DOI Heft:
No. 135 (June, 1904)
DOI Artikel:Wood, Esther: Some metal-work by Omar Ramsden and Alwyn C. E. Carr
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.19882#0044
Omar Ramsden and A. C. E. Carr
FOUNDERS' CUP FOR AN INDIAN COLLEGE
BY 0. RAMSDEN AND A. C. E. CARR
—a poetic but embarrassing subject for design,
like all mythological creatures who have eluded
study from the life. The idea, however, has
been made to yield a very pleasing decorative
figure, and the work is executed in bold
relief, obtained from the back entirely. A quota-
tion from Tennyson forms part of the design,
and the capital letters are set in translucent
enamels, which throw a string of jewel-like
colours across the metal. Somewhat similar
in treatment are the three repoussi copper
panels for the covered roof of an ingle-
nook.
Their decoration illustrates the pleasant
tradition expressed in the old rhyme—
When storks nest
On ye chimney's crest,
With health and good luck
That house is blest.
These words appear on the scroll encircling the
box-trees on the side panels, and in the centre is
a design of storks feeding their young in thecha-
racteristic " chimney-nest." The curling smoke
above them and the sun's rays behind complete
a very effective composition in line, while the
surface of the metal is kept smooth and silky in
texture to harmonise with a subdued architectural
framing and to bear inspection at close range.
In contrast with these interior decorations
is a swinging sign made for a shop at East
Grinstead. This clever little structure, com-
bining in architectural form the qualities of
the poster and the door-plate, seems to mark
a new departure in shop signs (pace the County
Councils), and consists of a panel of dark
oxidised brass with aluminium lettering, hung
in a frame of wrought-iron. In forging the
ornamental details great care has been taken
to get every part finely finished with the
hammer, giving the whole work an impress of
the feeling and individuality of the craftsman.
The signboard itself is also enriched with
translucent enamels ranging from dark green to
the faintest egg-blue. A bold but singularly grace-
ful ship-finial is another good instance of open
metal-work intended to be seen against the sky.
For their own " craft-mark " these designers
have adopted the striking figure of a winged
hammer, which is very successfully used in the
back of the fire-grate in their own studio—a
massive and dignified piece of workmanship,
bespeakinghomely comfort with its big standards
and supports for fire-irons, its roomy hood and
chimney, and its ample spaces for keeping
omelettes and muffins laudably hot. The simplicity
and appropriateness of the "winged hammer"
device enables it to be repeated in many forms—
even in a book-plate and stationery.
The dainty craft of enamelling was added at an
early date to the ruder labours of the anvil, and
the true balance between the larger and the more
delicate kinds of work has been kept with markedly
good results on both sides of the handicraft. A
considerable number of ecclesiastical commissions
have given scope for fine gold- and silver-work with
enamelled ornament, of which the chalice here
illustrated is a good example. It was made as an
23
FOUNDERS' CUP FOR AN INDIAN COLLEGE
BY 0. RAMSDEN AND A. C. E. CARR
—a poetic but embarrassing subject for design,
like all mythological creatures who have eluded
study from the life. The idea, however, has
been made to yield a very pleasing decorative
figure, and the work is executed in bold
relief, obtained from the back entirely. A quota-
tion from Tennyson forms part of the design,
and the capital letters are set in translucent
enamels, which throw a string of jewel-like
colours across the metal. Somewhat similar
in treatment are the three repoussi copper
panels for the covered roof of an ingle-
nook.
Their decoration illustrates the pleasant
tradition expressed in the old rhyme—
When storks nest
On ye chimney's crest,
With health and good luck
That house is blest.
These words appear on the scroll encircling the
box-trees on the side panels, and in the centre is
a design of storks feeding their young in thecha-
racteristic " chimney-nest." The curling smoke
above them and the sun's rays behind complete
a very effective composition in line, while the
surface of the metal is kept smooth and silky in
texture to harmonise with a subdued architectural
framing and to bear inspection at close range.
In contrast with these interior decorations
is a swinging sign made for a shop at East
Grinstead. This clever little structure, com-
bining in architectural form the qualities of
the poster and the door-plate, seems to mark
a new departure in shop signs (pace the County
Councils), and consists of a panel of dark
oxidised brass with aluminium lettering, hung
in a frame of wrought-iron. In forging the
ornamental details great care has been taken
to get every part finely finished with the
hammer, giving the whole work an impress of
the feeling and individuality of the craftsman.
The signboard itself is also enriched with
translucent enamels ranging from dark green to
the faintest egg-blue. A bold but singularly grace-
ful ship-finial is another good instance of open
metal-work intended to be seen against the sky.
For their own " craft-mark " these designers
have adopted the striking figure of a winged
hammer, which is very successfully used in the
back of the fire-grate in their own studio—a
massive and dignified piece of workmanship,
bespeakinghomely comfort with its big standards
and supports for fire-irons, its roomy hood and
chimney, and its ample spaces for keeping
omelettes and muffins laudably hot. The simplicity
and appropriateness of the "winged hammer"
device enables it to be repeated in many forms—
even in a book-plate and stationery.
The dainty craft of enamelling was added at an
early date to the ruder labours of the anvil, and
the true balance between the larger and the more
delicate kinds of work has been kept with markedly
good results on both sides of the handicraft. A
considerable number of ecclesiastical commissions
have given scope for fine gold- and silver-work with
enamelled ornament, of which the chalice here
illustrated is a good example. It was made as an
23