International studio (42.1910)

Reviews and Notices

become thoroughly obscured, and in disentangling
from such a phrase as "representing nature" the
various interpretations set upon it, and suchlike
achievements, the air of criticism, always obtusely
" objective " or almost morbidly " subjective," is
once more purified.

The Merry Wives of Windsor. By William
Shakespeare. With illustrations in colour by
Hugh Thomson. (London: Heinemann.) 155.net.
—No one has a prettier style than Mr. Thomson,
and above everything his work identifies itself
with the purposes of book embellishment and
illustration. He really does understand the art
of the treatment of a page when it comes to
" headings," and suchlike. His line has many
fine qualities indeed, and it is nowhere happier
than in the freedom and the delicacy with which
figures and background are united and made to
belong to the same moment and the same scene.
Studio-properties, self-conscious poses, all these
things are absent: he comes straight to the heart
and the spirit of his scenes. His avoidance of the
mechanical is most admirable in the suggestion of
architectural detail, the frame-work of windows,
and the lintels of doors; and he draws the prettiest
of women. But colour placed over this playful
line-work robs it of more than half its pleasantness.
The best illustrations, from the point of view of
this book, which is practically all colour, are those
where the artist has relied most on his colour,
keeping for other occasions his pleasant, sketchy
line. His colour sense is highly developed. The
exception we take to the scheme of this book is
that the line and colour do not fuse to advantage,
except, unfortunately, where the line—which after
all is the thing we are in love with in his work—
is subordinated.

Dinanderie: A History and Description of Medie-
val Art Work in Copper, Brass and Bronze. By J.
Tavenor-Perry. (London: Geo. Allen & Sons.)
2 i5.net.—The word Dinanderie, not without a certain
musical ring about it, yet strange to English ears,
is derived from Dinant on the Meuse, the chief
seat of the industry until the destruction of the
place in 1466 caused the craftsmen who survived
to disperse and carry on their work elsewhere.
The products comprised pots and shovels, and
suchlike objects, according to the fifteenth century
historian, Philippe de Commines; and, though
in later days the term came to have a slightly
more extended significance, its principal meaning
is still, as defined by Littr£, ustensiles de cuivre
jaune, tels que des potions, des chaudrons, des plaques,
&c.; whilst Henri Havard, in his Didionnaire
168

d'Ameuble?nent, makes it practically equivalent to
chaudronnerie, a word with which our English
word " cauldron " is of course connected. How-
ever, as used by Mr. Tavenor-Perry, Dinanderie
is stretched to such an extent as to comprehend
monumental works in bronze like the famous
statues at Innspruck, or the great doors at Aix-la-
Chapelle, Augsburg, Hildesheim, Pisa, Ravello, and
Verona, all illustrated in his fine and imposing
volume. The work begins with a general view or
sketch, followed by an account of Dinant and the
neighbouring towns on the Meuse. The author
then deals with the art from the points of view of
origin, materials and processes. Next he reviews
the schools—Germany, the Netherlands. France,
England, Italy and Spain. The second half of
the volume, under the head of " Descriptive,"
gives an account of the many and varied objects
which the author classes as " Dinanderie." One
of the greatest curiosities represented is a so-called
holy water stoup, or basin, which the fourth Lord
Holland brought home from Florence. Though
surrounded with an inscription of the words of the
Asperges, and though comprising also a medallion
of the Crucifixion, this vessel also exhibits the
strange incongruity of a figure of Buddha, the
explaining of which has given rise to much learned
argument. It can in no way be so easily accounted
for as on the supposition that the object in
question is made-up—in other words, a forgery!
The author might have mentioned (p. 92) that the
metal grate surrounding the font of Henry VII. at
Westminster Abbey was originally made for, and
set up at, Windsor, and only found its way to its
present site owing to a change of plan. In Chapter
xxvii. Mr. Tavenor-Perry treats of the vexed
question of " Sanctuary Rings and Knockers," and
is inclined to the conclusion that " we may accept
the theory that they were in some way associated
with the rights of sanctuary." The drawings by
the author himself impart peculiar attractiveness
to the volume, which also contains many excellent
half-tone plates.

Le Morte Darthur. By Sir Thomas Malory.
Illustrated by W. Russell Flint. 4 vols. Vol. I.
(London : P. Lee Warner for the Medici Society.)
Boards, £,10 ioj-. net the set; limp vellum,
^12 \2S. net the set.—Some time ago we reviewed
in this series of books from the Riccardi Press
Mr. Russell Flint's Marcus Aurelius, and took
exception to a certain daintiness, almost prettiness,
in the interpretation of certain of the famous
Meditations. We are glad to find the artist freeing
his brush from this, which is only a fault when,