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PLATE . The word " plate " (connected with Gr. irXarts, See also:flat, See also:Late See also:Lat. See also:plata=lamina, and Span. Plata, See also:silver), in the sense to which it is restricted in the following See also:article, is employed to denote See also:works in silver or See also:gold which belong to any class other than those of See also:personal ornaments or coins.' As implying a thin See also:sheet of See also:metal, the See also:term has come to be used in various technical connexions, and has been transferred by See also:analogy to other materials (e.g. See also:glass). A " plate," as the See also:common name for the table utensil (of whatever material), derives its usage partly from the metal prototype and partly from an etymological connexion with See also:French plat, dish, Latin plattus, flat. (See also See also:PEWTER; See also:SHEFFIELD PLATE; METAL-See also:WORK.) On See also:account of the ease with which gold can be worked and the pure See also:state in which it is generally found, it is probable that this was the first metal used by See also:man; and it is certain that, in some countries at least, he attained to the most marvellous skill in its manipulation at a See also:time when the other arts were in a very elementary See also:condition. As an instance of this we may mention a See also:sword of the See also:bronze See also:age, found in a See also:barrow near See also:Stonehenge, and placed in the museum at See also:Devizes .2 The hilt of this sword is covered with the most microscopically See also:minute gold See also:mosaic. A See also:simple See also:design is formed by fixing tesserae, or rather pins, of red and yellow gold into the wooden core of the handle. Incredible as it may appear, there are more than two thousand of these gold tesserae to the square See also:inch. The use of silver appears to belong to a rather later See also:period, probably because, though a widely spread metal ir almost all parts of the See also:world, it is usually found in a less pure state than gold, and requires some skill to See also:smelt and refine it. Though both these See also:precious metals were largely and skilfully used by prehistoric races, they were generally employed as personal ornaments or decorations for weapons. Except in Scandinavian countries, but little that can be called " plate " has been discovered in the See also:early barrows of the prehistoric period in western See also:Europe. See also:Ancient See also:Egypt.—An enormous amount of the precious metals was annually brought as See also:tribute to the See also:Egyptian See also:kings; according to Diodorus, who quotes the authority of Hecataeus, the yearly produce of the royal gold and silver mines amounted to 32 millions of minae—that is, about 133 millions See also:sterling of See also:modern See also:money. Though this estimate is probably an exaggeration, the amount must have been very See also:great. The gold chiefly came from the Nubian mines in the western See also:desert in the See also:Wadi `Alaki and the neighbouring valleys. A See also:map of these mines, dating from the time of See also:Rameses II. (1300 B.c.), has been pre-served. Silver was not See also:mined in Egypt itself, and came mostly from See also:Asia See also:Minor even at the earliest period. Then gold was comparatively common, silver a great rarity. ' Later, gold appears to have been relatively more abundant than silver, and the difference in value between them was very much less than it is now.
In the See also:language of the hieroglyphs silver is called " See also: On the walls of one of the tombs at Beni See also:Hassan there is an interesting See also:representation of a gold- and silver-See also: But plate of really foreign type as well as origin was also brought to Egypt at this time by the Phoenician " Kefti ships " from Kefti, the See also:island of See also:Crete, where the " Minoan " culture of Cnossos and Phaestus was now at its apogee. Ambassadors from, Kefti also brought gold and silver vases as presents for the Egyptian See also: 1858). Thutii's bowl is a typical specimen of the Egyptian plate of the XVIIIth Dynasty, and its design is precisely that of the hundreds of See also:blue glazed See also:faience bowls which were made at the time, and of which some perfect specimens and many fragments (especially from See also:Deir el-Bahri) are in our museums. These were imitated from metal originals, just as most of the early Cretan pottery vessels were. A splendid bronze bowl, which shows us what some of the finer gold and silver plate was like, was found in the tomb of Hetaai, a dignitary of the XVIIIth Dynasty, at Thebes a few years ago, and is now in the Cairo Museum (No. 3553 in von Bissing's catalogue). The engraved decoration, representing birds and animals in the See also:papyrus-marshes, is very fine and evidently of native Egyptian work. The silver bowl at See also:Berlin, said by di See also:Cesnola to have come from Athienou in See also:Cyprus, is certainly of XVIIIth Dynasty date, but, though purely Egyptian in style, more probably of Phoenician than Egyptian workmanship. See also:Assyrian and Phoenician Plate.—The art of making gold and silver plate, whether it originated in Egypt and passed thence to Crete or not, was evidently on its own ground in Egypt and in Minoan Crete. In Asia it was an See also:exotic art, introduced from Egypt through the Phoenicians. In fact, it may be doubted whether any of the bronze imitations of plate found in See also:Assyria are of Assyrian manufacture; they are probably Phoenician imports. The See also:British Museum possesses a fine collection of these bowls, mostly found in the See also:palace at Nimrud, and so dating from the 9th and 8th centuries (reigns of See also:Assur-nazir-See also:pal to See also:Sargon). Though they are made of bronze, and only occasionally ornamented with a few silver studs, they are evidently the See also:production of artists who were accustomed to work in the precious metals, some of them in fact being almost identical in form and design with the silver phialae found at Curium and elsewhere in Cyprus. They are ornamented in a very delicate and minute manner, partly by incised lines, and partly by the repousse See also:process, finally completed by See also:chasing. Their designs consist of a central geometrical See also:pattern, with one or more concentric F1c. z.—Silver Bowl, about 7 in. in See also:diameter, found in a tomb in Cyprus, with repousse reliefs of Egyptian and Assyrian style. bands See also:round it of figures of gods and men, with various animals and See also:plants, such as antelopes amid papyri, which are derived from the Egyptian designs of the XVIIIth Dynasty. Often there is a See also:strange admixture of Assyrian and Egyptian style. Fie. 1.--Gold Vase, from wall-paintings at Thebes. Bulls, for instance, are usually represented as with a single unornamented jugs with tubular suspension-handles on the mighty See also:horn, curving to the front (in the style of the ancient Babylonian See also:seals), rather than with both horns 'showing, in Egyptian See also:fashion. When figures of gods and men are shown, the See also:principal See also:groups are purely Assyrian imitations of Assyrian See also:temple-reliefs, in fact—such as the sacred tree between the two attendant beasts, or the king engaged in combat and vanquishing a See also:lion single-handed; while mingled with these are figures and groups purely Egyptian in style, such as the See also:hawk-headed deity, or a king slaying a whole See also:crowd of captives at one blow. Occasionally one See also:sees traces of the ancient Mycenaean influence, or perhaps rather of the See also:young Ionian art which had now arisen out of the ashes of that of See also:Mycenae. These Phoenician imitative designs are still See also:good imitations. But a century or so later we meet with them again on the silver bowls and dishes from Cyprus, in which the imitations have become See also:bad. The same mixture of subjects was still in See also:vogue, but confusion has been superadded to mixture, and we find kings in Assyrian See also:robes and Egyptian wigs slaying Syrian dragons with Egyptian wings, and so on. Fig. 2 gives a silver dish from Curium containing examples of the above-mentioned subjects. It is a characteristic specimen of this mixed Phoenician art, of which di Cesnola seems to have collected a remarkable number of examples. In addition to the numerous silver phialae some were found, with similar decoration, made of pure gold. To the same period as these bowls from Cyprus belong the similar specimens of Phoenician plate from See also:Etruscan See also:graves at See also:Praeneste and Cervetri in See also:Italy. Those from the Regulini-Galassi tomb can hardly be earlier than the 6th century, so that this See also:peculiar Mischkunst of the later type may well be dated to the 7th–5th centuries. (H. R. H.) Prehistoric See also:Greece: " Minoan " and " Mycenaean " Periods.—In the early See also:history of the See also:goldsmith's art no period is more important than that of the See also:Greek Bronze age, the period of the prehistoric See also:civilization which we See also:call " Minoan " and " Mycenaean," which antedated the classical civilization of Greece by many centuries, and was in fact contemporary and probably coeval with the ancient culture of Egypt. In Greece during this, her first, period of civilization, metal-work was extensively used, perhaps more extensively than it ever was in the history of later Greek art. So generally was metal used for vases that even as early as the " See also:Middle Minoan " period of Cretan art (some 2000 years B.C.) the pottery forms are obvious imitations of metal-work. The art of the metal-worker dominated and influenced that of the See also:potter, a circumstance rarely noted in Egypt, where, in all See also:probability, the toreutic art was never so much patronized as in Minoan Greece, although beautiful specimens of plate were produced by Egyptian and Phoenician artists. Also but few of these have come down to us, and we are forced to rely upon pictured representations for much of our knowledge of them. It is otherwise in early Greece. We possess in our museums unrivalled treasures of ancient toreutic art in the precious metals from Greece, which date from about 2500 to 1400 B.C., and as far as See also:mass and See also:weight of gold are concerned are rivalled only by the Scythian finds. These are the well-known results of the excavations of See also:Schliemann at See also:Troy and Mycenae and of others elsewhere. They do not by any means suffer in point of additional See also:interest from the fact that they were made and used by the most ancient Greeks, the men of the Heroic age, probably before the Greek language was spoken in Greece. The most ancient of these " treasures " is that discovered by Schliemann in 1873 buried, apparently in the remains of a See also:box, deep in the fortification wall of Hissarlik the ancient Troy. It consists of vases and dishes of gold and silver, and of long See also:tongue-shaped ingots of silver. In consonance with the early date (perhaps about 2500 B.C.) to which they are probably to be assigned (Schliemann ascribes them to the second Trojan See also:city) these See also:objects are all of simple type, some of the vases being sides. Here we have metal imitating stonework, as, later, pottery imitates metal. These are of silver. A unique form in gold is a See also:boat-shaped See also:cup with handles at the sides (Plate I., fig. 23), at Berlin, which weighs 600 grammes. One vase is of See also:electrum (one See also:part of silver to four of gold). A treasure of much the same date (the second " Early Minoan " period, about 2500 B.C. or before) was discovered in May 1908 in graves on the island of Mochlos, off the See also:coast of Crete, by R. B. Seager. This is, however, of funerary See also:character, like part of the treasures discovered in the See also:shaft-graves of Mycenae, and, while including diadems, golden See also:flowers, See also:olive branches, chains, and so forth, for the adornment of the dead, does not include much gold used by the deceased during See also:life. The much later Mycenaean treasures include both funerary objects of thin gold and objects of plate that had actually been used. Among the former should be especially noted the See also:breast-plates, diadems and masks which were placed on the bodies of the chieftains whom Schliemann, great in faith as in works, honestly believed to be See also:Agamemnon and his See also:court (and he may not have been very far wrong). Among the latter we may mention the small flat objects of gold plate, little sphinxes and octopuses modelled in relief, small temples with doves, roundels with See also:spiral designs, and so on, which were ornaments for clothing, and the golden plate decorations of weapon-handles. The great See also:cast-silver See also:bull's See also:head with the gold rosette on its forehead may perhaps have been regarded simply as a beautiful See also:object of See also:price, and buried with its owner. Similar protomae of bulls (of gold or silver) were brought by Minoan ambassadors as presents to the Egyptian court in the reign of Thothmes III. Gold and silver vases were found both in the shaft-graves, in the treasure-See also:pit See also:close by, and in chamber tombs at Mycenae. The most usual shape in the shaft-tombs is that well known to us from the vases of Vaphio, described below; among other types may be mentioned specially the S See also:ras &µdcKU7rEAAov with doves feeding above its handles (Plate I., fig. 21; from a restored See also:reproduction) — 3ocat S~ sreXEcabes &µhis &auras xpbaaac vepEOovro; the golden See also:jug with spiral decoration from the See also:fourth See also:grave; and the cup with lions of Egyptian See also:appearance chasing each other round its bowl, found in grave 5. The fragment of a silver vase with a See also:scene in high relief of slingers and bowmen defending their See also:town against besiegers from grave 4 (Plate I., fig. 22), is an object unrivalled in ancient art. On this, as on the bull's head, we have gold overlaid on silver (with an intermediate plating of See also:copper); on a silver cup from the same grave we find gold inlay, and on. another silver cup, from a chamber-tomb, See also:enamel and gold inlaid. How the Minoan goldsmith could combine silver with gold and the two with bronze we see on the marvellous inlaid See also:dagger-See also:blades from Mycenae, with their pictures in many-coloured metals of lion-hunts, See also:cats chasing birds, and so forth, which show that he was perhaps the greatest See also:master of all time in this art. We speak of him as " Minoan," because most of the metal objects found at Mycenae are, if not of actual Minoan workman-See also:ship and imported from Crete, at any See also:rate designed in accordance with the Minoan See also:taste of the " Great Palace Period " (Late Minoan i. and ii.) at See also:Cnossus. They are only " Mycenaean " in the sense that they were found at Mycenae. Of the art of the gold vase maker in the Mycenaean period properly speaking (Late Minoan iii.) we obtain an idea from the pictures of golden Bugelkannen with incised designs of zigzags, &c., represented on the walls of the tomb of Rameses III. at Egyptian Thebes. The objects from the Mycenaean shaft-graves are much older than this, as are also those from the next treasure we shall mention, that from See also:Aegina, now in the British Museum. The gold cups and other objects of this treasure,' with their fine but simple decoration, are certainly to be ascribed to the best Minoan period, although when first published Dr A. J. Evans was inclined to assign them to so late a date as c. A.D. 800. They See also:ate surely some seven See also:hundred years older, having no characteristic of the decadent " sub-Mycenaean " period, as Dr Evans would doubtless now agree. These objects were probably found in a tomb. Dr Evans's excavations at Cnossus, those of the Italians at Phaestos and Hagia Triada and those of the British school at Palaikastro have not produced any very striking examples of the Minoan goldsmith's art in his own See also:country, though splendid bronze bowls and vases have been found, which give us a good idea of what the plate must have been like, as do also the gilt steatite imitations of plate mentioned below. One of the bronze vases from Cnossus exactly resembles one of gold and silver which was brought to Egypt by the ambassadors in Queen Hatshepsut's time (See also:fresco in the tomb of Senmut). But we possess a fine silver cup (of the Middle Minoan period) from the See also:American excavations at Gournia, and two examples of the finest Minoan gold plate, which were discovered outside Crete, in the famous "Vaphio cups," with their embossed representations of bull-netting, which have been illustrated so often as triumphs of ancient art (Plate I., See also:figs. 24, 25). These are of Cretan workmanship, though found in See also:Laconia, and are no doubt contemporary with the vases of See also:black steatite with reliefs showing a See also:harvest-See also:home procession, gladiatorial combats, and a king receiving or bidding farewell to a See also:warrior with his armed followers, which have been found by the Italians at Hagia Triada in Crete. These were originally overlaid with gold See also:leaf, and are undoubtedly imitations in a cheap material of golden embossed vases of the same style as those found at Vaphio. Next in See also:order of time came the objects of gold and silver plate found by the expedition of the British Museum at Enkomi in Cyprus, which perhaps represent a somewhat later phase of Minoan art, but certainly cannot now any longer be regarded as belonging to the very late period to which they were at first assigned. One silver vase found at Enkomi is of the " Vaphio " shape, which first appears in Cretan pottery as early as the Middle Minoan period, contemporary with the Xllth Egyptian Dynasty (c. 2000 B.c.), and even then is clearly an See also:imitation of a metal See also:original. Slightly modified, this type remained late in use, as we find it represented among other golden vases on the walls of the tomb of Imisib or Imadua, an Egyptian See also:official of the time of Rameses IX. (c. 1100 B.c.) at Thebes. But some, at least, of the Enkomi finds must be earlier than this. The Egyptian representations of Minoan vases of gold and silver in the tomb of Senmut at Thebes (c. 1500 B.c.) and of later Mycenaean golden Bugelkannen in that of Rameses III. (c. 1150 B.c.) have been mentioned already. During the age of Mycenaean and sub-Mycenaean decadence the art of the Greek goldsmith necessarily passed through a period of See also:eclipse, to arise again, with the other arts, in See also:rich and luxurious See also:Ionia probably. The Homeric poems preserved for later days a traditional See also:echo of the glorious works of the metal-workers of the Heroic age. Etruscan Plate.—The Etruscans were specially renowned for their skill in working all the metals, and above all in their gold work. Large quantities of exquisite gold jewelry have been found in Etruscan tombs, including, in addition to smaller objects, sceptres, wreaths of olive, and plates decorated with See also:filigree-work and See also:animal figures, which were used as personal ornaments (breastplates, girdles, diadems, &c.). In the Museo Kircheriano in See also:Rome is a magnificent specimen of the last form of ornament; it is covered with nearly a hundred little statuettes of lions arranged in parallel rows; and the Vatican (Museo Gregorian()) possesses a very fine collection of similar objects from the " Regulini-Galassi " tomb at See also:Caere. Little, however, that can be classed under the head of plate has yet been found. Hellenic Plate.—The period of " geometrical " art which followed the Mycenaean age was one of decline in material prosperity and See also:artistic skill. We possess some specimens of the work then produced in the precious metals in the gold diadems placed on the head of corpses interred at See also:Athens (Archaologische Zeitung, 1884, pls. viii., ix.; cf. Athenische Mittheilungen, 1896, p. 367; and G. See also:Perrot and C. Chipiez, Histoire de l'art clans l'antiguite, vii. 245). , The period of See also:Oriental influence is represented by the finds of gold ornaments made at Camirus in See also:Rhodes (see GREEK ART, fig. x r). Fig. 3 shows a silver cup, with gold mounts, also found at Camirus, apparently a work of the same early date. A remarkable find of gold objects was made in 1882 at Vettersfelde in See also:Brandenburg; the principal piece was a gold See also:fish (see GREEK ART, fig. ro) with ornaments in relief. These objects recall by their style early Ionic art, but were probably produced in one of the Black See also:Sea colonies, since similar objects have been found, together with later work, in See also:Crimean graves (see below), and exchanged for the See also:amber of the Baltic coasts. See also:Croesus especially encouraged the art, and paid enormous sums for silver vases and cups to, the most renowned artists of his time, such as See also:Glaucus and See also:Theodorus the Samian. The British Museum possesses a fine specimen of archaic Greek plate, found at See also:Agrigentum in See also:Sicily. This is a gold phiale or bowl, about 5 in. across, with central See also:boss or omphalos (g(6.Xrl ,aev6µcpaXos) which seems once to have contained a large See also:jewel. Round the inside of the bowl are six figures of oxen repousse in relief, and at one side a See also:crescent, formed by punched dots. A delicate See also:twisted moulding surrounds the edge; the workmanship of the whole is very skilful (see fig. 4). See also:Pliny (N. H. xxxiii. 154 sqq.) gives a brief valuable account of the art of silver chasing (caelatura, Gr. 7opev71Kit). In the best times of Greek art the chief works in gold and silver seem to have been dedicated to religious purposes, and to have been seldom used for the ostentation of private individuals. Vessels for the use of the temples, tripods in gold or silver of the richest work, and statues of the gods were the chief objects on which the precious metals were lavished.' The gold used by the Greeks probably came from Asia Minor or Egypt, while the mines of See also:Laurium, in the mountains which form the promontory of See also:Sunium in See also:Attica, supplied an abundant amount of _silver for many centuries. According to Pliny,of Ulysses and See also:Diomedes carrying off the See also:Palladium. Enormous prices were given by wealthy See also:Romans for ancient silver plate made by distinguished Greek artists; according to Pliny, the last-mentioned cup, which weighed 2 oz., was sold for io,00c denarii (L3 Jo). It is worthy of See also:note that a large number of the artists named by Pliny were natives of Asia Minor; and it is very probable that the Asiatic school of silversmiths had at least as much influence on See also:Roman caelatura as that of See also:Alexandria, whose importance has been overrated by See also:Schreiber. The finest extant examples of Greek plate are those found in the tumuli of See also:south See also:Russia, especially in the neighbourhood of Kertch, the ancient Panticapaeum. Fig. 5 shows a silver vase found in 1862 at See also:Nikopol in the tomb of a native Scythian See also:prince. The native See also:horse-tamers of the See also:steppes are represented on the See also:shoulder with wonderful See also:naturalism, and the work is beyond doubt that of an Athenian artist of the 4th century B.C. Splendid examples of goldwork were found in the See also:tumulus of Kuloba, about 62 kilometres from Kertch, which was excavated in 183o and found to be the See also:burial-See also:place of a Scythian prince and his wife. The jewelry and plate found in this tomb, which were clearly of Greek origin, comprised (amongst other objects) an electrum vase 13 cm. high, representing Scythians in their native See also:costume, one of whom is extracting a See also:neighbour's tooth, another binding up a See also:wound, a third stringing a See also:bow, besides several silver vases and two gold medallions with reproductions of the head of the See also:Athena Parthenos of See also:Pheidias. In these Crimean tombs are often found golden crowns in the form of See also:oak leaves, some of which belong to late Roman times. The finest extant example of a gold See also:wreath, however, is that discovered at Armento in south Italy and preserved in the Antiquarium at See also:Munich; it bears an inscription of the 4th century B.C., showing that it was dedicated by a certain Kreithonios. In 1812 Dr See also: Pheidias was the first sculptor who produced works of great merit in the precious metals; he mentions a number of other Greek artists who were celebrated for this class of work, but does not give their See also:dates. The chief of these were See also:Mentor and Mys (both of the 5th century B.C.), Acragas, See also:Boethus, the sculptors See also:Myron and Stratonicus, as well as the well-known See also:Praxiteles and See also:Scopas. In Pliny's time many works in gold and silver by these artists still existed in Rhodes and elsewhere. Among later workers he specially mentions Zopyrus, who made two silver cups, embossed with the scene of the See also:judgment of See also:Orestes by the Areopagite court,2 and See also:Pytheas, who made a bowl with reliefs t The gold eagles on the sacred omphalos at See also:Delphi were notable examples of this; see See also:Pindar, Pyth. iv. 4. 2 It has been thought that a silver cup in the See also:Corsini collection The See also:Victoria and See also:Albert Museum contains an exquisite little silver vase, found in the See also:baths of See also:Apollo at Vicarello in Italy (fig. 7), enriched with a See also:band in See also:low relief of storks devouring serpents executed with See also:gem-like minuteness and finish—probably not later than the 3rd century B.C. The British Museum has a little vase of similar form and almost equal beauty, though perhaps later in date; it is decorated with bands of See also:vine branches in a graceful flowing pattern, and is partly gilt. Graeco-Roman Plate.—During the last century of the See also:Republic the growing luxury and osten-' tation of the wealthy Romans found expression in the collection of elaborate specimens of plate. The works of the old Greek masters were the most highly prized, but contemporary artists, 5 in. high, c. 3rd century distinction in this See also:branch of s.c. The ornamental band is art. Amongst the numerous shownbelowinpiano. (Victoria and Albert Museum.) finds of silver plate made in modern times we may distinguish (a) temple treasures made of up of votive offerings, such as the treasure of See also:Bernay in France (dep. See also:Eure), discovered in 183o and preserved in the See also:Cabinet See also:des Medailles, which belonged to the See also:shrine of Mercurius Canetonnensis; (b) private collections. (Berlin Museum.) The most famous of these are the See also:Hildesheim treasure, in the Berlin Museum, discovered in 1869, which has been thought (without adequate See also:reason) to have formed part of the campaigning equipment of a Roman military See also:commander, and the Bosco Reale treasure, found in 1895 in a See also:villa near See also:Pompeii, whence its owner was endeavouring to remove it when buried by the eruption of See also:Vesuvius. These collections contain pieces of various dates. The Bernay treasure, in part belonging to the 2nd century A.D., contains oenochoai (ewers) with mythological subjects in relief inspired by classical Greek See also:models—the See also:theft of the Palladium was the subject of a famous cup of Pytheas, mentioned by Pliny—which must belong to the early imperial period. The Hildesheim treasure, again, contains two barbaric vases, without feet or handles, together with such fine pieces as the crater figured (fig. 8), whose decoration recalls that of the Ara Pacis Augustae (see ROMAN ART), and a cylix with a seated figure of Athena in high relief, soldered on to the centre of the bowl, which appears to be of Greek workmanship. Such detachable figures were termed emblemata; in the Bosco Reale treasure is a cup with such a bust, typifying the See also:province of See also:Africa. Great value was also set upon crustae, i.e. bands of repousse work forming an See also:outer covering to a smooth silver cup (cf. the See also:Rothschild vases, ROMAN ART). Such works commonly have Latin See also:inscriptions incised on the See also:foot giving the weight of the piece, the cup and emblema being weighed separately. The artistic value of Roman plate is discussed under ROMAN ART. Among later specimens of Roman plate the most remarkable is the gold patera, nearly to in. in diameter, found at See also:Rennes in 1777, and now in the See also:Paris Bibliotheque—a work of the most marvellous delicacy and high finish—almost gem-like in its minuteness of detail. Though not earlier than about 210 A.D., a slight clumsiness in the proportion of its embossed figures is the only visible sign of decadence. The outer rim is set with sixteen fine gold coins—aurei of various members of the Antonine See also:family from See also:Hadrian to Getz.. The central emblema or medallion represents the drinking contest between Bacchus and See also:Hercules, and round this medallion is a band of repousse figures showing the triumphal procession of Bacchus after winning the contest. He sits triumphant in his See also:leopard-See also:drawn See also:car, while Hercules is led along, helplessly intoxicated, supported by bacchanals. A long See also:line of See also:nymphs, fauns and See also:satyrs See also:complete the circular band. Late Roman plate is also represented by a See also:series of large silver dishes, to which the name missorium is often, though perhaps wrongly, applied. These were used for presentations by emperors (whose portraits they sometimes See also:bear) and distinguished officials. Three are preserved in the Cabinet des M6dailles of the Bibliotheque Nationale at Paris—the " See also:shield of Scipio," found in the See also:Rhone near See also:Avignon, about 26 in. in diameter, with a relief representing the restoration of Briseis to See also:Achilles; l the j" shield of See also:Hannibal," 2 chiefly remarkable for its See also:size (it is 72 See also:ems. in diameter and weighs so kilogrammes); and a third, decorated with a See also:group of Hercules and the Nemean lion.3 Other well-known examples of this form of art are the 1 Cf. S. See also:Reinach in See also:Gazette des See also:beaux-arts (1896). 2 Cf. E. Babelon, in Bulletin de la societe des antiauaires de la France (1890), p. 228. 2 Cf. E. Piot, in Gazette archeologique (1886). " shield of See also:Theodosius " at See also:Madrid (fig. 9), which represents the See also:emperor seated between Valentinian U. and See also:Arcadius 1; the " shield of Valentinian " at See also:Geneva 2; the " shield of Aspar " at See also:Florence 2; and a fine dish found at See also:Aquileia, now at See also:Vienna .6 The British Museum contains some fine specimens of late Roman silver work, found on the Esquiline in 1793 (cf. See also:Visconti, Una Supellettile d'argento, Rome, 1825; the objects are published and described in Mr See also:Dalton's Catalogue of the Early See also:Christian Antiquities in the British Museum, pp. 61 sqq., pls. xiii.-xx.). The most remarkable of these are: (i.) a silver See also:casket decorated in repousse, with the inscription SECONDE ET PROJECTA VIVATIS IN CRISTO, doubtless a See also:wedding See also:gift to a couple bearing the names of See also:Secundus and Projecta, whose portraits appear in a medallion on the centre of the lid; (ii.) four statuettes representing personified cities—Rome, See also:Constantinople, See also:Antioch and Alexandria (cf. P. See also:Gardiner in J. H. S., 1888, ix. 77 sqq.). This treasure appears to belong in the See also:main to the 5th century A.D., though some minor pieces may be earlier.
(H. S. J.)
Oriental, See also:African Plate, &c.—Some very curious pieces of plate, both in gold and in silver, have been found in See also:northern See also:India in which country the goldsmith's art is of great antiquity; these appear to be of native workmanship, but the subjects with which they are embossed, and the modelling of the figures, show that they were produced under late Roman influence, or in some cases possibly even Greek influence in a highly degraded state, handed down from the time of See also: E. See also:Hubner, See also:Die antiken Bildwerke in Madrid, pp. 213 sqq. 2 A. Odobescu, Le Tresor de Petrossa, pp. 153 sqq., fig. 68. 2 D. Bracci, Dissertazione sopra un clipeo votivo (See also:Lucca, 1771). See R. v. See also:Schneider, See also:Album auserlesenster Gegenstande der Antikensammlung des allerhochsten Kaiserhauses (1895) ; and cf. Verhandlungen der 42 Versammlung deutscher Philologen (1893), pp. 297 sqq.
6 See also:Sir G. See also:Birdwood, See also:Industrial Arts of India (188o).
6 See also: Of the skill of the See also:Hindus as goldsmiths, abundant See also:evidence is afforded by the Ramayana and Mandbadrata, though very little of their ancient gold and silver work has survived. In India the See also:people of the See also:Cash-See also:mere valley have long been famous for their natural superiority as craftsmen, as was See also:Lucknow for its utensils of gold and silver, much of it richly enamelled in the 18th and 19th centuries. See also:Chanda in the Central Provinces was once celebrated for its skilled goldsmiths, and the plate of See also:Cutch and See also:Gujarat in the Bombay See also:Presidency has enjoyed a well-deserved reputation. The uncontaminated indigenous designs of the See also:Sind goldsmiths' work call for special See also:notice. Indian plate, as is quite natural, has often been influenced by See also:European designs: for instance, the beautiful gold and silver work of Cutch is Dutch in origin, while the ornate See also:throne of See also:wood covered with plates of gold, early 19th century, used by Ranjit Singh (at South See also:Kensington) also displays European influence. Much of the Siamese decorative plate of the 18th and 19th centuries is of silver-gilt and nielloed. In the Rijks museum, See also:Amsterdam, is a collection of silver dishes, boxes of gold and silver, jewelry, &c., all of excellent workmanship, from See also:Lombok. African goldsmiths' work is represented in the British Museum by the gold ornaments from See also:Ashanti, where there are also some gold ornaments from graves in Central See also:America and See also:Colombia. Ancient Abyssinian work can be studied at the Victoria and Albert Museum in the gold See also:chalice, gold See also:crown of the Abuna of See also:Abyssinia, another more ornate crown of silver-gilt, a fine shield with silver-gilt filigree, and other objects. ' The gold and silver work of Russia resembles in style that of See also:Byzantium at an early period. Shrines and other magnificent pieces of plate in the See also:treasury of the See also:cathedral at See also:Moscow (see Weltmann, Le Tresor de Moscou, 1861), though executed at the end of the 15th and 16th century, are similar in design to See also:Byzantine work of the 11th or 12th century, and even since then but little See also:change or development of style has taken place. The caliphs of See also:Bagdad, the sultans of Egypt, and, other Moslem rulers were once famed for their rich stores of plate, which was probably of extreme beauty both in design and workmanship. Little or nothing of this Moslem plate now remains, and it is only possible to See also:judge of its style and magnificence from the fine works in See also:brass and other less valuable metals which have survived to our time.
Towards the end of the loth century the See also:Rhine valley became the centre of a school of goldsmiths, who produced splendid examples of their work—a mixture of Byzantine art with their own original designs. The See also:book-covers, portable altars and other objects, preserved at See also:Trier and See also:Aix-la-Chapelle, are notable examples produced at that centre. The magnificent book-See also:cover from See also:Echternach, now at See also:Gotha, is of the school of Trier.
Early Medieval Plate.—The See also:Gothic, Gaulish and other semi-See also:barbarian peoples, who in the 6th century were masters of See also:Spain, France and parts of central Europe, produced great quantities of work in the precious metals, especially gold, often of great magnificence of design and not without some skill in workmanship. The See also:Merovingians encouraged the art of the gold-smith by spending immense sums of money on plate and jewelry, though only two examples of their great See also:wealth in See also: In the centre is a seated statuette of a goddess, holding a cup, while all round, in high relief, are See also:standing figures of various male and See also:female deities, purely Roman in style. Though the See also:execution is somewhat clumsy, there is much See also:reminiscence of classical See also:grace in the attitudes and drapery of these figures. A large basket and other pieces, made of square bars of gold arranged so as to form an open pattern of stiff geometrical design, have nothing in common with the vessels in which Roman influence is apparent, and can hardly be the work of the same school of goldsmiths.' The date of this Petrossa treasure is supposed to be the 6th century. The celebrated Gourdon gold cup and See also:tray now preserved in Paris belong to about the same date. They are very rich and magnificent, quite See also:free from any survival of classic influence, and in style resemble the Merovingian gold work which was found in the tomb of Childeric I. The cup is 3 in. high, shaped like a See also:miniature two-handled chalice; its See also:companion oblong tray or plate has a large See also:cross in high relief in the centre. They are elaborately ornamented with inlaid work of turquoises and garnets, and delicate filigree patterns in gold, soldered on. In the 6th century Byzantium was the chief centre for the production of large and magnificent works in the precious metals. The religious fervour and the great wealth of Justinian and his successors filled the churches of Byzantium, not only with enormous quantities of gold and silver chalices, shrines, and other smaller pieces of ecclesiastical plate, but even large altars, with tall pillared baldacchini over them, fonts, massive candelabra, statues, and high screens, all made of the precious metals: The wealth and artistic splendour with which St See also:Peter's ' See also:Soden Smith, Treasure of Petrossa (1869).in Rome and St See also:Sophia in Constantinople were enriched is now almost inconceivable. To read the mere inventories of these treasures dazzles the See also:imagination--such as that given in the See also:Liber pontificalis of See also:Anastasius Bibliothecarius, which includes the long See also:list of treasures given by See also:Constantine to St Peter's before he transferred his seat of See also:empire to Byzantium (330), and the scarcely less wonderful list of gold and silver plate presented to the same See also:basilica by See also:Pope See also:Symmachus (498-514)2 Some early Byzantine plate of the 6th century is in the British Museum; an inscribed paten of the loth and 11th centuries is in See also:Halberstadt Cathedral in See also:Germany, and numerous ecclesiastical vessels are in the Treasury of St See also:Mark's, See also:Venice. Early in the medieval period France and other Western countries were but little behind Italy and Byzantium in their production of massive works, both See also:secular and religious, in the precious metals. At this time every cathedral or See also:abbey church in Germany, France and even See also:England began to accumulate rich treasures of every See also:kind in gold and silver, enriched with jewels and enamel; but few specimens, however, still exist of the work of this early period. The most notable are See also:Charlemagne's regalia 3 and other treasures at Aix-la-Chapelle, a few preserved at St Peter's in Rome, and the remarkable set of ecclesiastical utensils which still exist in the cathedral of See also:Monza near See also:Milan—the gift of Queen Theodelinda in the early part of the 7th century.4 The treasure of Nagy-Szent-Miklos, consisting of several vessels of gold, of Hungarian origin (8th-9th century), is in the Imperial Museum at Vienna.
The existing examples of magnificent early work in the precious metals mostly belong to a somewhat later period. The chief are the gold and silver See also:altar in Sant' Ambrogio at Milan, of the 9th century; the " Pala d'Oro," or gold See also:retable, in St Mark's at Venice, begun in the loth century; the silver altar-front in St Domenico's Church at See also:Palermo; the shrine of silver-gilt (with later additions) in the church of St See also:Simeon at See also:Zara, See also:Dalmatia, by See also:Francesco di See also:Antonio of Sesto near Milan, 1380; and the gold altar-frontal given by the emperor See also: The interlaced ornament is a feature of Celtic work, and may further be studied in the celebrated See also:Tara See also:brooch, with its seventy-six varieties of designs as well as in other exquisite examples of jewelry. Further evidence of Celtic skill is forthcoming in the shrines for the sacred bells in Ireland, not to mention other ecclesiastical 2 See D'See also:Agincourt, Histoire de l'art (1823). 3 Bock, Die Kleinodien des heil. romischen Reiches (1864). ' See also:Arch. Jour, xiv. 8. 5 Archaeolaeia, See also:xxx. 144-148• ornaments. These are of great beauty, and the silver shrine of the See also:bell of St See also:Patrick (1091–1105) displays the interlaced See also:scroll ornament in a striking degree. With the introduction of Gothic art into See also:Britain the special characteristics of Christian Celtic art in Ireland gradually died out. Anglo-Saxon.—Judged by the examples of Anglo-Saxon jewelry discovered, the Anglo-Saxon craftsmen brought their art to a high state of perfection, though hardly equal in merit to the Celtic. A large quantity of their metal-work is of bronze, frequently enriched with gold and enamel. Happily, there is preserved one priceless specimen of the goldsmith's art of this period—namely, the famous See also:Alfred jewel of gold, now in the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford, with a portrait, believed to be of Alfred the Great, in cloisonne enamel. Another notable specimen is the See also:Ethelwulf See also:ring in the British Museum. Though ecclesiastical vessels, doubtless of the precious metals, appear in Anglo-Saxon illuminated See also:manuscripts, the only piece of plate of that time at See also:present known is the See also:plain silver cup of the latter part of the 9th century, found with gold and silver jewelry and pennies at Trewhiddle in See also:Cornwall, which is now in the British Museum.' There is, however, an important example of metal-work embellished with silver plates—namely, the portable altar of St See also:Cuthbert at See also:Durham.
A most valuable description of the various methods of work practised by gold- and silversmiths in the uth and 12th centuries is given by the See also: The following celebrated artists were employed upon the altar at Florence: Antonio See also:Pollaiuolo, Michelozzo, Verrocchio, as well as less prominent artificers, Betto Geri, Leonardo di See also:Ser Giovanni and Betto di Francesco Betti.
Among the distinguished names of Florentines who during
1 Victoria History of Cornwall, i. 375.
2 E. Alfred See also: His influence on the design of plate was very great, not only in Italy and France, but also in Germany.' During the 17th century fine pieces of plate were produced in Italy, many of them still retaining some of the grace and refinement of the earlier Renaissance. The papal treasure, containing priceless examples of the goldsmith's art, was almost entirely depleted by See also:Pius VI. to pay the See also:indemnity demanded by See also:Napoleon. The See also:tiara of See also:Julius II. by Caradosso, and the splendid See also:morse of See also:Clement VII. by Benvenuto Cellini, coloured drawings of which are preserved in the See also:Print See also:Room, British Museum, are among the objects then destroyed. A valuable source of study of Italian plate (now destroyed) is contained in the three volumes of drawings, executed between 1755 and 1764, by Grauenbroch, in the Museo Correr at Venice. Germany.—From very early times Germany was specially famed for its works in the precious metals, mostly for ecclesiastical use. In the 15th century a large quantity of secular plate was produced of beautiful design and skilful workmanship. Tall covered cups on stems, modelled with a series of bosses something like a pineapple, beakers and tankards, enriched with Gothic cresting and foliage, are s See See also:Eugene Plon, Benvenuto Cellini, sa See also:vie, &'c. (1883) ; also Cellini's own work, Dell' Oreficeria (1568). among the most important pieces of plate. During the 16th century See also:Augsburg and See also:Nuremberg, long celebrated for their silver work, See also:developed a school of craftsmen whose splendid productions have often been ascribed to the great Cellini himself. In the first See also:decade of the 16th century, See also:Paul See also:Milliner, a Nuremberg goldsmith, furnished See also:Frederick the See also:Wise with several silver-gilt reliquaries for his collection at See also:Wittenberg. Later in the same century came the Jamnitzer family of Nuremberg, chief among them being Wentzel Jamnitzer, one of whose masterpieces, an enamelled silver centre-piece, belongs to the baroness James de Rothschild of Paris. Mathaeus Wallbaum of Augsburg was another celebrated goldsmith of the 16th century. His chief works are religious ornaments of See also:ebony mounted in silver, and the Pommerscher Kunstschrank in the Kunstgewerbe Museum, Berlin. But the chief See also:German goldsmith of the 16th century was Anton Eisenhoit 1 of Warburg, who wrought the fine crucifix (1589), the chalice and other ecclesiastical vessels which belong to the See also:Furstenberg family. Other notable craftsmen of this period were Hans Petzolt and Melchior Bayr, the latter having made the silver altar (with scenes from the Life of Christ after See also:Durer) but more probably by Paul See also:Flint. FIG. 14.—Ewer by See also:Francois Made at Nuremberg about the See also:mid- Briot, about 10 in. high. dle of the 16th century. (S. K. M.) Middle of 16th century. for the king of See also:Poland, which is in the See also:Sigismund See also:chapel in See also:Cracow Cathedral? See also:Jakob Mores, the See also:elder, of See also:Hamburg, was employed by the royal See also:house of See also:Denmark. A large number of his original designs for plate are in the public art library at Berlin. Jakob Mores, the younger, executed the silver altar at Frederiksborg in the 17th century. In Germany the traditions of earlier Gothic art were less rapidly broken with, and many purely Gothic forms survived there till the end of the 16th century, and Gothic decorative features even later. In the first See also:half of the 17th century, though the technical skill of the German silver-smiths reached a high See also:standard of merit, there was some falling off in the execution and in the purity of outline in their designs. Germany is richer in secular plate than any other country. The remarkable royal collections of plate in the See also:green vaults at See also:Dresden, Gotha and Munich, as well as public museums in Germany, including the treasure of See also:Luneburg at Berlin, afford excellent opportunities for the study of the German goldsmith's art, the remarkable chalice, 12th century, of St Gothard's church, Hildesheim; the celebrated Kaiserbecher of See also:Osnabruck 1 See also:Lessing, Die Silber-Arbeiten von Anton Eisenhoit (188o). 2 Illustrated by Ordzywolski, in Renesaus w Polsce, pls. 11-12.of the 13th century; the cup given by the emperor Frederick III. and Mathias See also:Corvinus to Vienna in 1462, and the splendid ewer of See also:Goslar, 1477, are notable specimens of early German work. In England the only public collections of German plate worthy of notice are the " Waddesdon " in the British Museum, and the Victoria and Albert Museum. See also:Prior to its dispersal among his five daughters, the late See also:baron Carl von Rothschild's collection at See also:Frankfort-on-Main was the most extensive private collection in existence. The Gutmann collection, acquired by Mr J. Pierpont See also:Morgan, contains many rare pieces, as does that of the baronesses See also:Alphonse and Salomon de Rothschild in Paris. Many of the most beautiful vessels of crystal, See also:agate, &c., formerly attributed to Italian artists, were carved and engraved and set in beautiful enamelled gold and silver mounts, in See also:southern Germany in the 16th and 17th centuries. At the end of the 17th and the beginning of the 18th centuries See also:household plate and other ornaments were frequently decorated with painted enamels, mostly originating from Augsburg. Dinglinger of Dresden and his school at about this time exercised considerable influence in the production of ornaments in See also:pearl and other materials, elaborately carved, mounted and enamelled.
Several specimens exist of the models of cups required of candidates for the rank of master-craftsmen in the second half of the 16th century. One of these, at the Victoria and Albert Museum, is believed to have been wrought by See also: Another secular vessel, peculiarly Russian, is the kovsh, a pointed or boat-shaped bowl with a long handle. Much of the domestic plate after Peter the Great's time was influenced by that of western countries, particularly Germany. Poland.--Though not without a character of its own, the 3 See Rosenberg in Kunst and Gewerbe (1885). 3 See twenty-one facsimiles of these etchings published by J. Rimell (See also:London, 1862). See also:Keller, " Three Silver Cups at Zurich," Arch. Journ. xvi. 158. ecclesiastical plate of Poland came under the influence both of Germany and See also:Hungary. Many of the sacred vessels of late medieval times are decorated with enamels and niello. In the 17th century ecclesiastical vessels encrusted with See also:corals are met with, such as those given by See also:Michael Wisniowiecki, king of Poland, to the church of Czeustochowa. A magnificent 17th-century chalice of gold, beautifully enamelled, given by the See also:bishop of See also:Plock and See also:Breslau, son of Sigismund III., is in Plock cathedral. Many important pieces of plate still exist in churches in Poland, though a See also:Polish origin is not claimed for them; for instance, the loth-century chalice at Trzemeszno, where there is also another chalice of about the same period. The cathedral of Cracow contains many priceless examples, such as the 14th-century gold cross given by Casimir the Great; the gold crucifix of Mathias Corvinus, and the gold reliquary, 16th century, of St Stanislas, bishop of Cracow.
France.—France, like England, has suffered grievous losses in its plate, though it can show a larger See also:array of medieval church vessels than can England. The chief specimens of medieval plate are the 9th-century casket and the seated statuette of St See also:Foy (loth century) in the treasure of Conques; the cross of Lakin (c. 1200) in the Louvre; the See also:ciborium (early 13th century) in the treasury of Sens; the cross of the same period in See also:Amiens Cathedral; the caskets of St Taurin (c. 1250); the reliquary of St Epine, given by St Louis; the virgin of the abbey of Roncevaux (See also:Navarre, 14th century); and the virgin given by Queen Jeanne d'See also:Evreux to St See also:Denis in 1339. One of the most cherished possessions of the British Museum is the celebrated gold and enamel cup of the kings of England, French work of the 14th century. No doubt the visit to Paris of Cellini exercised a great influence in the goldsmith's art there, though, unfortunately, no examples have survived. The extravagances of Louis XIV. and his court led to the destruction of all the royal plate of France, as did the Revolution of 1789 of vast quantities of domestic plate. It was not until the early part of the 18th century that any signs of revival are visible in the art of the silversmith. Chief among the Paris goldsmiths of that time are See also:Claude Ballin the younger, See also: So little Flemish plate remains that pictures of the Flemish school are recommended as the chief See also:sources of study of ecclesiastical vessels. A fine covered silver See also:beaker, decorated with open work and translucent enamel in the South Kensington Museum, and another covered with figures and foliage in niello, in the print room of the British Museum, are notable examples of Flemish work of the 15th century. A large See also:triptych, 13th century, is in the Rothschild See also:bequest to the Louvre. Ornate rosewater ewers and basins, which came in with the Renaissance, such as the important pair dated 1535 in the Louvre, were made at Antwerp and other places.
The See also:Utrecht silversmith, Paul See also:van Vianen (early 17th century) wrought many fine pieces of plate, including the silver bas-reliefs in the Rijks Museum at Amsterdam, where there are five fine bas-reliefs in silver by the Belgian silversmith, Mathias Melin. Two other members of the same family, See also:Adam and Christian van Vianen, were also prominent silversmiths of this time. An earlier Dutch silversmith, Christian van Vianen of Utrecht, made the vessels for the altar of St See also:George's Chapel, See also:Windsor, for Henry VIII.
Two important pieces of Dutch plate are the covered tazzashaped cup of See also: 83. of still-life and other subjects afford opportunities for the study of tazze, beakers and other domestic vessels in silver. Hendrik See also:Janssens, a Dutch engraver of about 1640, executed many designs for goldsmiths and jewellers. Spain and Portugal.—See also:Spanish plate was largely influenced in the middle ages by that of France and See also:Flanders and the art of the See also:Moors. But little medieval plate exists in Spain, most of it having been destroyed at the time when a taste for more elaborate ornaments sprang up as a result of the introduction of fresh wealth from the colonies in the New World. The following examples may be singled out: a cross of wood, covered with gold filigree work, set with stones (A.D. 8o8), in See also:Oviedo Cathedral, where there is also a larger cross of wood and gold, dating from later in the same century. A Moorish casket of wood covered with thin silver plates is in See also:Gerona Cathedral. The reliquary of See also:Alphonso III. and his queen (A.D. 866–896 covered with embossed silver plates of the symbols of the evangelists; the r 1thcentury chalice at Silos; chalices of the 13th and early 14th centuries in the cathedrals of See also:Santiago and See also:Toledo; and See also:Don Martin's great armchair, of wood covered with elaborate silver-gilt plates, in See also:Barcelona cathedral. The Spanish monstrances of the 15th century are noticeable because of the Flemish influence displayed, while those of the early part of the 16th century, such as that by the celebrated silversmith, Enrique Arfe, in the cathedral of See also:Cordova, is remarkable for its ornate character. The latter's See also:grandson, Juan de Arfe y Villafane (who wrote De See also:varia conmensuracion, 1585, on silverwork and other arts) became a chief maker of these magnificent monstrances; for instance, the celebrated example in See also:Seville cathedral. He was associated with See also:Pacheco in executing statues. About the 15th century Barcelona became famed as a centre for the silversmith's art, and the Libros de pasantia, or silversmiths' examination books, still preserved in that city, contain a large number of designs for jewel-work. Seville likewise had an important gild of silversmiths, as did the following cities: Toledo, See also:Valladolid, See also:Burgos, Cordova and See also:Salamanca. The celebrated family of Becerril wrought fine plate at See also:Cuenca in the 16th century. Many chalices and some domestic plate of the 16th and early 17th centuries are embellished with small enamelled disks, some of which show Saracenic influence in details. The Victoria and Albert Museum possesses a fine collection of Spanish goldsmith's work. Portuguese plate displays in its Gothic features a very florid style, in imitation of that adopted by architects in the reign of Don See also:Manuel (1495–1521). A typical example of this extravagance of Gothic motives may be seen in the See also:monstrance of Belem, which was made from gold brought from the See also:East by Vasco da Gama. See also:Austria and Hungary. _Austrian plate is, like that of Switzer-See also:land, largely based on German models. The ecclesiastical plate of Hungary in the 15th and 16th centuries is celebrated for its enamelled work of a flowered design enclosed in filigree wire—introduced from Italy. This enamelled decoration was continued in the 17th century, but without the filigree wire, and it is then described as " Transylvanian." Much of the secular plate of the 16th and 17th centuries in north and east Hungary is influenced by German plate, while that in Transylvania is frequently inspired by Oriental designs. English.—There is strong evidence of the importance attached to English medieval plate by See also:Continental peoples, as there was to the magnificent English illuminated See also:MSS., and, later, to the embroidered See also:vestments, See also:opus anglicanum. But, unfortunately, the ruthless destruction of plate during the See also:Wars of the See also:Roses, the See also:Reformation and the Great See also:Rebellion has spared but few medieval pieces to which we can point. Under the name of Protestantism every ecclesiastical vessel with a See also:device savouring of " popish superstition " was instantly destroyed. The inventories of the great cathedrals and religious houses plainly reveal their marvellous wealth in gold and silver vessels. See also:Norfolk is richer than any other See also:county in pre-Reformation chalices and patens .3 The well-known " See also:Gloucester " See also:candlestick, 3 Norfolk Arch. xii. 85. melted down by the finders. Little of this period that can be called plate has been discovered in the British Isles—unlike Denmark and other Scandinavian countries, where the excavation of tombs has in many cases yielded rich results in the way of massive cups, bowls, ladles and horns of solid gold, mostly decorated with simple designs of spirals, concentric circles, or interlaced grotesques. Others are of silver, parcel-gilt, and some have figure subjects in low relief (fig. 15). In like manner, during the Saxon period, though gold and silver jewelry was common, yet little plate appears to have been made, with the exception of shrines, altar-frontals and vessels for ecclesiastical use, of which every important church in England must have possessed a magnificent stock. With regard to English secular plate, though but few early examples still exist, we know from various records, such as See also:wills and inventories, that the 14th century was one in which every rich See also:lord or burgher prided himself on his fine and massive collection of silver vessels; on festive occasions this was displayed, not only on the See also:dinner-table, but also on sideboards, arranged with tiers of steps, one above the other, so as to show off to See also:advantage the weighty silver vases, flagons and dishes with which it was loaded. The central object on every rich man's table was the " nef "—a large silver casket, usually (as the name suggests) in the form of a' ship, and arranged to contain the See also:host's napkin, See also:goblet, See also:spoon and See also:knife, with an assortment of spices and salt. No old English " nefs " are now known. Great sums were often spent on this large and elaborate piece of plate, e.g. one made for the See also:duke of See also:Anjou in the 14th century weighed 348 marks of gold. The English silversmiths of this period were highly skilled in their art, and produced objects of great beauty both in design and workmanship. One of the finest specimens of See also:Edward III.'s plate which still exists is a silver cup belonging to the See also:mayor and See also:corporation of King's See also:Lynn. It is graceful and chalice-like in
though composed of inferior metal, is an See also:illustration of the fine plate wrought in England in the 12th century, while the ancient See also:anointing spoon of the sovereigns of England at the See also:Tower of London is an historical relic of the end of the 12th century (with the bowl altered for See also: Other notable horns are the See also:Pusey horn2; the celebrated See also:Bruce horn with the seals of John of Gaunt attached, and one at Christ's See also:Hospital.
See also:Mazer bowls, made of wood mounted in silver and even in gold, and frequently engraved with scriptural and other inscriptions (see Plate II., fig. 28), were popular drinking vessels in England in medieval times. Many of these have survived, the earliest specimen being one of Edward II. at Harbledown hospital. They ceased to be made after the reign of See also: 1500), a beaker and cover (1507–1508), and a saltI (1507–1508) at Christ's College, Cambridge. Of Elizabeth's reign, I the finest examples are probably the salt of the Vintners' See also:Company (Plate II., fig. 27), and the rosewater dish and ewer of the duke of See also:Rutland. Stoneware jugs, as the well-known example (1581) from West See also:Malling, See also:Kent, and See also:Chinese See also:porcelain vessels were elaborately mounted in Elizabethan times, a goodly See also:pro-portion of the former having been done by goldsmiths at See also:Exeter. The Celtic races of both England and Ireland appear to have possessed great wealth in gold and silver, but especially the former. It seems, however, to have been mostly used in the manufacture of personal orna- ments, such as torques, fibulae and the like. A magnificent suit of gold See also:armour, repousse with simple patterns of lines and dots, was found some years ago at See also:Mold in Flintshire, and is now in the British Museum.3 The amount of old jewelry found in Ireland during the past century has been enormous; but, owing to the unfortunate See also:law of " treasure-trove," by far the greater part was immediately 1 Illustrated in Old Cambridge Plate, pp. 102–103. 2 Archaeologia, iii. 3, xii. 377. 2 Ibid. See also:xxvi- 422. Fm. 15.--Silver Cup, 41 in. high, with embossed gold band ; found in a grave in the east of See also:Zealand (Denmark). This cup dates from the earlier part of the See also:Iron Age. form, skilfully chased, and decorated in a very rich and elaborate way with coloured translucent enamels (fig. 16) of ladies and youths, several with See also:hawks on their wrists. Silver salt-cellars were among the most elaborate pieces of plate produced during the 15th century. Several colleges at Oxford and Cambridge still possess fine specimens of these (fig. 17) ; a favourite shape was a kind of See also:hour-glass form richly ornamented, made between about 148o and 1525. But few existing specimens of English plate are older than under Dutch influence, and mostly have lost the beautiful forms of the century before (fig. 19 and Plate II., fig. 29). In the early part of the 18th century the designs of English plate were to some extent influenced by the introduction of French ornaments by the large band of French silversmiths who sought See also:refuge in England after the revocation of the See also:edict of See also:Nantes. Chief among these Frenchmen (though probably not a refugee him-self) was Paul Lamerie, who produced a large number of notable specimens, the largest of which is a fine See also:wine-cooler in the See also:Winter Palace, St See also:Petersburg. Through the greater part of the reign of George III. English plate is more remarkable for its plain solidity than for artistic merit. With the See also:advent, however, of the talented architects, the See also:brothers Adam, came a taste for plate with classical characteristics. The South Kensington Museum has a small, though fine, collection of plate, varying the beginning of the 15th century. Among the few that remain the principal are chalices—such as the two large silver-gilt ones found in the See also:coffin of an archbishop of See also:York, now used for See also:holy communion in the cathedral, and a fine silver chalice from the church of See also:Berwick St James, Wilts, now in the British Museum. Both this and the York chalices are devoid of ornament, and, judging from their shape, appear to be of the first half of the 13th century, which is the date of the fine medieval chalice and paten found near Dolgelly some years ago (the latter now believed in some quarters to be of German origin). Several Tudor cups are in existence: the celebrated one of 1521 (Plate II., fig. 30), an earlier one, 1500; two covered ones of about 1510 and 1512 at See also:Sandwich and Wymeswold, respectively; one (1515) at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, and the See also:Bodkin cup (1525) of the Corporation of See also:Portsmouth. A very early beaker (1496) is in a private collection, as is also a small Tudor bowl (1525-1526). The earliest known chalices of silver include the Gourdon chalice and paten, the St Gozlin chalice at See also:Nancy (loth century); the 12th-century specimen in the abbey of Wilten in See also:Tirol. It is interesting to note the various changes of form through which the ecclesiastical chalice passed from early Christian times chances. till the 16th century. It was at first an See also:ordinary
secular cup with two handles, classical in form and of large capacity, because the laity as well as the See also:clergy received the wine. The See also:double handles were of See also:practical use in passing the cup round like a modern " loving cup." The first alteration was the omission of the handles, so that it took the form of a large hemispherical bowl, with a round foot, and a knop for See also:security in holding it. For some centuries it appears to have been the See also:custom for the See also:priest to hold the chalice, while the communicant sucked the wine through a silver See also:tube or " See also:fistula." Some of the most magnificent early examples of this form of chalice have the bowl mounted in bands, set with jewels, and enriched with minute filigree work—a design which appears to have been taken from those cups, such as the four magnificent examples in the treasury of St Mark's at Venice, which have their bowl cut out of crystal, See also:onyx or some other precious See also: St John See also:Hope and T. M. See also:Fallow, in Archaeologia, vol. xliii. Secular plate during the 15th and 16th centuries was fre- quently similar in style to that made in Germany, though the English silversmiths of the latter century never quite equalled the skill or artistic See also:talent of the great Nuremberg and Augsburg silver-workers. In the 17th century, during the reigns of James I. and Charles I., many fine pieces of plate, especially tall cups and tankards, were made of very graceful form and decoration. The greater part of this, and all earlier plate, especially the fine collections belonging to the universities, were melted down during the See also:Civil See also:War. In Charles II.'s reign returning prosperity and the increase of luxury in England caused the production of many magnificent pieces of plate, often on a large scale, such as See also:toilet services, wine-coolers, and even See also:fire-See also:dogs and other See also:furniture. These are very florid in their ornament, much of it 1 See De Fleurv..La Messe (Paris, 1882), &c. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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