DOI Heft:
No. 161 (August, 1906)
DOI Artikel:Vallance, Aymer: Recent lead-work by Mr. G. P. Bankart
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.20715#0219
Recent Lead-Work by Mr. G. P. Bankart
ungilt tin solder relieving
the natural grey of the lead
groundwork, should be
enough to satisfy all ordi-
nary requirements.
The design need not be
intricate nor elaborate. . In
the case of rain-water heads
and the like it were far
better not, in view of the
fact that it will never be
seen at close quarters. For
this reason plain and bold
patterns, like the chequers
in Fig. 9 or the spiral bands
in Fig. io, are generally
preferable for the purpose.
As for the tinning, while the surrounding lead
surface turns dark and dull, the former still retains
its lustre; or, if it should be in such a situation
that it loses its brilliance in grime and dirt, it can
easily be polished up again by rubbing with a
cloth. A sundial, then, or other object, treated
with tinning, is an ornament that can be relied on
for durability, in spite of exposure to the open air.
Of the several stages in the execution of lead-
FIG. 12. LEAD SUNDIAL
WITH TIN DECORATION
DESIGNED AND EXECUTED FOR MAJOR
BOLITHO BY G. P. BANKART
FIG. II. GARDEN WATER
TANK (COMMONWOOD
HOUSE)
I98
DESIGNED AND EXECUTED
BY G. P. BANKART
work not least in point of interest is the prepara-
tion of the sand-bed preliminary to casting. With
the exercise of a little ingenuity, patterns may be
worked up from the simplest tools, such as a short
piece of lath, notched or forked; the end of a
pencil or any small metal utensil; a straight strip
of wire or a bent piece; nails or buttons : in fact,
almost any article of reasonable and unpretending
form can be utilised for the purpose, when no
actual modelling is required. Where the latter
kind of decoration is to be employed, of course
the case is different.
The study of the best precedents of old cast
lead-work shows the ornament to be flat rather
than in high relief, and soft, that is to say, billowing
gradually out of the background and merging into
it again, more by way of suggestion than in sharp
definition of form and outline.
A nicety, characteristic of old work, is the
impressing into the sand, just slightly below the
surface of the main background, the entire block
which carries the pattern. An instance of this
may be observed in the case of the squirrel and
the two other little creatures, the chicken and the
hare, on the cylindrical rain-water tank already
mentioned. It is a plan which helps the delimita-
tion of the modelled form, no matter how irregular
it be, and (what is technically more important)
unmistakably denotes the method of execution.
Thus again, in numbers of instances of ancient
lead-work, the actual grain of the wood is distinctly
visible, showing how the pattern has been im-
pressed in the sand from carved blocks of wood.
There is no shame in honest disclosure of the
method of working; only when the accidental
effects of the process are preternaturally exaggerated
or when, on the contrary, all the evidences of
ungilt tin solder relieving
the natural grey of the lead
groundwork, should be
enough to satisfy all ordi-
nary requirements.
The design need not be
intricate nor elaborate. . In
the case of rain-water heads
and the like it were far
better not, in view of the
fact that it will never be
seen at close quarters. For
this reason plain and bold
patterns, like the chequers
in Fig. 9 or the spiral bands
in Fig. io, are generally
preferable for the purpose.
As for the tinning, while the surrounding lead
surface turns dark and dull, the former still retains
its lustre; or, if it should be in such a situation
that it loses its brilliance in grime and dirt, it can
easily be polished up again by rubbing with a
cloth. A sundial, then, or other object, treated
with tinning, is an ornament that can be relied on
for durability, in spite of exposure to the open air.
Of the several stages in the execution of lead-
FIG. 12. LEAD SUNDIAL
WITH TIN DECORATION
DESIGNED AND EXECUTED FOR MAJOR
BOLITHO BY G. P. BANKART
FIG. II. GARDEN WATER
TANK (COMMONWOOD
HOUSE)
I98
DESIGNED AND EXECUTED
BY G. P. BANKART
work not least in point of interest is the prepara-
tion of the sand-bed preliminary to casting. With
the exercise of a little ingenuity, patterns may be
worked up from the simplest tools, such as a short
piece of lath, notched or forked; the end of a
pencil or any small metal utensil; a straight strip
of wire or a bent piece; nails or buttons : in fact,
almost any article of reasonable and unpretending
form can be utilised for the purpose, when no
actual modelling is required. Where the latter
kind of decoration is to be employed, of course
the case is different.
The study of the best precedents of old cast
lead-work shows the ornament to be flat rather
than in high relief, and soft, that is to say, billowing
gradually out of the background and merging into
it again, more by way of suggestion than in sharp
definition of form and outline.
A nicety, characteristic of old work, is the
impressing into the sand, just slightly below the
surface of the main background, the entire block
which carries the pattern. An instance of this
may be observed in the case of the squirrel and
the two other little creatures, the chicken and the
hare, on the cylindrical rain-water tank already
mentioned. It is a plan which helps the delimita-
tion of the modelled form, no matter how irregular
it be, and (what is technically more important)
unmistakably denotes the method of execution.
Thus again, in numbers of instances of ancient
lead-work, the actual grain of the wood is distinctly
visible, showing how the pattern has been im-
pressed in the sand from carved blocks of wood.
There is no shame in honest disclosure of the
method of working; only when the accidental
effects of the process are preternaturally exaggerated
or when, on the contrary, all the evidences of