Studio: international art (21.1901)

Old Steel Work

flaming braziers on either side representing the and gilt iron panels, often, like those of Etienne
family badge. The ground was gilt and the orna- de Laulne, of exquisite design,
ment left to its natural colour. The small covered pot, Fig. 13, only 6^ ins. high,

It is remarkable that though Flemish and illustrates the method of fire-gilding on a russet
Spanish coffres-forts enjoyed so high a reputation ground, in imitation of damascening, an art that was
in mediaeval times, those actually existing seem very rarely practised in the 16th century. It is
distinctly inferior in design and execution to the perhaps a royal relic, the crowned F intertwined
French. In later times a monopoly was secured with an S-like serpent, visible in the small ovals,
by German manufacturers, not only of caskets, but being possibly the F and salamander of Francis I.
of the much larger iron strong boxes which every- The rich arabesque inclosing these forms a lace-
where did duty as safes. This was maintained by like Vandyke on the russet ground. The lid
them to the close of the 18th century, hundreds of bore a crown and escutcheon of arms which
such being still preserved in business and in has unfortunately been obliterated. It is
private houses. The German casket was etched difficult to conjecture the use an iron tankard
and parcel gilt, or russetted and decorated with could be put to unless it was a shaving-pot, for
arabesques or hunting scenes gilt to represent beer or wine would corrode the metal. This
damascening. Italian and French Renaissance kind ot decoration could be applied to any metal
caskets were generally of ebony with embossed that will stand the heat ot the muffle.

The finely-em-
bossed and forged
iron andiron,
illustrated Fig. 14,

■fapSF is highly in-

ffJHjn teresting, its

BSI|| ornament being

based largely on

4£m the tnorns or

; • mulberry, the

badge of the More

fSHIlflH^HHHttk family, who built

-: :-r;*5**^^3S^^fe Losely, where the

arnlMimSnM■ MnPlraTOnHIl andirons still re-

| a 1 , I I U main beneath the

^jfiBEL'l^. *'Jp*jjy"^Bj^B^^Mtf^ magnificent chim-

S^^K^^^^^SKk ney-piece, carved

Ij^^mjK^^^ *• >*, ' in the local in-

durated chalk.
The obelisk form
of andiron is first
seen in Androuet
du Cerceau's book
of designs, pub-

flfi ^HM^^|^^Ppk||HH^H& lished about 1585,

fta ■ .. ' but these were

Jk9L JMF* probably made in

j^B^wBB|PWi^^lw|mB^iiSBBk England. No

i. ^jBKKt^^^AS other fire-dogs ot

^^^IHMHBK ' this form, and

^RRi " u"\ none of embossed

iron, are known

"*Muiua.g!Krt mmmjisssntt////ffffl^^ to exist. The

embossing is in
low relief, and

fig steel powder flask, Italian, i6th century entirely gilt. They

in