Studio: international art (29.1903)

Mr. G. P. Bank art's Leadwork

m

use of it, truly, but "liked this
metal casing, and that was
enough." And this that they
liked, what was it ? Not the
" milled lead " of our day, but
a material rich in silver and
arsenic, which was the cause
of the beautiful white oxide
it showed. Modern lead
blackens, as the preparation
of lead now includes its de-
silverisation. The acid of un-
seasoned timber decomposes
lead. It follows that the em-
ployment of it in building
endangers the leadwork,
besides depriving it of the
silvery sheen it should have.

R. G. P. BANKART'S LEAD- Little wonder, then, that practical workers are
WORK. BY ERNEST RAD- ^e most diligent readers of the old books that
FORD te^ tnem what the properties of these splendid

materials are, or that the examples we have of old
Says Mr. Lethaby, writing of leadwork :— work are treasured in our museums. Attention will
" While few are more worthy of artistic care, no be called presently to some examples of modern
metal is more adaptable to
noble use through a range

of treatments that cannot __-—rcinii......... .....

be matched by any other.
It combines extreme ease
of manipulation with prac-
tically endless durability,
and suitability to any scale,
from a tiny inkwell, or
medal, to a statue of horse
and rider, or the tallest
cathedral spire." It can
be hammered, cast, or cut,
and consequently there is
no limit to the uses to
which an intelligent work-
man can put it. If the
centuries to come are wit-
nesses of a revival of that
" metal-cased architecture "
to which reference is made
in his chapter on, "Lead
Coverings," we shall see
plumbers reinstated in the
position they held when
building and the ornament-
ation of building would
have been impossible with-
out their assistance. They

showed little reserve in the rain-water heads by g. p. bankart

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