzantime Ornamentation.
99
ornament. Pearling also occurs in the Irish
manuscripts, where the ornament is fre-
quently inclos-
ed by bounding
lines of closely-
serried minute
red dots
The constant
introduction of
interlacing ani-
mals and other
forms had no
doubt a connec-
tion with serpent
and
worship,
may probably have originally been derived
No worship was more common
among the heathen Danes and Northmen
from India.
than that of the serpent, and they retained
a strong attachment to their ancestral faith
long after they became nominally converted
to Christianity.
M. Viollet le Duc, in noticing similar
strange examples of sculpture at Saintonge
and Poitou, observes that “these influences,
we believe, are in part due to the forced
relations which the country has had, from
the tenth century, with the hordes desig-
nated by the name of Northmen, and who
ceased not, during nearly two centuries,
to infest the western coasts of France.
these
executed with a rare perfection, present
Now Anglo-Saxon manuscripts,
to us again this strange ornamentation.”
Of another example he further remarks,
“These animals of the pillar at Souillac,
which bite one another and are matted and
twisted together, are met with neither in
Gallo-Roman sculpture nor in the Graeco-
Roman painting or sculpture of Syria. To
find any analogy to this art it is necessary
to recur to Scandinavia, Northern Europe,
or to the Anglo-Saxon manuscripts of
London.””
The same influence extended to Italy, as
is seen in the striking resemblance between
the doorways of some Italian churches and
those of old churches in Norway. Indeed
the style of the doorways of many of our
own churches—as the Monk's and Prior's
Entrances at Ely Cathedral—evidently
shows that in the mind of the English as
well as the Italian sculptor a strong
Scandinavian feeling must have existed.
In addition, therefore, to a Greek and
Roman influence in Byzantine ornamenta-
tion, there is frequently a blending of the
intricate interlacings and peculiar features
of the Celtic or Scandinavian type, which
sometimes gives to it a compound character,
and makes it difficult or impossible to say
from what source much of it is taken;–still
there are generally certain broad charac-
teristics, with remains of classic treatment,
that mark the style with tolerable distinct-
IneSS.
All our Norman churches, cathedrals, and
other remains, which are distinguished by
having semicircular arches, belong to the
Byzantine or Romanesque style, although
the style is modified by the introduction of
other features. The purest example of the
Romanesque in this country is the choir and
Trinity Chapel of Canterbury Cathedral, the
foliated capitals of which are very perfect
specimens of the Romanesque modification
of the classic Corinthian. It should be
noticed that at Canterbury, and in several
other examples which are late in the style,
many of the arches are pointed, although
* Dictionnaire Raisonné de l'Architecture Française, by V. le Duc,
article “Sculpture.”


100 Sugges/ions
In Design.
only slightly so; thus foreshadowing, as it
were, the great alteration which was about to
take place. To show how nearly, in point
of time, the round-arched style approached
the Gothic, it may be mentioned that the
work at Canterbury was not completed until
the year 1184, and yet Lincoln Cathedral
was begun to be rebuilt in the Early English
style in 1186.
Among the arts which were brought to
great perfection by Byzantine artists was that
of enamelling. The enamel was often made in
small pieces and applied as precious stones
are, and attached to the object to be decor-
ated. Many fine pieces of enamel, however,
were complete in themselves. Unhappily,
owing to the value of the pure gold of which
so many of the finest examples of sacred
vessels and royal ornaments, arms, and plate
were made, very few Byzantine enamels are
now in existence.
Carving in ivory, which descended from
the Greeks, was also an art much practised
during the early Byzantine period. One of
the most celebrated relics of this class is
the throne or chair of Maximian, Arch-
bishop of Ravenna, which was executed
about the middle of the sixth century. It
is now preserved among the treasures of
the Cathedral at Ravenna, and is engraved
in the great book of Du Sommerard. It
is entirely covered by plaques of ivory,
arranged in panels carved in high relief, with
scenes from the Gospels and figures of
saints. The borders and intermediate spaces
are filled with foliated ornaments; birds and
animals; and flowers and fruits. From the
time of Charlemagne ivory was more and
more used for the decoration of ecclesiastical
furniture, especially for the covers of books,
reliquaries, pyxes, retables, episcopal combs,
croziers, and pastoral staffs. Beautiful and
highly interesting examples of Byzantine
carvings in ivory, exemplifying great skill
both in the workmanship and design, are to
be found in our museums, and will amply
repay close examination and careful study.
PLATE 32.
No. 1. Interlaced cross-form in square, for execu-
tion in low flat relief. Byzantine.
No. 2. Celtic initial letter I, after the manner of
the Anglo-Saxon manuscripts, with skeleton animal.
No. 3. Interlacing pearl-work, with nail-head
border. Norman or Celtic.
No. 4. Double bird and scroll work, somewhat
after the manner of the Anglo-Saxon manuscripts.
To be worked in gold and colour.
Nos. 5 and 6. Circles containing cockatrice and
stag, eccentrically twisted.
No. 7. Band of interlaced ribbon and foliage.
Nos. 8 and 9. Interlaced geometrical combinations
for inlay.
PLATE 33.
No. 1. Dragons in low relief for the tympanum
of a doorway of Anglo-Norman character, inter-
laced in the Celtic manner. The two sides are
varied.
No. 2. Diaper in low relief and picked out in
colour, finishing with cresting upon top.
No. 3. Emblematical form of fish, eagle, and
serpent united—a symbol of Christian evangelism.
No. 4. Cherubim with heads formed of the
emblems of the four evangelists. Wings covered
with eyes to symbolize the all-seeing presence of
the Deity.
No. 5. Upright ornament with interlaced animal
form.
No. 6. String-course of bird monsters forming
scrolls. Anglo-Norman or Celtic.
No. 7. Frieze of sharp-lobed Byzantine foliage,
arranged in the manner of the Greek anthemion
ornament. Many varieties of the anthemion orna-
ment are to be found in Byzantine ornamentation.
A heart-form arrangement, evidently upon the same
type, is of frequent occurrence. See Fig. 178.
No. 8. Interlaced star-formed frieze. These star
patterns are sometimes found in the Byzantine, but


Gothic Ornamen faţion.
101
are more frequent in Moorish work, in which they
are sometimes carried out in the most intricate
manner. The animals' heads indicate that the work
is Byzantine, as animal form is never introduced in
the Moorish.
PLATE 34.
No. 1. Norman bas-relief, having the Celtic
character of interlacing long-necked animal form
with foliage.
Nos. 2 and 3. Foliated animal form in the Celtic
manner, as found in Anglo-Saxon manuscripts.
No. 4. Alternating fret-formed diaper for colour
or low relief. Forms of a similar character are found
sculptured in low relief on the Irish crosses.
Nos. 5 and 6. Borders or string-courses, in upright
formed design of Byzantine or Romanesque char-
acter.
No. 7. Double dragon scroll of Celtic or Irish
character.
Nos. 8 and 9. Drop and final ornaments.
No. 10, Byzantine foliated enrichment for execu-
tion in low relief.
No. 11. Cross heart-form panel for painting.
No. 12. Panel for painting or inlay. Diamond
and semicircles interlaced.
C H A P T E R XVI.
GO THIC ORN AMENTATION.
#OLLOWING the round-arched
or Romanesque style of archi-
C. tecture, there arose the style
*]; termed Gothic, which is dis.
tinguished principally by the general use of
the pointed arch. Originally when the
opprobrious name “Gothic" or barbarous
was given, it embraced the whole of the
architecture of the middle ages, including
the Saxon and Norman of our own country;
but now it is found more convenient to limit
the application of this term to the Pointed
style.
In our own country the development of
the Gothic style commences about the end
of the twelfth century, and the style continues
in use during the thirteenth, fourteenth,
fifteenth, and part of the sixteenth centuries.
This period is divided into Early, Middle,
and Late Gothic ; or, according to the
more technical language now in use, into
Early English, Decorated, and Perpendicular.
THE EARLY ENGLISH style lasted throughout
the thirteenth century, and included the long
reign of Henry III. THE DEcoRATED prin-
cipally occupied the fourteenth century,
and answers pretty nearly to the reigns of
the three Edwards. THE PERPENDICULAR
was the style of the fifteenth century, and
was carried also partly into the sixteenth
century.
These three divisions also answer pretty
nearly to the terms used in France, namely,
“Style ogical primitiſ,” “Style secondaire”
or “Rayonnant,” and “Style tertiaire” or
“Flamboyant.” But the French terms apply
to periods rather earlier than ours—the Style
primitiſ commencing about fifty years before
the Early English.
Among the most prominent distinctions
marking the divisions of Gothic Architecture,
and one easily recognized, is the form of the


26


102
Sugges/ions in /9esign.
window, and the progress of “tracery” in
its decoration. At first the window was
used singly, having an acutely pointed arch,
and was what is commonly called a “lancet
window,” Fig. 189. Soon two lancets were
put together, Fig. 190; and then a group of
three, with the centre light frequently higher
than those at sides, called a “triplet,” as in
Fig. 191. These forms
mark the Early English
period. The next pro-
gression was to throw a
Fig. 192.
general arch over the two
lights, and to pierce the
intermediate space, first with a simple
circle, and then with a quatrefoil, as in
Fig. 192. This gave rise to what is called
“tracery,” and groups of two, three, four,
or more lights were associated together
under one general arch, the mullions at the
head of the window being continued in
curves and enriched by cusping, forming
various foliated figures. Fig. 193 gives an
example of a three-light Decorated window
with geometrical tracery. This form of
window was in use early in the fourteenth
century; at a later period in the style the
lines became flowing, Fig. 194. Other exam-
ples of flowing tracery will be found in the
plates. Early in the fifteenth century these
forms were abandoned,
Fig. 195.
and there came into use
a more upright form of
which the
tracery, in
perpendicular lines of
the mullions ran through
the head of the win-
dow, and to which the
name “Perpendicular” has been given. See
Fig. 195.
Another characteristic of the different
periods was the form of the pointed arch
Fig. 108.
Fig. 106.
Fig. 107.
itself. When first adopted it was seldom
used less than the equilateral, and often
much more pointed, Fig. 196; but in the
second period it was frequently less than the
equilateral, Fig. 197; and in the later period
of the Perpendicular the “Tudor” or four-
centred arch came into use, Fig. 198.
Again, in the roofs, the Early English
were high pitched, forming about an equi-
lateral triangle. During the second period, the
Decorated, they became of a more moderate
pitch; while in the third, the Perpendicular,
they became so flat as to necessitate the use
of lead for covering them.
Groining is another feature by which the
In the
Norman period groining was simply the inter-
section at right angles of two semicircular
progress of the styles is marked.
vaults, with at most square or round ribs at


Go//tic Orname/afałion.
103
the diagonal intersections. With the introduc-
tion of pointed instead of round arches came
increased lightness in the contours of the
groining and elegance in the moulding of
the ribs, with elaborately carved bosses
In the middle
period the groining became richer and the
placed at the intersections.
number of the ribs was increased; and in
the fifteenth century the ribs formed a per-
fect net-work of great intricacy. During
the Perpendicular era, also, “fan "groining
was invented, in which the whole surface of
the groining was covered with tracery
Fig. 199 radiating after the
manner of a fan. A
specimen of this
mode of vaulting
; from the Beauchamp
Chapel, Warwick, is
shown in Fig. 199;
and fine examples
of it are also found
in King's College
Chapel, Cambridge, St. George's Chapel,
Windsor, and Henry VII.'s Chapel at
Westminster.
With the adoption of the pointed arch in
the thirteenth century arose a perfectly new
and fresh creation in sculptured foliage.
The conventional and traditional forms of
the Byzantine and Romanesque foliage,
which were more or less based upon the
classical renderings of the acanthus, were
entirely abandoned, and a style was origi-
nated superior perhaps to anything which
had been seen before. The artists went to
nature, and simply by following their own
mode of rendering natural form in stone
they produced an architectural flora which
possesses a grace and beauty entirely its
own. Their principal type was a round-
lobed triple leaf, said to be the water-avens
(formerly called the herba benedicta or “holy
herb”), which these artists of the thirteenth
century looked upon as emblematical of the
Holy Trinity. It is, however, more probable
that they followed the threefold principle
which they found ran through other plants
besides the water-avens—more particularly
the clover, wood - sorrel, and hepatica.
They further observed that
nature carried the same tri-
plicity through compound
leaves, such as those of the
columbine, creeping crowfoot,
and the parsley. Combining
these natural principles with a beautiful
spiral evolution of form, they worked out a
system of ornamentation
of extreme beauty and
vigour. Fig. 200, an
example from the galilee
porch of Ely Cathedral,
shows the treatment of
the simple trefoil united
to a spiral stem. This was often varied by
making the leaves compound, and increasing
the subdivisions into three triple-lobed
leaflets (Fig. 201), or dividing them into four
or five lobes, as in Fig. 202, from Stone
Church, Kent; but still they preserved their
emblematical and symbolical character.
All the main lines in Early English foliage
are flowing, and the leaves grow out of the


104 Suggestions in /)esign.
parent stem in graceful and tangential
curves. In large spandrels, as in those at
Stone Church, a portion of one of which is
shown, Fig. 202, the main stems are arranged
in grand scroll lines, which oppose and
harmonize with the lines of the surrounding
architecture, and from these scrolls the
leaves branch off in easy curves. The
foliage is also found in the bosses of their
ceilings and in their stained glass. But,
above all, every chancel of every church
throughout the king- Fig. 203.
dom was enriched by 45.5% º
a beautifully arranged .
Nºw . *
form of gable cross. ---
In the capitals of this period the foliage
surface modelling and the central ribs of invariably rises directly from the necking,
these leaves are peculiar, and deserve
attentive study. Generally the main lobe
-
of the leaf has a strong and vigorous square
rib diving down into a deep hollow, as in
Fig. 200, the end of the lobe beyond being
frequently raised into a swollen form in the
centre. Then again the lobe of the leaf is
occasionally filled, as in the side lobes, Fig.
201, by a large bulbous form. The foliage,
therefore, although evidently taken direct
from nature, is yet full of peculiarities which
are alone found at this period. Nature is
apparently concealed under a rendering
which is highly conventional, and these
artists appear to have taken a delight in
hiding, as it were under a veil, the otherwise
purely natural types from which their foliage
was derived.
The cross form of leafage, another highly
symbolical form, was developed by these
early workers in a variety of ways. From
a four-petalled flower, or the terminal leaves
of a branch having opposite foliage, such as
the lilac and maple, containing the same
elements as the flower, they formed their dog-
tooth moulding (Fig. 203), which they sculp-
tured in long lines filling the deep hollows
of their arches and mouldings. They also
covered their walls with cross-leaved diapers
(No. 12, Plate 36), as may be seen in the
spandrels of the choir arches at Westminster
Abbey. The cross form worked out in the
. - - -
either with flat stems or with broad plain
leaves like the common plantain. It rises
gradually out of the surface, the heads
Fig. 204.
turning over in crochets or bunches, as in
Fig. 204. In other examples, although ris-
ing as before from the necking, the foliage.
flows round the capital in graceful curves, as
in Fig. 201.
At the end of the thirteenth and the
commencement of the Fig. 205.
fourteenth century a
more extended rendering
of nature was developed,
and a greater variety of
natural types was adopt-
ed; but the symbolical
meaning which ran through the ornamen-
tation of the thirteenth century was in some
degree neglected. The artist, seeking fresh
beauty from natural form, wrought into his


Go//hic Ornamentation.
105
works with consummate skill the ivy, the
maple, the hawthorn, and the oak, as well as
the vine (Fig. 205), the bryony, the mallow,
the hop, and many other plants; and he also
introduced the fruit
Fig. 206.
§ {}^% and flowerscharacter-
!º § istic of each species.
: jº Nº. With these are some-
㺠7. º times mingled ani-
mals, birds, and other
fanciful forms or non-
r descript creations.
The diaper-work on wall surfaces is less
frequent than in the Early style, but when it
does occur it is much
richer and is formed
with natural foliage,
as in an example from
Lincoln Cathedral—
Fig. 206, which con-
sists of the hawthorn,
maple, and oak. An-
other example (seen in Fig. 207), from a
tomb in the church at Winchelsea, is filled
with a single
vine leaf and a =
cruciform ar- .
rangement of ºf
the
The most characteristic ornament of this
period is the ball-flower, Fig. 208.
sists of a round bud or flower with a triple
maple.
It con-
opening clasping a ball inside, placed in
rows in deep hollow mouldings. It occurs
so frequently in some buildings, as in
the south aisle of Gloucester Cathedral,
that every hollow in the mouldings, as
well as the tracery in the windows, are
filled with them to the exclusion of any
other kind of ornamentation. Foliated
capitals have the foliage arranged on the
bell in a horizontal manner, instead of the
more legitimate method of rising from the
necking perpendicularly (Fig. 209), and the
foliage occupies the whole space between the
abacus and the necking in
a boss-like form.
Fig. 209.
The scroll arrangement of
the stems in foliage was less
frequent than in the previous
period; and as the style ad-
vanced foliage became less
natural, and stems were al-
most entirely omitted. Leaves became
divided into long strap-like lobes, and the sur-
face of the leafage, as it became more con-
ventional, was carved in an undulating or
bulbous manner. After a time the foliage
became so exaggerated as to appear almost
like a collection of round knobs or swellings
It had, however,
rising out of deep hollows.
an extremely rich and elaborate appearance,
with a sparkling effect of light and shade.
During the fifteenth century, the period
of the Perpendicular style, architecture
Fig. 210.
as an art became
so highly scientific
that constructive ex-
ecution, or masonic
excellence, took al- -
most a higher place than beauty of form,
and the architectural carver lost much of
his early artistic power. The application
of elaborately panelled tracery and canopy
work took the place of the earlier kinds
of ornamentation. Foliage was less used
during this period than in either of the
previous ones. Capitals of piers were very
much reduced in size, and were usually
devoid of foliage. For the enrichment of
wall surface, tracery panelling was almost
invariably used, and foliated diaper work





27


106 Sugges/ions in /Jesugu.
was totally abandoned. Foliage, especially but were seldom, as heretofore, mixed or
that of the vine, was frequently introduced
amalgamated with foliage. Although the
in the hollows of the cornices of small works, carving of the fifteenth century evinces great
such as tombs and screens. These were
crowned usually by an open-worked orna-
ment, which has been called the Tudor flower
or “strawberry-leaf ornament,” Fig. 210.
The rose, a distinctive cognizance during
the wars of the Roses, was a frequent and
conspicuous enrichment.
The treatment of wood-work seems to
have made an advance during this later
period, and the carving in seating and
screen work was very delicately executed,
although a conventional use of the gouge is
conspicious. To this age belong most of
our beautiful and elegant oak rood-screens,
which are often elaborately painted and
gilded, with figures of saints painted in the
lower panels. The timber roofs of this
period are frequently highly ornamental,
being enriched with bold and effective carv-
ing. The bosses at the intersections of the
timbers are often of good character, although
carved square and flat, as in Figs. 211, 212,
from All-Saints' Church, Evesham.
Greater scope was given to sculpture than
foliage at this period, especially in large
works, some of the doorways of the conti-
nental cathedrals being crowded with
sculpture. Figures were placed in niches
with elaborate canopies above. Shields and
heraldic emblems of every description were
also commonly used, and grotesque animals
and monsters often took the place of foliage,
skill and facility in the use of tools, yet the
freedom of form and the graceful curves and
spirals of the earlier styles were entirely lost.
Towards the middle of the sixteenth
century Gothic architecture was almost
superseded by the pseudo-classic style of
Elizabeth's reign. Much of the old Gothic
character, however, lingered for a consider-
able time, and is often found mixed up with
the more classic forms of this later style.
These examples show how the carvers of a
later period still lovingly adhered to their
older associations.
During the middle ages the use of stained
glass in windows was a striking and
important source of decoration to build-
ings of nearly every kind, but more espe-
cially to cathedrals and churches. The glass
of the thirteenth century was of two kinds:
the one richly coloured with medallions and
panels of small figure subjects accompanied
by foliage, as seen in the windows of the
eastern portion of Canterbury Cathedral;
the other was without figures and with less
colour, and was formed by various com-
binations of geometrical lines in narrow
strips of colour, the whole surface being
covered with the conventional foliage of the
period painted in black or brown lines, as
in the example shown in Fig. 213 from
Salisbury Cathedral. This species of glass
is known as grisaille glass, and is highly
characteristic of the Early English style.
The five lancet windows of the north tran-
sept of York Cathedral, commonly known
as the “Five Sisters,” are filled with the
original glass of this character. During
the fourteenth century figures were more
|


Gofſtic Ornamentation.
107
frequently introduced in the glass, with an
increase of colour, and the foliage became
more natural. Towards the close of this
period single figures occupying a consider-
able portion of each light, with canopies
above them, were frequently used. In the
fifteenth century, the Perpendicular period,
the general character of the glazing became
more uniform, and consisted mostly of large
Fig. 213.
figures of saints or apostles, each occupy-
ing an entire light, placed in niches with
elaborate canopies.
these niches and figures were arranged one
above the other so as to fill the whole light.
The draperies of the figures often consisted
of large masses of colour, and the colouring
In very large windows
was much richer, with a greater proportion
of yellow, than heretofore. In domestic
windows arms and heraldic devices were
abundantly introduced, accompanied by
scrolls, and the only colour used was the
Quarry-work, each quarry
containing a sprig of foliage with yellow
leaves, with borders to the lights in brighter
colours, was also very common for plainer
buildings, or as a ground for the heraldic
work.
yellow stain.
To make the walls of churches harmonize
with the gorgeously coloured windows they
were decorated and enriched with colour as
well. Gilding and colouring were often
freely introduced in the roofs or groining;
and the floors were also made to accord by
the more sombre tones of encaustic tiles or
inlaid marble.
The artists of the Gothic period excelled
also in the goldsmith's and jeweller's art,
for which England has been celebrated even
in Saxon times. We have, however, very
few specimens remaining of this art," which
doubtless was largely employed for English
shrines. The shrines and other minor works
preserved at Aix-la-Chapelle, Cologne, Mar-
bourg, Tournay, Evreux, and other places on
the Continent, abundantly display the ex-
cellence of design and the exquisite beauty
of the gold and silver smith's work, the
enamel work, and the jewelry which were
lavished upon them. Chalices and sacra-
mental plate, reliquaries, and numerous
other objects, were executed with the
utmost perfection of art and workmanship.
During the fourteenth century tapestry
hangings were introduced in the halls of
the nobility, and Arras became famous for
its beautiful fabrics of this kind. They
were at first employed to line the walls of
halls at the back of the dais, which was

* The crozier of William of Wykeham, Bishop of Winchester,
preserved in New College, Oxford, is one among the very few
specimens of English workmanship which has been preserved to
mottoes or inscriptions on long narrow
our day.


108 Sugges/ions in /Design.
occupied by the high table. Tapestry,
indeed, became the favourite ornament of the
later mediaeval period, and in processions
and on state occasions great displays of rich
stuffs and hangings were made, representing,
as Froissart relates, “various scenes and
histories to the delight of all beholders.”
PLATE 35.
No. 1 represents a seal after the mediaeval manner.
A figure under a canopy, seated on a throne repre-
senting vigilance (the greyhound) and power (the
lion), between two angels, who are presenting the
one a book, and the other a shield.
No. 2. Vesica panel with St. Michael supported
by saints overcoming the evil one. The lion of
St. Mark below.
Nos. 3, 4, 5, 6,7. Tracery panels of various design
for metal-work. Small tracery work of this char-
acter was much in use for locks and plates during
the fifteenth century. Many specimens are very
elaborately cut. The metal was usually in plates
of several thicknesses fastened together with pins
or bolts. The ground was sometimes covered with
scarlet cloth, or decorated by painting, as is No. 7.
No. 8. One compartment of an oak rood-screen
(style fifteenth century). The figure introduced in
the open-work above is an outline for painting.
No. 9. A band or frieze of flowing tracery, of late
fourteenth-century character.
No. 10. Asquare boss for carving in oak. Fifteenth-
century character.
PLATE 36.
No. 1. Vesica under a canopy with the pascal lamb,
and monogram “John Lambe;” for engraving on
brass or other metal.
No. 2. Decorated or fourteenth-century flowing
tracery, from the back of the altar, Beverley Minster.
No. 3. Angle of panel with carved frame consist-
ing of tracery and foliage, with painted and gilded
panel in the centre.
No. 4. Panel for wood-work, with vine-leaves and
grapes.
No. 5. Vesica with angel carrying a shield
emblazoned with the sun of Christianity enlightening
the Negro, emblematical of the motto, “Lord, lighten
our darkness.” Composition for painting.
No. 6. Panel for wood-carving (fifteenth century)
with head of king with sceptre. Crowned heraldic
shield with monogram and supporters. Linen-fold
panel below.
No. 7. Ornamental fillet.
No. 8. Late French Flamboyant Gothic tracery
panelling, for pierced carved work in hardwood or
ivory.
No. 9. Tracery panel for carving, with paintings
or inlay of boar and fawn.
Nos. 10 to 16. Compartments for stone carved
diapers, each division by repetition forming a sepa-
rate and distinct pattern. Examples of stone diaper
work are to be found in Westminster Abbey, Bever-
ley Minster, Winchelsea Church, &c.—See also Figs.
206, 207.
PLATE 37.
Design for a book cover, the New Testament,
and back for the same, in naturalesque Gothic.
Among the foliage is introduced the lily as the
emblem of purity, and the passion-flower as emblem-
atical of the passion of our Lord. In the centre is
the cross with the sacred monogram. The dove as
emblematic of the Holy Spirit descending from above
within a triangle for the Trinity and a circle for
eternity. The cross as emblematical of Christianity
vanquishes the evil spirit, which is represented as
a winged serpent in the act of falling. In the
corners are the emblems of the evangelists, and the
capitals of the slender columns are formed by
angels bearing shields containing the emblems of
the passion. The back contains a vesica, in which
is the Holy Virgin and Child, surmounted by the
heart and cross, with angels at the sides in adoration.
The foliage is composed of the rose, ivy, and lily.
PLATE 38.
No. 1. Late German-Gothic panel with bordered
vesica containing painting or low-relief carving of
the Virgin and Child, with the emblems of the
evangelists at the corners.
No. 2. Panel with flowing tracery, containing
shield with heraldic double-headed eagle, for carving
or metal work.
No. 3. Carved oak panel, French Flamboyant


Ornameſ, fa/ Meſa/ //ork.
109
tracery. The Flamboyant form of tracery is also
found occasionally in English work, as in the west
front of York Cathedral, and other buildings. The
English artists, however, did not carry it to
excess as in France. Although it was adopted in
late Decorated work, the flowing forms were soon
neglected for the Perpendicular, which form of
tracery was never adopted by French artists. Hence
the reason for their carrying the Flamboyant to
such an excess.
No. 4. Head of tracery panelling having interlaced
lily foliage, with heart-form filled with branched
radiating triple foliage.
No. 5. Lily in interlaced tracery form, with flat
strawberry foliage, flowers and fruit, and thistle
leaves.
Nos. 6, 7. Tracery panels with foliage, for carving
or metal work.
No. 8. A suggestion for the combination of foliage
and tracery, with crowned pine and heart. The
parts blacked in are pierced. Suitable for embossing.
PLATE 30.
No. 1. Vesica panel filled with geometrical and
flowing Decorated tracery.
Nos. 2, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14. Forms of plate tracery for
metal work.
No. 4. Canopied head of niche, for metal work.
No. 5. Head of angle niche, for carving in oak.
Nos. 3, 6, 7, 10. Small oblong and circular tracery
panels for carving. Might be applied to furniture.
No. 8. Flowing tri-form panel, representing the
burial of the dead, the passage of the river Lethe
after death, and the ascension into heaven.
PLATE 40 (SUPERFICIAL).
No. 1. Decorative panel; conventional arrange-
ment of the rose.
Nos. 2 and 3. Decorative and geometrical forms
for wall-papers or draperies.
No. 4. Upright design for heraldic crowned shield
and supporters, with circular and flowing lines
combined.
Nos. 5 to 22. Designs for encaustic tiles or squares
for repetition as diapers for painted wall decoration,
—comprising, among other forms, interlacing lines,
rose and crown, lily, fleur-de-lis, rose, shamrock, and
thistle, maple leaf, horse-chestnut leaf, dolphin,
crosses, and lion.
No. 23. Royal arms with Tudor rose, oak and
acorns (England).
No. 24. Diaper containing a combination of the
thistle, St. Andrew's cross, and fleur-de-lis (Scotland).
No. 25. Combination of flowing lines with harp,
shamrock, and stars (Ireland)—The last three
designs are intended for painted wall decoration,
or might be adapted to bookbinding or other flat
surface.
*
CHA PTE R XVII.
ORN AMIENTAL
'MONG all the decorative arts
no more comprehensive subject
is to be found than that of
e---~~ metal work. It not only
embraces the working of bronze, brass, iron,
and other metals, but it also includes the
delicate and intricate processes connected
MIETAL WORIK.
with the working of the precious metals
gold and silver. Full reference to the
decorative use of these more noble metals
would alone be sufficient to form a treatise in
itself; the subject, therefore, is here neces-
sarily treated in a concise manner, and prin-
cipally limited to the use of bronze and iron.

28


| 10 Sugges/ſouls in /)esign.
The mixture of copper and tin called
bronze, and its application to nearly every
purpose to which metal can be applied, dates
from a very remote period in history, even
before the use of iron was known or un-
derstood. The Egyptians, Assyrians, and
Phoenicians were great workers in bronze;
and the latter people in very early times,
perhaps a thousand years before the Christian
era, traded largely with Britain in copper
and tin ores, which they obtained from
Devonshire and Cornwall. Other supplies
of these minerals may also have been
procured from Arabia and Persia, and
perhaps from Northern India.
Not only do the sacred writings make
frequent mention of the use of brass, by
which bronze is generally understood to be
meant; but classical writers, both Greek
and Latin, are full of references to numer-
ous works in metal. Homer and Hesiod
describe with great minuteness the shield
and armour of Achilles, and the shield of
Hercules, and by the frequent allusion to
the use of plates of brass, or more correctly
bronze, show how commonly they were
applied to the decoration of walls and
furniture.
It was the Greeks, more especially, who
brought the art of working in bronze to
perfection. Not only were statues cast by
them in this metal more colossal than have
been ever done since, but the architraves,
doors, and many ornaments of their temples,
the prows of their war-galleys, their armour
and weapons, and many instruments requir-
ing a fine edge, such as razors, saws, axes,
chisels, were all made of bronze. The
Egyptians and Greeks had also some means
of hardening and tempering these instru-
ments with which we are unacquainted.
The early Greek sculptors, all of whom
appear to have largely worked in bronze,
executed many of their works by hammering
out the metal plates in relief from the back
and then fastening them together with pins
or rivets. In the case of figures, these
hammered plates, called sphyrelaton or tor-
eutic work by the ancients, were probably
fastened on a wooden core or model. This
is similar to the repoussé or beaten work of
our own day.
The invention of hollow castings, in which
the metal is kept to a given thickness by an
inner core composed of modelling clay and
plaster, is attributed by Greek writers to the
Samian artists Rhoekos and Theodoros,
whose date is considered to be between B.C.
580 and 540. The process, however, was
practised in Egypt at an earlier date, and it
is probable that these artists only brought
it to greater perfection. As the art of
casting advanced, the thickness of the metal
was greatly reduced, until the minimum was
arrived at consistent with strength and
durability. Bronze of a very fine quality
and rich colour was used, and its effect was
greatly enhanced by skilful tooling and chas-
ing after the work was cast. Parts were
also sometimes inlaid with gold and silver
or enamelled in colour.
Numerous great artists worked in bronze
during the flourishing age of Greece;
among others we hear of Myron, who
executed a celebrated group of Jupiter with
Minerva and Hercules at Samos, a statue of
Erechtheus at Athens, and a group of
Minerva and Marsyas, of which latter figure
there is an antique copy in marble in the
Lateran Museum at Rome. The Discobolus
in the British Museum, which represents a
young athlete in the act of throwing the dis-


Ornamenta/ Meſa/ //ork. 111
w
cus, is believed to be a copy of a celebrated
bronze statue executed by this sculptor. To
Cresilas, a follower of the school of Myron,
has been ascribed the statue of a Wounded
Amazon in bronze, of which some antique
copies in marble are still extant. Phidias
executed a group of thirteen bronze statues,
which were presented by Athens to Delphi
in memory of the victory of Marathon. He
also cast colossal and other figures of
Minerva, particularly one made from the
bronze spoils of Marathon, which, some
seventy feet in height, crowned the summit
of the Acropolis at Athens, and became
a typical representation of the goddess.
Some idea of the extent to which bronze
was employed for sculpture may be formed
from the statement that a Roman consul, in
the year 130 B.C., found at Athens three
thousand bronze statues, and as many at
Rhodes and Olympia. Of these numerous
works, many of which were doubtless of
transcendent merit, comparatively few have
been preserved to our own time, the value
of the metal itself almost invariably leading
to their destruction. Of large works, the
horses at St. Mark's in Venice, the colossal
figure of Hercules now in the Vatican, the
equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius at
Rome, with a few others of life size, are
almost the only examples which remain.
Antique bronzes of smaller size, many of
them from Pompeii and Herculaneum, are to
be found in most European museums, espe-
cially the National Museum at Naples.
We have in early records soon after the
reign of Constantine, many notices of gifts
to churches of works in bronze, showing
that casting and chasing in that material was
still carried on. The most important
specimen which has been preserved from
those days is the seated statue of St. Peter,
in St. Peter's at Rome. Its date is about
A.D. 450, and the figure is unusually good
for the debased art of that period. The
chair or throne of Dagobert, now in the
Louvre, is another famous bronze ascribed
to the seventh century.
With regard to beauty of form and
perfection of casting in bronze, the old in-
habitants of Britain rivalled the most skilful
workmen of the present day. During the
later Celtic period the shields and other
objects were not only enriched with enamel,
but were carefully executed in relief with no
mean artistic power.
Admirable works in copper, executed in
Ireland about the eleventh century, are still
preserved, among which may be mentioned
the so-called St. Patrick's bell, cleverly in-
laid with gold filigree work of Celtic char-
acter and set with crystals. The Irish from
a very early period were skilful workers
in gold and precious stones, besides being
good bronzists, and they carried the art of
enamelling on metal to great perfection.
The use of engraved brasses as monumen-
tal tablets in this country commenced about
the thirteenth century. They were at first
imported from Germany and Flanders, but
were subsequently manufactured in England,
and in no country are these memorials so
numerous. They were often formed of
several pieces of brass shaped to the outline
of the figure or other object, and inlaid to
an even surface on a slab of stone or marble.
The engraving on the larger number of
English brasses was certainly the able work
of native hands. These brasses were some-
times enamelled or inlaid with colour, and
canopies of great elegance were frequently
arranged above the figures.


II 2
Suggestions in 19esign.
The beautiful monument to Queen Eleanor
in Westminster Abbey, who died in 1291,
consists of an altar-tomb of grey marble
enriched with shields and niches of carved
work. On a table of bronze gilt, ornamented
with a lozenge diaper in which are engraved
the arms of Castile and Leon, reposes the
effigy of the queen, a work of the greatest
merit. The head rests on cushions again
diapered with the arms of Castile and Leon,
above which is an angular canopy of metal
at one time richly gilt. Round the verge
of the table runs an inscription in raised
letters. On the northern side is a screen of
wrought-iron work, which will be described
presently. The bronze effigy was the work
of Master William Torell, goldsmith and
citizen of London.
Many other excellent works still exist in
bronze—or as the metal was called in the
middle ages latten—both in Westminster
Abbey and elsewhere. Among these it will
be sufficient to mention the effigy of Henry
III., which lies next to the tomb of Queen
Eleanor; and the magnificent bronze work
forming the tomb in Henry VII.'s Chapel,
the effigies being the work of Torregiano,
an Italian. The screen inclosing the tomb,
also of bronze, formed of tracery with
statuettes in niches, is of English workman-
ship.
At the commencement of the twelfth
century arose that extensive use of iron
forged and united by the hammer while at
a red heat which formed so conspicuous a
mode of ornamentation during the middle
ages. Both the Saxon and Norman Smiths
displayed the utmost ingenuity, and arrived at
great perfection in this branch of work. Be-
sides the numerous other objects to which it
was applied, the hinges of church doors were
expanded into beautiful ornamental forms,
until they literally covered the whole door
with elaborate and elegant combinations of
scroll-work. º
These hinges were executed in different
modes according to the nature of the work.
Some of the most simple and yet effective,
of the twelfth century, were formed in a great
measure out of one piece of iron. A plate
of that metal being cut as shown at A, Fig.
214, was heated, and the tongues A, A, A
twisted while hot into the spirals B, B, B.
The whole branch was again heated and then
bent to the required form. Afterwards,
when the parts were all prepared, they were
welded to the centre band of the hinge at D.
The scrolls when fastened to the door with
nails had the appearance shown by C.
In the thirteenth century, when scroll-
work with leafage was adopted, as in the
example Fig. 215, from St. Mary's, Norwich,
every small leaf or sprig had to be formed
separately, and afterwards attached by
welding to the main spirals. When each
branch was completed, and the scrolls and
leaves carefully regulated, they were welded


Ornamental Meſa/ J/or/.
113
to the centre band of the hinge. As it was
a difficult matter to finish these principal
weldings neatly and evenly, more especially
when the scrolls became large and heavy,
Fig. 215.
ſtill Oºlººl. QºIIITſo Lll
hºmilitºimhilliºliſhimºmºmº
they were usually concealed by a species of
doubled-over leaf, as shown in detail at A,
Fig. 215. These leaves and flowers, as at A
and B, were produced by stamps made of
Fig. 216.
hardened iron, and containing a mould or
the reversed form of the object to be stamped.
No doubt there were formerly in existence
many other beautiful works in iron, such as
open-work screens of elaborate scroll work,
but which from the lapse of time and other
causes have nearly all disappeared. One
now remaining, on the north side of the
tomb of Queen Eleanor, before mentioned,
was for a number of years thrown aside as
worthless old iron, and has not
very long been restored to its
Fig. 216 is
a portion of this elegant and
elaborately wrought screen.
Every panel or division through-
out its whole length is of a dif-
ferent design; and it will be
observed that the scroll work
is so delicate that in some
cases bands have been added at a later period
to strengthen and keep it in position.
Keyhole plates and door handles were
favourite objects of art with the mediaeval
smith, and many examples of these are found
of quaint form and very skilfully designed.
Cabinet hinges, especially in the fifteenth
century, were frequently executed in two or
three layers or plates of iron, as in Fig. 217,
(shown in section at A), each plate being
original position.
Fig. 217.
cut differently to develop tracery or other
work. In this example cupped-trefoil
flowers are placed in the centres of the
trefoils, which are held in position by the
nails.
Nos. 2, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, Plate 39, give
designs for small ornamental panels, and a
key-plate, of this species of metal work.
These were sometimes left open without a
ground, as in Nos. 2 and 14; or the ground
was covered with crimson cloth, Nos. 11 and
12, or gilded leather, No. 13.



29


114 Suggestions
in /Pesign.
English smiths maintained their excellence
of workmanship, and produced vast numbers
of admirable examples of their skill, during
the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
Many of these existed in London and its
neighbourhood until a few years ago, but
they are now fast disappearing. Some very
beautiful iron work in the form of gate
screens existed until lately at Hampton
Court Palace, but as they
were fast perishing from
Fig. 218.
exposure to the atmo-
sphere they have been
removed, and are now
Nº preserved in the South
Kensington and Bethnal
Green Museums. They
were designed and exe-
cuted by Huntingdon
Shaw, a native of Not-
tingham, about the year
1695. One of the pilas-
ters, or side portions, of
one of these screens is
represented by Fig. 218.
The use of cast-iron
is a much more modern
application than that of
The first
iron castings in England
wrought-iron.
were made in 1543, in
Sussex, by Ralph Page and Peter Baude, but
the process did not come much into use until
a considerably later date. The railing round
St. Paul's Cathedral, which dates about 1710
and was cast in Sussex, is said to be some
of the earliest cast-iron work put up in
London.
Fig. 219 represents a bolt said to be of
chiselled iron of French workmanship, dating
about 1550; but it is probably an early
-
example of cast-iron, although perhaps
finished by the aid of the chisel. Iron is
particularly well suited for the casting of
such work, as it can be done with the
utmost precision and beauty without having
to be touched after it leaves the mould.
Iron is cast from a mould formed in sand.
When the sand, which is of a soft and
clammy nature, is properly prepared and
firmly packed within an iron frame, the
wood or metal pattern of what is intended
to be cast is pressed into it, so as to leave
a clear and
well-defined
impression.
The pattern is
then taken out
by loosening it
all round, tak-
ing care that
the sand does
not give way
or become in-
jured. The
otherhalfof the
mould is then
worked
the same pat-
term in a simi-
with
lar frame; this
half has pins
which enter into holes that correspond
in the first half, causing the two halves of
the pattern to fit exactly to each other.
Canals are provided for the metal to run
through, small holes are made to allow the
air to escape, and when all is ready the
It
great importance to avoid air-bubbles in
molten metal is poured in. is of
casting, and the more time allowed for
cooling the better, because when rapidly


Ornamem/a/ Meſa/ //ork.
115
cooled the iron does not become so tough as
when cooled gradually. In making patterns
for iron castings an allowance of about one-
eighth of an inch to every foot has to be
made for the contraction of the metal in
cooling.
No material has suffered so much by
injudicious treatment as cast-iron. Every
material, no matter of what kind, when used
for constructive or ornamental purposes has
a treatment or mode in which it should be
used which is more peculiarly its own, and if
not so used, it assumes, more or less, a false
position. This is never more conspicu-
ous than when one material has been made
to imitate the appearance of some other
material. In this respect cast-iron has been
degraded by every variety of false treatment
more than any other material. At one time
it has been made to look like stone work, at
another it has had the character of wood
work given to it, but even more frequently
still attempts have been made to give it the
appearance of wrought-iron. The ease with
which iron is cast into various ornamental
forms aids this attempted imitation, but it
invariably fails to be successful. To give
iron the heaviness of stone by casting it with
broad surfaces but hollow or in thin plates
is a piece of deception which cannot be
too strongly condemned, yet it has been
so used in numerous instances. On the
other hand, to make it imitate the light-
ness and freedom of lines of wrought or
forged iron is to expose it to be destroyed
by breakage, as iron when cast is so much
more brittle than when wrought. In design-
ing cast-iron, therefore, the several parts
should be moderately stout, arranged
throughout to be of about the same size and
thickness of metal; and when of open work,
to have attachments wherever practicable.
In scrolls frequent connections or ties should
be contrived, so that no part be left un-
supported and liable to be broken off.
Ornamentation and foliage should never
be excessive upon cast-iron, because it
becomes an easy mode of concealing bad
casting. Nothing is more difficult than to
keep sharp, straight edges and angles in the
sand mould; and in cheap work, therefore,
we often see an attempt to conceal bad
and inferior casting under an accumulation
of wretched ornament. An excess of foliage
should be avoided, espe-
cially when introduced on a
ground in high relief, for the t
reason that there can be none of what is
called undercutting in cast-iron, as every
part in relief requires to be bevelled so that
the model may be drawn out of the sand, as
shown by the section Fig.
220. When ornament is
much raised from the sur-
face, thick bevelled edges,
as at A, Fig. 220, become
very disagreeable, and
Fig. 220.
have a clumsy appearance
when the work is viewed
diagonally. No matter
how good the modelling
may be, if these thick and
clumsy edges are persist-
ed in they will invariably
destroy all artistic feel-
ing in a work. It follows,
therefore, that all surface ornamention in
this material should be of a flat, delicate,
and slightly relieved character, so as to avoid
deep chamfered edges.
Another false application to which cast-
iron is subjected is that of casting it in twisted


116
in /9esign.
Suggestions
bars for iron railing. This is a form which
is admirably adapted for wrought-iron, and
it is one which a skilful Smith can produce
with great perfection; but the cast twist, show-
ing the clumsy junction of the moulds, be-
comes nothing but a miserable imitation. In
pierced or open work with cast-iron, such as
railings, no form is more appropriate than
the square bar, and all ornamentation should
grow out of it, as shown by Fig. 221.
PLATE 41.
No 1. Portion of cast-iron grille or railing with
wrought-iron twisted spike.
No. 2. Wrought-iron cross in plate-metal; lower
portion in cast work, with angels, heart, and crown.
No. 3. Cast-iron pierced cross or finial, with the
head of our Saviour.
No. 4. Cast-iron key-plate with ornamentation
in bas-relief; dragon and shield charged with mailed
hand and bent rapier, with the motto, “True as steel.”
Dragons holding ring, horse-shoe, file, and arrow-
head.
No. 5. Finial or ornament for metal-cresting,
intended to be worked in wrought-iron.
No. 6. Grille with gablet and fleur-de-lis ter-
minal in cast-iron, with panels partially filled in
with pierced iron-plate.
No. 7. Design for cast-iron railing, the twisted
bars are more suitable for wrought than cast work.
PLATE 42.
No. 1. Cast-iron finial with St. George and the
Dragon, shield with St. George's cross gules on argent.
No. 2. Wrought-iron hinge, with crenated foliage.
No. 3. Wrought-iron hinge, with eyes and wings.
No. 4. Cast-iron hinge, shown broken for applica-
tion to different lengths.
No. 5. Cast-iron hinge with cock and motto
“Vigilans; C. K. 73.”
No. 6. Cast-iron hinge, with raised edges and
flowers in low-relief.
No. 7. Bracket for gas in brass formed with pan-
S1C.S.
No. 8. Bracket for gas in brass formed with
fuchsias. This system, however, of making gas jets
come out of flowers is not to be commended.
No. 9. Metal corner for book cover or other
purposes.
No. 10. Key-plate, in two layers or plates of
metal. -
No. 11. Ornamental head for nail.
PLATE 43.
No. 1. Copper vane with fish and initials “I. E.”
Nos. 2 and 3. Brass corners or ornaments for
wooden book covers.
No. 4. Cast-iron staircase railing in square iron.
No. 5. Ornamental terminals for railing in cast-
iron, principal one surmounted with pelican upon
ball.
Nos. 6 and 7. Bosses or bolt heads.
No. 8. Bracket for light in chased brass, with
chameleon, viper, and snail.
No. 9. Portion of cast-iron grille or railing.
No. 10. Keyhole plate or escutcheon, with Love on
the heart and armed with the key of love.
No. 11. Wrought-iron key-plate with incised
ornamentation, for alms-box, with the impaled
hands and feet and wounded heart, to represent the
five wounds of our Saviour.
No. 12. Bronze handle or knocker, with head of
hound.
PLATE 44.
No. 1. Wrought-iron finial and copper vane, with
stars and swallow.
Nos. 2, 8, 9, 13, and 14. Door-handles for bronze
or wrought-iron, with cut or moulded plates.
Nos. 3, 10, and 11. Wrought-iron key-plates, the
first with entwined dragons worked on plate.
Nos. 4 and 5. Ornamental nail heads.
Nos. 6 and 7. Foliated scroll work for wrought-
iron or brass.
No. 12. Ornamentation in wrought-iron, crowned
V, with rose, shamrock, and thistle.
No. 15. Metal bow for key, which may be executed
as shown or pierced.
No. 16. Wrought-iron foliated terminal ornament.


Geometric Orſza/ment.
C H A P T E R XVIII.
G-E O METERIC
some late and extravagant styles (such as
the Louis XV.), in which novelty alone
was sought for, that this principle is little
heeded or altogether abandoned; but in
the best periods of art it will unquestion-
ably be found, upon careful examination,
that ornamentation was invariably set out
upon a geometrical basis. In the Persian,
the Moorish, and the Arabian styles geo-
metrical combinations have been carried
to a vast extent, and made to interlace
and ramify into an infinite variety of the
most complex arrangements and intricate
designs.
The Chinese and Japanese are extremely
fond of diapering portions of their vases
and other works with geometrical com-
binations of lines filled
In Indian work also, although the lines
are sometimes more erratic than those used
in with colour.
in other countries, they are nevertheless
generally founded upon the same simple
geometrical figures.
A similar principle of geometric arrange-
ment prevailed during the Byzantine era,
but it was not wrought out to the same
degree of complicacy as in the Mohammedan
styles. It was found of the greatest use
O BIN AMENT.
for marble inlays and mosaic decorations,
which were such important features during
that period. Many of these geometrical
combinations have been handed down to the
Gothic and other styles, and were employed
more particularly for designs for early
stained glass, inlaid pavements, and par-
quetry. In these arrangements some are
found which may be distinctly traced
through all the previous great periods
of art—even going back to the Greek,
the Assyrian, and the Egyptian.
Not only may geometrical form be found
in such combinations, but it may also be
traced in the setting-out or leading lines of
all decorative foliage. Geometrical lines
form the groundwork upon which such
foliage was designed. At no period is this
more distinctly seen than in the foliage
of the Greek, the Moorish, and the
Byzantine styles. This practice is in
perfect accordance with natural laws, the
shapes of all leaves and flowers being
based upon geometrical forms. There are
two great principles in nature which are
always acting in opposition to each other
—regularity or geometrical symmetry, and
irregularity or absence of order. These
are ever present, the regular as an under-
lying power, but irregularity runs riot so
as, apparently, to obscure or obliterate all
geometrical precision. To create true art-
workmanship we must in like manner em-

30


118
Sugges/ions in ZOesign.
brace the two principles—order and disorder,
regularity and irregularity, but from our
limited powers we must always hold much
closer to the former than to the latter.
It will be perceived, therefore, how
necessary it is to study geometric form.
All curved and straight lines are based
upon the simple geometrical figures, the
triangle, square, and circle, – with their
compounds, the hexagon, octagon, and
With these a vast variety of the
most elegant combinations can be made,
ellipse.
many of which have been used in almost
The
principles of geometric ornament are the
same in all styles of decoration, and the
every period of ornamental art.
Fig. 222. Fig. 223. Fig. 224.
simple elementary combinations are to be
found, more or less, in all of them. It is a
fact worth noticing, that the geometrical
figures have led to similar results in various
quarters of the globe, which probably have
had no connection or correspondence with
each other. This may be observed by com-
paring the Chinese, Japanese, and Indian
lines of ornamentation with Romanesque
and Gothic forms.
The careful observation of the different
modes of treatment upon the same lines, as
exhibited in different and distinct styles,
cannot fail to lead the student to greater
power and facility in design, and this study
should therefore be cultivated wherever
opportunity offers.
No entirely fresh geometrical combina-
tions can be invented, although the ori-
ginai ones may be varied and recombined
indefinitely. If we commence with the
triangle, one of the first and most simple
arrangements is that of the double triangle
drawn from the hexagonal points in the
circle, Fig. 222. Then by the aid of the
radius, from the same points, we can form
what is commonly called the “Kite Star,”
Fig. 223. This may be varied by finding
the intermediate points of the hexagon upon
Fig. 225.
/ N
N /
Fig. 226. Fig. 227.
the circle, and striking therefrom the arcs
of a circle touching the six points of the
three interlacing
vesicas, as in Fig. 224. This will be seen
ornamentally treated at No. 5, Plate 65, and,
with the reverse curve, at No. 3, Plate 83.
The triangle and square, with the hexagon
and octagon, are used more than any other
figures for mosaic inlay, and it is extra-
hexagon, and forming
Fig. 228. Fig. 229.
ordinary the vast number of different
combinations which it is possible to obtain
upon these few simple figures. Figs. 222
and 223 may be repeated so as to cover an
extended surface as a diaper or inlay, instead
of being used as a centre.
If two squares are placed in a circle, as
in Fig. 225, they give an octagon in the
centre, with eight right-angled triangles,
a form which may be carried into various
combinations. Using the same points on
* Combinations upon the double triangle will be found at No. 10,
Plate 31, and No. 4, Plate 65.


Geometric
Ornament. 119
the circle with arcs struck from the points,
as in Fig. 226, forming vesicas, they give
the cruciform flower-form, the points of the
intermediate vesicas representing the calyx.
The pentagon is also an elegant form, but
it is incapable of being combined to any
great extent.
are united in a star, as in Fig. 227, it makes
what is called the Pentalpha. It is the
When the pentagonal points
Fig. 230. Fig. 231.
.N. H
most common form in flowers, as in Fig.
228, which represents a five-petalled flower
of a pointed shape, with the intermediate
Another natural
points of the calyx.
pentagonal arrangement is that of Fig. 229,
which roughly represents the primrose,
formed of five heart-shaped petals.
To exemplify how simply and easily
in
made
changes may be geometrical
combinations,
different results, suppose we take No. 11
from Plate 45, which is a combination of
diagonal squares, with crosses at the inter-
If we omit the
giving entirely new and
sections used for glazing.
crosses it forms another well-known pattern
for glazing, Fig. 230. Retaining the original
diagonal squares, but removing the smaller
squares to the sides of the diagonal ones, as
| extremely simple pattern.
in Fig. 231, we produce a series of crosses.
Omit half of each smaller square, that is, cut
out of each diagonal square four right-an-
gled triangles, as in Fig. 232, and we obtain
a totally different result, namely, a tile
pattern in two colours, each tile being
of the same form throughout." Alter the
position of each right-angled triangle, so as
to cut out four portions from each square
at an angle of 45 degrees instead of 90, and
we have another very interesting com-
bination, each division being of the same
form, and fitting one into another, Fig. 233.
Another combination for tiles is given at
Fig. 234, in which the original lines of the
diagonal squares are indicated. Each tile is
Fig. 234.
Fig. 235.
ſºlº ſº.
z-Nº-Tz-N
[X) (X) ºx)
z-Lº-
N-Zº-ZN-Z
CO CO
here precisely alike, but the colours in the
alternate tiles are changed, making ap-
parently a complicated, but in reality an
A variation will
be again found at No. 4, Plate 34.
Now going back to the diagonal squares,
but subdividing them and using circles in-
stead of the smaller squares, as in Fig. 235,
we obtain a pattern which has been used for
marble inlay. Omit half of each circle, and
we arrive at a series of pointed quatrefoils
and crosses, as in Fig. 236. Reverse the
position of half the semicircles, and we get
a mediaeval tile pattern in two colours, Fig.
237, all of which are of similar form fitting
alternately into each other. Many other
different results may be obtained upon the
* No. 9, Plate 84, is another variation upon the same lines.


120 Sugges/ions
in /Design.
same general lines, but these examples will
be sufficient to show the importance of the
study of geometrical combinations as the
basis of ornamentation.
In bands, string-courses, mouldings, or
borders the same geometrical formation is
necessary. Ornaments set out on squares
are of frequent occurrence. If we divide a
moulding into squares, and divide each
Fig. 237.
square diagonally, as in Fig. 238, we obtain
the saw-tooth ornament; with a slight ad-
dition, as in the second half of that figure,
it becomes foliated; add another diagonal
line, as in Fig. 239, and we have the nail-
head ornament; form this into four leaves,
and it gives the dog-tooth ornament, as in the
second half of that figure. Reversed semi-
Fig. 238. Fig. 239.
ZZZZY! Dº!
circles, made continuous, form the ordinary
wave-line, which may be variously altered
by increasing the radius, and two interlacing
wave-lines give the ordinary guilloche, No. 6,
Plate 8. -
Upon such simple and elementary forms,
or others of equally rudimentary character,
are arranged a multitude of other kinds of
mouldings, string-courses, or borders, more
or less complicated, particularly in Greek and
Roman ornamentation, of which examples
will be found in the plates. By studying
the method by which they are formed the
student may soon learn to design others for
himself which will be equally applicable for
similar purposes. Geometrical formations
are also necessary for much larger enrich-
ments. They form the “setting-out lines,”
that is to say, the foundation lines upon
which ornamental forms are placed, whether
they be of foliage, of colour, or any other
species of decoration.
Diapered surfaces require to be divided
into geometrical divisions, and these may be
varied according to the material to which
they are applied—such as the glazing of
windows, wall-papers, parquetry, tile-work,
or mosaic inlay. The accompanying plate
presents many useful examples of these. It
will also be observed that a great number of
the ornaments and designs in other plates
throughout this work are set out and
arranged geometrically upon similar prin-
ciples.
To seek to reduce intricate inlays and
ornament to their simple and elementary
geometrical lines will be found a useful and
valuable study. It not only enables the
student to discover on what simple elements
the most enriched ornamentation may be
founded, but it furnishes him with the means
of devising variations which he may himself
clothe in a different manner.
PLATE 45.
No. 1. Eight-pointed star, for inlay in marble or
wood. The lines indicate the mode of contrasting
the colours, which may be black, white, red, and
yellow.
No. 2. Square form suited for glazing, inlay, or
filled in with ornament, founded on a four-petalled
flower.
No. 3. Eight-petal flower-form with cross in
centre. Groundwork or lines for ornamental square
panel decoration.
Nos. 4 and 5. Geometrical diapers for colours or
glazing with tinted glass.


122
Suggestions in /Pesign.
different kinds of marble or other materials
used. The art reached such perfection that
tesselated pavements embraced representa-
tions of human figures, animals, and fishes,
as in the example Fig. 241, from an ancient
Roman mosaic in the South Kensington
Museum. Landscapes, flowers, and foliage
were also depicted with equal success.
Probably the most
notable specimen
Fig. 241.
of ancient mosaic
that has
down to us, is a
battle piecediscov-
ered at Pompeii in 1831, and now preserved
In this remark-
COn 162
in the museum at Naples.
able work, the subject of which is one of
Alexander the Great's Asiatic victories, men
and horses in action are represented with
great spirit, the figures being nearly as large
as life.
The process of forming pavements and
other works in ceramic tesserae has been of
late years pursued in England with great
success. A frieze of this description, of
large size, has been executed, surrounding
the whole of the exterior of the Royal Albert
Hall at South Kensington. The colours
used were only three in number: buff for
the figures, which were outlined in black, on
a chocolate ground, and the sizes of the
tesserae varied from about a quarter of an
inch to one inch square.
The Romans frequently adopted another
method of constructing mosaic pavements,
which was called sectile, or sliced work.
This was formed of different slices of choice
marbles, which produced their effect solely
by contrast of the shape, colour, and veining
of the various kinds which were brought
together. The finest specimen of sectile
work now extant is the pavement of the
Pantheon at Rome, where specimens of the
principal marbles, each of great superficial
extent, are arranged in alternate round and
square slabs. A similar species of marble
paving is frequently met with in early
mediaeval buildings in Italy, as in the
example Fig. 242, from the church of
St. Francis at
Assisi. It
consists of a
triangular ar-
rangement of
similar forms
in white, gray,
and red mar-
bles.
From the
middle of the
fourth centu-
ry, when Christianity began to extend itself
over Europe and the seat of the Empire
had been Constantinople,
the oriental taste for gold and splendour
superseded the purer practice of the Ro-
mans, and Byzantine glass mosaic came
into fashion. Mosaic was extensively em-
ployed by the Byzantines for wall decoration
and for the enrichment of vaults and ceilings.
It was used to some extent on the exteriors
as well as in the interiors of their buildings.
The pieces of opaque glass, or coloured
enamels, employed in this kind of work
were very irregular in size and shape, and
the ground upon which the subjects were
represented was almost invariably of gold.
A great variety of shades and tones of colour
were produced in these glass enamels, and
the material for the gold grounds was formed
by placing gold-leaf between two sheets of
clear glass, which were then put into a kiln
Fig. 242.
removed to


Im/ays, Zabyrinths, and Diapers.
123
and heated until the whole became homo-
The sheets were then broken up
into the required sizes.
The manufacture and working of this
species of enamel mosaic, known as Vene-
tian or Byzantine, has been successfully
revived by Dr. Salviati, who has established
works at Murano near Venice. Many ex-
amples of this work have been put up in
this country, such as those executed by him
at the Albert Memorial, Hydepark. The
enamel is cut into shapes not quite regular,
and these are put together more or less near
to each other, so that between them the
joints are plainly seen, and the surface is left
rough. Another kind of mosaic is that
which is formed in Rome, where the work
—different from the Venetian—is made
thoroughly smooth by rubbing or polishing
the surface, and the stone or enamels have
their edges fitting closely one to another.
The best specimens of this kind of pictorial
wall-mosaic are to be found in St. Peter's
and in the recently rebuilt church of St.
Paul outside the walls, Rome. The gigantic
pictures of the four evangelists that adorn
geneous.
the pendentives under the dome of St.
Peter's, and the long series of circular
pictures (each about four feet diameter)
introduced as a decorative band along each
side of the nave of St. Paul, representing
portraits of the popes from St. Peter
onwards, are in rough surfaced mosaic.
These pictures have the effect of frescoes
of great excellence, and are imperishable
in colour. The portraits of the popes in St.
Paul were executed at Rome within the
last thirty years." But the most perfect
specimens of pictorial wall-mosaic are the
* The atelier of the Vatican is said to possess material for mosaic
work in above three thousand tints and shades.
copies from pictures by Raffaele and other
great masters which are placed in some of
the chapels of St. Peter's. In these the
drawing, expression, colouring, and general
effect are so well rendered, and the fitting
together of the tesserae so perfect, that they
impress the beholder as paintings of rare
merit. Most of the pictures are reproduced
on a scale much larger than their originals,
and the surface of the mosaic being polished
they present the appearance of paintings in
oil. These examples, however, although
put together with such rare perfection, are
not considered so good for the purpose
of wall decoration as the earlier, although
rougher and coarser, mosaics of St. Mark
at Venice, or Monreale in Sicily. Mosaics
have a character of their own, which neces-
sitates a certain conventional manner, and
all attempts to make them look like pictures
in oil for wall decoration should be avoided.
Miniature works in mosaic continue to be pro-
duced in Rome and in Florence for the decor-
ation of jewelry and other ornamental articles.
In the mediaeval styles of England wall-
mosaics do not appear to have ever been
prevalent, but there cannot be a doubt that
English artists painted and diapered their
walls and ceilings upon the same principle,
and even in some cases in imitation of
inlay. Of this a notable example is the
very early painted ceiling of the nave of
Peterborough Cathedral. Almost the only
example we possess of the glass or enamel
mosaic of the middle ages is that which still
partially remains upon the tomb of Henry
III. in Westminster Abbey. The shrine of
Edward the Confessor, which was erected
by Henry, has been also richly inlaid with
mosaic work, but it is now nearly all
destroyed or picked out; the forms, how-


124 Suggestions in Design.
ever, of the inlay are still discernible upon on the Continent, were sometimes laid out
the cement in which it was embedded. in the form of labyrinths. No. 1, Plate 46,
The floor of Edward the Confessor's Chapel is similar to one which existed in the church
is very richly inlaid with various kinds of of St. Bertin at St. Omer, and which is said
marble, and the pavement before the altar to have been destroyed because the children
of the Abbey is of a similar description. and strangers in following its course dis-
The materials of this pavement were turbed the services of the church by their
brought from Rome by Abbot Ware about noise. No. 2 is the plan of a circular one
1267. Portions of another richly inlaid which still remains in the Cathedral of
marble floor are seen in the Trinity Chapel Chartres. Such labyrinths were generally
of Canterbury Cathedral. This contains placed near one of the entrances, and were
the signs of the zodiac in circles, but one supposed to be emblematical of the manner
portion of the same pavement is filled in of approaching the temple at Jerusalem:
because during the time of the crusades the
way which led to the temple was marked by a
number of turns and stopping places, in which
the pilgrims remained to pray before reaching
the holy place. In like manner pilgrims
went on their knees upon these labyrinths,
praying at every turn, and patiently followed
the tortuous course until they arrived at the
centre, which was considered the holy place.
with geometrical combinations of marble, por- Another excellent mode of enriching
phyry, &c. Fig. 243 presents a specimen pavements was by incising the form, and
of this inlay All these works are no doubt filling the incisions with black or a dark-
of foreign origin, most probably Italian. coloured cement. Several monumental
A form of flint inlay, which is found upon | tablets at Tintern Abbey, and part of the
the exteriors of the fourteenth and fifteenth pavement at Canterbury Cathedral, repre-
century churches in Norfolk and Suffolk, senting the four seasons and the signs of the
is also worthy of a passing observation. It zodiac, already referred to, are of this
consists of the forms of tracery, inscriptions, description. This method of incising pave-
or monograms, cut out in free-stone, the ments is well worthy of study and further
spaces being then filled in flush with the development for modern work, as it has a
stone work with split and square flints. very excellent effect and does not involve so
The difference of colour developing the forms much labour as inlay. The wall decoration
in strong contrast, the effect is rich and in the memorial chapel to Prince Albert at
pleasing, and gives a distinctive character | Windsor, done by Baron Trequeti for the
to the churches of these counties which is royal family, as well as some of the pavements
not found in any other part of England. which have been executed by other artists
The large marble floors of the naves or in the restoration of our cathedrals, are also
transepts of some cathedrals, more especially of this description. A good modern example


Zn/ays, / abyrint/s, and Diapers.
125
is that in the choir of Gloucester Cathedral
by the late Sir G. Gilbert Scott. The subject
is the life of man from Adam to Jesus Christ.
In the manufacture of encaustic tiles the
ornament is produced by an inlay of a
coloured clay different from the body of the
tile.
red clay, is formed under great pressure by
means of a steel die, which stamps the
pattern on the face to about one-eighth of
an inch in depth. When the tile is dry, but
before being burned, a yellow clay, technically
called a slip, is made up to about the consis-
tency of cream and poured over the face of
the tile, completely filling up the incised
portion. After this has been allowed to dry,
the superfluous clay is removed by the aid
of a steel scraper, and the tile is ready for
the kiln. When more than one colour is
required for the ornament upon the tile, the
more expensive colour, such as blue, is care-
fully poured into those parts required to be
of that colour, and when this is dry the
yellow slip is added. Care must be taken
that the clay used for the slip is not liable
to shrink in the burning, or cracks will be
produced between the inserted clay and the
incised form.
The original tile, which is usually of
During the seventeenth century a species of
wood inlay, called marquetry, was applied very
extensively to the ornamentation of furniture.
It was formed of thin veneer, and required
a considerable amount of skill in its execu-
tion. Flowers, birds, and other objects were
imitated by different coloured woods, and
shaded by partially burning the surface with
a hot iron. This was done with remarkable
exactness to nature, but the result was
rather too like a laborious and inferior
imitation of a painting than a work of art.
Another kind of wood inlay, of a larger and
much simpler description, termed parquetry,
has been long legitimately applied to floors,
especially upon the Continent, where the use
of carpets is not so common as with us.
Flat diapers are very much of the same
character as inlays, and may, of course, be
executed in the same manner; but they are
more frequently done for wall decoration by
painting, stencilling, or by printing, as on
wall-papers. Examples are given for these
on Plates 47, 48. Sculptured diapers in
stone, as found in Westminster Abbey and
other places, already referred to, Chap. xvi.,
are exceedingly costly from the great amount
of labour they incur; but a very similar
effect and with equal beauty may be obtained
by the use of terra cotta. In fact, this is
one of the many legitimate uses of terra
cotta, where one mould will produce an
unlimited number of the same forms in a
material which is comparatively indestruc-
tible, and that will effectually resist the
influence of the atmosphere for an incredible
length of time. And it seems a more reason-
able process than to set men laboriously to
carve repetitions of the same forms over
the whole surface of a wall.
PLATE 46.
No. 1. Labyrinth inlaid in marble of two colours,
somewhat similar to one which existed in the church
of St. Bertin at St. Omer.
No. 2. Circular labyrinth from the nave floor of
Chartres Cathedral, formed of blue and white stone
inlay; other colours are also used in different parts.
No. 3. Flaming star with coronet and date, for
inlay. -
No. 4. Panel with centre cross, borders, and other
portions of various designs, for geometrical inlay or
parquetry.
Nos. 5 and 6. Strap and geometrical inlay border.
No. 7. Border with combinations of right-angled
triangle.
32


126 Sugges/loſs
in /9esign.
No. 8. Foliated inlay border with scalloped edges.
No. 9. Inlay border, white and black interrupted
hexagons.
Nos. 10 and 11. Chinese or Japanese geometrical
diapers, for painting on porcelain or for inlay.
These are both formed on the triangle and hexagon.
PLATE 47.
No. 1. Triangular interlacing bands for diaper for
parquetry or other inlay, with stars at the inter-
sections of the white bands.
Nos. 2 and 3. Variations upon the last combina-
tion, with flowers at the intersections, and cubes
filling in between the triangular bands. A combi-
nation of cubes formed upon the hexagonal lines, in
black, white, and gray marble, was a favourite form
of pavement in the last century. It is, however, a
very objectionable pattern, from its representing the
cubes as if in perspective with one angle standing
up, thus losing the character that pavement should
have—that of looking flat and even for walking
upon.
No. 4. Interlaced incised line, on white stone or
marble filled in with black cement. Four varieties
of borders, incised and filled with cement. The
broader bands may be filled with cement of a
different colour, or inlaid with coloured stone or
marble.
Nos. 5, 6, 7, and 8. Foliated diapers upon imbri-
cated or fish-scale lines, for painting, stencilling, or
wall-papers.
Nos. 9 and 10. Geometrical tile pavements, on
triangle, and one form fitting by reversing into each
other.
No. 11. Border of interlaced ribbon, formed by
incised line, and filled in with black or coloured
cement. The ground tooled in lines to give variety
of surface.
Nos. 12 and 13. Upright foliated and geometrical
designs, for painted dados for rooms, or for executing
in paper.
No. 14. Marquetry border for woods of various
colours and shades.
PLATE 48.
No. 1. Incised brass filled in with black cement,
the broader portions with colour. A crest formed
of a mason's lewis with the motto “Hold fast,” for
the name “Lewis.”
No. 2. Panel for line-painted decoration, with
ground filled in with colour. Continuous ribbon,
with variations upon the motto “Amour par
tout.”
No. 3. Panel for painted decoration upon the
same motto in English, “All for love,” with contin-
uous line forming hearts and true lover's knot, filled
in with shamrock foliage.
Nos. 4, 5, 6, and 7. Four varieties of four-leaved
diaper, with four other varieties of leaves at the
sides. For painting, stencilling, or wall-paper.
No. 8. Centre of interlaced crescents.
No. 9. Centre containing triple arrangement of
oak foliage in two colours.
No. 10. Star and cloud diaper.
No. 11. Diaper formed of triple gyrating cones
and lines.
No. 12. Alternating letter Z diaper.
No. 13. Fish diaper with conventional water.
Nos. 14, 15, 16, and 17. Fret and open-line
diapers or filling-in, for enrichment of surface in
china or porcelain.
No. 18. Alternate-leaved bands for surface decor-
ation. One-half of band may be also applied to
metal cresting.
No. 19. Outline fleur-de-lis, leaf, and berries, for
pattern of textile fabric.
No. 20. Acorn-and-heart enriched band for
painting.
No. 21. Stencil pattern for self-tone decoration—
that is, the ornament stencilled in the same colour
as the ground but darker, or vice versa.


B/aconry and A/eraldic Ornament.
127
C H A PTE R. XX.
BLAZON RY AND HERALDIC ORN AMENT.
|N Heraldry the term Blazonry is
applied to the description and to
# the representation of all heraldic
§º ! figures, devices, or compositions,
as well as to the arrangement of the
component members and details of any
heraldic composition. The word, here used
in its most extended signification, carries us
back to a very early period, when it was the
prevalent custom for both individuals and
communities to be distinguished by some
sign, device, or cognizance.
War and the chase would naturally furnish
the first forms and figures, worn upon some
part of the person or emblazoned on the
shield as a mark of distinction.
physical powers or peculiarities as a warrior
A man's
or a hunter, or the issue of some exploit in
which he may have been engaged, would, in
many cases, determine his distinctive personal
If swift of foot, or strong of
hand, or fierce in demeanour, or patient of
he would naturally seek to
symbolize himself under the form of some
animal distinguished pre-eminently for one
or other of those qualities. For it is natural
that man should find symbols of his own
physical attributes in the inferior animals;
because in mere swiftness, or strength, or
such like qualities, certain animals are
superior to man. The next thing would be
to render this personal symbolism hereditary.
A man's son would feel a natural pride in
cognizance.
hardship,
preserving the memorial of his father's
reputation, by assuming and also by trans-
mitting his device. It would be the same
with the comrades of a chief and with the
subjects of a prince. Thus a system of
heraldry would gradually rise and become
established.
Nearly six hundred years before the
Christian era AEschylus described the her-
aldic blazonry of the chieftains who united
their forces for the siege of Thebes. The
well-known eagle was the symbol of ancient
Rome, the standard of Persia was an eagle
displayed, and the state of Athens was dis-
tinguished by an owl.
It is, however, to the Crusades, which
were begun in the year 1096 and terminated
about 1270, that we owe in a great measure
the mediaeval system of heraldry, and the
emblazonment of arms on shields. Among
the many and important results of those
romantic enterprises were great changes in
the weapons and armour of the Western
chivalry; and these changes were accom-
panied by the introduction of an infinite
variety of armorial devices, especially the
adoption of crosses of various forms and
colours. The Crusade confederacy would
necessarily require a more definite system of
military standards and insignia than had
previously prevailed. The use of improved
defensive armour also, combined with a
better system of organization and discipline


128 Sugges/ions
in /Design.
in the armour-clad bands, rendered it
necessary for each warrior of any rank to
assume and wear a personal cognizance,
without which he could not be distin-
guished on the battle-field, where the known
presence of certain individuals was of grave
importance. The device of each baron and
knight would naturally be assigned, with
certain modifications, to their respective
retainers and followers. For this reason
crests wereintroduced and placed on bascinets
and helmets, Fig. 244,' and some recognized
device was dis-
played upon all
knightly pennons
or banners. These
were again em-
blazoned upon the
rich surcoats worn
by the knights over
their armour, and
upon the coverings
of their chargers,
as well as upon
the shields borne by the warriors (No. 4,
Plate 50). Such is the origin of Coats of
Arms, a term which is still in common use
at the present day.
In England, during the reign of Henry III.
heraldry assumed a more definite character
than it had done before, and in the long and
brilliant reign of Edward III. it attained its
culminating point. Again, during the Lan-
castrian era and throughout the wars of the
Roses heraldry maintained its reputation
and popularity, but with the decline of
Gothic architecture it too showed signs of
a coming degradation. Such has been its
long and gradual rise and its decadence;
* See also the examples Nos. 1, 4, 5, 6, Plate 50; and others in
following plates.
and although now somewhat in the position
of a dead language, still its use is never
likely to be abandoned so long as pride
of rank exists, and individual and family
distinctions are required. Heraldic com-
positions are of extreme value as historical
and genealogical evidence, and if rightly
understood may yet become a powerful
auxiliary in the ornamental treatment of
symbolized forms and images.
Early heraldic shields vary very consider-
ably in their forms, the simplest having the
contour of an inverted pointed arch, some-
what stilted, as shown at No. 2, Plate 50.
The shields used by the Normans in England
were long and tapering, as
seen borne by the knightly
effigies in the Temple Church,
London. To these succeeded al-
most triangular, heater-shaped
shields. In later times their
forms were often of the most
fanciful description. Fig. 245 represents the
form known as the Tudor shield. It has a
notch on one side for the support of the lance
used in tournaments. The ground or surface
of the shield is called the field, and here are
depicted the figures or charges which make
up the coat of arms. The side of the
escutcheon which is opposite to the left hand
of the person looking at it is the deater or
right side of the shield, and that opposite
the right hand the sinister or left side.
The tinctures, or colours generally used
in heraldry comprise two metals and five
Fig. 245.
colours, and are named:—
Or, ...... Gold or yellow, represented in engrav-
ing by dotted work.
Argent, . Silver or white, always left plain.
Gules,... Red,.............. perpendicular lines.
Azure, ... Blue, ............. horizontal lines.


1:30 Suggestions
in Design.
never borne singly; when the field is covered by
bars, it is said to be Barry. In the same way the
field may be covered with pales, when it is termed
Paly. The bar has two diminutives—the Closet,
half the bar, and the Barrulet, which is half the
closet.
6. The Chevron, Fig. 257, is formed of two lines
placed pyramidally, like the rafters of a house. The
chevron has two diminutives—the Chevronel, half
the chevron, and the Couple-close, half the chevronel.
7. The Cross, Fig. 258, is formed by the meeting
of two perpendicular with two horizontal lines
eff as HH
-—
Fig. 257.-Chevron. Fig. 258. –Cross.
Fig. 256.-Bar.
about the centre of the shield, and when charged
occupies about one-third of the field, but otherwise
it contains one-fifth. The varieties of the cross are
very numerous, but Figs. 259-263 represent some
of the most usual forms, as the cross moline, fitchee,
patée, avellame, and the cross croslet.
*H iſ lºſſ
Fig. 259. —Cross Moline. Fig. 200.-Cross Fitchée. Fig. 261 –Cross Patée.
8. The Saltire, or diagonal cross, Fig. 264, is a
combination of the bend with the bend sinister. It
contains one-fifth of the field, but one-third when it
is charged. It has no diminutive.
ºf ºſ
Fig. 262.-Cross Avellane. Fig. 263.-Cross Croslet.
Fig. 264.—Saltire.
9. The Pile, Fig, 265, a wedge in form, generally
issues from the middle chief and extends towards the
middle base of a shield. Occasionally, however, this
ordinary is borne in the same direction as the bend;
or it may issue from various parts of the inclosing
line of a shield. Charges are often placed and
arranged after the form of the ordinaries; thus
charges may be in Chief, that is, arranged along the
top of the shield, without the chief itself being
indicated. In the same manner charges may be
said to be in Fesse, in Cross, &c.
Fig. 265. -Pile.
Fig. 266 – Orle.
The shield may have a border, which continues all
round the edge, is parallel to the boundary of the
shield, and contains one-fifth of the field. This
may be again engrailed, indented, &c.
The Orle, Fig. 266, is an inner border of the
same shape as the shield, but it does not touch
the extremities of the shield, the field being seen
within and around it on both sides.
The Tressure, Fig. 267, a diminutive of the orle,
usually half its breadth, and generally borne fleury
and counter-fleury; as seen in the arms of Scotland.
The charges upon a shield consist of every
description of figure or bearing, both
animate and inanimate, such as beasts,
birds, and fishes; lozenges, trefoils, quatre-
foils, roses, stars, crescents; guttes, or drops
of liquid of different colours; or roundles,
being plates or coins of metal, or if of
colour represented globular. These and
a vast number of other objects are used
as charges, and may be placed in various
positions upon the shield, and of different
colours. In the blazoning of charges, be
they of what nature or kind soever, whether
animate or inanimate, if they are intended
to be of the natural colour of the things they
represent, they must be termed proper.
The art of disposing more than one or
several coats of arms upon the same shield
is termed Marshalling. Coats of arms
are thus marshalled on various accounts:
namely, to show descent, marriage, alliance,
adoption, or the gift of the sovereign.
Such coats as betoken marriage are borne


Alazonry and Heraldic Ornament.
131
pale-wise, that is, the man bears his coat
on the dexter half of the shield and the
half.
woman on the sinister If a man
marries two wives, the arms of the first,
is placed in the chief on the sinister side
and the second in the base. If more than
two, the sinister side is again subdivided
accordingly.
When a shield is quartered or divided into
four parts, it shows the bearer's alliance to
two or more families, as when a man quarters
his mother's arms with his father's, but it
should be observed that the paternal coat
is always placed in the first quarter. When
a coat is borne with four or more quarterings,
and any one or more of those quarterings
are again divided into two or more coats,
this compound division is indicated as
counter-quartered, and the four primary
quarters are distinguished as grand quarters.
The first person who quartered arms in
England was King Edward III. He bore
the arms of England and France, quarterly,
in right of his mother Isabel, daughter and
heir of Philip IV. of France. The same
king afterwards changed his arms to those
of France and England, placing France in
the first and fourth quarters upon his laying
claim to that kingdom.
By Cadency heralds distinguish the
different individuals, or the several branches
of the same family, all of whom, in right
of their common descent, inherit and bear
the same arms. A shield of arms may
be thus “differenced,” either by modi-
fying or adding to the original blazon,
or by introducing upon the shield some
fresh charge, which has a special and a
separate existence of its own, as a
“difference.” Thus the Prince of Wales
bears a label in chief across the royal
arms as a difference, the second son a
crescent, and so on; each son or descendant
of a family having inserted some alteration
or addition to the original arms, without
interfering with or altering the paternal
coat otherwise than as a mark of “dif-
ference.”
Apart from coats of arms, Badges or
Cognizances were much in favour during
the palmy days of mediaeval heraldry,
and, indeed, they were in use before the
adoption and recognition of regular coats
of arms. Badges consist of figures or
devices assumed for the purpose of being
borne either absolutely alone, or in con-
nection with a motto, as the distinctive
cognizance of an individual or a family
of rank and importance. They
commonly used for the decoration of
Were
costume, military equipments, horse trap-
pings, household furniture, and were worn
by household servants and other retainers.
Pieces of plate and other valuable objects
were also adorned and marked by the
badge, and in seals they appear as the
accessories of shields, and sometimes as
diapers.
The sovereigns of England adopted a
great variety of badges, at the head of
which stands the Planta Genista, that
simple sprig of broom-plant which gave
the name Plantagenet to one of the proudest
and most powerful families. Second only
to the Planta Genista in interest are the
White and Red Roses of the rival Plan-
tagenets of York and Lancaster. Edward
the Black Prince adopted the sun rising out
of clouds, in addition to the three ostrich-
feathers, and the motto “Ich dien” (I serve).
A black swan ducally gorged and chained
was the badge of the De Bohuns. Fig. 268


132 Suggestions in Design.
is a representation of this badge from the
brass to Alianore De Bohun, Duchess of
Gloucester A.D. 1399, in Westminster Abbey.
The same device was sometimes borne as a
crest as well as a badge,
as in the case of the
famous badge of the
Earls of Warwick,--the
bear chained to a ragged
staff. To this Shakspeare
refers in the second part
of Henry VI., where
he makes Clifford conclude his threatening
address to Warwick with the words:—
“Might I but know thee by thy household badge.”
To which Warwick replies:–
“Now, by my father's badge, old Neville's crest,
The rampant bear chain'd to the ragged staff.”—
This badge as well as several others
have given the names to many inns,
such as the “White Hart” of Richard II.,
the “Silver (or White) Swan" of the house
of Lancaster, and the “Rose and Crown.”
The last with the initials V.R., may also be
deemed the national badge, as the Thistle is
that of Scotland and the Harp of Ireland.
Among other devices which were used as
badges were certain entwined cords, dis-
tinguished by the title of Knots, such as the
Stafford Knot, the Bouchier Knot, and
others.
The badge sometimes took the form of a
Rebus, which was a favourite method of
heraldic expression. It was formed by an
allusion to the name or profession of the
bearer. There are many quaint and curious
examples remaining of such devices. For
instance, in St. Alban's Abbey the monument
of Abbot Ramrydge contains figures of rams,
each of which has, on a collar, the letters
Langton; a hen sitting on
RYDGE. The tun to represent the syllable
“ton” was in great favour in olden times—
as for example, a bolt or arrow through a
tun for Bolton (No. 4, Plate 54); a musical
note called a long inserted into a tun for
a tun for Henton; a fire
beacon formed of a tun on
a pole with a ladder placed
against it, for Beckington;
and the hat and tun for
Hatton. Abbot Islip in
his chapel in Westminster Abbey gives
two forms of his rebus: one a human eye
and a small branch or “slip” of a tree;
the other, a man in the act of falling
from a tree, with the motto issuing from
his mouth “I slip!” Such heraldic puns
are distinguished as Canting Heraldry.
Beautiful and elaborate seals were held in
high esteem in the middle ages, and were
frequently charged with heraldic insignia
and designs of varied and fanciful character.
Fig. 269 represents the seal of Henry
Plantagenet, second son of Edmund, first
Earl of Lancaster.
The motto so frequently borne with coats
of arms or crests was a brief epigrammatic
sentence, supposed to be in some manner
characteristic of the bearer, and was usually
placed on a scroll either beneath the shield
or about the crest. It sometimes contained
a pun upon the name, as for Neville,
Ne riſe Velis (“Form no mean wish;” or,
“Desire Neville”). As also in the well-known
instance of the Vernons, whose motto is
Ver non semper ciret (“Spring does not
always flourish”).
The shield of arms is frequently flanked
by supporters, Nos. 1 and 4, Plate 51, which
consist of human or of imaginary beings, or


A/aconry and //cra/aſic Orname/ſ.
133
of any living creatures whatever, which act
as if guarding or supporting the shield, as
do the lion and unicorn on either side of
the royal arms. Supporters are only borne
by the royal family, peers of the realm,
knights of the Garter, knights grand crosses
of the Bath, and a few others.
From a very early period heraldic devices
have been emblazoned upon Flags of various
kinds. The three principal varieties of these
mediaeval ensigns were the pennon, the
banner, and the standard.
The Pennon was of small size, pointed or
swallow-tailed, borne immediately below the
lance-head, and charged with the badge or
other armorial device of the knight whose
personal ensign it was.
The Banner was square in form, or nearly
so, and was charged with the coat of arms
of the owner, and not with any other device.
The national banner of England, commonly
called the “Union Jack,” contains the crosses
of St. George for England, of St. Andrew
for Scotland, and of St. Patrick for Ireland.
The Standard was of large dimensions,
and usually of considerable length in pro-
portion to its breadth.
with a full coat of arms and quarterings, as
in the case of the royal standard of Great
Britain. Standards appear to have been
used solely for the purpose of display.
There are many other flags, such as those
belonging to the military and naval services,
It was emblazoned
but they are too numerous, and their forms
too intricate, to be entered upon here. It
was a prevailing custom in the middle
ages to emblazon the sails of ships with
armorial insignia, and thus the sails them-
selves became flags."
"For fuller information on Blazonry and Heraldry the reader is
referred to the following works, as standard authorities: Dugdale's
PLATE 49.
No. 1. A cartel for the commencement of the
tournay; black and white. This example exem-
plifies a change which sometimes takes place in
a shield of arms, termed counterchanging. It
denotes a reciprocal exchange of metal for colour,
and colour for metal, either in the same charge, or
the same composition as in this instance, where
sable is counterchanged with argent.
No. 2. Faith, Hope, and Charity, with Justice
and Mercy above. Faith, shield divided into light
and darkness, party per fess or and sable, charged
with a cross resting upon the neck of a serpent
surmounted on a skull. Sin and Death overcome
by the power of the cross, which has for crest the
celestial crown. Supporters two angels holding the
lower shields. Hope, party per fess sable and sea
proper, charged with the firmly planted anchor as
the last. Charity, on a shield party per pale sable
and or, the pelican feeding its young with its own
life blood, proper, the heart below gules, being
typical of love. The term proper indicates the
natural colour of any object.
No. 3. Sword of state, with A, King's crown; B,
Duke's coronet; C, Marquis; D, Earl; E, Wiscount;
and F, Baron.
No. 4. Papal Tiara, or triple crown, cross and
keys of St. Peter.
No. 5. Austrian Imperial crown.
No. 6. Crown of Charlemagne.
No. 7. Crown of France. Louis le Grand (XIV.).
No. 8. Bishop's crozier.
No. 9. The royal sceptre of England surmounted
by the orb and cross. The orb, a separate ball of
gold six inches in diameter, upon which is placed a
golden cross enriched with diamonds, pearls, and
other precious stones, is placed in the monarch's
right hand before the coronation; and after the
ceremony is borne in the left, while the sceptre is
borne in the right.
PLATE 50.
No. 1. An esquire's helmet and mantling or and
sable, with crest of pelican feeding its young. The
Baronage, 1675; Nesbit's System of Heraldry, 1722; Edmondson's
Complete Body of Heraldry, 1780; and later editions; Planché's
Pursuivant at Arms; Parker's Dictionary of Heraldry; Clark's
Introduction to Heraldry, 14th edition, 1845, small octavo; Boutell's
Manual of Heraldry, 1863, octavo.
34


134 Suggestions in /Design.
mantling or lambrequin was a small mantle attached
to the helm, and hanging down over the shoulders
of the wearer. It is often so adjusted as to form a
back-ground for the shield or helm, and as it was
necessarily much exposed, and cut and torn in the
melée, this is indicated by the jagged edges and
irregular form given to mantlings by heralds. The
ribbon with motto, “For the law and the people,”
is intermingled with the mantling.
No. 2. Shield containing rebus upon the name
“Hartwell Horn.”
No. 3. Circle with border containing horse-shoes,
with emblems of rose, shamrock, and thistle, and
spaces on each side filled by spurs. This is a
rebus referring to the profession of the bearer, a
farrier. Shield divided party per fess; in chief, a
pegasus; in base, a bridle.
No. 4. Grand seal, containing a knight “a cheval”
armed cap-a-pie, trampling on the dragon, indica-
tive of love and valour. Arms, quarterly, first and
fourth, or, a lion rampant, sable; second and third,
bendy, sable and azure," a dove volant, argent.
No. 5. Shield, gules, on a bend sinister, sable," a
flaming arrow, proper, between six flames of fire,
proper. Motto, “Light in light.” Crest, a lion's
head, with mantling of lion's skin. Squire's helm
and sword.
No. 6. Oval panel containing the united arms of
the “Queen of Hearts” and “Hope.” Supporters,
griffon and lion; motto, “I hope, I dare.”
No. 7. Shield, of cartouche character; party per
pale or and sable, a double eagle, counterchanged.
No. 8. Heraldic fanciful design. Smile and Frown.
Shield, stars of light and darkness; party per fess
argent and sable, counterchanged.
PLATE 51.
No. 1. Shield emblematical of love and valour;
double crest, crowned harpy and cockatrice, divided
by the initial I, surmounted by heart, and interlaced
with motto and true-lover's knot. Supporters,
dexter, man crowned with oak foliage and armed
with club; sinister, wild man armed with club.
Nos. 2 and 3. Foreign coronets.
No. 4. Arms, with collar carrying double-headed
lion badge and ermine mantle, party per bend,
charged with inverted orb surmounted by crowned
skull. Supporters, men with terminal bodies, the
dexter armed with sword, wearing portcullis, and
crowned with mural crown; the sinister carrying
sceptre, wearing harrow badge, and crowned with
oak foliage. Disengaged arms supporting royal
helmet. Crest a skull-cap.
No. 5. Rebus: St. Andrew, with saltire cross,
represented fishing. Name, “Andrew Fisher.”
No. 6. Armed cupid; shield charged with two
fishes gyrate in water, proper.
No. 7. Triple fish in circle on flowing gyrate
form, or, gules and azure, counterchanged.
No. 8. The initial S, with the badge of Ulster.
Argent, a sinister hand,” couped at the wrist and
erect, gules. The distinctive ensign of the order
and rank of Baronets, instituted in 1612 by James
I., is the ancient armorial ensign of the Irish
Kingdom of Ulster.
PLATE 52.
No. 1. Wolf and lamb terminating in interlaced
foliage, with shield charged with wattle.
No. 2. Knight and banneret, charged with a
dragon engorging a woman. The knight supposed
to be taking a vow for the destruction of the dragon,
as St. George is said to have done.
No. 3. Oval ornamentally treated, containing
shield or, charged with triple lion with one head,
gules. Motto, “Three in one.”
No. 4. Circular design for medal or seal. Page à
cheval with lance bearing the legend “Forward,”
carrying a shield argent, charged with lion rampant
sable, and crest, lion's head of the last. Motto,
“Without fear and without reproach.”
No. 5. Circular design for seal: heraldic ship with
sail argent, charged with rampant lion gules, with
crest at the mast head, lion's head of the last.
Angel lighting the way at the prow, and angel
guiding at the helm. Motto, “Cast thy bread upon
the waters, for thou shalt find it after many days.”
Nos. 6 and 7. Crowns of Louis XIII. and Henry
IV. of France.
PLATE 53.
No. 1. Royal helmet and crest for England, with
ornamental mantling, and motto of the order of the
* Colour upon colour, which is bad heraldry. The artist has not
in all cases adhered literally to the heraldic laws, but has sometimes
studied, as in these cases, the good effect of his work only.
* In consequence of the drawing having been made upon the plate,
the hand has not been reversed as it ought to be. The hand should
be “sinister.” - -


A/a2Onry and //era/aſic Orname/1/. 135
Garter. “Evil be to him that evil thinks.” Sup-
ported by demi-lion and unicorn, issuing out of rose
and thistle.
No. 2. Foreign coronet."
No. 3. St. George and the Dragon on fancifully
formed shield.
No. 4. Demi-rose and thistle, for England and
Scotland united under one crown. Badge of the
time of the union with Scotland.
No. 5. Medal with ship, carrying banners
charged with the arms of the three kingdoms,
England, Ireland, and Scotland, and flag of the
union at the stern. Also pennons charged with
the national badges, the Rose, Shamrock, and
Thistle.”
No. 6. The crown of Scotland.
No. 7. The crown of Russia.
No. 8. Cartouche shield, azure, an anchor, argent;
on a chief wavy, argent, a naval crown proper.
No. 9. Fancifully formed shield, gules; swords in
saltire, or, with triple foliage proper. On a chief
embattled, or, a mural crown.
No. 10. Trefoil in circle, containing national
emblems and motto, “Three in one.” The spandrels
filled with dolphins.
No. 11. Circular design or badge, the union of
the Rose, Shamrock, and Thistle.
No. 12. The royal arms of her Majesty Queen
Victoria, with the supporters treated in a pictur-
esque manner, not heraldically correct nor severe in
taste.
Nos. 13 and 14. Continental crowns."
PLATE 54.
No. 1. Arms with cupids as supporters. Shield
gules, bird with wings erect gorging fish. Closed
helmet with mantling and coronet. Double crest—
dexter a bezant, or, and sinister a heart, gules.
No. 2. Rebus, bell and daisy; motto, “à la belle
Marguerite.” Name, “Margaret Bell.”
No. 3. Rebus. Flower, keys, and monogram.
Name, “Flora Keys.”
No. 4. Rebus. Bolt throughtun and olive-treegrow-
ing out of it; monogram. Name, “Olivia Bolton.”
No. 5. Coronetted shield within circular wreath.
Party per fess or and sable, charged with a lion
rampant, counterchanged.
No. 6. Shield in an antique bark, or, on a bend
sable three escallop shells argent. Supporters, sea-
horses on the deck, with mast and furled sail above.
Paddle in lower part, with monogram.
No. 7. Foreign crown."
No. 8. Ornamental shield, sable, diapered, charged
with lion rampant with quadruple tail, argent.
Dragon under shield, and halberdier on dexter side
with halberd on shoulder and supporting crest,
a swan with wings erect, on helmet open and in
profile for nobility.
No. 9. Mantling argent charged with serpent,
gules, devouring a woman. Crest demi-woman,
with arms extended, in the dexter hand a bird, and
in the sinister a fish. Supported by Moors or
Ethiopians with clubs.
No. 10. Shield, gyrony of six, sable and or, in
middle chief and dexter and sinister base nine
trefoils, two and one, in each gyron of the first.
No. 11. Rebus, with page supporting initial letters
I.L., with legend “Light on.” Name “John Leighton.”
* The variety in the forms of crowns used by foreign barons
during the middle ages was very great. They were not limited in
their forms to indicate the special rank of the wearer, as in English
heraldry.
*The Imperial United Standard or “Union Jack,” as now used,
was first displayed at the Tower of London and at Dublin Castle
on 1st January, 1801. The first union flag contained the crosses of
St. George and St. Andrew only, for England and Scotland. The
cross of St. George is gules on a field argent; St. Andrew, a saltire
argent on a field azure; and that of St. Patrick, a saltire gules on a
field argent.


136 Sugges/ſouls in /9esign.
C H A P T E R XXI.
RE N AISSAN CE OR NAMENTATION.
Vº *}URING the fifteenth century
; there arose in Italy, where Go-
; thic architecture never became
º | properly acclimatized, a style
of art which was a partial return to the
antique. While based upon the classic
forms of antiquity, this style contains several
new and important elements. It was ori-
ginated and practised by men whose great
genius and eminent talents raised it to an
important and conspicuous position, which
caused it to be soon adopted in other parts
of Europe.
To this school of art the name “Renais-
sance,” or revived Classic, has been given,
in allusion to its revival of the forms and
principles that prevail in Greek and Roman
work. Filipo Brunelleschi (1377–1444), one
of the earliest revivers of antique archi-
tecture, having studied at Rome, returned
to Florence, his native city, in 1407. In
that year it was determined to adopt some
plan for the completion of the Duomo at
Florence, of which the four limbs of the
cross had previously been erected. Brunel-
leschi proposed to erect a dome at the
intersection of the cross, but the dimensions
were so great that other architects and
engineers declared such a work to be an
impossibility. After much discussion the
design by Brunelleschi was adopted, and the
work was at length confided to his care.
He then, after raising the drum or attic
story, carried out the dome, which is one of
the earliest important works in the revived
classic style. Before its erection nothing
had been seen of later date than the dome
of the Pantheon that could be fairly put in
comparison with it. The domes of St.
Mark at Venice and the dome at Pisa are
far below it in grandeur and simplicity of
construction. In size it only yields to St.
Peter's at Rome, for which it is probable it
served as a model to Michael Angelo. In
Rome Bramante (1444–1514), who is
usually regarded as the founder of the
modern Roman school, was engaged to
erect the grand church of St. Peter, and
in 1506 the first stone of the new fabric
was laid. The work was afterwards carried
on by Michael Angelo (1474–1564), who
infused new character and vigour into the
style. It is to this unequalled artist that
we owe the erection of the dome, which is
the largest and loftiest of all works of the
kind ancient or modern, and which unites in
its vast volume the beauties of proportion
to simplicity and unity of form in an
eminent degree.
In Northern Italy Renaissance art did
not appear until a little later, and there the
important works of the Duomo at Milan
and the Certosa near Pavia, as well as the
palaces of Florence and Venice, developed
several remarkable and distinct schools
of art. The style soon spread from Italy


A'enaissance Ornamentation. I 37
to France, and under Francis I. many
very important works were erected, both
palatial and civil. The consequence was,
that during his reign the new style became
so thoroughly established in France that
long before the accession of Henry IV, the
Gothic had come to be regarded as bar-
barous, and fit only for the dark ages.
The steps by which the English were
induced to adopt the revived classical style
were slower and more uncertain than those
which preceded its introduction into the
other countries of Western Europe. Per-
haps the earliest examples in England of
the pure Renaissance are the monuments
of Henry VII. and the Countess of Rich-
mond in Westminster Abbey. These are
said to have been the work of Torrigiano
(1472–1522), a contemporary and fellow-
pupil of Michael Angelo. In 1526, during
the reign of Henry VIII., Hans Holbein,
another foreign artist, visited England. He
was largely employed by the king, and
assisted to spread widely the growing taste
for the new style. But Gothic architecture,
although in a state of decadence, was still
the style of the country. Consequently the
new style became mixed up with Gothic
forms, and this amalgamation gave rise in
the succeeding reign to what is called
Elizabethan. Of this more will be said in
the succeeding chapter.
It is difficult to give any idea of the
characteristics of the architecture of the
Renaissance period in a few words, but it
may be explained that one of the main
features consisted in the manner of using
the orders.
The columns and their entablatures of
classic temples formed their total height,
and were arranged as porticoes and colon-
nades around them, but with the revival
these features became attached to the walls
of the building. Instead of the exceptional
purpose of forming colonnades, they mainly
consisted of three-quarter columns or flat
pilasters, placed one above another and form-
ing two or more stories of orders. Fig. 270,
which represents the entrance front of a
church in Rome erected in the seventeenth
century, will give some idea of this system.
These orders when at-
tached to houses or
palaces naturally indi-
cated the internal divi-
sions, but the same ar-
rangement was also
applied to churches in
which there were no divi-
sions to be marked. One
of the great difficulties in
the application of the
orders to churches was
how to obtain the re-
Quisite height, the propor-
tions for a church being
so different in this respect from a Grecian or
Roman temple. But when naves and aisles,
towers and campaniles, were adopted from
the Gothic, loftiness of proportion became
an essential element, and as the height of
the orders was immutable, the dilemma
was a serious one. By way of overcoming
this fixed height of the ancient orders
various expedients were used,—such as,
lifting up the columns or pilasters by placing
them on pedestals; adding height above the
entablature by balustrades; or, as in the
case of St. Peter's at Rome, by the addition
of a lofty attic. But where great height
was desired this often necessitated the
order to be formed of colossal proportions;

35


138 Sugges/ions in ZOesign.
and thus, especially in interiors, the enor-
mous size of the columns tended very much
to dwarf the appearance of a really lofty
building. This is nowhere more observable
than in the interior of St. Peter's itself,
where the proportions of a very grand
church are marred and the impression of its
great dimensions diminished by the gigantic
size of its details. An appreciation of this
defect led naturally to the placing of orders
above orders (Fig. 270), and they became ex-
traneous features applied merely as decor-
ation and having no connection with the con-
struction. This manner of using the orders
independently of the necessities of the struc-
ture was carried to the utmost excess in Rome
by such architects as Borromini during the
seventeenth century, and unfortunately led
to an extensive use of applied ornament and
sculpture of every description. Figures
were made to sit on the corners of pedi-
ments with their legs hanging over, and
spandrels of arches were filled with sculp-
ture in alto-relievo resting upon the
archivolts of the arches; pediments which
should indicate the slope of the roof became
totally disconnected from it, and were fre-
quently made segmental or of an ogee form.
Then they were broken in order to introduce
ornaments or sculpture in the centre (Fig.
271), or they were turned into scroll forms
with festoons depending from one side to
the other. These and other devices of very
questionable taste were prevalent during the
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
Many of the Italian palaces, however,
were successfully arranged without the aid
of the orders, by the use of a few simple
details and a bold cornice crowning the
building. The surface of the walls was
rusticated, the windows were oftentimes
divided by columns in the centre and the
head filled with arches with a rusticated
arch above, as in Fig. 272, from the Strozzi
Palace, Florence.
Venice, which is celebrated for the beauty
and elegance, more especially, of its palaces,
produced some very remarkable architects,
who formed quite a school of their own. Of
these the most distinguished are San Mi-
cheli (1484–1559) and Sansovino (1479–1570).
But of all the men who Fig. 272.
have enriched the Vene-
tian territories with the
greatest number of works
of architectural art, no
name is to be compared
with that of Andrea Palladio (1518–1580).
He published a work on architecture, which
has had a universal reputation, and he has
left his works, which are ex-
ceedingly numerous, as models
for the countries of Europe, in
which the style which bears his
name has had no rival. His
grandest church is that of Del
Redentore at Venice, but he
was more especially successful
in the designing and erection
of villas and palaces.
In elaborate works of this
period arabesque decorations on
the pilasters were frequent (Figs.
273, 274, 275), and were carried out with
much delicacy and elegant design. Friezes
in imitation of the antique were designed


A'enaissance Ormamentation.
139
with considerable taste and beauty, as in
Figs. 276, 277, 278. As these were carved
out of a sunk panel this mode of decor-
ation is perfectly legitimate. But
the manner in which ornamenta-
Fig. 274.
tion was so often added to the
surface of buildings without any
ornamenting construction, was one
of the worst features of this period,
and cannot be too strongly con-
demned. The sixteenth and early
part of the seventeenth century
is generally speaking the finest
period of this style. Happily amid
much that is vicious there exist
many noble works, which make the study
of the Renaissance of the utmost value
for the purpose of modern requirements.
During the
sixteenth cen-
tury
menced a gen-
eral improve-
in the
forms and de-
COIn-
ment
signs for orna-
mental furni-
ture. Hitherto
furniture of an
ornamental de-
scription was
to be found on-
ly in churches
or palaces, but the important mansions that
were erected at this time created a taste
for a superior class of furniture, such as
carved chests, presses, inlaid tables, and
chairs of various ornate forms. The Vene-
tians had derived from Persia and India a
reason whatever, except that of
constructing ornament instead of
beautiful system of surface decoration, which
is known as marquetry, consisting of a fine
inlay of ivory, metal, and different woods
stained to vary the colour. This was at first
applied to furniture by the Italians and other
early workers in geometrical patterns only,
Fig. 276.
but after a time flowers and foliage, with
birds, insects, and other accompaniments,
Fig. 277.
were executed upon tables, panels of
cabinets, and other parts, with considerable
skill and judgment.
With the improvement in furniture there
arose a class of wood-carvers, and the best
artists of the day did not hesitate to give
minds
de-
and
their
to the
signing
carving wood
work and fur-
A-
mong the
most striking
Fig. 278.
niture.
pieces of Italian carved-wood
furniture are the chests or large coffers
for holding clothes or ornamental hangings
when not in use. These chests, with a
table and chairs placed against a wall,
nearly complete the requirements of great
Italian halls and corridors. They are usually
ornamented with masks, brackets, or caryatid


140
Suggestions in Design.
figures, and have panels, borders, or other
spaces filled with historic sculpture in low
relief.
In the sixteenth-century furniture the
architectural character of the designs be-
came a strongly marked feature. Arrange-
ments which belonged properly only to
stone-work were applied to wood-work; and
cabinets, chests, &c., were covered with
details of classic entablatures and columns
reduced to minute proportions in order to
adapt them to furniture. The artists of that
time did this with the object of designing
“in character,” and often took as models the
old triumphal arches and sarcophagi at
Rome. At a later period cabinets grew into
house fronts, and showed doors, arches, and
balustrades inside, with imitation paved
floors and looking-glasses. A walnut or
ebony cabinet was thus turned into the
model of an Italian villa.
In England most of the Renaissance
ornamentation and furniture of the sixteenth
and seventeenth centuries has a Flemish
rather than an Italian character, and there
is little doubt that both artists and furniture
and other wood-work were largely imported
into this country from Flanders." It is not
easy to distinguish the nationality of pieces
of Flemish and English oak furniture of this
period, but the Flemings retained a higher
school of figure carvers, and some of their
best things, as their pulpits and church stall-
work, are of a higher class and better
designed than such works as we know to
be undoubtedly English. A good example
of Flemish arabesque work is illustrated by
Fig. 279, a carved oak panel of about the
year 1530.
Among other arts which were brought
* No. 1, Plate 55, is of Flemish character.
within the new range of thought created by
the Renaissance, was that of the gold and
silver smith. Reliquaries, chalices, and other
vessels for religious
use, belonging to
previous styles, were
broken up and
all
Europe, and were
melted OVer
remade according
to the prevailing
fashion. Besides
which, such
the enthusiasm for
WaS
the new style, that
armour for the no-
bility, their plate,
and jewels for the
ladies, supplied in-
cessant occupation
for the goldsmiths
of that
Some of the most
period.
renowned sculptors,
Ghiberti, Brunel-
leschi, and Dona-
tello, are said to
have first practised and learned their art
from goldsmiths. The most eminent gold-
smith of the sixteenth century was the cele-
brated Benvenuto Cellini (1500–1570).
He was a native of Florence, and was
largely employed at Rome by Pope Clement
VII. Whilst, however, the pope was
besieged in the Castle of St. Angelo,
Cellini received orders to destroy a vast
number of his finest works, and to melt
down the gold; of which he obtained
He was afterwards
Many
two hundredweight.
patronized by Francis I. of France.
of the vessels and other works which were


A’emaissance Ornameſ/aſion.
141
executed by Cellini were covered with small
figures modelled with exquisite taste and
designed with the utmost grace and beauty.
The working in niello, or black inlay, was
brought to great perfection at this time. This
art consists in covering the surface with a
kind of black enamel, in lines as of an
engraving, after the manner of No. 6 and 7,
Plate 58, which are incorporated with the
solid metal by passing the work through the
furnace.
Ceramic earthenware, known in Italy as
maiolica or majo/ica, attained great eminence
during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries,
and the name of Luca della Robbia (1388–
1463) was closely connected with its improve.
ment during the earlier period.
DESCRIPTIONS OF THE ILLUSTRATIVE FIGURES.
The figures on the Plates now about to be
described, being original designs and not copies
from any existing examples, it has not in all
cases been the aim of the designer to keep them
strictly within the Renaissance style. They must
rather be looked upon as suggestions for the advance
of the style. It therefore frequently happens that
some of the designs may have a character which has
a certain similarity to other styles. This should not
be considered an objection to them, or render them
unsuited for being introduced among other Renais-
sance ornament, so long as they harmonize with the
other features which surround them.
PLATE 55.
No. 1. Flemish pilaster, dated 1551. This kind
of scroll work is usually distinguished as cartouche
work, from its resemblance to stiff rolled-up paper.
It was also common in France, and it occurs very
plentifully in Elizabethan. (See Plate 69.) The com-
position (No. 1) is made up with scroll-work and
parts in perspective, all in high relief, together with
fruit, serpent, vase, and grotesque figures, the whole
built up upon the head of a sitting figure, and
crowned with a phoenix. It is an early example of
constructed ornamentation, a vicious system that
prevailed so much in Renaissance work.
Nos. 2 and 3. Semicircular heads or panels, and
having partly a Gothic character. The first with
vase and grotesque animals, the other with shield
and radiating tracery.
No. 4. Dryad with boy satyr, cornucopia and
flowers, for stone carving in high relief.
No. 5. Faun and satyr with accompaniments to
pair with the last. Mythological figures were
frequently introduced in the Renaissance.
No. 6. Panel containing angel with shields charged
with cross and cross-keys and crowned harpy.
PLATE 56.
No. 1. Shield within horse-shoe, party per pale,
argent and gules, two hearts counterchanged with
the field. On a chief, sable, two mullets, argent
Crest, flame of fire surrounded by chain,
Supported by grotesque dragons.
and gules.
proper.
No. 2. Sculpture for tympanum of doorway or
semicircular panel. Head of river-god, surmounted
by compass, supported by two sitting female figures
holding rudder and paddle. Ground of gold stars on
blue.
No. 3. Panel with eccentric combination of
grotesque animals, birds, scorpion, snail, &c.
No. 4. Tail-piece for painting, wall decoration.
Cartouche shield with the monogram “C. O. G.,”
surmounted by satyr's head, supported by scroll
cupids and birds carrying festoons of flowers.
No. 5. Bracket or hook in metal formed of
winged monster with female head wearing cap of
liberty. -
No. 6. Date label, surrounded by foliated serpents
and cartouche work.
No. 7. Shield containing the French cypher,
double L, helmet and scroll mantling. Crest,
winged mailed arm carrying porte-crayon. Lower
portion made up with open book, and terminal of
cat's head and rat.
PLATE 57.
No. 1. Oval panel or shield supported by winged
figure carrying the sword of justice. Above, cupid
with torch; below, head supporting vase, flanked by
boy and branch, with fruit, &c.
No. 2. Half panel with Minerva and shield, with
centres of heads and vase, flanked by birds, festoons
and scroll work above, and cupid with torch, elow.


142 Suggestions
in ZOesign.
Nos. 3 and 4. Wheat and rose, for raised and
chased metal finger-plates for doors.
No. 5. Grotesque mask. These were of constant
occurrence in this style.
No. 6. Bas-relief panel, containing cartouche
inclosing burning heart engraved with tazza,
flanked by male and female satyrs holding in their
hands the thyrsus of Bacchus and supporting cupids.
PLATE 58.
Nos. 1 and 2. Flat carved terminals out of the
surface. Busts of king and queen, crowned with
foliated hair, beard, &c.
Nos. 3 and 4. String-courses carved in relief,
arranged on alternating inclined planes and repe-
tition of similar forms.
No. 5. Arabesque panel, for painting, or sculpture
in low relief, with foliated figures, heads, and
dolphins. The lower portion filled with the pelican
feeding its young with its own blood.
Nos. 6 and 7. Panels with foliated scroll borders,
suitable for niello or buhl work.
No. 8. Ornamental vase for execution in silver.
No. 9. Square flower for panel.
No. 10. Design for foliated inlay or incised work.
PLATE 59.
No. 1. Sculptured pedestal with centre panel
containing folded linen, flanked by male and female
sitting figures, with festoons of flowers. Cupids
and crowned head in frieze above; satyr's head,
swans and sculptured water below. This example,
as also Nos. 4 and 5, Plate 55, are intended to show
that intimate admixture of sculpture and ornament
which was so prevalent and characteristic of this
period. -
No. 2. Venus and dolphins, with an arrangement
of ribbons carrying medallions containing portraits
of artists of the period.
No. 3. Ornamental fleur-de-lis composed of foliage
and berries.
No. 4. Terminal monster for bracket.
No. 5. Panel containing an ornamental combin-
ation of male and female satyrs and fauns, with
festoons and foliage.
PLATE 60.
No. 1. Mermaid and dolphins in lunette or semi-
circular panel for painting.
Nos. 2 and 3. Terminal heads or arm-rests for
stalls or chairs, for carving in wood-work.
No. 4. Arabesque panel in flat relief, with gold
ground and blue grounds in centre. Subject: Night.
A female figure about to envelop herself in her
veil; the evening-star above; triple interlaced
crescents below, the device of the celebrated Diana
of Poitiers, with sleeping cat, and mice at play.
The minor arabesque subjects are, boys with candles,
sleeping masks, bat with star, incense vases, roosting
peacocks, flowers, and scroll work.
No. 5. Grotesque combination of snake entangled
and mixed up with legs and arms.
No. 6. Contest between a dwarf and a dragon.
No. 7. Heraldic composition: shield or, charged
with dragon sable, surmounted by open helmet,
feather crest, with foliated mantling sword and belt.
No. 8. Decorative vase with flowers, and scroll
encircling the vase formed of the lily.
No. 9. Cartouche with winged head and inter-
lacing bird scrolls.
PLATE 61.
No. 1. Tympanum for segmental-headed doorway
carved in alto-relievo. Armorial bearings as for
a seaport town. Shield argent, charged with lion
rampant, gules; crest, lion's head of the last; on
closed helmet with mantling. Supporters, sea god
and goddess, carrying oar with trident and spear.
Angles filled in with dragons strangling snakes.
Nos. 2 and 3. Centre flowers for carving.
Nos. 4 and 5. Scroll terminals, female figure and
cupid; winged head and bell.
No. 6. Spear piercing entwined serpent with
foliage.
No. 7. Entwined double-headed serpent in vesica.
No. 8. Mask and scroll foliage.
PLATE 62.
No. 1. Ornamental scroll figure bearing flower-
baskets, for execution in flat relief and decorated
in gold and colour. -
No. 2. Lioness-head claw or leg for pedestal,
with entwined skin.
No. 3. Bracket; head of satyr with vine and
other foliage.
No. 4. Composition for inlay. Vase, out of which
spring conventional scroll foliage and flowers. Mono-
gram “A. D.” in lower compartment.
Nos. 5, 6, and 9. Masks for sculpture.


A'enaissance Or/d//le/l/a/20/1. 143
No. 7. Spandrel filling in between circular panels.
Boys and bust in centre with monogram “B. A. B."
below, surrounded with foliage and ram's head.
No. 8. Spandrel between circular panels with
imbricated frames. Angel scroll bearing grapes and
vase supported by a bearded-lion altar. The scroll
issuing from the angel terminating in rose and
leaves, with cock's head and rabbit.
PLATE 63.
No. 1. Composition for centre of panel, with
centaur on shield surrounded by masks and foli-
age.
No. 2. Kneeling supporter. Chained negress and
scroll work. -
No. 3. Fish and scroll of sea-weed and shell.
No. 4. Female kneeling figure with mural crown,
leaning on shield, charged with arms.
No. 5. Demi-shield with kneeling female sup-
porter.
No. 6. Rebus, I (eye) L, with olive branch.
Name, “John Leighton.”
No. 7. Frame for glass (containing ornamental
vase). Group of children above, bearing palette, com-
passes and brush, and mask in centre. Below boys
carrying maul-stick and plumb-rule, with festoon
of curtain looped up to animal's head in centre.
No. 8. Fanciful arrangement of winged harpy,
with boy scroll and butterfly; to flank a medallion
or shield in the centre, a small portion of which is
shown.
No. 9. Composition for execution in statuary
marble. Angels with scroll terminal bodies sup-
porting a celestial crown, and a mantle bearing the
representation of a skull in a sacred chalice and
covered by the red hat and insignia of a cardinal.
PLATE 64 (SUPERFICIAL).
No. 1. Geometrical diaper, filled in with crowned
rose rising out of fleur-de-lis. The other compart-
ments having shamrock, thistle, and oak issuing
from fleurs-de-lis.
Nos. 2, 3, 7, and 8. Ornamental circles.
Nos. 4 and 5. Interlaced bands for parquetry.
No. 6. Frieze of alternated heart-forms filled with
delicate scroll-work.
No. 9. Central triple flower arrangement, alter-
nating with centres containing strawberries.
No. 10. Ogee net-work tracery, alternating with
lower form of the same character.
No. 11. Diaper of conventional foliated forms.
PLATE 65 (SUPERFICIAL).
No. 1. Conventional wall decoration of fabric
pattern.
No. 2. Cross with half circles interlaced.
No. 3. Centre with half circles interlaced having
split points, alternating with four flower calices.
No. 4. Interlaced double triangles in a circle and
a flower of six petals in the centre.
No. 5. Four vesicas interlaced in a circle with
fleur-de-lis and leafage.
No. 6. Ornamentally arranged fleur-de-lis, with
black drop ornaments and scrolls.
No. 7. Octofoil with heart-form cross and black
foliage.
No. 8. Octofoil containing banded and interlaced
cross, with alternating and interlaced bands and
foliage.
No. 9. Centre for fabric pattern with geometrical
bands, ivy-leaf, and other foliage.
Nos. 10 and 11. Square quatrefoils filled in with
snow-drop and triple foliage.
PLATE 66 (SUPERFICIAL).
No. 1. Diamond and oblong interlaced enrichment
for textile fabric.
No. 2. Textile fabric, leaf and pansy.
No. 3. Textile fabric, conventional foliage.
No. 4. Fern fronds in diagonal cross and inter-
laced geometrical form in the centre. Below, a
composition of lines and circles filled in with foliage.
No. 5. Interlaced tinted and black form with
triple terminations, and centres filled with leafage.
No. 6. Interlaced square and flowing bands with
ogee quatrefoil centre and foliated ground for
carpet or mat.
PLATE 67 (SUPERFICIAL).
No. 1. Geometrical pattern of circles and square
in interlaced bands filled in with pointed quatrefoil
and foliage.
No. 2. Square and diagonal cross centre in black
for repetition in wall diaper, and filled in with black
and white triple-berry foliage, on tinted ground;
the dotted ground being in gold.
No. 3. Geometrical interlaced double quatre-


144 Sugges/ions
in Design.
foils and circles in white and chocolate on tinted
ground.
No. 4. Strapwork, interlaced form with ivy and
trefoil foliage, for marquetry.
No. 5. Interlaced strapwork panel and oblong label
in the centre with foliage, for engraving on metal,
the black bands being filled in with coloured cement.
PLATE 68 (SUPERFICIAL).
No. 1. Diagonal bands for wall diaper. White
on chocolate and gray on white.
No. 2. A similarly treated diaper, formed with
interlaced monograms, “D. W.”
No. 3. Ornamental painted fluting, for repetition
in a hollow or cavetto.
No. 4. Foliated circle or boss with dogs in the
centre running round ball-flower.
No. 5. Diapered diamond centre, with foliated
angles and arrow-headed leaf and interlaced line
scrolls.
Nos. 6 and 7. Patterns for lace work.
Nos. S and 9. Panels of arabesque and interlaced
strapwork.
No. 10. Woven fabric; mat or rug. Diamond,
circle and interlaced strapwork, picked out in
colours and set in dark neutral-tinted ground.
C H A P T E R XX II.
ENGLISH RE N A ISSAN C E O B N AMENTATION
(ELIZABETH AN AND SU BSEQUENT PER I O DS).
#LTHOUGH the Italian Re-
| naissance style was introduced
§ into England as early as 1516,
#. º when the monument to Henry
VII. in Westminster Abbey was commenced
by Torrigiano as already mentioned, yet the
style did not at that time take root. Before
the Reformation art flourished vigorously in
the hands of the clergy, but when they were
scattered by the dissolution of the religious
houses art declined rapidly. Henry VIII.
was a sovereign who did very little to en-
courage native talent, but, on the contrary,
did all he could to induce foreign artists to
settle in England. Among those who came
to this country during his reign was the
celebrated Hans Holbein (1498–1543), and
he was employed by the king to erect the
two gates at Whitehall, but which have long
since been removed. Among other works
Holbein designed the stalls for King's
College Chapel at Cambridge in the revived
classic manner. This wood-work still exists,
and forms a perfect model of Renaissance
carving, revealing in every arabesque the
hand of the master. But the style of the
country being still Gothic, the new fashion
could not entirely obliterate the feeling for
mediaeval art which had prevailed in England
in different phases ever since the Norman
Conquest. At the same time there appears to
have been a strong inclination to adopt the
more novel style, glowing accounts of which,
no doubt, were brought by travellers return-
ing from Italy who had seen the productions
of the wonderful genius of Michael Angelo
and the glorious works of Raffaele. These
reports among other circumstances caused


Ang/s/. Atenaissance Ornamentation.
145
classical forms of ornamentation to be seized numerous examples of large and elaborate
upon with avidity by the architects of that
period, but native artists being yet imbued
with the love of the Gothic art of their coun-
try, could not all at once throw off this feeling.
Their employment, however, of such classical
features as they were acquainted with, pro-
duced a picturesque transitional style, which
is peculiar to the time of Elizabeth and
James I. Tudor arches were made to spring
from Doric columns, and houses were divided
into stories by classic cornices and friezes
with attached pilasters added at intervals
upon the face of the walls. The spaces be-
tween were filled with square Tudor mul-
lioned windows or projecting oriels, and the
buildings were crowned with fanciful balus-
trades, quaintly formed gables, and tall
twisted chimney-stacks, until a strangely
picturesque style was developed,—a style
employed in some of the most stately of the
houses of England which were erected by
the nobility of that period. Thus arose such
mansions as Burleigh, Longleat, Hatfield,
Audley End, Crewe, and many others of
minor importance.
The style was peculiarly suited to country
houses, and when carried out in stone and
red brickwork, and the building placed
among luxuriant foliage, the contrast of
colour was extremely agreeable. During
the long and prosperous reign of Elizabeth,
the protection of castles came to be no longer
needed, and the principal ministers of state
set the example of building for themselves
This and the
succeeding reign, therefore, was a time in
large and luxurious houses.
which a great number of large country
houses and palatial mansions were erected.
Very little, if any, church building was
done during this period, but to it belong
at No. 4, Plate
tude of prayer. These
monuments still existing in our cathedrals
and churches. The figures, as of a knight
and his dame, instead of being recumbent as
formerly, were represented kneeling in the
act of prayer; while below upon the front of
the tomb were represented in bas-relief long
lines of their sons
and daughters, close-
ly succeeding each
other and in the atti-
Fig. 280.
monuments Were
frequently of ala-
baster inlaid with
marble, and some-
times decorated by
gilding and colour.
Tablet monuments were also very plentiful
upon the walls of churches, many of which
still existing have somewhat the character of
that represented
Fig. 281.
70. Cartouche
shields
panied by much
strapwork orna-
a CCOIn-
*...tºº lººº P tº ºvºº
mentation were
also extremely
common (see
Nos. 2 and 3,
Plate 69).
Escutcheons
§
Pººtºº tº Pºlº Pººjº
and square panels were invariably sur-
rounded by frames having the edges bent
and notched as if formed of rolls of parch-
ment, and with straps or bolts represented
as if passing through the scrolls, as in
Figs. 280, 281, from Holland House. Arab-
esque work, often of the most ingenious
and intricate nature, was used largely; but,


146 Sugges/ions
in /9esign.
instead of being carved and foliated as in
the Italian manner, it was mostly executed
in square flat bands, with foliage only occa-
sionally introduced, accompanied by an ad-
mixture of animals, masks, and drapery, as
in the example Fig. 282, which is from a
Fig. 282.
lake in Surrey, by an artist named Francis
Crane. This manufactory was patronized
by the king, and afterwards by Charles I.,
for whom were wrought a considerable
number of hangings remarkable for the
beauty of their execution. Among others
were tapestries worked from
the cartoons of Raffaele repre-
senting the acts of Christ and
the Apostles. These cartoons
were found in a manufactory
plaster frieze at Audley End. Plaster de-
corations were used plentifully at this period,
more especially for ceilings. Many fine
examples of these still exist. They are
usually divided by intricate geometrically
formed panelling, ornamented with foliage,
heads, animals, shields, pendants, and many
other devices.
Fireplaces were also favourite subjects
for ornamentation. These were frequently
flanked by grotesque terminal figures sup-
porting a highly ornamented cornice covered
with arabesque work; above which the space
to the ceiling would be again enriched
by columns or pilasters surmounted by
an entablature inclosing panels containing
paintings or armorial bearings. Square
staircases with heavy open-work balustrades
and carved newels, often of a very ornate
character, were of frequent occurrence, and
added greatly to the dignity and grandeur
of a house. Carving both in wood and stone
was largely adopted, but it was usually of a
Rooms were
somewhat coarse character.
often panelled with oak wainscotting and
divided by Corinthian or other pilasters;
although tapestry hangings were still largely
used. In the reign of James I. a manu-
tecture,
factory for tapestry was established at Mort-
at Brussels, and were bought
by Charles I. by the advice of Rubens.
They were until lately preserved in the
galleries of Hampton Court Palace, and
have latterly been removed to the South
Kensington Museum.
Stamped and gilded leather was also used
as a substitute for tapestry, and great quan-
tities of this material were imported from
Flanders. But in England also the art of
ornamenting leather was practised with
success. Leather hangings, however, never
entirely superseded tapestry, notwithstand-
ing their advantages of not suffering from
dust, damp, or the ravages of the moth, and
of losing little of their freshness and bril-
liancy through lapse of time.
Among the English artists of Elizabeth's
time whose names have come down to us, is
that of John Shute (flourished from 1558 to
1608), who was employed by the Duke of
Northumberland, and who published the
earliest work in England on practical archi-
entitled “The first and chiefe
Grounds of Architecture used in all the
ancient and famous Monyments, with a
farther and more ample Discourse uppon the
same than has hitherto been set forthe by any
other. 1563.” But the designs of most of
the principal mansions and palatial edifices


Amg/is/: A'enaissance Ornamentation. 147
erected during the reigns of Elizabeth and
James are due to John Thorpe," who was an
artist of no mean power. A very interesting
and valuable manuscript folio volume illus-
trative of some of his works, and containing
many designs which were not executed, is
preserved in Sir John Soane's Museum,
Lincoln's Inn Fields. He was succeeded in
his work by his pupil Robert Smithson,
who completed Wollaton Hall, Nottingham-
shire, which had been commenced by Thorpe.
The Elizabethan and Jacobean style con-
tinued in use until the time of Inigo Jones
(1572–1652), in the reign of Charles I. In
the early works of Jones the characteristics
of the style may still be traced; but after
having travelled and studied in Italy, more
especially the works of Palladio, he infused
a more strictly classical character into the
architecture of the day, and endeavoured to
introduce a purer style, which should super-
sede the incongruous although often quaint
and picturesque mixture which was so
much the fashion during the reigns of
Elizabeth and James. The career of Inigo
Jones properly commenced during the time
of James I., by whom he was largely em-
ployed in designing masques for the court.
His first employment as an architect, as far
as has been recorded, was at the University
of Oxford in 1605. His works were exceed-
ingly numerous: among those which have
been most admired is the Banqueting House
at Whitehall, which was erected by Charles
I. as a portion of the palace he intended
building, but to which parliamentarian
troubles put a stop. The designs for the
palace (of which the Banqueting House
formed but a very inconsiderable portion)
have been published, and had they been
executed, would have formed, beyond all
comparison, the finest building of the kind
in the world. The small part erected
is sufficient to attest the great ability of
Inigo Jones as the earliest English architect
of the pure Renaissance style. He erected
the Church of St. Paul, Covent Garden, and
was appointed architect for the repairs
of Old St. Paul's, which were commenced
in 1633. He added the Roman portico to
the west front of that building.
The fire which destroyed London in 1666,
a few years after the death of Jones, brought
into notice the talents of Sir Christopher
Wren (1632–1723), whose practice com-
menced during the reign of Charles II. and
was continued into the reign of George I.
The great number and the excellence of his
works are too well known to need any de-
scription. Besides St. Paul's Cathedral, no
building of any importance was erected
during the last forty years of the seventeenth
century of which he was not the architect.
Among architects who were Wren's con-
temporaries or successors Sir John Van-
brugh (1666–1726, the architect of Blenheim
House—built in the reign of Queen Anne),
Hawksmoor, Gibbs, and Sir William Cham-
bers," may be mentioned as the more dis-
tinguished. Towards the end of the eight-
eenth century great interest for Greek
architecture was created by the publication
of the Antiquities of Athens by James Stuart
and Nicholas Revett, commenced in 1762,
and by other works on Greek architecture
produced by the Dilettanti Society, which
speedily followed. In England at this time
the taste for the Italian Renaissance died
* The dates of Thorpe's birth and death are not known, but he
was engaged upon Wollaton Hall in 1588, and finished Holland
*Sir William Chambers (1726–1796), who published a well-known
treatise on architecture, was more particularly a follower of the
House, Kensington, in 1607.
Palladian school.


148
Sugges/ions in /9esign.
out, and a modernized version of the Grecian
style was largely adopted in its stead.
That was superseded by the Gothic revival
of our own day, which in its turn appears
now to be passing away, except for eccle-
siastical architecture, to give place to the
latest and most fashionable version of the
Renaissance, the so-called “Queen Anne
style.”
Towards the latter part of the seventeenth
century, during the reigns of Charles II. and
James II., French furniture was largely im-
ported into this country; but under the
auspices of Sir Christopher Wren there
arose about this time a school of ornamental
carvers of great excellence. This had a con-
siderable influence upon furniture, but more
particularly in the decoration of houses by
carved oak panelling and wainscotting, with
the doors and chimney-pieces carved to
correspond. Of this school the principal
artist was Grinling Gibbons (1648–1721),
who, although of Dutch extraction, was
born in England. He carved foliage, birds,
fish, flowers, busts and figures, as well as
drapery and lace, with astonishing dexterity.
He appears with his assistants to have done
an enormous amount of work, and excellent
examples of his style, much of which was
peculiar to himself, are to be found in the
choir of St. Paul's Cathedral, St. James's
Church, Piccadilly, Hampton Court Palace,
the Library of Trinity College, Cambridge,
and Chatsworth in Derbyshire.
During the reigns of William and Mary
the fashion set in very strongly for Dutch
marquetry furniture, and a vast number of
examples, most of them vicious in respect of
design, were soon imported into this country.
These consisted of bandy-legged chairs and
tables, upright clock-cases, bureaux or writ-
ing cabinets, and many other pieces of fur-
niture which offered surfaces available for
this species of inlay. The inlays presented
all the gay colours of tulips and other
flowers depicted from nature by stained or
self-coloured woods, and shaded by scorching
and browning the surface in lines or other-
wise by the aid of hot irons.
With the reign of Anne and the com-
of the eighteenth century
English carvers and cabinet-makers were
mencement
more largely employed upon furniture, but
they followed closely the style of the French
and other furniture which was then being
| imported. There did not exist at this time
any such style as that which is now popu-
larly denominated the “Queen Anne style.”
As the century advanced the extravagancies
of the French were followed more than
before. Gilded furniture was introduced,
and legs of chairs and tables and the fronts
of drawers became curved and undulated
as if for the sole purpose of displaying the
marquetry work or showing the skill with
which the cabinet-makers could avoid all
straight lines. Among the most prominent
names for wood carving and furniture of
the eighteenth century was that of Thomas
Chippendale, who worked from the middle
to the end of the century. Some of his
work is very creditable, although much of
it is designed in an exaggerated French style.
There was, however, among the more
educated classes a taste for a better style
of furniture, which was owing to the influence
of Sir William Chambers and the brothers
Adam. Robert and James Adam (1728–
1794) were of Scotch extraction. Besides
many private houses, they built the Adelphi
and Portland Place in London. But they
designed a great deal of very graceful


Anglish Æenaissance Ornamentation.
149
furniture, as well as carriages and sedan-
chairs. Polished steel fire-grates belong to
this period, and probably were first intro-
duced by the brothers Adam.
Satin-wood came into fashion during the
latter half of the eighteenth century, and
Cipriani, a Florentine, who came to England
in 1755, as well as Angelica Kauffman
(1741–1807), both painted medallions and
borders on table tops and fronts and on
harpsichord cases.
A process belonging
to the same period should also be noticed,
called after the inventor cernis-martin work.
Vernis-Martin, born about the year 1706,
was a carriage painter of heraldic ornaments,
flowers, &c. His work is commonly found
on furniture such as tables or book-cases,
as well as on needle-cases, snuff-boxes, and
fans, on a gold ground, and protected by a
fine transparent lac polish, the composition
of which he kept a profound secret, although
he had many imitators.
PLATE 69.
(ELIZABETHAN AND JACOBEAN.)
No. 1. Angle strap ornament with conventional
strap, scroll, and monogram “W. S.” This kind of
ornamentation was often executed in plaster or
stucco on ceilings or walls.
No. 2. Bolt and scroll with cartouche shield con-
taining initials “E. R.” tied together with cord, the
ornament forming one-half of oblong frieze enrich-
ment executed in oak, with shield gilded.
No. 3. Bolt and strap oval central ornament,
with cartouche work and shield at bottom charged
with cross spurs. Arabesque line enrichment or
niello-work in the centre.
No. 4. Cartouche shield within a diamond form,
with the device of a falcon on a crescent tearing or
killing a rat. Star, shell, and cross arrows. Date,
“1551.” Time of Edward VI.
No. 5. Hanging cartouche scroll-work, with
ribbons and label from a ring in lion's mouth.
Surmounted by an exploding fire-ball.
No. 6. Bolt and strap device for stucco, with
cupids and motto. Bust of queen, masks, &c., with
festooned drapery and looped-up cords.
PLATE 70.
(ELIZABETHAN AND JACOBEAN.)
No. 1. Square with tapering pilasters or ter-
minals and cartouche scroll-work. Shield contain-
ing monogram “C. C. I.”
No. 2. Cartouche shield, with flowers within a
grate. -
No. 3. Cartouche shield, with arabesque orna-
ment in the centre inlaid in two colours.
No. 4. Small heraldic monument of the Jacobean
period. Shield, or; on a bend, sable, three hearts,
argent; between two dexter hands, gules. Crest, a
hand holding a flaming heart, placed on a closed
knight's helmet from which issues an elaborate
foliated mantling. Motto, “Labour and Love.”
The frame, which has knee corners, is surmounted
by a segmental broken pediment, filled in with
crowned and winged sprite.
No. 5. Rustic pole for long panel or pilaster, with
ribbon, foliage, and hanging shield; charged with
monogram “G. A.” on sable ground.
No. 6. Bolt and cartouche ornament for frieze on
one side of centre shield or other enrichment.
Central mask with interlacing circle, with nail-
heads and diagonal terminal ornaments.
No. 7. Central ornament, flat relief in alabaster
on black marble, bolt and scroll with dolphins.
Shield containing the arms of Shakspere, or; on a
bend sable, a spear of the first. Initials and date
of Shakspere's birth.
No. 8. Small niche of cartouche scroll-work, en-
twined with rope, containing the subject in high
relief of the “Lion in Love.” Above, as a terminal
ornament or crest, is the burning heart and inter-
lacing rope.
No. 9. Ornament of bolt and square band work,
with diagonal band interlaced and tying same on to
centre enrichment.


150 - Suggestions in ZDesign.
C H A P T E R XXIII.
E BEN CH BEN AISSAN CE ORN AMENTATION.
# º ÉY no people in Europe was the
- ºf revived Italian style of archi-
Yi; tecture taken up with greater
lºft eagerness than by the French,
who gave it the name of the “Renaissance.”
They have also, under the several variations
through which it has passed, adhered to it
steadily up to the present time, until they
have thoroughly made it their own national
style.
Francis I., who returned from Italy in
1515, induced several Italian artists to visit
France, to whom he promised ample em-
ployment. Among others he succeeded in
obtaining the services of Benvenuto Cellini,
Vignola, Primaticcio, and Serlio, all men of
high repute in their own country. Cellini
devoted himself more especially to gold and
silver smiths' work, and although he spent
but a few years in Paris, he was the means
of raising the goldsmith's art in France to
the very highest excellence.
One of the most important works of this
reign was the Château de Fontainebleau,
the favourite palace of Francis, and upon
which Primaticcio was permanently engaged.
Serlio was also consulted upon this and other
works, and Vignola sojourned two years in
France to assist the king in his architectural
projects. The rebuilding of the Palace of
the Louvre in Paris was also commenced,
but this appears not to have been the work
of Italian artists, although Serlio is said to
have been invited to furnish designs for it.
The architect was Pierre Lescot (1510–1578),
and the sculptor the celebrated Jean Goujon
(1515–1572). The old palace was a medi-
aeval château, which Francis I. determined
to pull down and rebuild. The portion
which was then erected, and completed in
1548, is the south-west angle from the
Pavillon de l'Horloge down to the river
front. It is universally considered the most
successful work of the period, and it formed
the key-note for the remainder of the build-
ing, which has been erected in succeeding
reigns. The Palace of the Tuileries was
commenced by Catherine de Medicis in
1564, from the designs of Philibert de
Lorme (died 1577). Henry IV. added the
long gallery of the Louvre, connecting that
building with the Tuileries on the south side.
Other parts were added by Louis XIV. and
succeeding monarchs, but the whole was not
completed until recently by the Emperor
Louis Napoleon, who connected the Louvre
with the Tuileries on the north, and thus
combined the whole into one grand palace.
This completeness, however, was again de-
stroyed, and the Tuileries now lies in ruins.
Every sovereign in France continued to
erect palaces, but the largest and most im-
portant of these works was that at Versailles,
erected by Louis XIV. in the course of his
long reign. It was carried out from the
designs of the architect François Mansard


Aºrench Aºenaissance Ornamentation.
151
(1598–1666), who was succeeded by his ne-
phew Jules Hardouin Mansard (1645–1708).
The style of this enormous building externally
is somewhat grand, but heavy and sombre.
Internally many of the apartments and
Fig. 283.
ºf *}^*
Nºe & alº-
†)\ºſºsº º
& ) \ºsº ºš
& \@5 º 3-sº 3. sº º*::::: º
ººzºº| 5Fº
- ºw =
galleries are of great richness and beauty;
but towards the latter part of this reign
French artists gave way to frittered-up
ornament and wild unmeaning forms, which,
however, suited the age as being rich
and showy in appearance when gilded.
Fig. 283 gives a good example of the
elaborate nature of room decoration in the
time of Louis XV. It forms a portion over
the head of a chimney glass, and which
would be richly gilded, the centre of the
upper portion being filled with a painting.
Paintings upon walls and ceilings, framed
by elaborate ornament, were of frequent
occurrence, and consisted of subjects from
the supposed inhabitants of Arcadia, as
cupids, nymphs and fawns, shepherds and
shepherdesses, playing pipes and dancing or
amusing themselves in innocent games among
their flocks. Many of these were executed
by the painter Watteau (1684–1721), who
was celebrated for these kind of subjects;
but the taste gave rise to a whole school of
painters and room-decorators, among whom
may be mentioned Delafosse, Coypel, and
the Le Pautre family.
Nos. 6, 7, 8, 9, Plate 71, Nos. 3, 4, Plate
| of this class of ornamental decoration.
72, and No. 8, Plate 73, are typical examples
What
are commonly known as the c and s
scrolls were introduced everywhere, and
this kind of decoration, which reached
its lowest depths during the reign of Louis
XV., became so fashionable that objects
were literally covered up by it, until they
lost all form of beauty, and became nothing
but unmeaning extravagances of the worst
possible character. The ornament being so
universally gilded, also, gave rise to its being
formed in putty composition and glued on,
which still further helped to degrade and
vulgarize its character.
From the constant introduction of shells,
the absence of straight lines, and the admix-
ture of a fanciful form of rock-work, this
style was known, by way of reproach, as the
Rococo, from roc-coquille, rock and . shell
curves. No style of ornament, however,
has retained its position for so great a
length of time. It has been the favourite
style, until very recently, of all gilded


152
Suggestions in Design.
picture-frame makers, as well as gold and
silver smiths, some of whom still adhere
to it.
tages for modern requirements—in that it
No doubt it possesses great advan-
needs but very little thought in designing,
it may be added to in any direction, and,
for gilded work, it can easily be produced
from moulds in composition which may be
bent to any form and stuck on with glue.
In the better and earlier class of work the
ornament, however, is not devoid of grace
added to a con-
siderable a-
mount of play-
fulness, as will
be seen by the
example, Fig.
284, which re-
presents a por-
tion of a carved
pilaster from
the stall work
at Notre Dame
in Paris.
For the furniture of the royal palace of
Versailles a new material was extensively
employed, called buhl or boule marquetry,
which owes its name to the maker André
Charles Boule, who was born in 1642. He
was made the head of the royal furniture
department, and was lodged in the Louvre.
Buhl-work consists of a peculiar kind of
veneered surface composed principally of
tortoise-shell and thin brass. The brass
forms a pattern of scroll work or flowers
and the shell the ground, while the edges
and angles of the object, whether a table,
cabinet, or other work, were concealed and
protected by chased mouldings or ornaments
in gilded brass called ormolu.
In 1539 Francis I. established a manu-
factory for tapestry at Fontainebleau, under
the direction of Serlio, and Henry II. estab-
lished a second manufactory in the Hospice
de la Trinité in the Rue St. Denis, Paris.
Henry IV. gave a new impulse to the art
by introducing workmen from Italy and
Flanders. A colony of Flemish workmen
had also been attracted to Paris, who, after
a time, became settled in a house in the
Faubourg St. Marcel, where for more than
two centuries a family of dyers named
Gobelin had been established. During the
reign of Louis XIII., and the greater part of
that of Louis XIV., these manufactories
continued to produce very remarkable and
beautiful hangings in tapestry; but it was
under the administration of the great Colbert
that these were united and concentrated in
the Maison des Gobelins. The house itself
was bought by the king in 1667, and a
general manufactory of upholstery for the
crown was established in it. The painter
Lebrun (1619–1690), who was placed at the
head of the establishment, gave a great im-
pulse to its activity, and it soon eclipsed by
its artistic superiority the manufactories of
tapestries which were still in existence in
Flanders. Thus were commenced and estab-
lished these celebrated manufactories, which
have continued with remarkable success to
the present day.
Upon the accession of Louis XVI. (1774)
a return was made in architecture and
decoration to a much higher standard in
art, and the classic works of the Greeks,
which then began to engage the attention of
Europe, had their influence upon the orna-
mentation of the period. Room decorations
and furniture soon reached the highest point
of elegance that French Renaissance art, of
a sumptuous kind, had touched since the


French Renaissance Ornamentation.
153
sixteenth century. The panelling of rooms,
usually painted white and the ornament
gilded, was designed in severe lines with
straightmouldings and pilasters,
forming a remarkable and
striking contrast with the pre-
vious style, where every form,
was dis-
torted into the utmost variety
wherever possible,
of curves. The pilasters were
decorated with well designed
carved work (Fig. 285), but
which was extremely fine and
delicate, partly carved in relief,
but partly drawn and painted
or gilt.
The minute and intricate
character of the ornamentation
at this period may be perhaps
better understood by reference
to Fig. 286, which is from the
lock-rail
inches in breadth, of an inter-
nal door in the Hotel des Postes at Paris.
panel, only seven
The houses built for members of the bril-
liant court of Queen Marie Antoinette were
R--------
º
filled with admirable work in this manner,
and the furniture was of the most delicate
and recherché description. Fig. 287 is from
a table of the period, carved and gilt, and
with the festoons and other enrichments
finely chased and applied in ormolu. The
royal factories of the Gobelins and of Sèvres
turned out also their most beautiful produc-
tions to decorate rooms, furniture, and table
service. In the former of these, tapestries
were made for wall hangings, for chair backs,
seats, and sofas. Rich silks from the looms
Fig. 287.
| “...lini. IIII tº . . . "
*Y * I
of Lyons, and from Lucca, Genoa, and
Venice were also employed for this kind of
furniture. During this brilliant period we
meet with the names of several artists em-
ployed for painting the panelling of rooms,
the lunettes over chimney fronts, and the
panels of ceilings, Fragonard, Natoire, and
Boucher are among the foremost of these.
Other artistes, such as Delafosse, Lalonde,
Cauvet, and Salembier, designed arabesques,
decorative work, and furniture.
With the first Empire the style was devel-
oped into one which was still more gorgeous,
but wanting much in refinement, although it
was considered more classic, and followed
more closely in many respects the Greek.
All was arranged for show and glitter, and
although more pretentious, it was far inferior
to that of the time of Louis-seize.



39


154 Sigges/ions in /Design.
The Renaissance may be said to form
the national style of the French, and it has
been so since its first introduction in the
time of Francis I. Although much varied
at different epochs, it has always been prac-
tised by them with remarkable success, and
this and other countries have at various
times closely followed them. The style has
almost invariably been the one adopted by
the French in their public buildings; the
Gothic being used only in a few very excep-
tional cases, such as the church of St. Clo.
tilde at Paris. The result of this is therefore,
that in modern work France, especially in
Paris, can point to some very successful
modifications of the Renaissance, particu-
larly in her street architecture, much of
which possesses great beauty and elegance
combined with ap-
propriately arranged
forms. Many of the
enrichments found in
recent buildings are very well designed, and
worked out with a degree of life and aesthetic
feeling which we often look for in vain among
ourselves. Fig. 288, an enriched moulding
found in some of the later works, is a small
example of this, but in it we perceive a
rather happy variation upon the egg-and-
tongue moulding of the Greeks.
PLATE 71.
No. 1. Arms of the “Grand Monarque.” Louis
XIV. arranged for the tympanum of a doorway.
Azure; three fleurs-de-lis, or. Figures representing
Fame, History, and Love, which is quite in charac-
ter with the pretentious and grandiloquent manner
of the time.
Nos. 2, 3, Spandrels for engraving on metal work
or for inlay. These give the character of many of
the confused lines of scroll work of the period,
called buhl-work.
No. 4. Scroll grotesque mask.
No. 5. Scroll and stalactite frame containing a
portrait of the “Grand Monarque.” The general
form shows how beauty of outline is lost, and
nothing gained but showy elaboration.
No. 6. Mermaid and mask of river-god, with
dolphin, shell, and rock work. The bad construction
of this most vicious style is clearly apparent in this
example.
No. 7. Stalactite, shell, and rustic interlaced drop
corner, for picture or glass frame.
No. 8. Mask and dragon with scroll-work for
upper part of leg to gilded console table. Period,
late in the reign of Louis XIV.
No. 9. Ditto, with draped mask. The legs for
tables or other objects were never made straight in
this style.
PLATE 72.
No. 1. Centre portion of frieze of cornice with
shepherd and dog. A great affectation of playing
at shepherds and shepherdesses existed in the reign
of Louis XV., and sculpture and paintings intro-
ducing Arcadian life and scenes were of frequent
OCCurrence.
No. 2. Scroll with sitting figure of Justice resting
on the fasces.
No. 3. Conventional Rococo scroll with lattice,
vine, and dragon, showing the combination of C
scrolls and rock work. Metal vase or flagon in the
centre.
No. 4. Half of centre ornament for bottom of
frame or panel, with lion's head and scroll-work.
Lattice and fruit. This was the character of the
gilded panelling inclosing paintings, silk, or glass,
so often adopted in French room decoration of the
Louis XV. period.
No. 5. Keystone of decorative arch, carrying
fire-vase, cupid, bee-hive, flowers, stalactites, bul-
rushes, &c., with festoon and drop from keystone.
No. 6. Scroll with satyr's head and fruit inclos-
ing female head.
No. 7. This figure is nearly an exact copy of a
French example, and serves to show the vice in the
compositions of the time. It is a caricature upon
the Egyptian, being a sphinx dressed d-la-mode,
and holding a fan. In the centre an ordinary
dressing-glass, initial, and crown above. The back-
ground formed by pyramid.


156
Suggestions in Design.
from nature he must at the same time de- peculiarities, and every people have had
vote himself to the study of all such works,
of whatever style or period, in order to
obtain a competent knowledge of how the
artists of former have rendered
nature for the purposes of creating foliated
times
Ornament.
Without a definite clue to this knowledge,
and the careful observation of what others
have done, the student will be at a loss to
know how to proceed himself. For one
thing is perfectly clear, no literal copying
of nature will ever form artistic ornament.
There must be something added of the
artist's own conception—something that he
does not find in nature or in the works
of other men—and which stamps the work
This is the
test, and the only one that can be allowed,
of what constitutes true art.
as one of his own creation.
Art—a word
which has been so vulgarized and degraded
in the present day, for trade purposes, that
it really becomes a question whether people
at all understand what is meant by the
term. It is therefore necessary that it
should have its true definition.
All natural forms must be rendered
differently and altered for art purposes.
They have usually to be made more geo-
metrical and symmetrical than in nature.
In the ordinary mode of speaking all natural
forms have to be conventionalized—that is,
sufficiently altered to make them
applicable and suitable to the material
as
in which they are wrought, to the purposes
to which they are applied, or the position
they are intended to occupy. No positive
rules can be given for the manner of doing
this, beyond a few general ones. If definite
rules could be laid down, art would no
longer exist. Every age has had its own
their own conventional mode of expression.
Resuscitation of any former mode of ex-
pression, however accurate and painstaking
such revival may be, does not constitute
true art. Yet how often has mankind made
this mistake! How frequently are we en-
deavouring to reproduce the style of some
former age!
Experience, then, has taught us, as a
general rule, that foliage and flowers cannot
be represented as ornament precisely as we
see them in nature; that for the various
purposes for which they may be required
Fig. 289.
they have to be altered and modified in
different degrees according to the circum-
stances under which they are applied.
In the first instance we have to decide
upon the leading Fig. 291.
lines or stems upon
which the orna-
ment is to be com-
posed. These may
be arranged in a variety of different modes,
such as that of symmetrical branching;
angular as in Fig. 289, or flowing, Fig.
290. If the foliage is to be continuous the
scroll or spiral line, Fig. 291, may be
adopted. These may be again varied
according to the character of the foliage by


A/ora/ Orſza/mem/afioſº.
157
which they are clothed, but the branching
should invariably represent natural growth,
and not be made to flow in two different
directions. Crooked form, such as we often
find in nature, should
be altered to gracefully
flowing lines, or rigidly
straight ones; and it is
as well to remember that
uprightor ascending lines
represent life, while
hanging or drooping ones are suggestive
of decay and death.
Another simple arrangement for foliage
is that of radiating
from a centre, after
the manner of regular
Fig. 292.
Fig. 293.
flowers. These radiate
and arrange them-
selves naturally upon
the geometrical figures,
and when reduced to
the principles upon which they are formed
will be found to be formed upon a regular
plan. Thus the snowdrop is formed upon
the triangle, Fig. 292; the willow-herb,
Fig. 293, upon the square or cross form,
the stone-crop upon
the pentagon or five-
pointed star, Fig 294;
the lily upon the hex-
agon or double tri-
angle, Fig. 295; the
pilewort crowfoot on
the octagon, Fig. 296.
Many other flowers, retaining the same
geometrical arrangements, give again numer-
ous beautiful variations upon these forms, all
of which should be studied and carefully
drawn that they may be at hand when
required for art purposes.
Fig. 294.
It should be observed, also, that when
any flower is formed upon a geometrical
figure, or number, as the number five, for
example, there are five
sepals in the calyx' and
five petals in the corol-
la, and that these invari-
ably alternate with each
other. Besides this
there will be five sta-
mens, alternating with
the corolla; or if there are ten, as in the
stone-crop, Fig. 294, they are in two sets
of five each, alternating with each other.
If the stamens are of
an indefinite number,
as in the wild rose,
they will still be a
multiple of the number
five. But more than
that, the number will
be sometimes carried
Fig. 296.
through the whole plant, as in the common
bramble. In this instance the section of
the stem is pentagonal, Fig. 297, the leaves
branch alternately, forming a spiral line, from
each angle of the stem, as indicated by the
letters A, B, C, D, E, and are formed each of
five leaflets. The number in a flower will
sometimes appear again in the Fig. 297.
seed-vessel, as in the 3-celled
seed-vessel of the lily; thus
carrying on the three-fold
arrangement of the flower.
(Fig 295.)
The law of growth in a flower will be
found to be the same as in a branch. A
* Flowers have usually four sets or parts: (1) the pistil, or end of
the seed-vessel, forming the centre, surrounded by (2) the stamens—
thread-like filaments supporting the anthers, containing the pollen;
(3) the corolla, or floral envelope; and (4) the calyx—the green portion
at the back, and which serves as a protection to the flower while in
the bud.





40


158
Sugges/ſons in /Pesign.
flower is simply a stunted and terminal axis
with its leaves, while a branch is an elon-
gated or growing axis with its leaves, and,
as it develops, its lesser branches. If, there-
fore, a branch
viewed from the top,
as in the lilac, Fig.
is
Fig. 298.
298, a similar arrange-
ment will be seen as
in cross-formed flow-
ers, Fig. 293. This
cross form is due to
the leaves growing opposite each other in
pairs. In many cases of opposite leaves the
stem also is square, as in the dead-nettle.
But in alternate-leaved branches the leaves
Fig. 299. issue spirally from the
stem, forming a star
or flower form of five
or six points, when
viewed from the top.
This is well seen in the
oak, Fig. 299, where
the end leaves of a
branch often grow at almost the same level.
The leaves alternate as indicated by the
letters upon the diagram, Fig. 299.
This law of growth in nature, being the
same in flowers and
branches, is important
for the purposes of art.
For as the forms of
leaves are often more
beautiful and orna-
mental than the forms
of the petals in flowers,
it shows that it is perfectly legitimate and
natural to substitute leaves for petals in
forming flowers for art use. In carving, one
of the most beautiful characteristics of the
flower, that of colour, is necessarily lost; the
artist, therefore, should endeavour to supply
that loss by increased beauty of form. This
has been frequently done at previous periods
of art, as in the
example Fig. 300,
from the soffit of
an antique Roman º
cornice. -
Leaves in na-
ture vary from a
plain and simple
form to that of -
the most intricate and complicated.
A
simple leaf consists of one single lamina
issuing from a single footstalk, and may have
its edges uncut or entire, as in the lilac,
Fig. 298; serrated, as in the elm; or lobed,
as in the oak, Fig. 299.
The geometrical figures are
again apparent in the forms
of leaves—as the trian-
gular arrangement or trefoil
in the clover, Fig. 302, the
pentagon in the ivy. The
geometrical arrangement of five-lobed leaves
is shown by Fig. 301, in which the leaves
of the water-crowfoot, buttercup, and ivy
are laid upon a penta-
gon.
A compound leaf has
several leaves (or leaflets,
as they are then called)
arranged upon the same
general footstalk, each
leaflet being separate and
distinct with its own
footstalk branching out of the main one.
The most simple compound leaf is termed
binate, consisting of two leaflets issuing
from one point, as in the everlasting pea;
the next ternate, three leaflets, as in the
Fig. 303.


Pſoral Ornamentation.
159
clover, Fig. 302; palmate, five leaflets, the
Virginian creeper; and digitate, Fig. 303,
in the horse-chestnut, in
which all the leaflets radi-
ate from one point in the
footstalk. Other com-
pound forms are: pinnate,
where two or more leaflets
are borne in pairs on each
side of the centre stalk,
as in the rose, Fig. 304;
biternate, Fig 305; and
bipinnate, Fig. 306; as
well as many others, which soon become much
too complicated for the purpose of ornamen-
tation. It is curious to see how nature ad-
heres to first principles
by retaining the forms
of simple leaves
throughout all com-
pound leaves. If we
connect the points of
Fig. 305.
the radiating lines or
midribs in Fig. 303 by
an inclosing line, as indicated on the left-hand
side of the figure, we obtain the usual
cordate leaf, as in the violet. Doing the
same with Fig. 304
gives an oval leaf, as
the dock; Fig. 305 a
trilobed leaf, as in the
Water-avens;
while a
doubly-compound leaf,
as in Fig. 306, will
give a five-lobed leaf
like the sycamore; and
so on throughout all
other compound leaves. The same laws
invariably run through both those that are
simple and those that are compound; indeed
it not unfrequently happens that it is age
alone which produces the more compound
forms. Nature is so prolific in form that
no two leaves, or even the two halves of a
leaf, are precisely alike. This may be ob-
served most distinctly in the forms of the
leaves of the common hawthorn.
It follows, therefore, that it is perfectly in
accordance with nature to simplify, alter, or
omit parts from leavesand flowers when found
necessary for the purposes of art, provided
that the omissions or alterations are made
naturally. To learn how to do this it is
necessary to observe nature closely under
different circumstances. For instance, if it
be desired to simplify the form of a leaf, it
should be examined when in a young state,
for then it has a lesser number of divisions
than when more mature, but at the same
time the younger leaf displays the same
general character as the older one. In a
strawberry leaf, for example, Fig 307, we
find the three leaflets with serrated edges;
but if we examine a very young leaf we find
the serrations are few, as in Fig. 308, which
is from a young leaf from the same plant
as the older one. In the leaf of the haw-
thorn several very elegant variations may be
found by observing its form at different
periods of its growth. Now this is a very
important principle, and one that may be


160
in /9esign.
Sugges/ſouls
constantly taken advantage of in art; for it
frequently happens, that in consequence of
the minuteness of the work or its distance,
when placed in position, from the observer,
leaves are often too complicated, and it
is necessary to reduce the number of their
parts. Thus a compound leaf may be pro-
perly reduced to a simple one, a five lobed
leaf to three lobes, or the lobes omitted
altogether, according to what is most appli-
cable for the required purpose. This is a
power which was much overlooked even in
antique works. In the Corinthian capital
in all the Roman examples the leaves in-
variably consist of the same number of lobes
(we have no means of comparing them in
the Greek, as there is but one example)."
Whether the capitals are large or small, or
placed at a great height, the whole of the
parts are always the same, giving the
capital a confused appearance when seen
from a distance. Refer to Fig. 93 for the
formation of the Corinthian capital.
Again, it is not necessary to adhere closely
to the form of natural leaves. The Greeks,
if they adopted the acanthus leaf, never
followed it literally, but appear more to
have adhered to a principle which they
recognized in nature, and which equally
belonged to the thistle, the sea-holly, and
other plants as well as to the acanthus.
They seem to have observed the beauty,
crispness, and vigour of growth in stiff-
leaved, prickly foliage, and from that formed
a leaf of their own creation, which has been
the admiration of all ages, and has been
more followed and copied than any other
form of decorative foliage which has ever
existed.
* The capital from the Monument of Lysicrates, the existing re-
mains of which are very imperfect. A portion of one of the leaves
of the capital is given in Fig. 65.
The artist, therefore, need never scruple
in the alteration of his leaves taken from
nature, so long as he does so upon principle
and not mere whim. He must know why
he takes from or adds to any natural form.
He may increase his foliage in scale or
decrease just as it may suit his purpose or
be required by its situation. If he proceeds
in this way he is at perfect liberty to cull
from the beauties of one species and add them
to those of another, or to omit any portion
which he finds inapplicable to his purpose.
He will then, if he succeeds, create foliage
of his own, which will have all the char-
acteristics of nature—be quite natural
without being a servile copy of nature her-
self.
The following examples of Floral Sprigs
have therefore been designed as suggestions,
in the hope of elucidating and explaining
the manner of conventionalizing flowers and
foliage without adhering too literally to
nature;—culling from all natural form,
without strictly adhering to any, where
departure becomes advisable; but at the same
time never losing sight of nature without
an efficient reason. It must be understood
that it is not supposed that there are not
other modes of treating even the same
flowers. There are indeed many, and
perhaps all equally good, for this is just the
point where the hand of the true artist is
felt. By working upon his subject, although
he may have started with an idea or “motif.”
which was not his own, if he elicits fresh
beauty and infuses it into his own work,
due to his own power of thought, he will
have created for himself something new in
art. If he stops at imitating, he may talk
loudly, as too many do, of art, but he will
fail to produce it.


A ſora/ Orname/l/a/io/l.
161
PLATE 74.
No. 1. A composition of Rose, Corn-flower, Wheat,
and Holly.
No. 2. The Teazle arranged symmetrically for
carving in low relief.
No. 3. Tropaeolum speciosum, arranged for
painting, the flower being laid out symmetrically.
No. 4. Fancy floret, with serrated leaves in two
colours.
No. 5. The Poppy, with seed-pods arranged orna-
mentally.
No. 6. Flower with radiating leaves surrounding
the stalks after the manner of Goose-grass.
No. 7. Heath-like sprig.
No. 8. Water-lily and Eel.
No. 9. Conventionalized flower of the Knapweed
for carving.
PLATE 75.
No. 1. Arrangement of the Fuchsia for painting.
Centre of panel or other decoration.
No. 2. Scroll of berries and curled leaves.
No. 3. Bindweed growing out of and entwining
rustic pole.
No. 4. The Thistle arranged ornamentally, for
carving in low relief, out of the surface. The
ground being left standing level with the highest
portion of the carving. Technically known as
cavo-relievo.
Nos. 5 and 6. Flower sprig and grasses arranged
ornamentally.
No. 7. The Lily, arranged symmetrically and
growing from combined hearts, as an emblem of
purity.
No. 8. Ivy for painting or stamped work, for
book covers.
No. 9. Plant with seeds, called the “Pope's
Money.” Curved stems embracing leaf.
PLATE 76.
No. 1. Outline foliated forms, spirals and leaves.
No. 2. Stick and scroll forms with flowers and
berries. Root entwined ornamentally.
No. 3. Symmetrically arranged tulip-like flowers
and leaves growing from bulb with ornamental
root.
No. 4. Founded on Hyacinth growing in glass
with ornamentally arranged root.
No. 5. Hanging basket with arrangement of
flowers.
No. 6. Symmetrical arrangement of the Catch-fly.
No. 7. The Pink, ornamentally treated.
No. 8. Spirally arranged flower growing from
stick.
No. 9. The Pomegranate and Poppy for painting
in a panel.
No. 10. Currant leaves and hanging berries
entwined spirally.
No. 11. Equisetum or Horse-tail, with ornamental
accompaniments formed of the seeds of the Shep-
herd's Purse.
Nos. 12 and 13. Hanging and scrolled florets.
No. 14. Open pea-pods and tendrils, for painting
on a dark ground.
PLATE 77.
No. 1. The Maple with seed-vessels arranged
symmetrically.
No. 2. Flower with bulbous roots, scroll stems,
and ivy-form leaves. -
No. 3. Group of outline sprigs for painting:
Hemlock, &c.
No. 4. Tubular flower with plaited leaf.
No. 5. Opening leaves or bud-form. Many valu-
able suggestions may be obtained by observing
plants while expanding their leaves and flowers.
No. 6. Central leaf-bud with partially opened
leaves, springing from plant-form.
No. 7. Arrangement of scrolled leafage with pine
or seed, for carving in low relief.
No. 8. Maize ornamentally treated for carving.
No. 9. Ivy-leaves arranged on a fig-leaf for
painting.
PLATE 78.
No. 1. Conventional flower and leafage.
No. 2. St. John's Wort, with pinnate leaves and
ornamental root.
No. 3. Leafage and flowers conventionalized for
painting.
Nos. 4 and 5. Polyanthus arranged as centres for
painting on panels.
No. 6. Tulip conventionalized.
No. 7. Orchid treated symmetrically for painting
or flat carving.
No. 8. Leaves arranged upon leaves for colour
or woven fabric.
Nos. 9 and 10. Foliated scrolls.


162
Sugges/ions in /Design.
No. 11. Seven-lobed leaf with raised eyes and
split interlaced stem for carving out of surface.
No. 12. Horse-chestnut leaves on Ivy, and—
No. 13. Maple on Ivy: symmetrical sprigs for
centres or diapers.
PLATE 79.
No. 1. Acorns and Oak with leaf-galls and orna-
mental root for carving.
No. 2. Conventional scroll and fruit for painting
or illumination.
No. 3. Leaves of Tormentilla and conventional
flowers for painting.
No. 4. Bulbous plant (Leek) with seeds and
scrolled root, arranged for carving out of the surface
with raised ground in cavo-relievo.
No. 5. Vine scroll, with grapes and tendrils orna-
mentally treated.
No. 6. Scroll of heart-form leaves and flower for
painting.
No. 7. Sprig of Raspberry.
No. 8. Foliated cross for gold and colour.
No. 9. Fruit sprig.
No. 10. Scroll of Passion-flower entwining stick.
No. 11. Strawberry sprig, with simplified leaves.
No. 12. Leaf upon leaf with enlaced stem.
White upon gold.
PLATE 80.
No. 1. Grass-form plant with seeds, arranged
symmetrically for carving in panel.
No. 2. Fir-cone and conventional leafage.
No. 3. Sprig with radiating leaves. The two
halves varied.
No. 4. Scroll of Fuchsia, growing from stick.
No. 5. Arum.
No. 6. Honeysuckle and trefoil leaves.
No. 7. Scroll sprig–Lily.
No. 8. Arrangement of common garden pea, with
leafage and tendrils, carved out of the surface.
The tendrils on the ground incised in double lines.
Nos. 9, 10, 11, 12. Ornamental sprigs.
No. 13. Frieze-panel of oak and acorns for stone
carving, the light and shade of the leaves being
increased by leaf-galls.
PLATE 81.
No. 1. Central sprig with seeds of Pomegranates.
Nos. 2 and 3. Sprigs arranged from nature for
painted decoration.
Nos. 4 and 5. Foliated forms for carving.
No. 6. Dock leaves and Hart's-tongue fern,
arranged for carving out of the surface, and dec-
orated by gold and colour.
Nos. 7 and 8. Sprigs.
No. 9. Geometrically arranged sprig with plaited
leaves.
No. 10. Strawberry plant with fruit and flowers.
No. 11. Ferns, Grass, and May-fly ornamentally
treated. Opening fronds of Hard-fern and Polypody.
No. 12. Symmetrically arranged flower-sprig for
decoration or woven fabric. Wild Sage.
No. 13. Conventional Rose for black-and-gold
decoration.
PLATE 82 (MiscellANEOUs).
The designs on the following Plates are arranged
for various decorative purposes: in the flat for paint-
ing, inlay, or carving; in the form of centres, borders,
or for the enrichment of surfaces. Many of the
examples may also be applied to other purposes,
such as encaustic tiles, stained glass, stamped leather-
work, paper-hangings, calico-printing, and also to
the ornamentation of the products of the loom and
the printing-press.
No. 1. Upright border or panel of double flowing
wave-line, interlaced with broken line, and filled
in with Ivy and other foliage. For painted decor-
ation.
No. 2. Conventional triangular centre figure with
foliage, for marble or other inlay.
No. 3. Symmetrical palm-leaf flower on eight-
pointed irregular star-form, for wood inlay.
No. 4. Upright and alternately inverted flower
border, for woven fabric.
No. 5. Bindweed leaf pattern upright border
growing on ribbon. Painted decoration.
No. 6. Border carved in low relief. Ivy with
interrupted central stem and curved branches set
out upon interlacing vesicas.
No. 7. Interlaced geometrical form on diagonal
square filled in with Ivy leaves and berries.
No. 8. Cruciform arrangement of flowers in a
pointed quatrefoil.
No. 9. Symmetrical flower growing from a whorl
of eight leaves, for painted arched panel.
No. 10. Cruciform treatment of the Passion-


Figures, Anima/s, Chimeras, and 7 ro//ies.
163
flower, for mosaic inlay with gold ground. The
leaves, flower, and buds being bordered with a white
line.
No. 11. Moresque forms alternating with a
diagonal arrangement of fig-leaves on a gold ground.
PLATE 83 (MISCELLANEoUs).
No. 1. Flowing scroll border with buds and
flowers.
No. 2. Triangled trefoil filled in with flowing
foliage.
No. 3. Curved hexagonal star in a circle with
interlacing lines and filled in with foliage.
No. 4. Pansy, flower and leaf border for woven
fabric or decoration on gold ground.
No. 5. Leaf and twig border with berries, for
calico or other printed work. Ivy-leaved Toad-flax.
No. 6.
decoration.
No. 7. Upright flowing border.
No. 8. Symmetrical ornament for border or other
purposes.
No. 9. White and black alternating leaf border
growing from wave-line stem.
No. 10. Holly scroll border with berries, for
decoration on a gold ground.
Nos. 11 and 12. Upright arranged geometrically
formed borders filled in with flowers, for decoration
or inlay.
No. 13. Lemon plant with flowers and fruit, for
chintz pattern or other printed decoration.
No. 14. Bell-flower border, in upright divisions.
Horse-chestnut border for coloured
No. 15. Border, upright divisions of flowers,
alternating with mushrooms and five-pointed stars,
for decoration on gold ground.
PLATE 84 (MISCELLANEoUs).
No. 1. Interlacing circles and square, on a quatre-
foil filled in with heart-form leaf foliage. For inlay.
Nos. 2 and 3. Borders for inlay or decoration.
Nos. 4 and 5. Diamond panels filled in with
geometrical lines and foliage, for stamped leather
or other purposes. -
No. 6. Geometrically arranged flowing diaper,
filled in with foliated and eight-pointed star forms.
For carpet.
No. 7. Circle divided into curved triangular
compartments and filled in with acorns, &c.
No. 8. Hexagonal arrangement curved triangles
filled in with ivy leaves and star centre, for inlay.
No. 9. Diaper formed by squares with interlaced
diagonal lines, filled in with four-petalled flower in
the centre and fir-cones placed diagonally. Other
divisions filled in with crosses and eight-petalled
flowers at the angles. Encaustic tiles.
No. 10. Flowing scroll, flower, and leaf border
for decoration.
No. 11. Geometrical border for tiles or inlay.
No. 12. Zigzag alternating flower border, for
painted decoration or paper-hanging.
No. 13. Upright acorn border alternating with bud.
No. 14. Leaf-form border for decoration or incised
work. -
C H A PTE R. X. X. V.
FIGURES, ANIMALS, CHIMERAS, AND TROPHIES.
*†CULPTURED Art, in the repre-
# sentation of the human form,
is the highest and the most ele-
# vated species of architectural
decoration. Whether by statues or by
works of sculpture in relievo, the beauties
of the human figure, portraying its actions,
its various passions and emotions, have
occupied the highest artistic intellects for
many ages. Since the time of Phidias,


164 Sugges/ſouls in 19esign.
when marble and bronze were first endowed
with the semblance of life and action, artists
have gone on producing that highest and
most beautiful of all created forms, until
we are in possession of a perfect world of
sculpture, the treasures of almost every age
and country.
To this higher class of sculpture the
following plates do not pretend to approach.
But there are numerous instances where the
living form may be judiciously introduced
among other decorative features, to give
these a higher tone and object; or to work
out some symbolical or allegorical meaning,
by which to create a more important and
direct interest in ornamentation than can be
obtained by the use of foliated forms alone.
For this purpose, and to give the decorative
artist a more extended aim for his ornamen-
tation, the following plates have been
designed, in the hope that they will offer
suggestions in furtherance of these objects.
They have, therefore, been arranged in a
conventional mode applicable to decoration,
with various meanings and intentions, which
will be seen on examining them, and which
the description of the plates will more fully
point out."
The Greeks introduced the human figure
in their works in an ornamental and purely
decorative manner as well as in a sculptur-
esque one, and in combination with scroll
foliage. Fig. 309 is an elegant example of this,
taken from an antique Greek terra cotta, pro-
bably used in connection with roofing tiles.
The Romans also adopted the same
practice, but carried the intermixture
of foliage and figures even further, by
combining the figure with the foliage itself,
"See also Plates 7, 10, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 55, 56, 57, 59, 61, 62,
63.
as in the boy or cupid, Fig. 310, in which
the extremities are finished in leafage and
º
ºlº º ſ º
*SRū, º %
º
-- __ —
- - T -
scroll work. This example is from an
antique Roman altar executed in white
marble. A
somewhat si-
Fig 310.
milar figure
is found in
an antique
frieze, with
the remains
also of a
portion of an
animal among
the foliage,
Fig. 311. Griffins facing each other, with a
vase or torch between them, formed a very
Fig. 311.
usual arrangement, as in the example Fig.
312, which is taken from a marble statue of


Aigures, Animals, Chimeras, and 7 roß/hies. 165
a Roman emperor at Rome, and formed
a part of the ornamentation upon the breast-
plate. This subject is also found frequently
arranged in the frieze of an antique temple.
Festoons of flowers hanging from the horns
of bullocks' heads, with masks between,
was a common arrangement for antique
altars, as in Fig. 313, and which is found
again applied to the friezes of temples.
This practice of amalgamating animals,
birds, and even insects, as well as all kinds
of monstrous and chimerical forms, in order
to give life and variety to ornamentation,
has been a common one in most styles of
architecture. In the Byzantine, the
Moorish, and some other styles, however,
nothing of the kind is found, but that
arises from
a law which
prevailed a-
gainst us-
ing animal
form. With
these exceptions the practice has become
almost universal, and in the modern Italian
and in the French and English Renaissance"
such combinations occur constantly and in
great profusion. An Italian example of a
centaur terminating in foliage, and accom-
*See Plates 69, 71, 72, 73.
panied by birds, is given in Fig. 276, page
139, from a frieze upon the tomb of St.
Apollonio, in the cathedral at Brescia.
Another example, Fig. 278, on the same
page—the Lion of St. Mark, with the tail
running into foliage—is from Venice.
The Celtic ornamentation, as found upon
the ancient Irish crosses and in the Anglo-
Saxon manuscripts, exhibits another form
of animal combination of the most extra-
ordinary character. Wholly devoid of
vegetable form, it consists almost entirely
of strange monstrous animals and nonde-
script birds interlaced and woven together
with the utmost intricacy. Somewhat of
this character are the designs on Plate 93.
In the Anglo-Norman, foliage was added to
these strange animal forms, as in No. 1,
Plate 34.
When figures depart very much from
nature they are more properly distinguished
as Chimeras, and in the formation of these the
designer, like the poet, is allowed a consider-
able license. A mere natural improbability,
where natural imitation is in no degree
essential, is the privilege of the fancy; but
mechanical disproportions and impossibil-
ities, violations of the most palpable laws of
gravity, cannot be otherwise than offensive.
Nothing can bring them within the range of
good taste, as they are essentially obnoxious
to aesthetic sensibility, which is the truest
test of propriety in art, the effect being
analogous to a discord in music. We may
be extremely grotesque or fanciful without
being ridiculous. There need be no limit
to the formation and designing of chimeras.
for nature is not their test; but if we com-
bine monsters in our scrolls, or place
animals upon the tendrils of plants, it is
absolutely necessary to proportion them in


166 Suggestions
in Design.
|
size to the strength of the tendril or stem
upon which they are placed.
Besides figures, chimeras, and every kind
Fig. 314. of fantastic form,
many other objects
have been pressed
into service as aids
to decoration and
ornamentation. Of
these the sculp-
tured representa-
tions of armour,
arranged as tro-
phies as if taken in war, are conspicuous in
the Roman and Renaissance styles. The
Romans frequently formed groups of armour,
with swords, pikes, and other warlike imple-
ments, into compositions for bas-reliefs for
the enrichment of panels and other portions
of their structures. This practice was re-
vived by the Italians of the sixteenth century,
and the fashion was followed very much in
France during the reign of Louis XIV.,
even to the studied imitation of Roman
armour, as in the example Fig. 314, which
is from the Palace of Versailles.
The insatiate craving after novelty, more
especially in France during the eighteenth
century, in the decoration of
the walls of apartments, led
to the formation of pastoral
Fig. 315.
trophies formed of shepherds'
crooks, spades, and garden
rakes, hung up by garlands
of flowers; hunting trophies,
consisting of bows, arrows, quivers, and
horns; as well as musical trophies (Fig. 315),
and many others. Buffets and side-boards
for dining-rooms, in modern times, have been
covered by carved trophies referring to the
food brought to table, such as those given
on Plate 96. Grinling Gibbons in his carvings
introduced dead game, all kinds of fish,
shell-fish such as crabs and lobsters, as well
as nets and other implements belonging to
sport. This cannot be considered a very
high-class mode of decoration, but it can
have this said in its favour, that it has a
direct meaning which is easily understood,
and it is far preferable to the literal copying
of Roman trophies of armour shown in
Fig. 314.
The blind adherence to any species of
ornamentation peculiar to a period which
has long passed away, whether it be that
of Rome or any other country, is highly
objectionable. Mere imitation is not true
art. It should be the aim of the ornamen-
tist to rise above puerile copying, and to
endeavour to give by the aid of whatever
objects he introduces an emblematical or an
allegorical meaning to his decoration. This
mode of representation has been carried to
the fullest extent in ecclesiastical decoration,
where sacred symbols are often used which
have a twofold or emblematical meaning.
These when skilfully adapted cannot fail to
give an intelligence and character to such
work which greatly enhance its value.
PLATE 85 (FIGUREs).
No. 1. Design for clock panel, with dial of twenty-
four hours and allegorical figures of Day and Night.
Nos. 2, 3, 4, 5. Decorative panel paintings of
Morning (sunrise and cock-crow), Noon (the mid-
day meal), Evening (twilight and repose from labour),
Night (sleep and rest). A certain amount of poet-
ical feeling and the adoption of conventional forms
are necessary in the treatment of commonplace
subjects for decoration.
PLATE 86 (FIGUREs).
No. 1. The consolation of the cross, by the side
of which springs the lily as the emblem of purity.


168 Sugges/ſouls
in /)esign.
PLATE 91 (FIGUREs).
No. 1. Sport. Ornamental decorative panel, painted
on gold ground.
Nos. 2 and 3. Snowdrop and Rosebud. Might
be applied as carved arm-rests for chairs or stalls.
No. 4. Composition emblematical of the ocean.
No. 5. Love swung by Cupid in a bower of roses.
Centre for panel decoration.
No. 6. Muse with lyre, for sculpture. Supporting
figure on one side of shield.
Nos. 7 and 8. Ornamental centres for panels.
Sage being instructed by water-sprite, and the
midnight tale, tete-d-tête.
PLATE 92 (FIGUREs).
No. 1. Masks of Tragedy and Comedy. Orna-
mental spandrel for placing between arches, with
vine foliage, &c.
Nos. 2 and 3. Medallions containing male and
female heads—Youth and Age.
Nos. 4 and 5. Figures for supporting lamps.
Nos. 6 and 7. Sun and moon. Decorative centres.
No. 8. Triple shell trefoil panel.
No. 9. Cupids and goat, with ivy-leaf scroll.
Border for decoration.
No. 10. Bracket. Pink of Love.
No. 11. Bracket. Cupid reposing.
No. 12. Wine, with scroll of vine foliage. Dec-
orative border or frieze.
PLATE 93 ANIMALs (CENTREs).
No. 1. Trefoil for inlay. Triply united bats.
No. 2. Circle containing running hares united by
the ears, forming a triangle. The arms of the Isle
of Man consist of three legs following each other
after the same manner.
No. 3. Triply-united foxes, with fowls and nests.
No. 4. Triangular combination of dragon-flies, for
inlay or flat sculpture.
No. 5. Three dog's-heads united.
No. 6. Pentagonal bird centre.
No. 7. Triply-united cranes with interlaced
wings, after the manner of Celtic ornamentation.
For sculpture in low relief.
No. 8. Circle containing a triangular combination
of fish. For painted decoration.
No. 9. Centre for decorative panel. Pentagonal
arrangement of cranes and snakes.
No. 10. Three skates in a whirlpool.
No. 11. Hexagonal combination of three pelicans
and three fishes. Centre for inlay.
PLATE 94 (ANIMALS).
No. 1. Pelican and eel among bulrushes. For
painted decoration.
No. 2. Arrangement of bulrushes, eel, toad,
dragon-flies, &c.
No. 3. Foliage with birds and nests. Natural-
esque treatment for printed fabric.
No. 4. Border with a conventional representation
of water, out of which grow the water-lily and
bulrushes, alternating with dragon-flies. Printed
border for woven fabric or earthenware.
No. 5. Panel for painting or mosaic inlay with
gold ground. Foliated scroll in colour with pheasant
and fox-head centre.
No. 6. Composition of swan, fish, arum, and
bulrushes.
No. 7. United flamingos on a fish.
No. 8. Snail and star border, for porcelain
decoration.
No. 9. Ornamentation for printed or woven
fabric. Grass stem and seeds, with caterpillar,
chrysalis, and butterfly, on foliated ground.
PLATE 95 (CHIMERAs).
No. 1. Dragon and pine. Sculpture in bas-relief.
No. 2. Toad-stool and snake, with head of
Despair flanked by nondescript imps. For carving.
No. 3. Mirth and Melancholy, or Tragedy and
Comedy, under the wings of a harpy. Carved head
over doorway in alto-relievo.
No. 4. Dolphins devouring human bodies.
Composition for pedestal.
No. 5. Monogram and chimerical figure.
No. 6. Grasshopper-bird dragons, symmetrically
arranged with foliage. For carving out of surface.
No. 7. Poppy and bats with moon, indicative of
sleep. For printed chintz.
No. 8. Border for decoration. Fight among
nondescript dragons.
PLATE 96 (TROPHIES, &c.).
No. 1. Wine, with scroll of vine.
No. 2. Beer, with hop and barley growing out of
barrel.


Zeffers and Monograms. 169
No. 3. Tobacco, growing out of pipe. These are
for painting or carving in low relief.
No. 4. Fish. Net and shell with trident, &c.
No. 5. Fowl. Turkey, goose, and cock, sur-
mounted by feathers and dish, with motto.
No. 6. Flesh. Beef, mutton, pork, venison, and
hare, with spear and bow, the whole surmounted
by a boiling pot upon the fire.
These three last trophies are for carving on panels
of dining-room buffet.
C H A P T E R XXVI.
LETTERS AND MONOGRAMS.
ONG ages before the invention
# of printing, even from the early
w # period when writing was first prac-
£º tised up to the present time, it
has been customary to embellish manuscripts
with pictures, ornament, and polychromatic
decoration. The ancient Egyptians wrote
thus upon rolls of papyri, and their hiero-
glyphics were almost invariably painted
with the liveliest tints. The extraordinary
dexterity which they acquired in the mode
of expressing complicated forms by a few
rapid touches, and the life and spirit with
which ornaments were executed in these
papyri, are truly remarkable. The precise
extent to which the Greeks and Romans,
from whom we obtain our letters, were in-
debted to the Egyptians for the origin and
use of alphabetical symbols is not deter-
mined; but of one thing we may be certain,
that all modern letters have been originally
suggested by hieroglyphical forms. Rude
but rapidly made drawings or pictures of na-
tural objects were, in the first instance, used
as the readiest means of indicating the name
of the thing, as a head for a head, a mouth for
a mouth, an owl for an owl, &c. But the
Egyptians found that these pictures would
not express thoughts or feelings, the names
of persons or countries; and the first step
towards overcoming this difficulty was to use
the picture, not for the object itself, but for
a sound or syllable, as a head became the
syllable pe, a mouth ro, an owl mo; and the
next step was to use these characters for
letters.
The Hebrew letters were formed upon the
same principle, each letter being also a word
indicating some object; thus, jod or J
signified a hand; daleth or D, a door; beth
or B, a house; gimel or G, a camel, and so
on. When once forms were thus adopted
to express sounds instead of objects their
pictorial character was abandoned, they
became simplified, and formed what we
call letters. The obvious utility of this
practice soon effected a wonderful advance
in written language, the knowledge of it
spread rapidly, and was at length imparted
to the Greeks and Romans. Letters were
further simplified and perfected by them,
reduced in number according to the sounds
which were ascribed to each, and formed into
an alphabet.

43


170 Sugges/ions
an Z)esign.
The scrolls used for writing upon by the
Egyptians were made of the leaves of the
papyrus, the common flowering-rush of the
Nile. Two leaves of the rush were pasted
together with the fibres of one leaf at right
angles to the other, and after being cut
square, about twenty of these pieces were
glued together, end to end, to form a roll.
The Greeks and Romans used the same
material for writing, and large quantities of
the leaves of the papyrus were imported
yearly into Greece and Rome from Egypt for
that purpose. It was not until the time
of the Roman Empire that parchment was
substituted for the papyrus, in consequence
of the supply of the latter substance falling
short. It is said that Julius Caesar was
the first person who divided books into
pages, and after his time they began to
assume the modern form.
Paper, which is supposed to have been
invented in China, is of comparatively
modern introduction. It was first made
on the Continent about the beginning of the
fourteenth century, and great quantities
of it had to be imported into this country.
It was not made in England, except a coarse
brown sort, until the French refugees intro-
duced the manufacture of white paper in the
year 1690.
The purest of the classical manuscripts
were written in regularly-formed capital
letters. One of the most important Latin
illuminated manuscripts which is known to
exist is the square Virgil of the Vatican.
This originally contained fifty paintings,
five of which are now almost entirely effaced.
The text is written throughout with con-
siderable regularity in capital letters in black
ink, and its only ornaments are paintings
of subjects derived from the AEmeid.
Another variety of writing in capital letters
was that known as the uncial style,
which was the first approximation to a
cursive or running hand. The letters in this
style generally resemble capitals, but instead
of being angular are to a great extent com-
posed of rounded forms. Specimens of the
uncial character may be traced in the fourth
century, and it appears to have changed
little until the seventh. St. Jerome, writing
in the fourth century, exclaims in a well-
known passage, “Let those who will have
old books written in gold and silver on
purple parchments, or, as they are commonly
called, in uncial letters—rather ponderous
loads than books,—so long as they permit
me and mine to have poor copies, and rather
correct than beautiful books.”
The uncial character, or rounded capital,
was a transition to the minuscule or “lower-
case” letters, which at length became distinct
characters from the capitals, the latter being
generally known as maguscule, in contra-
distinction to the minuscule. The principal
volumes still existing written in uncial
characters are the celebrated “Codex
Argenteus” of Ulphilus, written in gold and
silver letters on a purple ground, in the fourth
century; the Psalter of St. Germain de
Pres; a fragment of the New Testament
in the Cottonian Library; and a copy of the
book of Genesis in the Imperial Library
at Vienna. The three latter are believed
to have been executed during the fifth
and sixth centuries.
The libraries of the Vatican, as well
as those of Paris, Oxford, and London,
contain other specimens of brilliant ancient
manuscripts, written in gold and silver letters,
for the most part no doubt at Byzantium
previous and immediately subsequent to the


Leffers and Monograms.
171
age of Justinian. There can be very little
question that an important modification in
the character of illuminated manuscripts,
and indeed of all decorative art, took place
during the impulse given to the arts by the
important works carried on by command of
this emperor during the middle of the sixth
century.
So far as ancient texts are concerned,
some of the most valuable now extant are
those which belong to the peculiar class of
books known as Palimpsests, that is, books
which have been written twice over, the
original writing having been as far as possible
expunged, in order to provide a fresh
surface for receiving later transcripts.
Cardinal Angelo Mai, the celebrated
librarian of the Vatican, who was born
in 1779, prosecuted the work of deciphering
the original writing on such manuscripts
with so much zeal and ability as to give
back to the world many writings that had
hitherto been considered hopelessly lost.
While all was dark in Europe, with the
exception of the flickering light still casting
an occasional ray from Constantinople, a
new light was springing up in the islands
of the West. It is not certain when Ireland
was first christianized, but it is generally
admitted to have been at a very early
period. The Irish were in possession
of some of the most ancient versions of the
Gospels, dating as early as the sixth century,
and these works were elaborately executed
in that peculiar kind of ornamentation
called the Celtic, which has been before
noticed, consisting of interlacing lines or
bands, and interweaved birds and animals.
Many of the Irish saints were distinguished
scribes, and their schools became so famous
throughout Europe that they were resorted
to by students from distant lands. In the
School of Finian, which is said to have
included no less than three thousand
scholars, the great St. Columba or Co-
lumkill, who was born in Ireland A.D. 521,
was instructed in many arts, and in that
of illumination he became specially and
justly famous.
About the middle of the sixth century
St. Columba founded the celebrated mon-
astery in the island of Iona, which was
afterwards removed to Lindisfarne on
the coast of Durham. From this spot the
arts taught in the schools of Ireland were
communicated, by St. Cuthbert and his
learned associates, to various monastic
institutions, more particularly to that of
Glastonbury. How identical the practice
of the scribes who exercised their art at
Lindisfarne was with that of Ireland may
be seen by a comparison of manuscripts
known to have been illuminated in Ireland,
with such works as the Durham Book or
Gospels of St. Cuthbert and others, which
we cannot doubt were executed in this
country."
The remarkable diffusion of manuscripts
written by Irish scribes is accounted for by
the exemplary efforts of the Irish and early
Anglo-Saxon missionaries. Thus St. Boni-
face, the apostle of Germany (born in Devon-
shire about the year 680), carried with him
to that country his precious book of the
Gospels, still preserved as a highly-prized
relic at Fulda. St. Kilian took with him
to Franconia books still preserved at
Wurtzburg. The public library of St. Gall
in Switzerland contains records of the
labours of the Irish saint who gives his
* See Professor Westwood's elegant work, The Miniatures and
Ornaments of Anglo-Saxon and Irish Manuscripts, reproduced in exact
facsimile, large folio. London, 1868.


172
Sugges/ions in Z9esign.
Not
only did these interesting volumes help to
form the schools of caligraphy which after-
wards became celebrated in Germany and
elsewhere, but in the monasteries which
they founded the saints themselves educated
scribes to imitate the writings originally
brought from Ireland.
Distracted by the invasion and final
ascendency of the Danes, and afterwards by
the conquest of the Normans, the art of
Saxon illumination almost entirely died out
in this country. In the year 1091, Ingul-
phus, in alluding to the fire which destroyed
the noble library of his abbey at Croyland,
states that the juniors in his monastery were
unable to decipher the Saxon character, that
letter having been, as he says, “for a long
while despised and neglected by reason of
the Normans, and now known only to a few
of the more aged.” The development of a
new style in place of the extinguished Saxon
was slow. With the accession of the Plan-
tagenets, however, in 1154, and the marriage
of Henry II, with Eleanor of Guienne,
French influence acquired a marked pre-
name to the town and the canton.
dominance in English illumination, and for
nearly a hundred years after this the pro-
gress in England and France was parallel
and almost identical.
In the purely Gothic manuscripts, in
which pictures were freely introduced, from
1250 to 1400, extreme fineness in execution,
tenderness of colour, gentleness of expression,
piquancy of ornament, and elegance of
composition may be regarded as almost
invariable attributes of French productions.
In England, on the other hand, the style
was not so harmonious, but more vigorous,
the colouring was fuller and deeper, the
action of the figures more intense, the power
of expression more concentrated, and
reaching occasionally in its energy almost to
caricature. The sense of humour was always
freely developed, and a more generally active
sentiment of life impressed upon design not
only in figure subjects, but in ornament.
In the English examples monkeys and other
animals, dragons, and comic incidents were
very frequently intermingled with graceful
foliage and heraldic embellishments.
A vast number of illuminated manuscripts
exist, extending down to the fifteenth and
sixteenth centuries. They are executed in
many and various styles, which cannot be
here entered upon; some are enriched with
flowers most naturally and beautifully
finished upon gold grounds. One of the
most perfect productions of the English
school is the celebrated book known as
Queen Mary's Psalter, which appears to
have been executed about the year 1320 for
a member of the Willoughby family. It con-
tains 320 leaves, and is filled throughout with
beautiful illuminations. In the later manu-
scripts we find that the painter began to
usurp the office of the scribe, and the farther
we proceed the more does the legitimate
object of illumination seem to be departed
from. In the earlier stages a geometrical
arrangement is obtained with conventional
ornament inclosing gold panels, on which
are painted groups of flowers slightly
conventionalized; in the later, where the
painter has full sway, flowers and insects
are represented casting their shadows on
the page, to the total neglect of the true
principles of the art of illumination.
The invention of printing put an end to
the work of the scribe. The credit of the
discovery of printing by the aid of movable
metal types is attributed to the German


Zeffers and Monograms.
173
John Gutenberg, about 1438; and in or
about the year 1471 a press was set up in
Westminster Abbey by William Caxton, who
is said to be the first who introduced printing
into this country. The previous attempts at
printing were by means of wooden blocks
engraved with the characters in relief, each
page of the book of course requiring a
separate block to be engraved.
Gutenberg adopted the ancient custom,
as in illuminated manuscripts, of using a
large ornamental letter at the commence-
ment of books
ornamented with
and chapters,
flowers
richly
and foliage,
animals and birds, and sometimes printed in
a different colour from the other parts of the
page. This mode of decoration was largely
followed by others, and many examples of
elegantly designed letters by Albert Durer,
Hans Holbein, and the best artists of the
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries are still
in existence. These were drawn
engraved on wood, and introduced into the
type in the same manner as they are at the
present day; and they were sometimes
coloured by hand. It is said that the initial
letter spaces were in some cases left blank
by the early printers, to be afterwards filled
in with ornamental letters by the illuminator.
and
Ornamental letters for the commencement
of chapters were very little used during the
eighteenth or the beginning of this century,
but of late years the custom, which is a
good one, has again been revived, and an
example of it is seen in the present work.
Such initials, however, are not often now
used of the size or prominence, or designed
with so much care, as they were for the
more important books that were issued
during the latter part of the sixteenth cen-
tury.
In the writing of manuscripts in early
times it was a common practice, in order to
save labour, to run letters together by one
stroke of the pen. This practice gave rise
to the combining of two or more letters,
usually those of a person's name, in an
ornamental form. These combinations were
called Monograms, from their being arranged
or woven together as one letter; and out of
this again arose, in mediaeval times, the
rebus, as noticed in a previous chapter.
A very early monogram, perhaps the
earliest, is that which was used by Constan-
tine as the sacred monogram for the name
Christ, formed by the combination of the
Greek letters P (ro) and X (chi), as in
Fig. 316, and standing for the
Greek word Christos and also
Fig. 316.
forming a cross. Another sacred
monogram, with which we are
more familiar, is the Latin one
I.H.S. This is supposed to form the first three
letters of the Greek word for Jesus, but the
more common acceptation is that it stands
for the initials of the Latin words Jesus
Hominum Salvator, “Jesus the Saviour of
men”—although this is probably a later appli-
cation. In many mediaeval examples of this
monogram a C is substituted for the S.
This was the soft C, which stood for S, and
it appears to have been adopted simply
because it balanced the I better than the S.
The mark of contraction, a thick oblong
stroke, so often used in manuscripts, was
added across the head of the H, as in Fig.
317, where it stands as the mark for
contraction and also forms the sign of the
Monograms were also occasionally
arranged in the form of the cross to indicate
a man's Christian faith, as in the I.B. of
CI’OSS.
Fig. 318, for “John Baret,” from his tomb
44


174 Suggestions
in Zesign.
in St. Mary's Church, Bury St. Edmund's.
Monograms of the Holy Virgin combining
the letters M.A.R.I.A. are sometimes found
Fig. 317.
it.
remaining in churches, as in Fig. 319, from
Ufford Church, Suffolk.
Carved monograms are frequent among
Fig. 318. Fig. 319.
0).
architectural decorations, as in Fig. 320 for
Fig. 320. Fig. 321. “Hugo Oldham,”
the monogram of
Bishop Oldham,
from his chapel in
Exeter Cathedral;
also G.F.T., in Fig.
321, for “George Flaccett,” Abbot of West-
minster, carved upon his tomb in Westminster
Abbey. Several of the kings and queens of
England introduced their monograms upon
their coins. Some of the farthings of Queen
Elizabeth have her monogram upon them
surmounted by the crown; and Charles II.
introduced a triple arrangement of C's on a
fourpenny piece, interlaced as in the three
crescents in No. 4, Plate 60. On other coins
of the same king two C's back to back, sur-
mounted by a crown, are met with. On the
half-crown of William and Mary a combin-
ation of W and M are found, and the same
combination is also met with upon some of
the keystones of the window heads at Hamp-
ton Court Palace. Many other examples of
monogram work might be given; but these
are perhaps sufficient to show that it has
always been a favourite practice, and one
that may well be taken advantage of by the
ornamentist.
PLATE 97.
Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4. Letters B, O, E, A, ornamented
after the manner of various manuscripts.
No. 5. Shield containing the sacred monogram
I. H. S. on a red cross.
No. 6. Initial letter I, in the Celtic or Irish style.
No. 7. Letter G, enriched with foliage and ribbon.
No. 8. Cross with crown of thorns and I. H. S.
No. 9. Letter H, formed with rope and inter-
| laced with foliage.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
Initial letter A, Irish or Anglo-Saxon.
Rustic letter S on wood work.
Crest, locomotive engine rampant.
Letter W in relief in panel.
Shield with letters A. D. J.
Letter N, interlaced lines.
Letter S formed with ribbon and foliage.
Shield containing monogram J. K. C.
Strap or ribbon letter N.
Letter Y inlaid with foliage.
PLATE 98.
No. 1. Monogram B. G on a shield.
No. 2. Letter S with interlaced lines.
No. 3. Letter Q filled in with lilies on ground
divided into gold and blue.
No. 4. Monogram V. A on a shield with oak
foliage.
No. 5. Letter M.
No. 6. Hollow initial letter I interlaced with
narwhal on wave ground.
No. 7. Letter K, enriched with foliage and
flowers.
No. 8. Initial word AS.
No. 9. Letter F with sportsman and owl
entwined by foliage.
No. 10. Illuminated letter O.
No. 11. Letter W, monk and wine in a cellar,
with vine foliage.
No. 12. Letter R, with strawberry.
No. 13. Monogram O. E, with hart and dart.
No. 14. Letter Z, zany with sun-flowers.
No. 15. Letter K, formed with oak branches and
aCOrns.
No. 16.
No. 17.
No. 18.
No. 19.
No. 20.
Monogram B. E. I.
Monogram I. A. on shield.
Monogram T. R on a leaf.
Monogram on a shield, J. P. N.
Monogram I. S.


Miscellaneous.
175
MISCE LILAN E O U S.
#HE three Plates which
placed under this heading,
al’e
consist of designs of varied
--- § character, which did not come
within the scope of any of the foregoing
divisions, or were omitted for want of suffi-
cient space.
some useful suggestions, although they
mostly do not belong to any particular style.
Their purposes and motifs are indicated in
the following description.
They will be found to contain
PLATE 99.
No. 1. Angel issuing from the sun, the emblem of
light, with entwined ribbon or scroll, containing the
motto, Son art em. Diew, “His art is from God.”
No. 2. Griffin support for a pedestal.
in stone.
No. 3. Sitting leopard: support or bracket for a
console table.
No. 4. Panel containing a shield charged with an
ancient ship with a sail, having, on a canton, a fleur-
de-lis (arms of Paris). The shield hung on a con-
ventional oak-tree, bearing acorns and leaves with
leaf-galls.
No. 5. Jupiter typified by the eagle, grasping the
thunderbolt and fed by cupid. Composition for
painting.
For carving
No. 6. Ornamental central form, suggesting an
animal's head with horns. For inlay.
No. 7. Leaf-sprig with cupids disturbing a nest
of young birds.
No. 8. Ivy-buds treated symmetrically.
No. 9. Lunette for painting, containing the head
of an ancient soldier, with leather casque and cowvre-
muque, on a decorated ground.
No. 10. Triangular fret for ornamental band.
No. 11. Band or frieze formed of flowing triple
leaves, on plain leaf-forms.
PLATE 100.
No. 1. Ribbon star or centre interlaced with
scroll work of two kinds.
No. 2. The passion-flower treated symmetrically.
No. 3. Ornamental shield, with arrow. Sable, and
chief or. The whole surmounted by the interlaced
double L, for Louis or Lewis.
No. 4. Scroll foliage and flowers arranged geo-
metrically and counterchanged for inlay.
No. 5. Eccentrically formed panel containing an
arrangement of the pansy and spiral seed-vessels.
The centre flower charged with the shamrock and
fleur-de-lis.
No. 6. Irregular hexagonal panel with interlaced
foliage.
No. 7. Circle divided hexagonally by flowing
wheel-like curves, filled with scroll foliage counter-
changed.
No. 8. One division of an ornamental cresting for
engraving on metal.
No. 9. Symmetrical arrangement of rose and
round-lobed foliage for the centre of a panel.
No. 10. Foliated and scrolled centre for carving
in cavo-relievo.
No. 11. Frieze enrichment divided by diagonal
squares, and interlaced by eccentrically designed
foliage. -
No. 12. A variation upon the Moorish fret as
given at Fig. 168.
PLATE 101.
No. 1. Ornamental squares for painted diaper
work, or to be used alternately for a string-course
or band.
No. 2. Palette charged with the initial P in inter-
laced lines, with foliage, maul-stick, and brushes.
No. 3. Ornamental mask. Old Age.
No. 4. Raffaelesque painting for pilaster or panel.
No. 5. Date-plate with the monogram “I. L.”
No. 6. Ornamental cross for metal work.
No. 7. Harp-formed bracket, consisting of a female
bust terminating in an animal's claw.


176 Suggestions
in Design.
No. 8. A bronze vase-shaped tripod lamp, entwined
by a serpent. -
No. 9. Diaper for a dado for painting or wall-
paper.
No. 10. Triangularly divided border filled in
with foliage.
No. 11. A supporting dolphin for a pedestal.
No. 12. A bracket or support formed by a com-
bination of foliage and the leg of a lion.
FRONTISPIECE.
1. Centre. The artist and artisan having pro-
duced a vase or cup, which has been suggested by
the form of the lily, are comparing it with the
plant—both having been influenced by the same
feeling or mutual understanding, as indicated by
the union of the hands in the window above.
2. Geometry. The compass, with a flower and a
newt (plant and animal life). The circle divided
into semicircle and quadrant. The circle containing
the double triangle or hexagonal star. The circle
with the square and octagon. These primary
figures when united to the curves found in plant
and animal life are the basis of all beautiful forms
in art.
3. The star and ivy diaper—suggested by viewing
external nature through the casement.
4. Conventionalism necessary in the highest art—
as shown by the antique and mediaeval modes of
rendering the lily and the honeysuckle.
5. Opposite forms united by art—beauty of one
kind blended with that of another, as that of the
fish with the human female form.
6. Symmetrical imitative representations for dec-
oration or ornament should be taken directly from
nature.
7. The infinity of form, as exhibited in twenty-
four varieties of natural leaves.
8, 9, 10, 11. The architecture of all ages, as repre-
sented by columns. 8. The Egyptian (2000 B.C.)
majestic, massive, and enduring. Conventionalized
from the papyrus plant. 9. The Assyrian (900 B.C.)
as exemplified by one of the columns from Persepolis
(destroyed 300 B.C.), and supposed to be similar to
those which supported the upper stories of the
palaces at Nimroud and Khorsabãd. It bears an
affinity to the Indian columns with bracket capi-
tals, and was the precursor of the Greek Ionic.
10. Grecian Ionic from the Erechtheum at Athens
(400 B.C.). The Doric, however, is more characteristic
of Athenian art, as seen in the Parthenon; but
the Ionic is considered coeval with the Doric, and
was much used at an early period in the Grecian
states of Asia Minor. 11. The Gothic, the type of
the mediaeval art of Europe (A.D. 1200). The
column consisted of small shafts clustered round a
centre core, and was not limited to height as in the
antique examples. The columns supported pointed
arches, and the main lines of Gothic architecture were
vertical, with great height and extreme lightness of
construction. The columns of antiquity, usually
distinguished as classic, carried horizontal beams, pro-
ducing solidity and grandeur without extreme height.


- - 1.
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P E F S A. N. P E F S I A N. P E R S IS C. H.
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M O RES QUE. M O OF IS H. MO H R IS C. H.

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GO THIQ U E. - -- G O T H I C. GO T H IS C. H.
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GO T H IS C. H.
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BLAckle & Son: London, GLASGow, AND EDINBURGH.





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51.
B L A SON. B L A Z O N R Y. H E Fr. A L DIK.
sugg Esti ONS IN DESIGN BY JOHN LEI GHT ON, F.S.A.

B-ACKIE - SON: London. Gu ASGow. And EdinBurtor.


52.
B L A SO N.
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SU G G ESTIONS IN DESIGN
BY JOHN LEIGHT ON, F.S.A.

BLAckie a son: London, GLASGow, AND EDINBURGH.


53.
BLASON, INSIGNES. ELAZONFY & EADGES. HERALDIK, ZEICHEN.
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BLAckle & Son: London, GLASGow, AND EDINBURGH.





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55.
R E N A ISSA N C E. R E N A ISS A N C E. REN A ISSAN CE.
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SUGGESTIONS IN DESIGN BY JOHN LEIGHT ON, F,S.A,

BLAckle a son London, GUASGow, AND EDINBURGH.





- - 56. ... - -
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58.
REN A ISSA NCE. R E N A IS S A N C E. RE N A ISSAN CE.
SUGGESTIONS IN DESIGN BY JOHN LEl GHT ON, F.S.A.

BLAckle a son: London, GLASGow. AND EDINBURGH.


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59.
R E N A IS S A N C E.
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- 61.
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63.
REN A ISSA NCE.
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BY JOHN LEl GHT ON, F.S.A.

BLACKIE & Son: LoNDoN, GLASGow,
And EDINBURGH.


64.
R EN A ISSAN CE. RENAISSANCE (SUPERFICIAL). REN AISSAN CE.
SUGGESTIONS IN DESIGN BY JOHN LEIGHT ON, F.S.A.

BLAckle & Son: London, GLASGow, AND EDINBURGH.


65.
Renaissance RENAISSANCE (SUPERFICIAL). REN A ISSA NC E.
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BLACKIE & SON: LONDON, GLASGow, AND Edinburgh.





66.
REN A ISSAN CE.
RENAISSANCE (SUPERFICIAL).
F EN A ISSAN CE.
SUGGESTIONS IN DESIGN
BY JOHN LEIGHT ON, F.S.A.

Bu.ackie & Son: London, GLASGow, AND EDINBURGH.





67.
R E N A ISSA N C E.
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BY JOHN LEI GHT ON,
F.S.A.

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70.
F E N A IS S A N C E.
REN A ISSAN CE. (ELIZABETH AN AND JACO BIA N.) REN A ISSAN CE.

SU GGEST | ONS IN DESIGN BY JOHN LEI GHT ON, F.S.A.


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74.
REN A ISSA N C E.
REN A ISSA N C E.
( LOUIS XIV. AND LOUIS XV.)
REN A ISSA N C E.
SU GGESTIONS IN DESIGN
BY JOHN LEIGHT ON, F,S.A.

BLACKIE & Son: London, GLASGow, AND EDINBURGH.


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74.
BRINS FLO RAU X. - FLO RAL SPRIGS. BLüTHENZW EIGLEIN.
SU GGESTIONS IN DESIGN BY JOHN LEI GHT ON, F.S.A.

BLACK E & Son: LoNDON, GLASGow, AND EdinBurgh.


75.
B R INS F L OF A U X. FLORAL SPRIGs. BLüTHENZW EIGLE IN.

SUGGESTIONS IN DESIGN BY JOHN LEl GHT ON, F.S.A.


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79.
E F INS FL OF A U X. FLO FAL SPRIGS. BLüTHENZW EIGLEIN.
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GLAckle a son: London. GLAsgow. And EDINBURGH.





80.
BRINS FLO RAU X. FLORAL SPRIG.S. B LüTHENZVEIGL EIN.
SUGGESTIONS IN DESIGN BY JOHN LEl GHT ON, F.S.A.

BUAckie & S >N: London, GLASGow, AND EDINBURGH.








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BLAckle a son: London, GLASGow, AND EDINBURGH.


86.
FIG U. RES. FIG U F. E. S. FIG U R E N.
SU GGESTIONS IN DESIGN BY JOHN LEI G HT ON, F S.A.

BuAckiE a son: London, GLASGow, AND EdinBurgh.


87.
FIG U R E.S. FIG U R E S. FIG U R E N.
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94.
A N I M A. L S.
THI E R E.
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suggestions IN D'Es GN
BY JOHN LE I GHT ON, F.S.A.



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