DOI Heft:
No. 12 (March, 1894)
DOI Artikel:Dawson, Nelson: Concerning repovssè metal work
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.17189#0210
Concerning Repousse* Metal Work
achievement that will be appreciated most by
those who practise the art and know the diffi-
culties.
This brief glance at the ancient work may suffice;
A SCONCE, DESIGNED AND EXECUTED BY
NELSON DAWSON
but it will be well to consider some of the best
modern specimens of this art. Probably the award
has been given hitherto to the elaborate shields that
have been done from time to time—the Milton
Shield, the Outram Shield, and so forth. One
grants at the outset that in these the craftmanship,
the actual work, is clever enough. In fact, it is a
great deal too clever, and therein is the trouble.
Have not we artists all heard the insane remark of
the unintelligent person, " How very beautiful and
regular, is it not ? It might have been done by
■machinery ! " And it might—and the observation,
though stupid enough, is apposite in the case of
these works, which are dull and uninteresting in
consequence. The infinite labour they display
being misdirected, makes them only the more
exasperating. To compare such pictorial treat-
ment of crowded groups of figures with the calm
and dignified figure decorations of the Greeks, sets
one's nerves in a general tremor. A practical
metal-worker, speaking of a well-known ornamental
metal firm of the West End, the head of which
poses as a minister of High Art, was asked what
good work had he known come from it. " Well,
nothing very good," was the reply, " but look
at the polish they get on it t" Polish—fancy !
Imagine one of those glorious Greek bronzes
198
depending for its art value on its polish I Can
any good come out of such a state of things ?
Can any one wonder, when looking in the silver-
smiths' windows in Regent Street and Bond
Street, that there is so little to be seen that
one is not glad to put out of sight and forget.
This is not a querulous complaint—not even a
pessimistic view of the thing ; it is simply an artistic
criticism on the modern practice of a beautiful
craft—or art, which you will—that has come into a
very sad way by its connection with commerce.
And it would do a deal of good if the public could
follow the repousse worker (who works for the
" trade ") through the poor little back door of the
great West End silversmith's establishment, to ask
if they have any work. Whereupon a newly spun
cup in silver, maybe of 12 or 15 ozs., is handed
him with the direction to put twenty shillings worth
of work on it. He knows well enough and with-
out telling what is the only sort of design that he
will be allowed to do—a sort of adapted Queen
Anne pattern as a rule—Queen Anne passed
through the alembic of the commercial mind.
A M£NU-STAND, DESIGNED AND EXECUTED BY
NELSON DAWSON
It is sad to remember that we are regarded all
the world over as a people whose lives are given up'
achievement that will be appreciated most by
those who practise the art and know the diffi-
culties.
This brief glance at the ancient work may suffice;
A SCONCE, DESIGNED AND EXECUTED BY
NELSON DAWSON
but it will be well to consider some of the best
modern specimens of this art. Probably the award
has been given hitherto to the elaborate shields that
have been done from time to time—the Milton
Shield, the Outram Shield, and so forth. One
grants at the outset that in these the craftmanship,
the actual work, is clever enough. In fact, it is a
great deal too clever, and therein is the trouble.
Have not we artists all heard the insane remark of
the unintelligent person, " How very beautiful and
regular, is it not ? It might have been done by
■machinery ! " And it might—and the observation,
though stupid enough, is apposite in the case of
these works, which are dull and uninteresting in
consequence. The infinite labour they display
being misdirected, makes them only the more
exasperating. To compare such pictorial treat-
ment of crowded groups of figures with the calm
and dignified figure decorations of the Greeks, sets
one's nerves in a general tremor. A practical
metal-worker, speaking of a well-known ornamental
metal firm of the West End, the head of which
poses as a minister of High Art, was asked what
good work had he known come from it. " Well,
nothing very good," was the reply, " but look
at the polish they get on it t" Polish—fancy !
Imagine one of those glorious Greek bronzes
198
depending for its art value on its polish I Can
any good come out of such a state of things ?
Can any one wonder, when looking in the silver-
smiths' windows in Regent Street and Bond
Street, that there is so little to be seen that
one is not glad to put out of sight and forget.
This is not a querulous complaint—not even a
pessimistic view of the thing ; it is simply an artistic
criticism on the modern practice of a beautiful
craft—or art, which you will—that has come into a
very sad way by its connection with commerce.
And it would do a deal of good if the public could
follow the repousse worker (who works for the
" trade ") through the poor little back door of the
great West End silversmith's establishment, to ask
if they have any work. Whereupon a newly spun
cup in silver, maybe of 12 or 15 ozs., is handed
him with the direction to put twenty shillings worth
of work on it. He knows well enough and with-
out telling what is the only sort of design that he
will be allowed to do—a sort of adapted Queen
Anne pattern as a rule—Queen Anne passed
through the alembic of the commercial mind.
A M£NU-STAND, DESIGNED AND EXECUTED BY
NELSON DAWSON
It is sad to remember that we are regarded all
the world over as a people whose lives are given up'