Studio: international art (89.1925)

REVIEWS

Black Jacks and Leather Bottells: being
some account of Leather Drinking Vessels in
England and incidentally of other Ancient
Vessels. By Oliver Baker. With numerous
illustrations. (London and Cheltenham :
E. J. Burrow and Co., Ltd.) The subject
of the drinking vessels of our ancestors is
of interest from many points of view ; and
these are not wanting in that section of it,
dealing with those made of leather, which
Mr. Oliver Baker covers in the well-pro-
duced and lavishly illustrated volume under
review. He shows that the water-bouget (a
pair of leather bags, joined at the neck, and
familiar at least to students of heraldry),
leather bottles and black jacks are charac-
teristically English; and, as a result of
infinite and accurate research, he traces
their use and history back to the earlier
centuries of English history, when most
native bottles and many drinking cups were
of leather. Black jacks and huge bombards
were in general use during the seventeenth
century, the latter reaching in size as much
as 2ft. in height and with a capacity of
25 quarts. It was these that gave rise to the
French fable that Englishmen drank out of
their boots—and possibly to the term
" Jack-boots." Leather jacks were supplied
to Greenwich Hospital as late as 1847 and
were used at Winchester College even later.
The industry seems to have survived in the
Winchester district until well into the nine-
teenth century. Many of the old jacks were
handsomely decorated, with finely chased
silver mounts ; embossed names, dates or
heraldic devices ; or even, as in the two
superb examples reproduced by Mr. Baker,
in rich and appropriate colours. The
author's wealth of information has been,
for long, a mine on which other writers
have drawn with little acknowledgment. It
is time he had the credit for one of the most
complete histories of an old English handi-
craft which has ever been produced. An
interesting and representative collection of
leather and other drinking vessels has been
lent to the Victoria and Albert Museum by
Mr. H. H. Edmondson. E. F. S.

Francisco de Goya. By August L.
Mayer. Translated by Robert West.
(London and Toronto: J. M. Dent and
Sons, Ltd.). 434 illustrations. 635.
net. This work is a valuable contribution

to the study of an artist who has been well
before the public in recent publications. It
is careful in its records, interesting in its
critical side, and profusely illustrated ; and
though the 400 plates are sometimes want-
ing in quality, they are always useful for
reference. The author takes first the life of
Goya, then his artistic development, then
his " Graphic Art," which covers his etch-
ings and lithographs, and lastly " Goya's
Art." In such treatment there is the risk of
overlapping, and the most interesting,
critically, is the last chapter, where the
general aspect of Goya's creation is more
broadly handled. In the earlier chapters on
the life and the portraits Dr. Mayer goes
over the same ground as had been covered
by Sehor de Beruete in his three admirable
volumes on this Spanish painter ; and he
fully acknowledges his obligations to the
late Director of the Prado, though he does
not scruple to disagree with him on
occasion, as, for instance, on the important
point of the later influence of Greco on
Goya, in such a painting as The Com-
munion of S. Joseph, where Beruete finds
Greco's influence in ths colouring, which
Dr. Mayer absolutely denies. S. B.

The Art of Town Planning. By Henry
Vaughan Lanchester, F. R. I. B.A.,
M.T.P.I. (Universal Art Series.) 21s. net.
(Chapman and Hall.) Mr. Lanchester's
admirable book on the art of town plan-
ning touches on one of the most pressing
problems of modern life. His historical
survey is of the greatest interest, though,
as he clearly recognises, the modern city
presents, by virtue merely of its size, a
problem which never arose before the last
century. How we then came to grief and
how we have since been trying to remedy
the errors of the laissez-faire era he very
clearly shows. Some middle way has now
to be found between absolute disorganisa-
tion and the purely mechanical plan like
that of Middlesbrough. Asystem of zoning
or allocation of special areas to particular
occupations is favoured by the author, to-
gether with a more energetic development
of the movements already in train towards
the providing of better houses, civic centres
and parks, and sensible means of commu-
nication. His principles are sound, and we
would specially commend the aerial views
which illustrate them. 0 a a

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