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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Chats on Household Curios, by Fred W. Burgess
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Chats on Household Curios
+
+Author: Fred W. Burgess
+
+Release Date: May 2, 2008 [EBook #25294]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHATS ON HOUSEHOLD CURIOS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Susan Skinner and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHATS ON HOUSEHOLD CURIOS
+
+BOOKS FOR COLLECTORS
+
+_With Frontispieces and many Illustrations
+Large Crown 8vo, cloth._
+
+CHATS ON ENGLISH CHINA.
+    By Arthur Hayden.
+
+CHATS ON OLD FURNITURE
+    By Arthur Hayden.
+
+CHATS ON OLD PRINTS.
+    By Arthur Hayden.
+
+CHATS ON COSTUME.
+    By G. Woolliscroft Rhead.
+
+CHATS ON OLD LACE AND NEEDLEWORK.
+    By E. L. Lowes.
+
+CHATS ON ORIENTAL CHINA.
+    By J. F. Blacker.
+
+CHATS ON OLD MINIATURES.
+    By J. J. Foster, F.S.A.
+
+CHATS ON ENGLISH EARTHENWARE.
+    By Arthur Hayden.
+
+CHATS ON AUTOGRAPHS.
+    By A. M. Broadley.
+
+CHATS ON PEWTER.
+    By H. J. L. J. Massé, M.A.
+
+CHATS ON POSTAGE STAMPS.
+    By Fred. J. Melville.
+
+CHATS ON OLD JEWELLERY AND TRINKETS.
+    By MacIver Percival.
+
+CHATS ON COTTAGE AND FARMHOUSE FURNITURE.
+    By Arthur Hayden.
+
+CHATS ON OLD COINS.
+    By Fred. W. Burgess.
+
+CHATS ON OLD COPPER AND BRASS.
+    By Fred. W. Burgess.
+
+CHATS ON HOUSEHOLD CURIOS.
+    By Fred. W. Burgess.
+
+
+_In Preparation._
+
+CHATS ON BARGAINS.
+    By Charles E. Jerningham.
+
+CHATS ON JAPANESE PRINTS.
+    By Arthur Davison Ficke.
+
+CHATS ON OLD CLOCKS AND WATCHES.
+    By Arthur Hayden.
+
+CHATS ON OLD SILVER.
+    By Arthur Hayden.
+
+LONDON: T. FISHER UNWIN.
+NEW YORK: F. A. STOKES COMPANY.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 1.--OLD FIREPLACE, SHOWING SUSSEX BACK, ANDIRONS,
+AND TRIVET.
+
+Frontispiece.]
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+CHATS ON
+HOUSEHOLD CURIOS
+
+BY
+
+FRED. W. BURGESS
+
+AUTHOR OF "CHATS ON OLD COINS," "CHATS ON OLD
+COPPER AND BRASS," ETC.
+
+WITH 94 ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+LONDON
+
+T. FISHER UNWIN
+ADELPHI TERRACE
+
+
+_First published in 1914_
+
+(_All rights reserved_)
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+
+There is a peculiar charm about the relics found in an old home--a home
+from which many generations of fledglings have flown. As each milestone
+in family history is passed some once common object of use or ornament
+is dropped by the way. Such interesting mementoes of past generations
+accumulate, and in course of time the older ones become curios.
+
+It is to create greater interest in these old-world odds and ends--some
+of trifling value to an outsider, others of great intrinsic worth--that
+this book has been written. The love of possession is to some possessors
+the chief delight; to others knowledge of the original purposes and uses
+of the objects acquired affords still greater pleasure. My intention has
+been rather to assist the latter class of collectors than to facilitate
+the mere assemblage of additional stores of curiosities. It is truly
+astonishing how rapidly the common uses of even household furnishings
+and culinary utensils are forgotten when they are superseded by others
+of more modern type.
+
+The modern art of to-day and the revival of the much older furniture of
+the past have driven out the household gods of intermediate dates, and
+it is in that period intervening between the two extremes that most of
+the household curios reviewed in this work are found. Although many of
+the finest examples of household curios are now in museums, private
+collectors often possess exceptional specimens, and sometimes own the
+most representative groups of those things upon which they have
+specialized.
+
+The examples in this book have been drawn from various sources. As in
+"Chats on Old Copper and Brass" (which may almost be regarded as a
+companion work), the illustrations are taken from photographs of typical
+museum curios and objects in private collections, or have been specially
+sketched by my daughter, who has had access to many interesting
+collections, to the owners of which I am indebted for the illustrations
+I am able to make use of.
+
+My thanks are due to the Directors of the British Museum, who have
+allowed their printers, the University Press, Oxford, to supply electros
+of some exceptional objects now in the Museum; also to the Director of
+the Victoria and Albert Museum, at South Kensington; and the Director
+of the London Museum, now located at Stafford House.
+
+Dr. Hoyle, the Director of the National Museum of Wales, at Cardiff, has
+most kindly had specially prepared for this work quite a number of
+photographs of very uncommon household curios. The Curator of the Hull
+Museum has loaned blocks, and photographs have been sent by Messrs. Egan
+and Co., Ltd., of Cork; Mr. Wayte, of Edenbridge; and Mr. Phillips, of
+the Manor House, Hitchin. To Mr. Evans, of Nailsea Court, Somerset, I am
+indebted for the loan of his unrivalled collection of ancient
+nutcrackers, some of which have been sketched for reproduction. I have
+also made use of examples in the collections of private friends, and
+illustrated some of my own household curios, many of them family relics.
+
+The story of domestic curios is made the more useful by these
+illustrations, and also by references to well-known collections. There
+is much to admire in the once common objects of the home, now curios,
+and it is in the hope that some may be led to appreciate more the
+antiques with which they are familiar that these pages have been penned.
+If that is achieved my object will have been accomplished.
+
+FRED. W. BURGESS.
+
+LONDON, 1914.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+                                                                    PAGE
+PREFACE                                                                7
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+THE LOVE OF THE ANTIQUE                                               19
+
+    No place like home--Curios in the making--The influence of
+    prevailing styles--A cultivated taste.
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+THE INGLE SIDE                                                        33
+
+    Fire-making appliances--Tinder boxes--The fireplace--Andirons and
+    fire-dogs--Sussex backs--Fireirons and fenders--Trivets and
+    stools--Bellows.
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+THE LIGHTS OF FORMER DAYS                                             59
+
+    Rushlights and holders--Candles, moulds, and boxes--Snuffers, trays,
+    and extinguishers--Oil lamps--Lanterns.
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+TABLE APPOINTMENTS                                                    77
+
+    Cutlery: Knives, forks, and spoons--Salt cellars--Cruet
+    stands--Punch and toddy--Porringers and cups--Trays and
+    waiters--The tea table--Cream jugs--Sugar tongs and
+    nippers--Caddies--Cupids--Nutcrackers--Turned woodware.
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+THE KITCHEN                                                          121
+
+    The kitchen grate--Boilers and kettles--Grills and
+    gridirons--Cooking utensils--Warming pans.
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+HOME ORNAMENTS                                                       147
+
+    Mantelpiece ornaments--Vases--Derbyshire Spars--Jade or spleen
+    stone--Wood carvings--Old gilt.
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+GLASS AND ENAMELS                                                    173
+
+    Waterford, Bristol, and Nailsea--Ornaments of glass--Enamels on
+    metal.
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+LEATHER AND HORN                                                     185
+
+    Spanish leather--Cuir boulli work--Tapestry and upholstery--Leather
+    bottles and drinking vessels--Leather curios--Shoes--Horn work.
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+THE TOILET TABLE                                                     199
+
+    The table and its secrets--Combs--Patch boxes--Enamelled
+    objects--Perfume boxes and holders--Dressing
+    cases--Scratchbacks--Toilet chatelaines--Locks of hair--Jewel
+    cabinets.
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+THE OLD WORKBOX                                                      223
+
+    Spinning wheels--Materials and work--Little
+    accessories--Cutlery--Quaint woodwork--The needlewoman--Old
+    samplers.
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+THE LIBRARY                                                          251
+
+    From cover to cover--Old scrap books--Almanacs--The writing table.
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+THE SMOKER'S CABINET                                                 269
+
+    Old pipes--Pipe racks--Tobacco boxes--Smokers' tongs and
+    stoppers--Snuff boxes and rasps.
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+LOVE TOKENS AND LUCKY EMBLEMS                                        281
+
+    Amulets--Horse trappings--Emblems of luck--Love spoons--Glass
+    curios.
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+THE MARKING OF TIME                                                  295
+
+    Clocks--Watches--Watch keys--Watch stands.
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS                                                  309
+
+    Early examples--Whistles and pipes--Violins and harps.
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+PLAY AND SPORT                                                       319
+
+    Dolls--Toys--Old games--Outdoor amusements--Relics of sport.
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+MISCELLANEOUS                                                        337
+
+    Dower chests--Medicine chests--Old lacquer--The tool chest--Egyptian
+    curios--Ancient spectacles--Curious chinaware--Garden curios--The
+    mounting of curios--Obsolete household names.
+
+
+INDEX                                                                357
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+FIG.
+
+1. OLD FIREPLACE, SHOWING SUSSEX BACK, ANDIRONS, AND TRIVET  _Frontispiece_
+
+                                                                    PAGE
+
+2. ANDIRONS WITH RATCHETS                                             27
+
+3. ORNAMENTED CRESSET DOGS                                            27
+
+4. TELESCOPIC RUSH AND CANDLE HOLDER                                  27
+
+5. RATCHET RUSH AND CANDLE HOLDER                                     27
+
+6. ANCIENT ROMAN FIRE-DOG                                             37
+
+7. SUSSEX GRATE BACK, DATED 1588                                      37
+
+8. THREE SINGLE DOGS OR ANDIRONS                                      45
+
+9. PAIR OF DATED SUSSEX ANDIRONS (1625)                               45
+
+10. PAIR OF SUSSEX ANDIRONS                                           45
+
+11. SUSSEX BACK WITH ROYAL EMBLEMS                                    51
+
+12. SUSSEX BACK WITH ARMS AND ROYAL INITIALS                          51
+
+13. FINE CARVED WALNUT WOOD BELLOWS                                   55
+
+14. THREE RUSHLIGHT HOLDERS                                           63
+
+15. THREE VARIETIES OF OLD OIL LAMPS                                  63
+
+16. TWO WALNUT WOOD FLOOR-CANDLESTICKS                                69
+
+17. FINE PAIR OF ANCIENT SNUFFERS                                     73
+
+18. HANDSOMELY DECORATED KNIFE CASE AND CONTENTS                      81
+
+19. KNIFE, FORK, AND SPOON                                            87
+
+20. PAIR OF DECORATED SPOONS                                          93
+
+21. TWO WOODEN CUPS                                                  101
+
+22. WOODEN FLAGON, WITH COPPER BANDS                                 101
+
+23. A COCOANUT CUP (SILVER-MOUNTED)                                  101
+
+24. A COCOANUT CUP (SILVER-MOUNTED)                                  101
+
+25. COCOANUT FLAGON                                                  101
+
+26. EARLY ENGLISH BRONZE EWER                                        109
+
+27. INSCRIBED SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY WOOD DRINKING CUP                  115
+
+28-30. EARLY CARVED WOOD NUTCRACKERS                                 115
+
+31-34. MEDIÆVAL WOOD NUTCRACKERS                                     119
+
+35-39. EARLY STEEL AND BRASS NUTCRACKERS                             119
+
+40. TWO ANTIQUE WARMING PANS                                         124
+
+41. WELSH KITCHEN FIREPLACE                                          124
+
+42. MECHANICAL ROASTING JACKS                                        127
+
+43-46. GRIDIRONS SHOWING FOREIGN INFLUENCE IN DESIGN                 131
+
+47 AND 48. TWO WOODEN FOOD BOXES                                     135
+
+49. A COLLECTION OF IRON FAT BOATS AND GREASE PANS                   135
+
+50. WOODEN COFFEE CRUSHERS AND PESTLES AND MORTAR                    139
+
+51. APPLE SCOOPS OF BONE                                             139
+
+52. WOODEN PIGGINS AND PORRIDGE BOWL                                 143
+
+53. WOODEN PLATTER, BOWL, AND SPOONS                                 143
+
+54. BRASS CHIMNEY ORNAMENT (ONE OF A PAIR)                           151
+
+55. BLACK AND GOLD DERBYSHIRE MARBLE VASE                            155
+
+56. TEMPLE GUARDIAN, CARVED FROM THE GNARLED ROOT OF A TREE          159
+
+57. CARVED PLAQUE STAND                                              163
+
+58 AND 59. MINIATURE COPPER AND SILVER KETTLES                       167
+
+60. MINIATURE IVORY COFFEE BOILER                                    167
+
+61. TWO OLD-GILT JEWELLED ORNAMENTS                                  167
+
+62. THREE FINE OLD IVORIES                                           171
+
+63. BATTERSEA ENAMELS                                                179
+
+64. ANTIQUE DRESSING OR TOILET GLASS                                 202
+
+65. THREE OLD SCRATCHBACKS                                           209
+
+66. SILVER CHATELAINE TOILET INSTRUMENTS                             209
+
+67. ANOTHER CHATELAINE SET                                           209
+
+68. FINE ORIENTAL LACQUERED BOX                                      217
+
+69. SMALL LACQUER CABINET                                            217
+
+70. A PAGODA-SHAPED CASKET                                           217
+
+71. DECORATED JEWEL CASE                                             217
+
+72. OLD SPINNING WHEEL                                               227
+
+73. SPINNING WHEEL                                                   233
+
+74. OLD LACE BOBBINS                                                 233
+
+75. OLD PIN POPPETS AND ANCIENT PINS                                 237
+
+76. THREE OLD WORKBOXES                                              243
+
+77. OLD WORKBOX FITTINGS                                             247
+
+78. ANCIENT CLOG ALMANAC                                             257
+
+79. OLD COIN TESTER                                                  265
+
+80. MINIATURE SOUVENIR ALMANAC                                       265
+
+81. ANCIENT WRITING SET                                              265
+
+82. THREE CURIOUS PIPE-STOPPERS                                      275
+
+83. BRASS TOBACCO BOX                                                275
+
+84. COLLECTION OF HARNESS AMULETS AND TEAM BELLS                     285
+
+85. OLD WELSH LOVE SPOONS                                            291
+
+86. FINE GOTHIC FRENCH CLOCK                                         299
+
+87. SPECIMENS OF OLD WATCH KEYS                                      303
+
+88. TWO ANTIQUE WATCH CASES                                          303
+
+89. OLD SPINET                                                       315
+
+90. CURIOUS TYPES OF WHISTLES                                        323
+
+91. QUAINT OLD TOY                                                   323
+
+92. A POWDER TESTER                                                  335
+
+93. A PRIMING FLASK                                                  335
+
+94. OLD POWDER FLASKS                                                343
+
+
+
+
+I
+
+THE LOVE OF THE ANTIQUE
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+THE LOVE OF THE ANTIQUE
+
+     No place like home--Curios in the making--The influence of
+     prevailing styles--A cultivated taste.
+
+
+There is an inborn love of the antique in most men, although some are
+fond of asserting that their interests are bound up in the modern, and
+that they have no time to devote to the study of the antiquities of past
+ages or the things that were fashionable in times long past. Yet most
+people, when their secret longings are analysed, are found to have an
+admiration for the old; if not a superstitious veneration, at any rate a
+desire to perpetuate the memory of their ancestors and to keep in mind
+the things with which they were familiar. The wealthy man of to-day, who
+may have sprung from the people, secretly, if not openly, endeavours to
+surround himself with household gods which tell of a longer past and a
+closer relationship with the well-to-do than he can legitimately claim.
+In the pursuit of such things many a man has found his hobby; and there
+are few men who do not find recreation and delight in a hobby of some
+kind. Such interests outside their regular occupations broaden their
+outlook and widen their knowledge. Some hobbies tend to lead to
+specialization, and the specialist is apt to become warped and narrowed;
+not so, however, the collector of household curios.
+
+
+No Place Like Home.
+
+It would be difficult to find greater delight than that which centres in
+those things that concern the home and home life. The love of the old
+homestead and the goods and chattels it contains is ingrained in the
+breast of every Britisher; and although families become scattered and
+some of their members find homes of their own beyond the seas, they find
+the greatest delight in the objects with which they were familiar in
+years gone by, and venerate the relics of former generations--the
+household gods which have been handed on from father to son.
+
+It is not the intrinsic value of the household curio that is its chief
+charm; it is rather the knowledge that its long association with those
+who have claimed its ownership from the time when it was "new" has made
+it truly a family relic. These thoughts, being so deeply rooted in the
+minds of most men and women, foster the love of household curios and
+intensify the interest shown in their possession.
+
+To all it is not given to own family relics; neither would they serve to
+satiate the ambition of the true collector, although they might form the
+nucleus of his collection. He seeks other treasures in the town and in
+the country and wherever such things are offered for sale.
+
+
+Curios in the Making.
+
+The domestic habits of the people of this and other civilized countries
+have been the outcome of a slow process of upbuilding. There has been no
+sudden change; in all grades and under every different social condition,
+at every period, the improvement of the furnishings of the home has been
+one of gradual and, for the most part, steady progress.
+
+There was a time when, beyond the bare furniture, tapestry hangings,
+tools of the craftsmen, and weapons of the warrior, there were few
+household goods of a portable nature. In mediæval England the oak chest
+was sufficient to contain the valuables of a large household; and very
+often beyond a cabinet or sideboard or corner cupboard there were few
+receptacles where anything of value could be safeguarded. The dower
+chest, in which the bride brought to her husband household linen and her
+stock of clothing, and in the wooden compartment in one corner of the
+chest her jewels and coin of the realm--if she possessed any--was then a
+prominent piece of furniture. The oak chest, rendered formidable with
+its massive lock and bolts, opened with a ponderous key, was the chosen
+receptacle in after-years as a treasure chest, and regarded as the
+safest place in which to keep valuable documents and other property. In
+the Public Record Office may be seen the old iron box in which the
+Domesday Book was kept for many centuries. The old City Companies have
+their treasure chests still; and boxes studded over with iron nails and
+fitted with large hasps and locks are pointed out in many old houses as
+passports to family standing.
+
+The household curios which a collector seeks include objects of utility
+and ornament. Many of them are associated with household work, and quite
+a number of one-time kitchen and culinary utensils, as well as those
+which were once cherished in the best parlour or withdrawing-room, are
+found places among such curios. During the last few years domestic
+architecture has passed through several stages of advancement. The stiff
+and formal Georgian houses, the painful Victorian villas, and some of
+the earlier attempts at architectural improvement have been swept away
+to make room for modern replicas of still older styles which have been
+revived or incorporated in the _nouvre_ art, which touches the home in
+its architecture and internal decoration, as well as in its furnishings.
+In modern dwellings the Elizabethan style has often been followed,
+although modern conveniences have been incorporated. When furnishing
+such houses with suitable replicas of the antique the householders of
+the last quarter of a century have been unconsciously, perhaps,
+fostering the love of household antiques and providing fitting homes for
+their family curios.
+
+
+The Day of the Curio Hunter.
+
+This is admittedly the day of curio hunting, and those who specialize on
+household curios have exceptional opportunities of displaying them to
+better advantage than those who cared for such things in the past.
+Perhaps it is because there were so few opportunities of arranging and
+displaying household antiques during the last three-quarters of the
+nineteenth century that many objects now treasured have been preserved
+so fresh and kept in such excellent condition. The housewives of the
+past generation were undoubtedly conservative in their retention of old
+household goods, and it is to their careful preservation that so many
+objects of interest, although perhaps fully a century old, come to the
+collector in such perfect condition.
+
+The patient labour expended by the amateur artist, the needleworker, and
+the connoisseur of home art a generation or two ago has provided the
+collector to-day with an exceptionally interesting class of curio, for
+there is much to admire in amateur craftsmanship, and especially in the
+handiwork of the needlewoman and the weaver and decorator of so many
+beautiful textiles which have been preserved to us. Sentiment was strong
+in the early nineteenth century, and among the love tokens of that day,
+chiefly the work of amateurs, some very beautiful and unique curios were
+produced. These, too, have come down to the collector of the twentieth
+century, and help him to secure specimens representing every decade, so
+that in a large collection, carefully selected, the slow and yet sure
+progress made in the fine arts, and the improvement in the ornamental
+surroundings in the home, is made clear. In each one of the different
+groups into which household curios may be divided there are many
+distinctive objects, all of which are in themselves interesting, but
+when viewed in association with other things which have been used at
+contemporary periods, or associated with the home life of persons
+similarly situated, but dwelling in different localities, are doubly
+interesting.
+
+
+The Influence of Prevailing Styles.
+
+In determining the origin of curios, and defining the periods during
+which they have been made, it is useful to have at least a little
+knowledge of the influence or character of the prevailing styles in the
+countries of origin. French art has exercised a great influence upon the
+productions of other nations; it has also been moulded by the curios and
+other articles of foreign origin then being sold in France. Regal and
+political influence have left their mark upon almost every period of
+French art, and have had much to do with the contemporary art of other
+nations, for France was for centuries a guide in most of the fine arts,
+and especially in those things which tended towards decorative effect.
+The furniture of France may be said to be an exponent of the country's
+history, so great has been the connection between French art, controlled
+by passing events, and its commercial products. It is said that the
+State pageants of the Louis XIV period tended to raise the tone of the
+work of French artisans and to encourage artists. That was a period of
+great development, for in the year 1670 the famous tapestry factories
+sprang into existence; and it must be admitted that the designing of
+those wonderful textiles influenced the manufacturers of furniture and
+smaller objects both in France and in other countries.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 2.--ANDIRONS WITH RATCHETS.
+
+FIG. 3.--ORNAMENTED CRESSET DOGS.
+
+FIG. 4.--TELESCOPIC RUSH AND CANDLE HOLDER.
+
+FIG. 5.--RATCHET RUSH AND CANDLE HOLDER.]
+
+Sir Christopher Wren is reputed to have been carried away by the
+influence of the Louis XIV art. It was in that King's reign, too, that
+Charles Boule perfected his veneers of tortoiseshell and fine brass
+work. Buhl cabinets, fancy boxes, and many smaller objects found their
+way into this country, and are now household curios. When Philip of
+Orleans was Regent of France Boule introduced vermilion and gold-leaf as
+the groundwork upon which to throw up the beauty of tortoiseshell, and
+his designs became lavishly extravagant. Of these there are some
+beautiful examples extant; one, a facsimile of a bureau made in Paris in
+1769, so elaborate that its cost was reputed to have been about £20,000,
+is to be seen in the Wallace Collection at Hertford House. In the reign
+of Louis XV great encouragement was given to the importation of lacquer
+work from China, influencing the creation of similar works in France;
+and it was owing to his support that the Vernis Martin enamels or
+varnishes were produced. Then came those beautiful paintings of
+landscapes with which so many of the rarer household curios dating from
+that period were ornamented.
+
+The French style came over the Channel. Thus it was that French
+influence, as shown in its art in which its political history was
+reflected, permeated into the workshops of England. Then came the
+popularity of the designs of the Adam Brothers and Sheraton. During the
+Revolution in France art was at a standstill, but as soon as Napoleon
+had established his Empire artistic France began again, and we see its
+influence in the Empire ornament of furniture and curios. Perhaps one of
+the most striking instances of change in style was that in our own
+country when the Prince of Orange came over and William and Mary were
+crowned King and Queen. Dutch influence on the art of Great Britain was
+immediately seen, and in the curios of that period there is a remarkable
+difference between those produced at that time, when Englishmen were
+content to allow the art of another nation to dominate their work, and
+those of an earlier date. Dutch marquetry is seen in cabinets and
+smaller household antiques in the manufacture of which panels were
+applicable. There was a change in design about the year 1695, just after
+Mary died, the characteristic seaweed following the floral, as if the
+very flowers had been banished after the Queen's death. The influence of
+the King and of his successors was very noticeable in the style and
+decoration of household goods; the history of this country at that time,
+just as the history of France had been, was reflected in the art of its
+craftsmen.
+
+
+A Cultivated Taste.
+
+The love of the antique is regarded by some as a cultivated taste. The
+specialization upon any one branch of household curios may justly be
+regarded as such, but surely not the regard, almost reverence, for
+family relics, although they are but the common things of everyday life!
+Their collection stimulates the connoisseur, and encourages him to fresh
+exertions, and in that sense the habit of keeping a keen look out for
+anything that may illumine previous researches or add greater lustre to
+those things already secured, is gradually cultivated.
+
+Household curios are not unassociated with the folklore of the district
+where such objects have been made, or were commonly in use; and the very
+names of many things, the uses of which are almost forgotten, are
+suggestive of former occupations and older methods of practising
+household economy and the preparation of food. It is common knowledge
+that the purest old English is met with in the dialects of the
+countryside, and oftentimes once household words, now lost in modern
+speech, are found again when the old names or original purposes of the
+curios remaining to us are discovered. The cultivation of a taste for
+gathering together household antiques is much to be desired, and in the
+pursuit of such knowledge there is great pleasure--and as the value of
+genuine antiques is ever rising, some profit, too.
+
+
+
+
+II
+
+THE INGLE SIDE
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+THE INGLE SIDE
+
+     Fire-making appliances--Tinder boxes--The fireplace--Andirons
+     and fire-dogs--Sussex backs--Fireirons and fenders--Trivets and
+     stools--Bellows.
+
+
+In winter the ingle side, or its equivalent in a modern house, appears
+to be the chief centre of attraction. It was ever so; and to-day the
+lessened necessity for crowding round the fire and sitting in the ingle
+nook, owing to modern methods of distributing the heat, in no way
+lessens the attraction which draws an Englishman to the fire. In the
+United States of America stoves of various kinds are deemed good
+substitutes, but in this country the open fire is preferred, and modern
+scientific research aims at perfecting and improving existing accepted
+methods of heating and warming rooms rather than of displacing them.
+
+In the days when the earliest collectable curios of the ingle side were
+being made by the village smith, and the local sculptor and mason were
+preparing the chimney corner and the mantelpiece to surround the
+fireplace, it was in front of the great open fire in the kitchen,
+before which the large joints were roasted, that the retainers of the
+baron and the landowner or lord of the manor assembled on winter nights.
+It was around the fire which crackled on the hearth in the great hall
+that the more favoured ones forgathered, and in the lesser homestead the
+family drew up their chairs and found seats in the ingle nook, near the
+fire, when snow was upon the ground, and frost and cold draughts made
+them shiver in the houseplace.
+
+The fireplace has its attractions still, and builders and architects
+have designed many cosy corners within reach of the fire. The
+furnishings of the hearth have become more decorative as times have
+become more luxurious and art has gained the ascendant; and sometimes
+their greater ornament has been at the sacrifice of utility, but the
+root principles of construction as seen in the older grates and fire
+appointments remain.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 6.--ANCIENT ROMAN FIRE-DOG.
+
+(_In the National Museum at Naples._)]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 7.--SUSSEX GRATE BACK, DATED 1588.]
+
+
+Fire-making Appliances.
+
+It seems natural to inquire into the origin of the need of a fireplace,
+and to do so we must go back to prehistoric times and trace the
+discovery of fire-making apparatus, for without the means of lighting a
+fire it is obvious that the grate would be useless. With the fire came
+artificial light, the two great discoveries being perfected side by
+side, sometimes the one gaining ground, at others the one that had
+fallen behind shooting ahead as the result of some great discovery, or
+the application of scientific principles not deemed of utility to the
+one or the other as the case might be. The fire-making appliances
+which were in use for the purpose of lighting fires were of course used
+long before any scheme of artificial lighting--apart from the flames and
+radiance from the fire. Professor Flinders Petrie, that great
+investigator into the antiquities of the Ancients, tells us that
+fire-making by friction has been found to exist in far-off times. It
+would appear that the discovery of how to produce fire has been
+accomplished independently by men living under very different conditions
+and at all ages. The fire-making of the Ancients has been rediscovered
+by primitive people in more recent days, although it is probable that
+native races who until recently have been living apart from the great
+world outside have moved slowly in their march of civilization, and have
+been using the same methods as those first tried by their ancestors ages
+ago. In the unrivalled collection of appliances got together by
+Professor Petrie, there are fire drills from the Transvaal, bow drills
+used by the Esquimaux, and fire ploughs from North Queensland. Lighting
+fires must have been a slow and difficult task in the days when tinder
+boxes were in request, for when Curfew rang and the _couvre de feu_ had
+done its work there was no fire in which to thrust the torch, and the
+entire process had to be gone over again when the fire had once more to
+be kindled.
+
+
+Tinder Boxes.
+
+The tinder box, formerly a real necessary, was to be found in every
+house, and in many instances, in the days before lucifer matches, it was
+a desirable pocket companion. Tinder boxes were made of different
+materials; some were of wood, others of iron or brass. They lent
+themselves to ornamentation: thus some were engraved and quite artistic;
+many of the more recent ones were made of tin, and on the covers were
+decorative little scenes. The contents of the tinder boxes were of
+course flint and steel and tinder (something very inflammable, such as
+scorched linen), with a damper for extinguishing the smouldering fire
+after a light had been obtained, or in later days by the sulphur-tipped
+match applied to it. Among the varieties are what are termed pistol
+tinder boxes, instruments which contained a small charge of gunpowder,
+which, when fired, lighted the tinder. Tinder pouches or purses
+containing flint and tinder having a piece of steel riveted on to the
+edge of the purse or pouch were a common form. Those brought over from
+Central Asia were frequently decorated with dragons and the swastika
+symbol, in damascened work.
+
+Many inventions were put forward by chemists before the perfecting of
+the common match, the wax vesta, and the fusee. One of these was Berry's
+apparatus, which he devised in the beginning of the nineteenth century,
+calling it a "contrivance for lighting lamps in the dark." It consisted
+of an acid bottle with a string by which a conical stopper could be
+raised, and a chlorate match held against the stopper became ignited.
+
+Match boxes are collectable, and collectors of fire-making and lighting
+contrivances often include a few old matches. The lucifer match
+consisted of sticks tipped with potassium chlorate and sugar, held
+together with gum, igniting when touched with concentrated sulphuric
+acid. They were invented in 1805, and by the year 1820 had quite taken
+the place of tinder boxes. Various lighting pastes were used, until the
+improvements which resulted in the "safety" matches. The dangerous
+sulphur and white phosphorus have given place in modern match-making to
+sesqui-sulphate mixtures; and wax vestas and other "strikers" have
+superseded the curious objects the collector meets with.
+
+
+The Fireplace.
+
+In studying the curios of the fireplace, it is scarcely necessary to go
+back beyond the grates and fire appointments which may be seen in the
+old houses standing to-day. Even during the last generation or two there
+have been many changes, and in rebuilding and refurnishing the
+antiquities of the fireplace have in many instances been swept away.
+During more recent days, however, there has been a greater appreciation
+of the curio value of mantelpieces and old grates, and it is no uncommon
+thing for hundreds and even thousands of pounds to be paid for rare
+specimens.
+
+In some instances the fireplace may truly be said to have been the
+central attraction, for the old grates and mantelpieces have often
+realized as much as the whole of the remainder of the materials secured
+when an old house has been pulled down. Some of these mantelpieces of
+olden time were magnificent memorials of the sculptor's and the carver's
+art. They included overmantels, the entire breastwork of the chimney
+often being covered with stone or marble or black oak, right up to the
+ceiling or the cornice.
+
+The open hearth was the earlier form of fireplace, and long before
+chimneys were built logs of wood burned on it, and in still earlier
+times in a basket or brazier, the smoke finding its way to the roof, the
+rafters of which soon became blackened. Chimneys, however, are of early
+date, and the household curios of the fireplace have almost entirely
+been used under such conditions of fuel consumption, the up-draught of
+the chimney carrying away the smoke and harmful gases. The firebacks and
+the andirons, and later the fire-dogs, of the open fireplaces are
+collectable curios of considerable interest, and the hobby may be
+indulged in at a moderate cost. The collection of mantelpieces may be
+left to the wealthy and to those who have baronial halls in which to
+refix them. Fig. 1 represents an old fireplace in a panelled oak room
+with a Tudor ceiling. There is a Sussex back of rather small size, and a
+pair of andirons, on which a log of wood is shown reposing. An old
+saucepan has been reared up in the corner, and there is a trivet on the
+hearth. There is a very remarkable group of cresset dogs shown in Fig.
+2. One pair of dogs or andirons has ratchets on which supplementary bars
+were placed. These show an early advance from the simple andiron, and
+point to the later developments of the fire-grate with the fast bars
+which were to come. In the same group two rush-holders or candlesticks
+are shown, one with a ratchet, the other adjusted on a simple rod, the
+socket being held in place by a spring (see Figs. 4 and 5).
+
+As time went on and change of fuel came about, the forests of England
+being gradually consumed on the domestic hearth, coal was substituted
+for the fast-vanishing wood. Then it was that a change was needed, and
+instead of the open fireplace and the andirons on which the logs of wood
+had formerly been laid, iron baskets or grates in which coal could be
+placed were made, so that the scattering of fuel and cinders on the open
+hearth could be prevented. Sussex backs gave place in time to the grate
+in which a metal back was frequently incorporated, flanked by the dogs
+in front. Then came the closed-in grates and the hob-registers of the
+eighteenth century, many being designed after the beautiful
+ornamentation produced by the Adam Brothers; also the decorative metal
+work enriched with ormolu and brass, which in due course again gave way
+to the plain and oftentimes ugly register grates of the Victorian Age,
+which in more modern times have been displaced by the reproductions of
+the antique, and by well-grates and scientifically constructed stoves
+and heating radiators by which heat can be conserved, the draught of the
+fire and the chimney regulated, and the coal burned more economically on
+slow-combustion and semi-slow-combustion principles. Science has taught
+builders and others how to radiate the heat, and prevent that waste
+which formerly went up the chimney, so that the necessity to sit round
+the fire is not as great as it once was, and rooms large and small are
+more evenly heated. The fireplace has once more become a thing of
+beauty, and all its appointments are rendered harmonious with the
+furnishings of the home, whether they are modern replicas of the
+homesteads of earlier periods or constructed according to the newer art
+of the present day.
+
+
+Andirons and Fire-dogs.
+
+The brazier on a piece of stone in the centre of the room served well
+when charcoal was plentiful, and although the smoke ascended amidst the
+rafters the heat spread and there was plenty of room for many persons to
+assemble "around" the fire. With chimneys built at the side of the house
+for convenience, the timber was laid upon the hearth flag. Under the
+conditions that appertained when great open chimneys allowed the rain
+and snow to fall upon the fire or on the logs laid ready for the
+burning, the difficulties of lighting a fire were experienced. Then the
+local smith came to the aid of the "domestic" or serf, and hammered into
+shape what were termed andirons, their use making it easier to light the
+logs, giving a current of air under them, causing them to burn brighter.
+The andirons were afterwards called fire-dogs, and in course of time
+bars rested on hooks or ratchets, or were laid across the dogs.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 8.--THREE SINGLE DOGS OR ANDIRONS.]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 9.--PAIR OF DATED SUSSEX ANDIRONS (1625).
+
+FIG. 10.--PAIR OF SUSSEX ANDIRONS.
+
+(_In the collection of Mr. Wayte, of Edenbridge._)]
+
+There are no records of the earliest inventors of andirons or dogs. It
+is quite clear that small fire-dogs were in use in Rome at an early
+period; the one illustrated in Fig. 6, measuring 6¾ in. in height, of
+artistic form, two draped figures being the supports of the arch, is in
+the National Museum in Naples, where there are many other beautiful
+examples of early Roman metal work. In the seventeenth century some of
+the more elaborate ornamental cast brass fire-dogs were enriched with
+black and white or blue and white enamel, several varieties of fireside
+ornaments being decorated in the same way.
+
+Enamel thus applied to metal is exceptionally valuable, as much as two
+hundred guineas being paid for an enamelled pair of fire-dogs. It is the
+ordinary forms of cast or wrought dogs with which collectors are mostly
+familiar, especially those made in the famous Sussex ironfields, such as
+those shown in Figs. 8, 9, and 10, which are of early date, the pair
+illustrated in Fig. 9 being dated 1625, the others probably
+contemporary. Single examples of similar designs are shown in Fig. 8.
+The need of the metal furnishings of the hearth--as the chimney places
+of the smaller manor houses and the dwellings of the traders were being
+erected--caused an impetus to the trade of the ironfounder and smith,
+and the founders and smiths of the Sussex villages came to the aid of
+the builder. There are dated examples from the sixteenth century
+onwards, recording the periods when these interesting souvenirs of
+domestic building and the great Sussex ironfields--now deserted--were in
+operation.
+
+
+Sussex Backs.
+
+There is a peculiar attraction about the castings made in Sussex in the
+days when the foundries of that county were in full work, and many
+villages were filled with busy pattern-makers, moulders, and founders
+carrying on a thriving industry in districts which have now been given
+up to the plough; for the Sussex ironfields have been abandoned, as when
+the timber of the district was consumed it was impossible to work the
+forges economically, for coal was far distant and transport costs
+prohibitive. The old grate backs for which the Sussex foundries were
+famous in the seventeenth century were often modelled on Dutch designs,
+and some showed German characteristics. There are many noted English
+designs, too, mostly taking the forms of coats of arms and the shields
+and crests of the landlords for whom the stove-plates were made, some
+becoming "stock" patterns and often duplicated. There is quite a fine
+collection of these grate backs in several museums, and some good
+examples can still be bought from dealers whose agents secure them from
+time to time when property is being rebuilt. In the Victoria and Albert
+Museum there is a long oblong plate on which is cast the arms of Browne
+of Brenchley, in Kent, probably made in the second half of the
+seventeenth century. There are others with cherubs and curious
+supporters of shields of arms. A still earlier piece, probably cast
+about the year 1600, is an oblong Sussex back deeply recessed, on which
+is the arms of John Blount, Earl of Devonshire, another bearing the
+Royal arms of the Tudor period. In Hampton Court Palace there are some
+especially fine grate backs, mostly bearing the Royal arms. At a little
+earlier period the cast grate backs were chiefly plain with isolated
+crests or designs scattered over the surface, often quite irregularly.
+
+The three fine examples of Sussex backs illustrated are typical of
+popular styles. Fig. 11 shows the Royal lion of England, accompanied by
+the emblems appearing on the Royal arms in the seventeenth century; the
+Tudor rose crowned, the Scottish thistle, and the French fleur-de-lis
+indicative of the throne of France to which English sovereigns then laid
+some claim. The date of this fine back is 1649. Fig. 7 is of an earlier
+period, being dated 1588, beneath which are the initials "I.F.C." There
+are also roses and fleurs-de-lis, as well as anchors and other emblems.
+The back shown in Fig. 12 has for its design the Royal arms surrounded
+by the Garter, and the initials "C.R.," a design which was duplicated
+very extensively soon after the Restoration. It will be noticed that the
+Royal arms formed the design of the Sussex back shown in position in
+Fig. 1. Some of the German and Dutch designs are very curious, many of
+them representing scriptural subjects, like Moses and the brazen
+serpent; the death of Absalom; the temptation of Joseph; and the
+often-repeated story of the Garden of Eden.
+
+In the American museums there are some very interesting examples of
+foundry work; some of the cast backs, evidently modelled on German or
+Dutch designs, take the form of stove-plates, including both front and
+side plates, mostly bearing dates in the middle of the eighteenth
+century. Pennsylvania was the chief district in which these plates were
+made, some being cast by William Siegel, who went to America from
+Germany in 1758, and erected what was known as the Berkshire furnace. A
+curious early stove-plate in an American collection, dated 1736, has
+upon it a scene known as "the dance after the wedding." It is said to
+have been used in the front of what was known as the German wall-warming
+stove.
+
+In form the Sussex shape is usually rectangular--that is, wider than its
+height. It would appear as if the back was at first moulded from a
+wooden plate, the crest, initials, or design being then impressed by
+movable moulds or stamps, generally of wood. These were irregularly
+placed, consequently crowns, roses, crosses, family badges, and all
+kinds of emblems were dotted promiscuously over the plate. Some of the
+plain plates with cable-twist borders were probably used as hearthstones
+and not as backs. The styles which were gradually developed were chiefly
+on the same lines as those which became popular in France. Their use
+lingered long in that country for until recently in many an old family
+mansion might have been seen a _plaque de cheminée_, on which was the
+coat of arms and supporters of the original owner of the château, and
+sometimes of the kings of France. The Sussex ironfounders worked chiefly
+at Cowden, Hawkhurst, and Lamberhurst, and there were forges at
+Cranbrook, Coudhurst, Tonbridge, and Biddenden. The principal
+ironmasters of Kent were the Knights and the Tichbornes, whose
+descendants became baronets.
+
+    "Life is not as idle ore,
+    But iron dug from central gloom,
+    And heated hot with burning fears,
+    And dipped in baths of hissing tears,
+    And battered with the shocks of doom
+    To shape and use."
+
+                        TENNYSON, _In Memoriam_.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 11.--SUSSEX BACK WITH ROYAL EMBLEMS.]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 12.--SUSSEX BACK WITH ARMS AND ROYAL INITIALS.
+
+(_In the collection of Mr. Wayte, of Edenbridge._)]
+
+
+Fireirons and Fenders.
+
+Fire brasses or fireirons came into vogue with grates, although the sets
+now regarded as old fire brasses, some of which are very elaborate and
+massive, made at the beginning of the nineteenth century, were first
+used when fenders came into vogue; instead of being reared up alongside
+the fire-dogs in the chimney corner they rested on the fenders. There is
+not much to distinguish the variations in fireirons except the obvious
+indications of older workmanship and design, when contrasted with modern
+"irons." The shovel pans gave the artist in metal some opportunity for
+showing his skill in design and perforated work. It is probable that the
+earliest form of shovel was that known as the "slide," its use being to
+shovel up the ashes of a wood fire, an operation necessary more
+frequently then than in modern days when coal has been the principal
+fuel consumed. Some of the older specimens are dated, and bear the
+owner's initials; thus one authentic specimen from Shopnoller, in the
+Quantock Hills, is engraved, "I T. 1784." Many of the Dutch metal
+workers produced very beautiful and decorative stands on which miniature
+sets of rich brasses were hung; some of the old English fireside stands
+were arranged as receptacles for tongs, shovel, and brush, and now and
+then the baluster stem supported by a tripod base had a central
+attachment from which a toddy kettle could be slung. The brass toddy
+kettle formerly stood upon the hob of the grate, singing merrily, always
+ready for the cup of tea which "cheers but not inebriates," or, as was
+frequently the case, for the preparation of hot toddy or spirit.
+
+The evolution of the fender forms a pleasing story in connection with
+the ingle side. Perhaps the earlier form likely to interest collectors
+of household curios is that made of perforated brass, often some 8 in.
+or 10 in. in depth. These fenders standing on claw feet were afterwards
+fitted with bottom plates of iron, on which was a ridge or rest against
+which the fire brasses were prevented from slipping. Then came iron or
+steel scroll-shaped fenders, tapering down from a few inches in height
+at the ends to centres almost level with the ground. To obviate the
+inconvenience of there being no resting-place for the fireirons loose
+supports were fitted into sockets at the ends, and these afterwards were
+cast as part of the scroll. Then came the stiff and formal early
+Victorian metal work--iron fenders with steel tops relieved occasionally
+by ormolu ornament. These in their turn gave way to fender kerbs of
+metal, stone, marble, or tiles, and loose ornamented fire-dogs which
+have in more recent times served as rests for the fire brasses.
+
+
+Trivets and Stools.
+
+Combination appliances were early adopted, although we are apt at times
+to associate combined utensils with modern innovations. The old English
+trivet of wrought iron made in the eighteenth century was frequently
+"improved" by the addition of a toasting fork, which could be adjusted
+and set at certain angles so that the toast could be left in front of
+the fire for a few moments until it was quite ready to be taken off and
+put on a plate standing conveniently on the trivet until the dish or
+rack of toast was complete. (Some scarce trivets are illustrated in
+"Chats on Old Copper and Brass.")
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 13.--FINE CARVED WALNUT WOOD BELLOWS.
+
+(_In the Victoria and Albert Museum._)]
+
+
+Bellows.
+
+The Germans were noted for the manufacture of decorative bellows cut and
+carved in quaint designs, some of the finest examples being made in the
+seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Others were made in Holland, some
+of the Dutch bellows being inlaid with mother-o'-pearl. There are also
+examples of old English carving, the style of the ornament taking the
+form of the designs on contemporary oak furniture. Some of the largest
+and handsomest bellows of English make are of late seventeenth-century
+workmanship. The example illustrated in Fig. 13 is a magnificent
+specimen, now in the Victoria and Albert Museum at South Kensington.
+
+
+
+
+III
+
+THE LIGHTS OF FORMER DAYS
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+THE LIGHTS OF FORMER DAYS
+
+     Rushlights and holders--Candles, moulds, and boxes--Snuffers,
+     trays, and extinguishers--Oil lamps--Lanterns.
+
+
+Household lighting has been one continuous effort to render the hours of
+darkness bright, and to provide by artificial means a luminosity which
+would, if not actually rivalling the sun, enable men to carry on their
+usual avocations with the same ease, convenience, and comfort after
+daylight had disappeared as during the earlier portion of the day. Every
+stage which has been advanced in artificial lighting has been welcomed
+in the home just as much as in the factory and in the workshop, for
+there are many daily duties as well as pleasures and amusements which
+are carried out much more satisfactorily when a good light is available
+than when there are shadows and dark corners only dimly lighted.
+
+To realize what artificial lighting was in the days now happily long
+past, it would be necessary to visit some old-world village, if one
+could be found, where there had been no attempt at street lighting, and
+in which not even oil had penetrated. The candles of very early times
+did not give more than a dim glimmer, and the darkness of mediæval
+England can be imagined from the primitive lighting appliances which are
+preserved. Fortunately the entire story of lighting as science came to
+the aid of trader and householder is revealed in the lights of former
+days, which as time went on became more varied and numerous, found in
+collections of well-authenticated specimens. The suggested caution
+implied is not unnecessary, for the periods overlap, and there is but
+little to show when such things as lamps and lanterns were actually
+made.
+
+
+Rushlights and Holders.
+
+In tracing the development of lighting from quite homely beginnings,
+rushlights, prepared by the cottager and the farm hand for the winter
+supply, seem to come first on the list. Rushlights, however, were used
+in this country by many until comparatively recent times side by side
+with lights much more advanced. But centuries earlier than we have any
+record of artificial lighting in this country, and equally as long
+before any of the earliest British curios of lighting were used,
+lighting engineers, if we may so call them, in Greece, Rome, Egypt, and
+still earlier in other Eastern countries, were far advanced. None of the
+lighting schemes of the Ancients, however, produced much more than the
+dim light of the swinging lamp in which oil was consumed.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 14.--THREE RUSHLIGHT HOLDERS.
+
+(_In the National Museum of Wales, Cardiff._)]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 15.--THREE VARIETIES OF OLD OIL LAMPS.]
+
+To range side by side a number of rushlight holders taken from districts
+widely apart, it becomes evident that there was a striking similarity
+between the earlier types. The smiths everywhere seem to have
+fashioned a simple contrivance by which the rushlight or early candle
+could be held upright, and then, to give the "stick" solidity, the iron
+shaft was fastened securely into a wooden block, which was very often
+quite out of proportion to the size and weight of the stand, and
+apparently unnecessarily large and heavy. In the larger examples the
+holder is often made to slide upon an upright rod so as to be useful at
+different heights. The sliding rod was needed, for the light so dim
+could only be of real service when quite close to the person using it,
+or to the work it was intended to illumine (see Figs. 4 and 5).
+
+Although some of the more elaborate and advanced holders were of copper
+or brass, most of them were of iron, the work of local smiths, few of
+whom made any attempt to decorate what they evidently regarded as
+strictly utilitarian articles (see Fig. 14). Although rushlights
+antedated candles, some of the holders were made to answer a dual
+purpose, and on the same stem or slide as the rushlight holder there was
+a candle socket, an important feature fully exemplified in Figs. 4 and
+5.
+
+
+Candles, Moulds, and Boxes.
+
+The collector of household curios does not trouble about the candles;
+his object is to secure a few candle moulds, candle boxes, and, of
+course, candlesticks. It may, however, be convenient here to refer to
+the moulding of candles which was at one time a domestic duty just as it
+had been to collect rushes and after they were dried dip them in fat,
+and to make lights which would burn with more or less steadiness.
+
+The candles were made from various fats, much of which was accumulated
+in the kitchen during the processes of cooking, supplemented by other
+ingredients deemed best for the purpose. The candle moulds or tubes in
+which wicks were inserted were of varying capacities and ranged from two
+to a dozen or more. The moulds were dipped in troughs of fat, having
+been heated sufficiently to melt the fat. The process was by no means
+new, in that it was used in this country by the Saxons; and at a still
+earlier period candles were made by the Romans, for among the sundry
+objects picked up among the uncovered ruins of Herculaneum have been
+small pieces of candle ends.
+
+There was but little advance in the art of candle-making, for the
+candle, briefly described as a rod of solidified tallow or wax
+surrounding a wick, remained almost unimproved until the eighteenth
+century, when spermaceti was introduced, and in more recent years
+paraffin has been substituted.
+
+Candles were hung up by their wicks in bunches until required for use,
+but those needed for immediate supply were always kept in candle boxes.
+It is these boxes of copper, brass, and tin which are sought after. The
+decorated japanned tin boxes are very pleasing, and some of the best,
+ornamented after the "Chinese style" or painted with little scenes, and
+rich in gold ornament, especially those made with other japanned wares
+at Pontypool in South Wales, are desirable acquisitions.
+
+Of the varieties of candlesticks there is no end. The two great
+divisions are the pillar or table candlesticks, and the chamber
+candlesticks. The first named are chiefly seen with a small socket and
+flange to catch the running tallow, the last mentioned have larger
+dishes which catch the drips from candles which are being carried about.
+Among the varieties are the earliest form of pricket candlestick on
+which the candle was "stuck," the bell candlesticks, and the
+candlesticks which were fixed on brackets against the wall. As time went
+on varied materials were introduced, and ornament was chiefly in accord
+with prevailing styles, which influenced the maker of candlesticks as
+all other metal work. Iron, copper, brass, pewter, silver, and Britannia
+metal and wood have been used, and many of the handsomest chandeliers
+and brackets are those made of lustres and cut glass. The large
+chandeliers hung a century or two ago at great expense in the centre of
+large rooms have frequently been retained, and gas and electric light
+have been introduced instead of candles. In Fig. 16 we illustrate two
+exceedingly well-preserved old walnut floor-candlesticks, with brass
+sconces. They come from the Sister Isle, where there are still curios to
+be met with.
+
+
+Snuffers, Trays, and Extinguishers.
+
+There were difficulties to contend with in the use of candles, chiefly
+on account of the irregular burning of candles when exposed to the
+slightest draught, and to the imperfect combustion, which left a charred
+piece of wick which it was necessary to remove to make the candle burn
+once more. Then, again, the extinction of a burning candle involved some
+skill, and instruments were devised to effect this without causing
+unpleasant odours or smoke to arise. Previous to the use of lanterns out
+of doors, and oftentimes when halls and corridors were imperfectly
+lighted, torches thrust into the open fire and thus lighted were used.
+Extinguishers of iron were frequently erected near an outside door, or
+added to the iron railings outside the house. These were for the purpose
+of extinguishing links--many such are to be seen still outside old
+London houses. They were the prototypes from which originated the
+ordinary form of chamber candle extinguisher, frequently fastened to the
+"stick" by a chain.
+
+The extinguishers used in the early days of candles are known now as
+snuffer-extinguishers, to distinguish them from snuffers (the old name
+was _doubters_). In form they were not unlike scissors; the two circular
+metal plates of which they were formed closed in and compressed the
+wick, thereby extinguishing the light. The earlier snuffers had very
+large boxes, and some were remarkably handsome, an exceptionally fine
+example being shown in Fig. 17. They were discovered in an old house at
+Corton, in Dorset, in 1768, and were described by a writer towards the
+close of the eighteenth century thus: "They are of brass and weigh about
+6 ounces. Their construction consists of two equilateral cavities, by
+the edges of which the snuff is cut off and received into the cavity
+from which it is not got out without much trouble." Snuffers of iron,
+and later of steel, are the commoner forms, but they are frequently
+of brass and of silver and Sheffield plate.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 16.--TWO WALNUT WOOD FLOOR-CANDLESTICKS.
+
+(_In the collection of W. Egan & Sons, Ltd., of Cork._)]
+
+The need of some convenient tray or receptacle for the snuffers, not
+always over-clean when they had been used a few times, was met at first
+by what are known as snuffer stands made of wrought metal, and often
+very ornamental. Then came the oblong tray of convenient shape,
+following in its decoration and ornament prevailing styles in other
+domestic tin or metal work. In this connection it should be pointed out
+that there are many varieties of taper holders and stands used for the
+small wax tapers, then common on the writing table.
+
+
+Oil Lamps.
+
+Although oil had long been a recognized illuminant from which a good
+artificial light could be obtained, it was not until the eighteenth
+century that any marked attempt was made to substitute oil for candles
+in this country. For really beautiful lamps we have to go back to the
+bronze lamps of ancient Greece and Rome, and the terra-cotta lamps of
+the early Christians, many of which were exceedingly interesting.
+Householders in England, and in America, too, preferred the beautiful
+silver candlesticks and those charming and artistic scrolls which once
+decorated the walls of the houses of the well-to-do. There came a time,
+however, when oil lamps were reinstated, and although candles still held
+sway and were difficult to displace, inventors and makers of oil lamps
+began to compete for the lighting industry. The three old lamps now in
+the Cardiff Museum, shown in Fig. 15, must be classed among the commoner
+types of early lamps, once plentiful in farmhouses and cottages.
+
+The lamp used on the table in Victorian days was the moderator lamp, the
+principle of which was a spring forcing the oil up through the
+burner--but such lamps have no claim upon the curio hunter either for
+beauty of form or rarity of material. These lamps, which burned colza or
+seed oil, were superseded in time by paraffin and petroleum lamps. Now
+and then some wonderful invention flashed across the scene, but although
+various modern improved burners have come and gone, the lamp, excepting
+for purposes of ornament and decorative effect, has given way to coal
+gas and, in more modern times, to electric lighting. There are few
+household curios of any value associated with oil lighting, and as yet
+gas is too new!
+
+
+Lanterns.
+
+The portable lantern made of iron and tin and glazed with horn was long
+an indispensable feature in every household. Horn lanterns were carried
+about everywhere in the days before street lighting was general, and to
+some extent they are needed in country districts to-day. There is a
+remarkable similarity between the modern glass lanterns of circular type
+and the old watchman's lanterns of a couple of centuries ago. The same
+design seems to have served the purpose through many generations, and to
+have been duplicated again and again. Among the ancient lanterns are
+some in which candles have been burned, and others where the candle
+socket has been utilized for the insertion of a socket oil lamp. In more
+modern times the horn has given place to glass. The carriage lamps of
+former days served their purposes well, and although some are certainly
+antique, they are by no means desirable curios. The light they gave when
+driving through a country lane was indeed a dim flicker compared with
+the powerful arcs of the modern motor-car.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 17.--FINE PAIR OF ANCIENT SNUFFERS.]
+
+The beacon fire is no longer seen on housetops, neither is the lantern
+in the yard and the vestibule furnished with a candle; but curiously
+enough, even in the most modern appointed houses, so great is the love
+for the antique in the furnishings of to-day, that beautifully modelled
+little replicas of the old horn lanterns are hung in entrance halls and
+passages--but instead of the candle there is the electric bulb!
+
+
+
+
+IV
+
+TABLE APPOINTMENTS
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+TABLE APPOINTMENTS
+
+     Cutlery: Knives, forks, and spoons--Salt cellars--Cruet
+     stands--Punch and toddy--Porringers and cups--Trays and
+     waiters--The tea table--Cream jugs--Sugar tongs and
+     nippers--Caddies--Cupids--Nutcrackers--Turned woodware.
+
+
+It is very difficult to realize in these days of refinement and of
+comparative luxury, even in the homes of the working classes, what the
+table appointments must have been in early English homes. Sometimes
+glowing accounts are given of the feasting of olden time; but no doubt
+many of the great occasions contrasted in their luxurious magnificence
+with the usual mode of living. They were, however, the days of feeding
+rather than of refinement in partaking of the sumptuous feast. The table
+appointments on such occasions were crude and simple, and they were
+altogether absent from the tables of the lower classes. It is difficult,
+indeed, to realize that the conditions under which people lived in
+mediæval England, in the days when the baron and his followers assembled
+in the great hall, and with his chosen companions sat above the salt,
+satisfied men of wealth; it was, however, in accord with the spirit of
+the age.
+
+The primitive methods of serving up food and eating it observed by the
+majority of people then would be looked upon with disgust nowadays by
+every one. The table appointments were not only very few, but those
+which were used, like the knife and spoon, were often brought into the
+feasting hall by those who were to use them. The polished oaken board
+was often laden with rough and readily prepared dishes, the result of
+some fortunate expedition or of a prosperous hunt. The knife was the
+chief implement used until comparatively recent days, for forks are
+quite a modern innovation. The spoon, it is true, goes back to hoary
+antiquity, but in England, even in the Middle Ages, spoons were used
+chiefly for ecclesiastical purposes. In Harrison's _Elizabethan England_
+we read that the times had changed, for instead of "treen platters"
+there were pewter plates, and tin or silver spoons instead of wood.
+
+
+Cutlery: Knives, Forks, and Spoons.
+
+The term "cutlery," derived from _coutellerie_, the French for cutlery,
+had been evolved from _culter_, the Latin for knife. Primarily it
+referred to cutting instruments, and especially to knives, but in a
+general way, when speaking of table cutlery, spoons and forks may
+appropriately be included. Early records referring to cutlery
+indiscriminately use the terms knives and swords; indeed, the arms
+granted to the London Cutlers' Company in the sixteenth year of the
+reign of Edward IV are two swords, crossed; later a crest, consisting
+of an elephant bearing a castle, was added. Homer tells us of knives
+carried at the girdle in his day, and describes them as of triangular
+form. The Anglo-Saxons and the Normans carried about with them met-soex
+or eating knives, but it was not until the end of the fifteenth century
+that knives were used at table, other than those which were carried at
+the girdle, every man using his own cutlery. In England, Sheffield was
+early noted for the manufacture of knives, for Chaucer tells us, "A
+Scheffeld thwitel bare he in his hose." Another form of spelling the
+word which denoted knife was _troytel_, and from these terms is derived
+"whittle." The jack knife came in in the days of James I, after whom it
+was named, the original term being Jacques-te-leg, these knives shutting
+into a groove or handle without spring or lock.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 18.--HANDSOMELY DECORATED KNIFE CASE AND CONTENTS.
+
+(_In the Victoria and Albert Museum._)]
+
+The making of a table knife even in early times necessitated the work of
+many hands, for taking part in its production were the smiths who forged
+it, the bladers who made the blade out of the metal already hammered,
+and the haft-makers. When the knife was complete it was handed to the
+sheath-makers, who fashioned the sheath of leather, and sometimes
+encased it in metal. The host did not provide table cutlery for his
+guests until the reign of Elizabeth. In earlier times it was left to the
+traveller to provide himself with whatever he deemed necessary; thus it
+is recorded that when Henry VI made a tour in the north he carried with
+him knife, fork, and spoon, as it was stated "he scarcely expected to
+find any at the houses of the nobility." From that custom, no doubt,
+arose the common practice of fitting separate sets, and afterwards sets
+for more than one person, in cases, the materials used being for many
+years the beautifully embossed _cuir boulli_ leather work. Queen
+Elizabeth carried her knife and other appointments at her girdle, a
+custom followed by her ladies; although it is said that at the Court of
+the virgin queen it was customary for the gentlemen courtiers to cut up
+the meat on the platters of the fair ones with whom they were dining;
+the ladies at that time being content to prove the truth of the adage,
+"Fingers were made before forks."
+
+Collectors soon realize that there were many forms of knives even
+amongst those specially reserved for table use. Both blades and handles
+have passed through many stages in the gradual evolution from the
+hunting knife to the cutlery on the modern dinner table. The blades have
+been narrow and pointed like daggers, and they have been
+scimitar-shaped, and rounded off at the point. The qualities of the
+material have changed, too, Sheffield cutlers and those of other places
+vying with one another. The cutlery trade has long drifted north,
+although at one time the members of the London Cutlers' Company were
+proud of the quality of their goods, and boasted of their knives being
+"London made, haft and blade." This ancient Guild tried hard to maintain
+their pre-eminence, and in the days of Elizabeth obtained a Charter
+prohibiting all strangers from bringing any knives into England from
+beyond the seas.
+
+The carving knife seems to have had a separate descent from the large
+hunting knives used to cut up barons of beef, roasted oxen, and portions
+which were cut off the joint for each individual or for several persons.
+
+Forks for table use were a much later invention, although there were
+larger meat forks, flesh forks, and heavier iron kitchen appliances (see
+Chapter V).
+
+In very early times small forks, of which there are some in the
+Guildhall Museum dating from Roman and Saxon times, were chiefly used
+for fruit. The use of forks at table, for meat, is attributed to the
+invention of an Italian, and the custom thus started rapidly spread "in
+good society" on the Continent of Europe. Thomas Coryate, a noted
+traveller, is said to have introduced them into Germany, and afterwards
+into England, where their use was at first much ridiculed as effeminate,
+the "fork-carving" traveller being spoken of in contempt.
+
+Forks were in regular use in England early in the sixteenth century.
+Dean Stanley, in his _Memorials of Westminster Abbey_, quotes from the
+Chapter Book of 1554, in which it is stated by Dean Weston (1553-6) that
+the College dinners "became somewhat disorderly, _forks_ and knives were
+tossed freely to and fro." The old table forks were two-pronged, the
+prongs being long and set near together; the steel forks of the early
+nineteenth century were three-pronged, and another prong was added
+later, the latter form being adapted by the makers of silver forks in
+more recent years.
+
+In Fig. 18 is shown a very handsome knife case and its contents, which
+are to be seen in the Victoria and Albert Museum. In Fig. 19 another
+example of a set of knife, fork, and spoon in the same collection is
+illustrated.
+
+The spoon is, like the knife, of great antiquity. It is said to have
+been suggested by shells on the shore, and by the hollow of the hand
+which in the most primitive days was used to drink with. The most
+beautiful old spoons are those made of silver, a magnificent pair being
+shown in Fig. 20. Many such spoons are now almost priceless, especially
+the much-valued Apostle spoons, often given in olden time as christening
+gifts. Silver spoons more correctly belong to antique silver, which
+forms another branch of curio-collecting.
+
+Of spoons there are many made of other materials than silver, some being
+carved in wood (see Chapter XIII), others of ivory, and some of bone.
+Many of the older spoons were made of brass or latten; but when silver
+became popular table spoons of silver were procured whenever it was
+possible to afford them, and a collection including in the varieties the
+Apostle and the seal top, and its various developments from the rat-tail
+to the fiddle, is obtainable. As regarding spoons Westman has written:
+"The spoon is one of the first things wanted when we come into the
+world, and it is one of the last things we part with before we go out."
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 19.--KNIFE, FORK, AND SPOON.
+
+(_In the Victoria and Albert Museum._)]
+
+The collector revels in the beautifully engraved blades of the rarer
+curios; in the handles so varied in their materials and ornament; and in
+the cases in which knives, forks, and spoons have in many instances been
+preserved. From the curios in museums and from family treasures it is
+evident that much of the cutlery has been presented as donations to the
+housekeeping outfit of a newly-married couple, or given as presentation
+sets or pieces on some special occasion; just as cutlery is often chosen
+for presentation purposes to-day.
+
+From the sixteenth century onwards such sets have been made and
+presented. The recently arranged cutlery room in the Victoria and Albert
+Museum at South Kensington, that great art treasure-house of the nation,
+contains an exceptionally representative collection. In some instances
+the examples are only single specimens which may have been presented
+separately, or they may have formed part of a more complete set. There
+are sets of carving knives with long blades, forks with double prongs,
+and broad-pointed flat-bladed servers, many of them etched and engraved
+all over. Even after carvers were regular features on the table the
+small knives and forks were brought by the guests who were bidden to the
+feast, for it must be remembered that it was not until 1670 that Prince
+Rupert brought the first complete set of forks to this country.
+
+In the Victoria and Albert Museum there is a very beautiful little
+knife, the handle of which is delicately carved, the group which
+constitutes the design representing our first parents standing beneath
+the Tree of Knowledge, in the midst of which the wily serpent is
+cunningly concealed.
+
+Another pair consisting of a very handsome knife and fork have handles
+representing animals and grotesque figures. These were the work of Dutch
+artists in the seventeenth century; but curiously enough the quaint
+leather case in which this knife and fork are enclosed was evidently of
+earlier date, for it has upon it "1598." Some of the cases of leather
+made by the _cuir boulli_ process are circular, there being separate
+holes for each of the knives they were intended to contain. Some of the
+knives are very curious, especially those with wooden or horn handles of
+sixteenth and early seventeenth-century make, which have been found in
+considerable numbers in Moorfields and Finsbury, along with sharpening
+steels. The ordinary table knives of a little later date, when they were
+sold in half-dozens and dozens along with two-pronged forks, were
+decorative, their handles being made of materials varying in quality and
+in the excellence of their manufacture. One of the most beautiful sets
+of rare historic value now on view in the Victoria and Albert Museum is
+part of a set of fourteen, the ivory handles being carved to represent
+the kings and queens of England. These rare examples of the English
+cutler's and ivory carver's art, dated 1607, have blades damascened with
+gold. There are knives also with handles of amber, one very remarkable
+set in amber over foil being decorated with the figure of Christ and His
+Apostles on one side of the handles, and on the other side there is the
+Apostles' Creed.
+
+Among other materials used in the manufacture of handles for knives and
+forks, some of the latter having two prongs and others three, chiefly
+made in the eighteenth century, are: Battersea enamel on copper,
+Staffordshire agate ware, Meissen porcelain, Venetian millefiore glass,
+Bow porcelain, jasper, Venetian aventurine glass, enamelled earthenware,
+and Chantilly porcelain. In many instances these handles made of such
+beautiful materials are further decorated by miniature painted scenes
+and floral ornaments. Another favourite material is bone, some of the
+older handles being stained, mostly green, afterwards decorated with
+applied silver in floral and geometrical designs. There are a few
+maple-wood handles of the eighteenth century, and others of stag's horn
+and of shagreen.
+
+The knife box with its divisions, referred to elsewhere, is exemplified
+in many remarkably fine cases to be seen in our museums and in isolated
+specimens in private collections.
+
+The interest in a collection of household utensils is greatly enhanced
+by the halo of romance which surrounds the uses of some of them. This is
+seen and understood by the collector of cutlery perhaps more than of
+anything else, for many old customs have been associated with the giving
+of cutlery, and superstitious beliefs have crept in.
+
+The gift of cutlery at weddings was not always the prosaic thing it is
+nowadays, for the cases and even the knives were often accompanied by
+some sentimental rhyme or poetic inscription. Two knives, apparently the
+gift of bride and bridegroom to one another, now in the British Museum,
+are engraved with separate inscriptions. One reads:--
+
+    "My love is fixt I will not range,
+    I like my choice I will not change";
+
+while on the other is engraved:--
+
+    "Witt, wealth, and beauty all doe well
+    But constant love doth fair excell. 1676."
+
+The early uses of knives in association with religious rites are
+interesting, as, for instance, the golden knife with which the old
+Druids cut the mistletoe with pomp and much mystic ceremony. The early
+Christians made use of the knife and symbolized the cross when feasting;
+indeed, the old country habit--which is now deemed a sign of
+vulgarity--of crossing the knife and fork after dining, took its origin
+in that act of devotion, for together they form the Greek cross.
+Browning refers to the custom when he says:--
+
+    "Knife and fork he never lays
+    Crosswise, to my recollection,
+    As I do in Jesu's praise."
+
+In Russia this custom of the peasantry was deep-rooted; and there they
+were careful to take up the knife and fork and lay them down on the
+plate crossed before commencing their often meagre meal.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 20.--PAIR OF DECORATED SPOONS.
+
+(_In the Victoria and Albert Museum._)]
+
+Strange to say that although knives and forks have been crossed in
+reverence, to cross knives has been deemed unlucky, and to present a
+maiden with a pair of scissors--two crossed blades--has long been held
+by those who believe in such signs as unlucky. To give a knife is to
+"cut luck"--so the legend runs; hence so many when presenting a pocket
+knife will demand a penny (as the smallest coin when silver pennies were
+in circulation) in return. The Rev. Samuel Bishop, M.A., Master of the
+Merchant Taylors' School in 1795, wrote the following lines on the
+subject of presenting a knife to his wife:--
+
+    "A knife, dear girl, cuts love, they say--
+    Mere modish love perhaps it may:
+      For any tool of any kind
+    Can separate what was never join'd."
+
+
+Salt Cellars.
+
+The condiments of the table were usually supplied in separate vessels.
+The use of salt with meat goes back to primitive times, although we have
+few records of the vessels in which it was served. The Arab chief offers
+his guest salt as an act of friendship, and as such it is partaken of.
+The classic Ancients consecrated salt before using it, and the salt
+cellar was placed upon the table together with the first fruits "for the
+gods," those to whom they were offered being generally Hercules or
+Mercury. The Greek salt cellars were shaped like bowls, and as the salt
+became an important feature as a dividing line between rich and poor,
+the size of the cellar grew. To realize the importance of the salt
+cellar in mediæval England, we have only to visit the Tower of London,
+where the great salt cellars of State are kept. The large standing salt
+was the dividing line upon the table. Salt cellars dating from the
+fourteenth century are in existence, and many curiously shaped designs
+intervened before the bell-shaped salts which were fashionable in the
+days of Elizabeth and the trencher salts of Queen Anne and the early
+Georges. Salt cellars with feet came into fashion in the reign of George
+II; then followed many minor changes until the beautifully perforated
+salt cellars with blue liners bearing hall-marks dating from the close
+of the eighteenth century came into vogue. It is from among the Georgian
+table appointments that collectors gather most of their specimens. The
+materials of which these salt cellars were made vary; there are sterling
+silver, antique pewter, and Sheffield plate; and there are salt cellars
+of china and porcelain which may well be included in a collection of
+table curios.
+
+
+Cruet Stands.
+
+The separate bottles or cruets, casters, mustard pots, and very rarely
+salts, were gradually gathered together and placed in a frame which grew
+big in late Georgian and early Victorian days. For convenience the stand
+was placed in the centre of the table, and often made to revolve. Such
+cruets are met with in silver and other metals, also in papier-maché,
+often ornamented with mother-o'-pearl and painted flowers. The greatest
+interest, however, is found in collecting separate bottles, such as
+those charming Bristol glass cruets, ornamented with flowers and
+lettered with the names of their contents, such as "VINEGAR," "SALAD
+OIL," "MUSTARD," "PEPPER."
+
+There is a greater variety of form in the metal cruets and casters,
+which followed the prevailing styles silversmiths were then employing.
+Especially graceful are the old pepperettes and vase-shaped casters. The
+woodturner, too, contributed to the table appointments of the eighteenth
+century, and the carver made some curious and even grotesque figures,
+the heads of which took off, and thus formed pepper casters. One of the
+most noted grotesque sets reminds us of the Toby fill-pot jugs in form,
+a complete set consisting of two salts, two mustards, and two pepper
+pots. Genuine specimens are very difficult to meet with now, although
+those Staffordshire cruets have been reproduced, and are offered either
+singly or in sets; but the difference between the genuine antique and
+the modern replica ought not to deceive even an amateur.
+
+There are varieties of mustard pots, which were in turn round, oval,
+square, hexagonal, and cylindrical, some being like miniature well
+buckets with perforated sides and blue metal liners.
+
+
+Punch and Toddy.
+
+A hundred years ago the punch bowl was inseparable from the convivial
+feast. It was a favourite sideboard ornament, and found in frequent use
+on the dining table, round which smokers and card players drew up and
+filled their glasses with punch and toddy. Ladles were indispensable,
+and were varied in form and in the materials of which they were
+composed. Punch ladles were in earlier days made of cherry-wood, mounted
+with a silver rim and fitted with a long handle, often made of twisted
+horn. The horn, which was somewhat pliable, was secured to the bowl by
+a silver socket. Other ladles were made entirely of silver, some having
+a current coin of the realm, a guinea preferably, fixed in the bottom of
+the bowl--for luck. Some of the ladles were beautifully decorated in
+repousse, others were shaped like sauce boats; there were ladles without
+lips, others deep like the porringers, and yet others were quite round
+like a drinking bowl. Some are family heirlooms, others have been
+purchased in curio shops, and unfortunately during the last few years so
+great has been the demand for them that many modern copies have been
+palmed off as genuine antiques. The hall-mark on the rim is in many
+instances a guarantee of age, although some of the genuine specimens do
+not appear to have been hall-marked at all. The fact that an old coin is
+found fixed within the bowl is no criterion of antiquity, and does not
+always indicate that the punch ladle itself is contemporary with the
+coin, for old coins are common enough and readily fixed in new ladles.
+
+Collectors of old china simply revel in punch bowls. Punch was at the
+height of its popularity when most of the domestic porcelain and
+decorative china, now rare and valuable, was being made. The best known
+potters in Worcester, Derby, Bristol, Liverpool, and the Potteries made
+punch bowls, some ornamented with their characteristic decorations;
+others were specially emblematical, such, for instance, as the bowls
+covered with masonic signs; some were nautical in design, and many were
+enriched with coats of arms and crests. Several of the punch bowls
+belonging to the old City Companies are on view in the Guildhall Museum,
+and isolated specimens are seen to be in other places.
+
+Oriental china was at that time being imported into this country very
+extensively, and some remarkably delicate bowls, contrasting with
+Mason's strong ironstone, are obtainable. These bowls, ladles, and the
+charming little egg-shaped boxes which formerly contained a nutmeg and a
+tiny grater are household table furnishings of exceptional interest. It
+may interest some to learn that punch, which came into vogue in the
+seventeenth century, derived its name from a Hindustani word signifying
+five, indicative of the five ingredients of which it was
+composed--spirit, water, sugar, lemon, and spice.
+
+
+Porringers and Cups.
+
+Although sterling silver and other materials from which drinking vessels
+are usually made have been exhaustively dealt with in other volumes of
+the "Chats" series, as table appointments drinking cups must be referred
+to here. Caudle cups were in use in the sixteenth century, and
+throughout the century that followed they were used along with
+porringers, which differed from them only in that the mouths of the
+porringers were wider and the sides straight. The caudle cup, sometimes
+called a posset cup, is met with both without and with cover, and in
+some instances it is accompanied by a stand or tray. Caudle or posset
+was a drink consisting of milk curdled with wine, and in the days when
+it was drunk few went to bed without a cup of smoking hot posset. Many
+of the early cups were beautifully embossed and florally ornamented,
+although others were quite plain, with the exception of an engraved
+shield, on which was a coat of arms, crest, or monogram. Many of the
+porringers which followed the earlier type were octagonal, and in some
+instances twelve-sided. In the reign of William and Mary the rage for
+Chinese figures and ornaments caused English silversmiths to decorate
+porringers with similar designs. The style which prevailed the longest
+was that known as "Queen Anne," much copied in modern replicas. Very
+pleasing, too, are eighteenth-century miniature porringers.
+
+There is much to please in the work of the silversmith and potter, as
+well as the glass blower, in the cups they fashioned; and the artist
+admires the chased engraving or the rich colouring, and perchance the
+etching and cutting of the cup. Some, however, show preference for the
+earlier cups and drinking vessels of commoner materials, and for those
+eccentricities of the table found in curious hunting cups, vessels which
+had to be emptied at a draught, or to be drunk under the most difficult
+conditions like the puzzle cups of Staffordshire make. The peg tankards
+of ancient date, a very fine example originally belonging to the Abbey
+of Glastonbury, afterwards in the possession of Lord Arundel of Wardour,
+held two quarts, the pegs dividing its contents into half-pints
+according to the Winchester standard. On that remarkable cup the twelve
+Apostles were carved round the sides, and on the lid was the scene at
+the Crucifixion.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 21.--TWO WOODEN CUPS.
+
+FIG. 22.--WOODEN FLAGON, WITH COPPER BANDS.
+
+(_In the National Museum of Wales._)]
+
+[Illustration: FIGS. 23, 24.--COCOANUT CUPS (SILVER-MOUNTED).
+
+FIG. 25.--COCOANUT FLAGON.]
+
+It is said that the pegs were first ordered by Edgar, the Saxon king, to
+prevent excessive drinking, the tankard being passed round, every man
+being expected to drink down to the next peg. Heywood, in his
+_Philocathonista_, says: "Of drinking cups, divers and sundry sorts we
+have, some of elm, some of box, and some of maple and holly." According
+to the quaint spelling of those days there were then in use in Merrie
+England: "Mazers, noqqins, whiskins, piggins, cringes, ale-bowls, wassel
+bowls, tankard and kames from a pottle to a pint and from a pint to a
+gill." The leather cups and tankards or black jacks (see Chapter VIII)
+were mostly used in country places by "shepheards and harvesters." A
+writer in a work published in the early years of the nineteenth century
+says: "Besides metal and wood and pottery we have cups of hornes of
+beasts, of cocker nuts, of goords, of eggs of ostriches, and of the
+shells of divers fishes."
+
+A simple cocoanut, mounted in silver and made into a cup, perhaps a
+century or more ago, is by no means to be despised. Some are beautifully
+polished and ornamented with incised work. Contemporary with the earlier
+specimens are pots made of ostrich eggs, mounted in silver, regarded of
+great value in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Some of the
+university colleges possess fine examples, and there are many in the
+hands of London silversmiths. Figs. 23 and 24 represent two cocoanut
+cups with feet of silver, one engraved with the owner's initials, the
+foot being decorated with bead ornament. Fig. 25 is a cocoanut mounted
+as a flagon with handle of whalebone and rim and foot of silver. The
+use of such cups seems to have been very generally distributed all over
+the world, for there are many South American examples, as well as the
+English varieties. The gourd, too, was used for similar purposes; the
+Mexicans made such bowls and cups, finishing them off with silver mounts
+and sometimes adding silver feet. There are French flasks made of small
+gourds, sometimes scent flasks being made in the same way, not
+infrequently decorated with incised inlays of coloured composition on a
+black ground. Some of the English silversmiths engraved hunting scenes
+on small flasks made of the rind of a gourd, choosing hunting scenes and
+birds and familiar outdoor objects.
+
+In Figs. 21 and 21A are shown two curious old wood drinking cups, and
+Fig. 22 represents a wooden jug bound with copper.
+
+Horn was a favourite material for cups, sometimes surmounted by
+elaborate covers and feet of silver. One of the rarest drinking horns,
+now in Queen's College, Oxford, was presented to the College by the
+Queen of Edward III in 1340. Of later types there are beakers and
+tumbler cups, the latter rounded at the base so that they were easily
+upset, the idea being that they must be emptied at the first draught.
+From these cups sprang the quaint hunting cups in porcelain, modelled in
+the form of a hare's head, or like a fox, some of the scarcest being
+evidently modelled for the fisherman's use, to take the form of a fish's
+head.
+
+The very remarkable drinking cup shown in Fig. 27 is made of walnut;
+the ridges, carved in deep relief, stand out boldly, each one being
+carved, the letters forming a complete metaphor, to which is added the
+name of its original owner, the inscription reading as follows:--
+
+    "TAKE . NOT . FROM . ME .
+    AL . MY . STOR . AXCP . YE .
+    FILL . ME . VEE . SVME . MOR .
+    FOR . AV . TO . BORROV .
+    AND . NEVER . TO . PAY .
+    I . CALL . THAT .
+    FOVLL . PLAY .
+    ION WATSON 1695."
+
+
+Trays and Waiters.
+
+In olden time not very far from the dining table stood the cupboard or
+buffet from which evolved the sideboard. On it were displayed the cups
+and flagons and table appointments not actually in use. It is true the
+servants carried the great dishes from the kitchen, and removed the
+lesser vessels on trays and "waiters," and it is such trays, especially
+those in silver and Sheffield plate used in the last century, which are
+now valuable. The waiter or serving man or woman has been an essential
+feature in domestic service from the earliest times, for the history of
+society invariably records those who wait at table:--
+
+    "The waiters stand in ranks; the yeomen cry
+    'Make room,' as if a duke were passing by."
+                                  SWIFT.
+
+It is an easy remove from the waiter to the tray or vessel on which the
+waiters carried the things they served up to those on whom they waited.
+The name "salver," commonly applied to a tray or waiter, seems to have
+originated from the old custom of tasting meats before they were served,
+to salve or save their employers from harm. Among the more valuable are
+the trays or waiters of silver and Sheffield plate. Trays made of iron
+and japanned after the fashion of Japanese metal lacquer wares, which
+towards the close of the eighteenth century were so largely imported
+into this country, are often neglected, yet many of them are truly
+antiquarian and by no means unlovely.
+
+One of the chief seats of the industry was at Pontypool, but the
+business drifted to Birmingham. It was when the japan wares, so called
+from the attempt of the makers to copy the lacquers of Japan then much
+imported, were being successfully made amidst surroundings then
+exceedingly romantic in the little town singularly situated on a steep
+cliff overhanging the Avon Llwyd, that dealers found trays,
+breadbaskets, snuffer trays, knife trays, caddies, and urns much in
+request. In Bishopsgate Street Without, in London, there is a noted wine
+house known as the "Dirty Dick." This curious title was derived from the
+owner of a famous hardware store who kept it, and was dubbed "Dirty
+Dick" because of his untidy shop. The wild disorder of the establishment
+gave rise to a popular ballad of which the following are two of the
+first lines:--
+
+    "A curious hardware shop in general full
+    Of wares from Birmingham and Pontypool."
+
+In addition to japanned wares there are trays of paper pulp ornamented
+with mother-o'-pearl and richly decorated with gold.
+
+
+The Tea Table.
+
+The modern tea table presents a much less formal array of china and good
+things than that of a generation or two back when high tea was an
+important function, and the good wife of the household loaded her table
+with many substantial dishes. The best china was taken from the
+cupboard, and family heirlooms in silver were arrayed on either side of
+the teapot. Needless to say the teapot was an indispensable adjunct, and
+some of the teapots belonging to the old sets are massive and gorgeous,
+rather than beautiful, although the earlier teapots made in this country
+in the eighteenth century, a time when tea was expensive and a real
+luxury, were quite small.
+
+There are many curiosities, too--such, for instance, as the Chinese
+teapots of the Ming period, when the potters seem to have vied with one
+another in producing grotesque forms, and from china clay fashioned
+objects which typified their mythological beliefs. Some of these teapots
+took the form of curious sea-horses represented as swimming in waves of
+green and amidst seaweed. Some of these fabulous beasts are spotted over
+with splashes of colour, and others have curious twig-like formations
+upon their sides, said to denote pieces of coral and water plants from
+the ocean. The teapot was at one time most frequently filled from the
+pretty little oval copper or brass kettle on the hob, or from a swing
+kettle on a stand on the table. The table kettle was generally heated by
+a spirit lamp which kept the water boiling ready for use. Of later years
+silver table appointments of early eighteenth-century make have become
+very scarce, and the curio value of the larger pieces has steadily
+risen. It would seem as if the maximum figure had been reached for
+silver of that period, for at the sale of the Fitzhenry collection a
+plain kettle and stand, an example of Ambrose Stevenson's work in 1717,
+realized £697.
+
+
+Cream Jugs.
+
+The cream jug included in the tea and coffee sets of silver or metal,
+and in the tea china of which so many beautiful sets are still extant,
+has almost an independent position in connection with table
+appointments, for ever since tea drinking became general it was regarded
+as a necessity, and was made in accord with the then prevailing styles.
+It is almost the commonest collectable antique in this particular group.
+In silver it was always hall-marked, and its date can, therefore, be
+fixed. Briefly outlining the development of its form, it may be
+mentioned that it was quite plain in the reign of Queen Anne, when tea
+drinking came into fashion. When George I came to the throne it was
+widened somewhat and made a little shorter. At that time the silver
+cream jugs were hammered into shape out of a flat sheet, there being no
+seam; after the body was formed a rim was added and a lip put on. There
+was a deeper rim in the reign of George II, and then feet took the place
+of rims.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 26.--EARLY ENGLISH BRONZE EWER.
+
+(_In the British Museum._)]
+
+Gradually Chippendale carving and the shaped legs of the furniture then
+being used were reflected even in the cream jug, the lip in those days
+being hammered out of the body of the vessel with a graceful curve. Rims
+again took the place of feet in the reign of George III, and the tall
+legged cream jug came into vogue. The body was decorated with repousse
+work or engraved, and the shape gradually changed until the familiar
+helmet-shaped cream jug resulted. The helmet cream jugs were beautifully
+engraved with ribbon and wreath decoration, and frequently there was a
+beaded pattern round the rim and the handle. The same styles prevailed
+both in Sheffield plate and in Britannia metal, often misnamed pewter.
+The decoration on the china cream jugs was frequently floral, but in
+those made in the leading potteries there was a distinct following of
+the public style.
+
+
+Sugar Tongs and Nippers.
+
+With the use of lump sugar late in the eighteenth century sugar tongs
+were added to the table appointments, and their decoration and ornament
+usually followed that of teaspoons. They were sometimes engraved with
+the crests or initials of the owners, and occasionally, in the case of
+wedding presents, with the initials of both the master and mistress of
+the household, one being placed inside the sugar tongs and the other on
+the arch outside. In connection with the cutting of lump sugar steel
+sugar nippers were much used in the kitchen before lump sugar was bought
+from the grocer ready cut up. These nippers, some of the earlier ones
+being chased and engraved, have now passed into the region of household
+curios.
+
+
+Caddies.
+
+As the tea table would be incomplete without the beverage brewed from
+tea-leaves it follows as a natural sequence that the housewife has
+always required a storebox for her supply, and in some cases one in
+which she could keep under lock and key more than one variety. When tea
+was first imported into this country it was sent over from China in a
+_kati_, a small wooden box holding about 1-1/3 lb.; hence the name
+passed on to the more elaborate receptacles on the sideboard containing
+the household supply. These boxes were mostly fashioned in accord with
+the furniture, many having the well-known Sheraton shell design on the
+lid, or on the front of the box. Some are square-sided, others tapered,
+generally finished with beautiful little brass caddy balls as feet, and
+often with brass ring handles and ornaments. The inside of the caddy was
+divided into two compartments, usually boxes lined with lead or lead
+paper, and frequently a central compartment for a sugar bowl was added.
+In nearly all the better boxes there was provision for the silver caddy
+spoon with which to apportion the accustomed supply.
+
+
+Chelsea and Bow Cupids.
+
+Those curious little boy figures known as Chelsea and Bow Cupids are for
+the most part classed with ornaments, but they more appropriately
+belong to table appointments, for in olden time when the cloth had been
+removed these curious little figures were placed upon the mahogany or
+oaken board along with the dessert, as if to guard the fruit and the
+wine. The Cupids are garlanded with flowers, baskets of which they have
+in their hands--delightful little figures when genuine antiques. They
+vary in size and are said to have been divided in the past as "small"
+and "large" boys.
+
+
+Nutcrackers.
+
+Many a famous joke has been cracked over the "walnuts and wine." It was
+when the board was cleared of the viands that the nuts and fruit were
+partaken of. The edible nuts mostly favoured before foreign supplies
+came into the market were the hazel, walnut, chestnut, and the famous
+Kent filberts. Although doubtless supplemented by any objects handy, the
+primitive method of cracking nuts with the teeth was generally practised
+by the common people. What more natural than for the early inventor to
+see in the human head the "box" in which to place his mechanical device
+and to give power and leverage by utilizing the legs of the man he had
+carved in wood. In the Middle Ages some remarkable carvings were
+produced, mostly working on the same lines as the earliest forms. In the
+seventeenth century, when metal crackers came into vogue, pressure was
+applied by means of a screw, and the contemporary wood crackers were
+designed on that principle. Afterwards the older type of cracker was
+revived, both in wood and metal; subsequently the simpler form at
+present in use was adopted.
+
+Here and there in museums and among domestic relics odd pairs of these
+old crackers are discovered. The interest in them, however, grows when
+several early examples are placed side by side. There are a few
+instances of specialized collections, and through the courtesy of Mr.
+Charles Evans, of Nailsea Court, who possesses a unique collection of
+all periods, we are able to illustrate a variety of forms. Fig. 31
+represents a very early pair of nutcrackers, probably made in the
+fourteenth century; the one shown in Fig. 34 has the Elizabethan ruff
+round the neck of the carved head; and Figs. 28, 29, and 30 represent
+the screw period, Fig. 28 being an early example. One of the finest
+pieces in the collection is Fig. 29, a cracker in the form of a hooded
+monk; Fig. 30 being a charming bit of wood-carving in walnut wood, a
+somewhat grotesque figure representing an old fiddler. Fig. 33 is a
+curious cracker combining a useful pick almost in the form of the bill
+of a bird, Fig. 32 being of similar date. The next group shows the
+evolution from the metal screw to the more ordinary types, Figs. 36 and
+38 being screw nutcrackers; 35, 37, and 39 being quaint examples of
+early metal nutcrackers modelled on more modern form. Such curios are
+extremely interesting, and whether exhibited as specimens of carving or
+of metal work, or used as table ornaments combining utility and
+antiquarian interest, they are well worth securing.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 27.--INSCRIBED SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY WOOD DRINKING
+CUP.
+
+(_In Taunton Castle Museum._)]
+
+
+[Illustration: FIGS. 28-30.--EARLY CARVED WOOD NUTCRACKERS.
+
+(_In the collection of Mr. Charles Evans, of Nailsea Court._)]
+
+
+Turned Woodware.
+
+Table appointments have afforded amateur wood-turners and carvers
+opportunities of showing their skill. Even before the days of modern
+lathes with eccentric chucks and other improvements, turners were very
+clever in producing little articles for table use, and in their making
+expended a wealth of skill and time. Among these were pepper boxes and
+wooden salt cellars, and carved wooden spoons, especially salad servers,
+which are even still made and delicately carved, the Swiss peasants
+being famous for such work. One of the village occupations during winter
+evenings in years gone by was to make wooden objects, although most of
+their efforts were directed in other ways than table appointments (see
+Chapter XIII, Fig. 85).
+
+
+On the Sideboard.
+
+Not far removed from the dining table is the sideboard or buffet, so
+important a piece of furniture in the dining hall, for on it were
+formerly displayed table appointments and emblems of the feast. The
+urn-shaped knife boxes which were so often placed on either side were
+chiefly of mahogany, sometimes inlaid with satinwood and often with
+those rare shell-like ornaments which became so popular in the days of
+Chippendale and Sheraton. The compartments in which were placed the
+table knives prevented either blades or handles from being rubbed.
+Copper and metal urns were frequently conspicuous on the sideboard,
+although many of the small tables so much treasured now as antiques in
+the drawing-room were originally made for urns to stand upon.
+
+There are many beautiful curios of the home made of wood, among them
+being such rare gems as wood screens and the frames of hand screens,
+some of which screwed on to the ends of the mantelpieces with small
+clamps.
+
+[Illustration: FIGS. 31-34.--MEDIÆVAL WOOD NUTCRACKERS.]
+
+[Illustration: FIGS. 35-39.--EARLY STEEL AND BRASS NUTCRACKERS.
+
+(_In the collection of Mr. Charles Evans, of Nailsea Court._)]
+
+
+
+
+V
+
+THE KITCHEN
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 40.--TWO ANTIQUE WARMING PANS.
+
+(_In the Victoria and Albert Museum._)]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 41.--WELSH KITCHEN FIREPLACE.
+
+(_In the National Museum of Wales._)]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+THE KITCHEN
+
+     The kitchen grate--Boilers and kettles--Grills and
+     gridirons--Cooking utensils--Warming pans.
+
+
+It is in the kitchen and the pantry that domestic economy centres. The
+very essence of home life is found in the preparation of suitable food
+in which to satisfy human appetites. Whether the kitchen is furnished
+with apparatus sufficient to cook for the inmates of a large
+institution, or with the more modest appliances with which a chop or a
+steak can be grilled or a small joint roasted in a gas oven, the basis
+of cooking operations is the same, and the cook requires an outfit of
+culinary utensils small or large, according to what she has been
+accustomed to use or considers necessary for her immediate wants. In
+olden time the kitchen was furnished with fewer accessories in
+proportion to the meat consumed than at the present time, and the large
+hanging caldron and the strong and heavy wrought or cast iron saucepan
+on the fire, and the roasting spit and jack in front of it, went a long
+way towards completing the outfit. The gradual advance and increase in
+the furnishings of the kitchen have been the outcome of development and
+progress in culinary art. Since the introduction of scientific cooking
+and the establishment of schools of cookery, the hired cook and the
+mistress who dons the apron and assumes the role of the economic
+housewife have learned to appreciate the use of modern culinary
+appliances, lighter in weight and convenient to handle. These differ
+according to the purposes for which they are to be used.
+
+Hygienic conditions now regarded as essential have displaced many of the
+older cooking pots which have been condemned as injurious to health.
+Greater knowledge of the chemistry of cooking, and of the action of
+acids upon metals, has enabled the scientific cook to differentiate
+between the pots and pans to use according to the various foods
+prepared. The beautifully finished light, handy, and convenient
+porcelain-enamelled saucepans and stewpans and aluminium cooking pots
+used on modern gas stoves and ranges, would have been just as unsuitable
+on the open fires of the older grates as what are now regarded as the
+curios of the kitchen would be deemed to be in modern culinary
+operations. In almost every house there are to be found obsolete
+utensils, some of which are valued on account of their great age, others
+because of their unusual forms, and some because of the beauty of
+workmanship and the costly materials of which they have been made. It is
+when turning out the kitchen and storeroom on the occasion of periodical
+cleanings that these old-world pots and pans come to light; at such
+times the collector may be able to secure scarce specimens and rescue
+them from oblivion.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 42.--MECHANICAL ROASTING JACKS.
+
+(_In the collection of Mr. Charles Wayte._)]
+
+It is not always easy to realize what the old kitchen was like when
+these vessels were in use, although in out-of-the-way places kitchens
+may occasionally be discovered in which but little change has been made.
+This is especially so in some of the Welsh villages, and in order that
+visitors may see what such kitchens are like a Welsh cottage fireplace
+showing the objects which might commonly have been found there a century
+ago has been reconstructed in the National Museum of Wales. This we are
+able to reproduce in Fig. 41 by the courtesy of the Director. The grate
+came from Llansantffraid, and was made by a local blacksmith; the spit
+and its bearers came from Glamorgan; the brass pot came from Barry, and
+the dog wheel (referred to on p. 130) from Haverfordwest; most of the
+minor accessories came from different parts of North Wales.
+
+
+The Kitchen Grate.
+
+The kitchen grate has evolved from the open fire; at first in the centre
+of the room, then removed for convenience to the side or end in front of
+which joints of meats were roasted on a spit in olden time. The spit, at
+first quite primitive, was improved upon by local smiths, until quite
+intricate arrangements provided the desired revolutions, and turned the
+meat round and round until it was properly cooked. In the thirteenth
+century the "bellows blower" was an officer in the Royal kitchen, his
+duty being to see that the soup on the fire was neither burnt nor
+smoked. In course of time the bellows blower in lesser households became
+a useful kitchen boy, turning the spit by hand. It would seem, however,
+as if in quite early days efforts were made to economize labour in the
+kitchen, and turn the spit by mechanical contrivances.
+
+In roasting meat sliding prongs held the joint in place, a cage or
+basket being used for roasting poultry. This contrivance, first turned
+by hand, was afterwards accelerated and made more regular by the
+mechanical contrivances just referred to. These appear to have been of
+three different types. There was the clock jack, two splendid specimens
+of which are illustrated in Fig. 42, types becoming exceedingly rare.
+Those illustrated were recently in the possession of Mr. Charles Wayte,
+of Edenbridge, an enthusiastic discoverer of antiquarian metal work in
+out-of-the-way places in Sussex and Kent. Earlier still there was the
+smoke jack or rotary fan fixed in the chimney, operated by an
+up-draught, pulleys and cords being attached to the end of the spit. The
+third method referred to involved the shifting of manual labour from man
+to his domestic beast, for the faithful hound was pressed into the
+service of the cook. The dog worked in a cage, operating a wheel or drum
+which in its turn revolved the turnspit. Such turnspits seem to have had
+a lingering existence, and were occasionally heard of in North Wales
+late in the nineteenth century.
+
+[Illustration: GRIDIRONS SHOWING FOREIGN INFLUENCE IN DESIGN: FIG. 43,
+ITALIAN; FIG. 44, FLEMISH; FIG. 45, DUTCH; FIG. 46, GERMAN.]
+
+Roasting before the fire lingered on long after the old-fashioned iron
+jacks and spits had ceased to be the common method of cooking meat. The
+meat hastener and the Dutch oven conserved and radiated the heat, the
+joint turning slowly by the clockwork mechanism of the improved brass
+bottle jack. As the size of the fireplace narrowed and kitchens were
+built smaller roasting in ovens became popular; the cooker of to-day
+with its hot-plates, grills, and steam chests--whether heated by coal,
+gas, or electricity--presents a remarkable contrast to the old open fire
+grate.
+
+It will readily be understood that the necessary basting of meat
+roasting before the fire involved the use of ladles and other utensils
+before the modern cooking appliances were invented. Most of the old
+vessels were strong and lasting, and the materials employed in their
+construction were iron, copper, and brass. In Fig. 49 we show a
+selection of fat boats and hammered iron grease pans (in the centre of
+the plate is an old mothering-iron from Sussex) typical of the vessels
+used in open fire roasting. To these may be added basting spoons and
+skimmers, in many places called "skummers."
+
+
+Boilers and Kettles.
+
+It is probable that the cooking pot over the fire has been used side by
+side with roasting apparatus from the earliest times, although no doubt
+vessels would be required for boiling foods before roasting, in that
+discoveries show that the earliest method of roasting a piece of meat or
+a small animal was to encase it in clay and then expose it to the fire.
+The clay crust could then be broken and would, of course, have been
+destroyed.
+
+No doubt the crock antedated the bronze pot, which was at first made of
+metal plates hammered and beaten into shape, and then riveted together.
+This method was followed by the craft of the founder, who cast vessels
+after the same model first in bronze and then in iron. The cooking pot
+was indispensable when the food of the common people was chiefly such as
+necessitated a vessel containing liquid; the name of this ancient vessel
+has furnished us with many apt quotations, and it is still the pot so
+many find difficult to keep boiling.
+
+There have been many contrivances by which to suspend the pot over the
+fire. Years ago the usual method of suspension was from a beam of wood
+or a bar of iron placed across the chimney opening--the name by which
+the bar was known in the North of England was a "gallybawk." Simple
+contrivances of metal followed, the suspension hooks and chains leading
+to improved cranes with rack and loop handles.
+
+No doubt many have noticed the apparent indiscriminate use of the term
+"kettle"; the tea kettle as we understand it to-day is a modern
+invention. The old kettle was a boiling pot with a bail handle, its
+modern survivor being the three-legged kettle of the gipsies, and the
+boiling pot or fish kettle of the modern household. Associated with the
+early use of tea kettles slung over a fire is the now scarce lazy-back
+or tilter, at one time common in the West of England and in South Wales.
+
+[Illustration: FIGS. 47, 48.--TWO WOODEN FOOD BOXES.
+
+(_In the Cardiff Museum._)]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 49.--A COLLECTION OF IRON FAT BOATS AND GREASE
+PANS.]
+
+In "Chats on Old Copper and Brass" some very interesting illustrations
+of old copper and brass saucepans, skillets, and pipkins are given. The
+skillet has survived for several centuries. Those made in the
+seventeenth century were frequently inscribed with various religious and
+sentimental legends; one in the National Museum of Wales is inscribed
+"LOVE THY NEIGHBOUR." Frying pans have been in common use for a great
+number of years and are still daily requisitioned. Bakestones, on which
+cakes were formerly baked, are, however, becoming obsolete. They were
+called girdle plates in the North of England, and bakestones in Wales
+and elsewhere.
+
+
+Grills and Gridirons.
+
+The gridiron or "griddle" was an appliance used extensively all over the
+Continent of Europe from the sixteenth century onward. In this country
+it was formerly made by the village blacksmith, and, like the iron
+stool, kitchen fender, and other iron and brass kitchen utensils and
+furnishings, was often made quite decorative. It would appear as if the
+smith filled up his spare moments in designing intricate patterns with
+which to decorate the grid. Some of the sixteenth and seventeenth-century
+European gridirons were quite elaborate, serving the double purpose of
+ornament and use, for when finished with for cooking purposes they were
+carefully cleaned and polished and hung up over the kitchen mantelpiece.
+Some of the characteristic types met with are shown in the accompanying
+illustrations. In Fig. 43 is seen the light and lacy Italian style; in
+Fig. 44 the openwork design of the Flemish; a formal Dutch pattern being
+illustrated in Fig. 45; whereas the heavy German floreated type is
+shown in Fig. 46. Contrasting with these Continental types the English
+gridiron was strong and serviceable, and essentially a grid or grill,
+the smith putting his best work in the handle rather than the grid.
+
+
+Cooking Utensils.
+
+Besides pots and pans there are many cooking utensils which may now be
+reckoned among the domestic curios. There are, of course, ewers and
+basins, water-carrying and retaining vessels, and colanders of brass and
+earthenware, strainers and graters which have been used from time to
+time in the kitchen. Sometimes the metal worker appears to have gone out
+of the way to produce curious forms not always the most convenient for
+the purposes for which they were made--such, for instance, as the
+aquamaniles, several of which may be seen in the British Museum (see
+Fig. 26).
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 50.--WOODEN COFFEE CRUSHERS AND PESTLES AND MORTAR.]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 51.--APPLE SCOOPS OF BONE.]
+
+Some of the minor kitchen utensils include flesh hooks and forks and
+carving knives. There are spoons of every kind made in all metals, some
+of the earlier examples being of brass and latten. In this connection
+also may be mentioned ladles, fish slicers, and scoops. There are also
+many curious little pastrycooks' knives, and knives used for cutting
+vegetables and preparing a repast in olden time, many of them quite
+decorative, even the common pastry-wheel frequently being carved. It was
+at one time customary to expend much skill in decorating apple scoops,
+those shown in Fig. 51 being very choice specimens in the National
+Museum of Wales, in Cardiff. The one on the left hand of the picture is
+made of bone, and is inlaid with a small brass name-plate; that on the
+right-hand side is of ivory delicately turned, the scoop being
+exceedingly thin; and those in the centre are all home-made out of the
+metacarpal bones of the sheep, being slightly ornamented with cut
+X-shaped lines and hatchings. In the same museum there are some
+remarkably interesting coffee crushers and mortars and pestles, several
+of these being illustrated in Fig. 50. In Fig. 53 we show a
+representative selection reminiscent of the days when wooden spoons and
+wooden platters were in common use. The trencher takes its name from
+_tranche_, the old name of the platter which replaced the piece of bread
+on which it was formerly customary to serve up meat; like the bread, it
+was at first square. The minor kitchen accessories formerly in constant
+use included many objects of wood, such as the charming little nutmeg
+mills of turned rosewood, some of which are to be seen in the British
+Museum. There are also antique pasteboards and rolling-pins for rolling
+shortbread, pot stirrers of wood, and other utensils such as sand
+glasses.
+
+In Figs. 47 and 48 we illustrate two wooden food boxes, such as were
+formerly used to carry food to men working in the field. They are now
+deposited with other curios in the Cardiff Museum, where also may be
+seen some little wooden piggins, and bowls used for porridge; the piggin
+was an ancient vessel often mentioned in mediæval days (see Fig. 52).
+
+
+Warming Pans.
+
+There are some household appointments which, like some of the brass
+skimmers, platters, engraved foot and hand warmers, chestnut roasters,
+and the like, have always served the double purpose of use and ornament.
+Among these are warming pans which in modern days have been brought out
+of their hiding-places, repolished, and hung up in conspicuous places by
+the fireside. In the Victoria and Albert Museum, as well as some of the
+provincial museums, there are many very fine examples, those having
+dates and names upon them being especially valued. As an instance of an
+exceptional specimen in the Victoria and Albert Museum we may mention
+one on which there is an engraving of reindeer, ducally gorged, the
+inscription upon this pan reading: "THE EARL OF ESSEX. HIS ARMES. 1630."
+Another elaborate warming pan is engraved with figures of a cavalier and
+a lady, richly embellished with peacocks and flowers. The pan is of
+copper, but the handle is of wrought iron with brass ornamental mounts.
+Some pans have wooden handles, either walnut or oak, some of the more
+modern being ebonized (see Fig. 40).
+
+This brief review of kitchen utensils by no means exhausts the varieties
+of old metal work and other curios which may still be found in kitchens.
+There appears to be no end to the minor varieties in form and
+decoration. This is natural when we remember that years ago kitchen
+utensils were not made in quantities after the same pattern as they are
+nowadays. They were the product of the local maker, the smith and the
+village woodworker being frequently called upon to supply new kitchen
+utensils, and it would appear that they did their best to make their
+work successful in that the vessels they fashioned were lasting, and
+during their use contributed in no small degree towards the
+ornamentation of the home.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 52.--WOODEN PIGGINS AND PORRIDGE BOWL.]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 53.--WOODEN PLATTER, BOWL, AND SPOONS.
+
+(_In the National Museum of Wales._)]
+
+
+
+
+VI
+
+HOME ORNAMENTS
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+HOME ORNAMENTS
+
+     Mantelpiece ornaments--Vases--Derbyshire spars--Jade or spleen
+     stone--Wood carvings--Old gilt.
+
+
+We are apt to wonder sometimes what it is that makes the house homelike,
+and why there are such strong attachments to the old home. Surely it is
+the familiar aspect of the furnishings, rather than the bricks and
+mortar, that makes the old home so dear! To the original owners there
+was an individuality about every piece, although to the collector the
+same characteristics of well-known objects tell that in days gone by the
+cabinet-maker followed stereotyped lines, and there were but few who
+moved out of the regular ruts and made distinctive designs in home
+ornaments and sundry furnishings. It is noteworthy, however, that
+however much alike in furniture no two houses were alike in their
+ornamental surroundings. The pictures and portraits on the walls have
+peculiarities recognized and understood by those who have dwelt for many
+years among them. Familiar table appointments, however humble, have a
+homelike look, and there are odd bits of old china in the cabinet and
+silver or pewter on the sideboard which distinguish one house from
+another; and it has ever been so. Chimney ornaments, which may be quite
+commonplace, have well-known characteristics which cannot be duplicated.
+It is undoubtedly among the home ornaments that the tenderest thoughts
+linger, and it is the trinkets of comparatively little value to an
+outsider that members of the family store when the old home is broken
+up. There are such ornaments in every household; and whenever there is a
+sale there are those who gladly buy them because of their associations
+with those by whom they were owned and valued. The collector rarely
+gathers them on sentimental grounds, securing them as curious specimens
+or characteristic styles wanting in his collection. Some specialize on
+old china cups and saucers; others on rare porcelain figures; some on
+the beautiful gilt and ormolu knick-knacks which looked so well on the
+early Victorian drawing-room table, and others prefer odds and ends,
+some of which are mentioned in the following paragraphs. It is, perhaps,
+from the old ornaments of the home that we learn most about the true
+home-life lived in former years. Wood carvers, silversmiths, leather
+workers, glass blowers and potters fashioned their ornamental things
+after the living models they saw about them, in the days in which they
+worked. Thus in the groups of Staffordshire figures, now much sought
+after, we learn something of the story of life in the Potteries in the
+closing years of the nineteenth century. The story is recorded in the
+earthenware "landlord and landlady," "lovers arm in arm," and rustic
+cottages with which collectors are familiar.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 54.--BRASS CHIMNEY ORNAMENT (ONE OF A PAIR).]
+
+
+Mantelpiece Ornaments.
+
+There are many quaint brass chimney ornaments which were popular in many
+parts of England fifty to sixty years ago much sought after nowadays.
+They were of polished brass, usually in pairs, and when several were
+arranged on a mantelpiece they presented a bright array. The one
+illustrated in Fig. 54 is of the type much favoured in country
+districts. It represents a shepherd with his crook, the companion brass
+being a shepherdess. On the sea-coast fishermen were much fancied, and
+in mining districts the miner with his pick and other industrial models
+were extensively sold. These were varied with birds and animals and
+miniature replicas of household furniture. The older ones are not very
+common, and therefore have been much copied, for of these goods there
+are many modern replicas.
+
+
+Vases.
+
+Ornamental vases have varied much in form, until a collection seems to
+cover every style of art. Thus Egyptian and Roman influence is seen in
+some; others of French origin, dating before the Empire period, are a
+combination of French art with Egyptian ornament, brought out during the
+Directoire, when after the Battle of the Pyramids French artists
+introduced the sphinx and other Egyptian ornaments into their art
+designs. During the Empire period, the style that is said to consist of
+a blending of Roman, Greek, and Egyptian prevailed. Many of the
+continental countries have been noted for glass ornaments--especially
+vases. The beautiful Venetian glass is rich in colour, and the vases are
+varied and graceful in form, especially those of ewer-like shape.
+Bohemia has always been a noted centre of the glass industry. Then in
+our own country some beautiful vases have been produced.
+
+There are other materials which are met with in curiously shaped vases.
+At one time the beautiful Derbyshire spars were much used. There are
+biscuit china and Parian vases, and many exquisite vases of silver and
+other metals. Much might be written of the Oriental vases and enamels,
+especially of the artistic treasures of Old Japan and China, from whence
+so much of our early vases and beautiful porcelain came. Of the products
+of Chelsea and Bow, of Coalbrookdale and Derby, and of Bristol and
+Nantgrw, writers and collectors of rare ceramics have had much to record
+of the many-shaped vases with which the homes of the middle classes were
+made beautiful in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. These
+are preserved with care, but many of the vases produced by the pioneers
+of the potting industry in this country serve their original purpose
+still, and glass and china and rare Wedgwood jasper ware ornament the
+home of the twentieth-century reader of the "Chats" series, as they did
+the "withdrawing" rooms of their original owners in the eighteenth
+century.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 55.--BLACK AND GOLD DERBYSHIRE MARBLE VASE.
+
+(_In the Author's collection._)]
+
+
+Derbyshire Spars.
+
+The Derbyshire spars and inlaid marbles just referred to were very
+popular, some exceedingly ornamental and decorative pieces being
+produced. Others were stiff and formal, and can scarcely be regarded as
+beautiful. The variety of marbles quarried in Derbyshire gave the artist
+ample opportunity of displaying taste in colour. The most beautiful are
+those made of fluor-spar, the celebrated Blue John Mine providing the
+most beautiful specimens. The purple shades present delightful tints,
+and some of the old workers in Derbyshire mosaics were exceptionally
+fortunate in their schemes of arrangement of the tiny pieces they inlaid
+so carefully. The marble workers in this country have never been able to
+produce those beautiful effects for which the Florentine school of
+artists was famous, although it has been claimed by some that the
+artists of the Peak produced in their larger works some equally as
+effective. Among old household ornaments small Roman mosaics, so called,
+are often met with. At one time the Florentine artists used gems and
+real stones, whereas the Romans chiefly employed glass. Many will be
+familiar with the Vatican pigeons and the fountain so frequently copied.
+It is said that the Derbyshire workers in mosaic excelled themselves in
+the production of a beautifully inlaid vase covered with flowers,
+foliage, and birds, prepared for the late Queen Victoria, in 1842. Half
+a century ago fancy shops were filled with the products of the
+Derbyshire mines, but most of the best pieces are now among household
+curios. The wide-topped vase shown in Fig. 55 is made from Derbyshire
+black and gold marble, and was produced in Matlock about sixty years
+ago. It may be interesting to collectors to mention that although the
+Romans are believed to have worked the Blue John mines, it was not until
+1770 that the lovely purple spar was rediscovered in the Hope Valley, a
+workman passing through the Winnats being attracted by the pieces of
+spar he saw lying about, eventually bringing them under the notice of
+the owner of a Rotherham marble works. Besides the smaller objects there
+are the larger tables, worked in the same materials, some of which are
+sometimes met with second-hand for quite trifling sums.
+
+
+Jade or Spleen Stone.
+
+Among the rarer curios of the home are those wonderful ornaments cut and
+carved out of jade, a beautiful stone which has been so highly prized by
+the Chinese. Its special value lies in the exquisite tints of the
+different hues. These marvellously varied stones were formerly quarried
+from the Kuen-Kask Valley, where jade or yu-stone runs in
+different-coloured veins through the rocks. It is said that jade in the
+form of spleen stone first came to Europe from America. It is found
+extensively in Mexico, and also in Burma, but the chief interest centres
+in the grotesque and cleverly carved Chinese curios. The beauty and
+value of these pieces lies not so much in their forms as in their
+marvellous tints and the clever way in which the Chinese workmen, in
+fashioning grotesque forms, have cut away practically all the colour
+of certain intruding shades, leaving the figures in some brilliant hue
+of green, red, or pink, standing out upon a base of some other shade.
+The curiously smoked mutton-fat colour is one of the rarest, but to the
+amateur the more transparent and brilliant tints possess the greatest
+beauty.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 56.--TEMPLE GUARDIAN, CARVED FROM THE GNARLED ROOT
+OF A TREE.
+
+(_In the Author's collection._)]
+
+True jade, or nephrite, is a native silicate of calcium and magnesium,
+and does not exhibit either crystalline form or distinct cleavage. In
+addition to the "mutton-fat" shade spoken so highly of there are lovely
+shades in green, emerald, moss, tea and sea green, violet and yellow,
+and white and camphor; but the rarest of all combinations is violet,
+mutton-fat, and emerald green.
+
+
+Wood Carvings.
+
+Many of the more decorative household ornaments are made of wood. To cut
+down a tree or to whittle a stick has been the favourite occupation of
+men of all ages, and the possession of a pocket-knife the ambition of
+the schoolboy from time immemorial. Something to cut keeps him out of
+mischief and calls forth any ingenuity he may have. Some of the most
+wonderful curios have been cut by hand, fashioned with skill. Some are
+remarkably realistic in their forms, faithful copies of living
+originals, or of objects of still greater antiquity with which the wood
+carver has been familiar. Carvers have sometimes allowed themselves to
+run wild in their imaginations as they have cut and shaped a block of
+wood, giving it the most fantastic form, picturing myths and fables in a
+wonderfully realistic way. There seems to be no end to the variety of
+wooden ornament. The carver has found a place in architectural design,
+too, many old houses being enriched with his handiwork. In the days when
+walls were panelled with oak, the carver and the wood worker delighted
+in cutting deep and intricate mouldings and in giving that delightful
+linen fold to the panels which would otherwise have been plain. That was
+the ambition of the household decorator of Elizabethan days. Tudor beams
+were cut and carved and quaint mottoes engraved upon them. The old oak
+settles--sometimes portable, at others fixtures--were carved all over,
+and the fronts of oak chests were often made into pictures of wood. They
+told the tale of the family tree by the coats of arms and the shields
+emblazoned by the cutter of wood, sometimes being enriched with colour;
+at others the picture forms were created by inlaying and superadding
+fretwork. There were intricate carvings of the Sheraton and Chippendale
+periods, and there were the wonderful floral sprays, cherubs, and other
+ornaments so cunningly wrought by Grinling Gibbons and his followers.
+Wooden ornament in those days took the form of over-doors, and wreaths
+running down the lintels; and massive mantelpieces of oak were carved
+deeply. There were vases of wood full of flowers cut from the same
+material standing on wooden pedestals. The floral sprays, it is said,
+were in some cases so delicately cut that they shook like natural
+flowers when any one crossed a room or a post-chaise rumbled along the
+street. Some remarkable picture frames were cut and carved by amateurs,
+corresponding well with the handiwork of the needlewoman they
+enshrined. The cutting and carving of banner screens was a work of art,
+and many times a labour of love.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 57.--CARVED PLAQUE STAND.]
+
+There are quaint relics of other countries in wood carving among the
+curios of the home. Some remarkable pieces of carved cherry-trees have
+been brought over from Japan, the black trunk or root of the tree being
+turned into a grinning demon, similar to the one illustrated in Fig. 56,
+which resembles the "temple guardian." Others have been fashioned like
+ancient idols or apes, many being an intermixture of different-coloured
+woods, varying from almost red-brown to black, throwing up the carving
+in relief. The Oriental was a clever wood carver, and with his primitive
+tools he cut and fashioned a piece of wood according to his own sweet
+will, evolving from it intricate works of art in wood. Perhaps the most
+remarkable examples of the wood-worker's skill are those tiny miniatures
+of which there is such a splendid collection in the British Museum,
+notably the almost microscopic reliquaries. The Japanese and Chinese
+have shown remarkable skill in carvings, and especially in the way they
+have set off china plates and bowls intended as ornamental objects; a
+truly magnificent example of such work is shown in Fig. 57.
+
+
+Old Gilt.
+
+The highly decorative work known as old gilt, very fashionable in the
+early Victorian drawing-room, has quite recently been hunted up, and
+many pieces have been restored to positions of honour. The gilt,
+so-called, was in reality eighteen-carat gold overlaid upon soft brass
+by a process not now practised. Delightfully decorative trinket stands,
+card trays, and little baskets were made in this way; and as they were
+afterwards coated over with a transparent varnish, they have preserved
+their colour; indeed, when found black with age, after carefully washing
+in soap and water, they frequently come out bright and untarnished. Then
+if brushed over with white of egg or some transparent white varnish they
+will keep their colour for many years to come. These decorative
+ornaments, often perforated as well as embossed, were frequently
+enriched with imitation jewels. Those shown in Fig. 61 are typical of
+the style of ornament referred to. Sometimes scent satchets and jewelled
+caskets are found fitted with quaint reels for sewing silk and curious
+needle holders. The more elaborate pieces are often ornamented with
+floral sprays made of porcelain; some of the baskets filled with coral
+and seaweed have curiously made little birds and butterflies, many of
+them being genuine Chelsea. Others are the framework for holding Bow
+figures or painted plaques. This Victorian gilt is at present not
+over-scarce, and as it is not as yet much in demand collectors have an
+exceptional opportunity of securing interesting specimens at moderate
+cost.
+
+
+Old Ivories.
+
+Much might be written about old ivories. Ivory has been a much-valued
+material for ornamental decoration from quite early times. In almost
+every home there are curios and pieces of furniture in which ivory
+has either been overlaid or inserted as panels. At one time it was much
+used for overlays, and in very thin plates made up into all kinds of
+decorative models.
+
+[Illustration: FIGS. 58, 59.--MINIATURE COPPER AND SILVER KETTLES.
+
+FIG. 60.--MINIATURE IVORY COFFEE BOILER.]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 61.--TWO OLD-GILT JEWELLED ORNAMENTS.]
+
+There are carved tusks from Africa and India, and quaint native curios
+made of ivory cunningly wrought. It is from the East that we receive so
+many beautiful curios, and especially so from India, China, and Japan.
+The three remarkably handsome ivories illustrated in Fig. 62 will serve
+to illustrate the beautiful and oftentimes costly curios found in so
+many homes.
+
+
+Miniature Antiques.
+
+Some of the most pleasing little antiques are silver models of
+children's toys. The original models made contemporary with the
+furniture or household gods they purport to represent were frequently
+the gifts of godparents, and many are most elaborate in their designs,
+every detail found in the larger originals being faithfully reproduced.
+Some of these little silver toys, with which probably children were
+seldom allowed to play, represented common objects outside the home,
+such as the dovecote in the garden, the travelling coach with its
+prancing steeds, the pack-horse ascending the slope towards a bridge
+over a stream, in some instances objects of husbandry and agriculture,
+being given to children familiar with the country.
+
+Another favourite type of model curio is found in the remarkably tiny
+objects workmen sometimes prided themselves upon making--such curios,
+for instance, as the silver and copper kettles and coffee pot shown in
+Figs. 58, 59, and 60. The larger specimen (drawn larger than the
+original) was made from a copper farthing, the smaller kettles being
+hammered out of threepenny-pieces; the coffee pot is of ivory--a
+charming model.
+
+There are a few sundries which should not be overlooked when collecting
+curious things reminiscent of home-life as it once was. Among these are
+the glass pictures once so much prized by well-to-do folk, now valued
+only by the collector of such things. These were really "prints from
+prints." The method of their preparation was most inartistic, although
+it was effectual. A piece of glass was coated with varnish, the print
+was then placed upon the varnish, and when dry and quite hard the paper
+was washed off, leaving a "print" upon the prepared surface, which was
+then painted over at the back, the picture thus being made complete.
+
+Much store was formerly set by the little plaques and medallions which,
+with silhouettes, hung upon the walls. Among the gems of such ornaments
+were the exquisite tablets and cameos made by Josiah Wedgwood, whose
+beautiful vases and miniature bottles, as well as tea-sets in the same
+wares, were so much admired.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 62.--THREE FINE OLD IVORIES.]
+
+
+
+
+VII
+
+GLASS AND ENAMELS
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+GLASS AND ENAMELS
+
+     Waterford, Bristol, and Nailsea--Ornaments of glass--Enamels on
+     metal.
+
+
+Glass is used in every home. It is seen in its ornamental forms, and is
+necessary in almost every department. In kitchen and pantry there are
+dishes and tumblers and wine glasses and decanters ready for use. Among
+these there are often found old glasses--that is, glass vessels which
+from their rarity or age have attained a curio value; indeed, many
+housewives are unaware that their kitchen cupboard contains what would
+be valued as interesting specimens gladly purchased by collectors of
+glass. Many of the old tumblers are beautifully engraved, often having
+floral ornament and dainty rustic scenes. They are now and then
+commemorative of events which the glass maker has recorded with his
+graving tool, and sometimes they have been prepared to catch the passing
+fancy. The styles of table glass have changed, and their shapes and
+sizes have altered according to the popular custom of imbibing certain
+liquors.
+
+When punch ceased to be the customary drink, and lesser quantities of
+ale were consumed, punch bowls and tankards were less in request. Their
+places were taken by wine glasses of more delicate forms, and charming
+tallboys and crinkled vessels of glass took the place of the older mugs
+and pewter cups. The glasses used in proffering and drinking toasts have
+changed much during the last century, and the "fiat" glasses of the
+Jacobite period, and those curious glasses with portraits of the Old
+Pretender and the Young Pretender upon them, are curios only, for they
+are no longer needed, neither is the toast of "The King" drunk "over the
+water." Spirit glasses and decanters have altered in form, but among
+those which have survived and are still sound are some rare examples of
+cutting, made in the days when the glass cutter worked with primitive
+tools, and such methods as the sand blast, chemical etching, and some of
+the newer processes were unknown.
+
+
+Waterford, Bristol, and Nailsea.
+
+Among table sundries are glass salts and cruets; the latter, however,
+have been modernized and reduced in size, and the bottles and curiously
+shaped oil and vinegar cruets of a hundred or more years ago look quaint
+when compared with those of the present day. Even the flower vases which
+formerly adorned the table, and the more decorative dishes used for
+fancy sweetmeats and confections, have changed, leaving in the process
+many of the older pieces, relegated to the store-cupboard, where disused
+glass so often remains until in due time it is rescued from oblivion by
+the collector of household curios. Among the eighteenth-century cut
+glass jugs and trifle bowls are many beautiful vessels, for the making
+of which certain districts from time to time became famous. The old
+Waterford glass is especially noteworthy, and as a speculation, apart
+from the interest it possesses for collectors, is worth securing.
+Bristol glass to the uninitiated appears to be a misnomer, in that the
+beautiful white milk-like surface upon which so many exquisite floral
+designs have been painted looks more like egg-shell porcelain, but when
+held up to the light is found to be of glass-like nature, pellucid
+although semi-opaque.
+
+Nailsea glass has many peculiar characteristics about it, notably the
+curiously introduced waved and twisted lines in colours. Many objects
+which were essentially curios, their utilitarian purposes having always
+been secondary, were made at Nailsea. There are gigantic models of
+tobacco pipes, formerly hung up against the walls as ornaments. As
+fitting companions to the pipes were walking-sticks of glass, some very
+remarkable designs which might at one time have been carried by the
+gallants of that day. They were often filled with sweetmeats and
+comfits, ornamented with bows of ribbon, and presented to ladies of
+their choice by devoted swains. A few of those curious sticks or
+shepherd's crooks, as they were called, are to be seen in most
+representative museum collections. The so-called rolling-pins of glass,
+made at Sunderland as well as at Nailsea and Bristol, were known as
+sailors' love tokens, and are referred to more fully in Chapter XIII. In
+the Taunton Castle Museum there are some interesting specimens of old
+glass, notably one of the very rare dark bottle-glass linen smoothers
+which came from South Petherton. Such smoothers were at one time
+favoured in the kitchen laundry in the days when servant-maids excelled
+in getting up linen, and prided themselves on the beautiful gloss they
+were able to impart--in the days before public laundries with their
+modern glossing machines were instituted.
+
+Some of our readers may have seen the curious glass tubes, one yard in
+length, into which ale was poured in the days when it was considered a
+desirable attainment to be able to drink at one draught a "yard of ale."
+
+Of the larger vessels such as wine bottles, the chief collectable
+feature about them is the old glass-bottle-makers' stamps, very
+frequently found on fragments of bottles, such stamps often turning up
+among the oddments of kitchen drawers which have probably been
+undisturbed for many years. To collect bottle stamps is certainly an
+uncommon hobby, but one that is not altogether devoid of interest.
+
+
+Ornaments of Glass.
+
+Of household ornaments in glass there appears to be no end. There are
+the glass Venetian vases and ewers, beautiful and graceful in form,
+richly ornamented in gold; and there are the old English and French
+vases, the colouring of which is not always in accord with modern taste.
+Cut glass, in whatever form it is met with, is appreciated, in that the
+workmanship involving so much studious labour is recognized. Continental
+glass has at all periods been imported into this country, and especially
+so Bohemian glass, of which there are decanters of ruby, claret,
+blue, and other rich colours; some remarkable effects have been produced
+upon red glass by adding tinted colours and white decoration
+interspersed with gold. Glass lustres have acquired an antiquarian
+value, and chandeliers and mantelpiece lustre candlesticks are sought
+after by the collector, who sometimes finds interspersed with cut glass
+lustre pretty coloured china droppers.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 63.--BATTERSEA ENAMELS.]
+
+
+Pictorial Art in Glass.
+
+Stained-glass windows are associated with ecclesiastical edifices. Old
+English houses, however, not infrequently contain armorial panels, coats
+of arms in leaden frames, and curious little pictures in colours which
+can be hung against modern windows where the light will throw up the
+rich colouring of the old-time painters. Little patches of colour, too,
+were often introduced in otherwise plain diamond-shaped lattice panes.
+
+There are glass pictures, so-called, oftentimes consisting of coloured
+prints pasted on one side of the glass, a softened effect being produced
+by the glass through which they were seen; but they must be
+distinguished from the more costly paintings _on_ glass sometimes met
+with.
+
+In many an old house the glass shade with its contents so inartistic,
+although removed from its place of honour on the parlour table, found a
+niche where it is preserved. Under such shades were preserved wool-work
+baskets filled with artificial flowers, among which were often small
+porcelain figures, butterflies and birds. Sometimes a Parian vase has
+been filled with wax flowers, the making of which was a favourite
+pastime half a century ago. The dried plant called "honesty" was
+frequently covered with a glass shade. Glass ships were exceedingly
+popular in seaport towns, and little miniature replicas of household
+furniture in glass are met with; indeed, there seems to have been no
+limit to the fancies and freaks of the glass blower, who has at
+different periods provided the present-day collector with curious, if
+very breakable, curios.
+
+
+Enamels on Metal.
+
+The art of enamelling on metal has been practised from very early times.
+In its earlier forms it was chiefly an art applied to jewellery and the
+ornamentation of ecclesiastical metal work. In time, however, it was
+applied as a convenient method of decorating utilitarian household
+articles such as fire-dogs and candlesticks. Those who frequent the more
+important museums often associate enamels with the costly and rare
+enamels of Limoges, and the choice bits of Italian enamels seen in the
+cases of metals where the most valuable curios are gathered together.
+Such vessels as those marvellous effects produced by the enamellers of
+Limoges are indeed rarely found among household curios; it is well,
+however, to note that the processes by which those effects were produced
+changed as time went on. The earlier translucent enamel of the Italian
+artists was laid over an incised metal ground, the design previously
+prepared showing through. In the later Limoges enamels the surface with
+which the copper base was overlaid was painted, very much in the same
+way as the miniature painters on enamels operated in after-years.
+
+The process of covering metal with enamels made of a species of glass is
+very ancient, but the basis of all enamels is the application of fusible
+colourless silicate or glass in pattern or design, mixed with metallic
+oxides, the prepared surface being afterwards fired until the enamel
+adheres firmly to the copper or other metal. The processes varied, but
+the firing or fusing was the same throughout. The name "enamel" is
+traceable to the French word _enail_ and the Italian _smalto_, both
+having the same root as the Anglo-Saxon word "smelt." The enamels of
+China and Japan so extensively imported into this country of late years
+are chiefly made by filling cloisons or cells formed of fine metal wires
+or plates with coloured enamels and then firing them. As the collector
+advances in his appreciation of the old craftsmen, he soon recognizes
+the difference between the antiques sent over by Oriental merchants and
+the modern works made on present-day commercial lines, and not the work
+of men whose time was deemed of small account if they acquired notoriety
+for the beauty of their work.
+
+The household enamels of English make consist chiefly of those beautiful
+little boxes, trinkets, and domestic objects made at Battersea and
+Bilston in the eighteenth century. The enamels used for the ground were
+tinted rose, blue, and other shades, and ornamented with painted
+pictures and mottoes. A very fine group of Battersea patch boxes is
+shown in Fig. 63.
+
+
+
+
+VIII
+
+LEATHER AND HORN
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+LEATHER AND HORN
+
+     Spanish leather--"Cuir boulli" work--Tapestry and
+     upholstery--Leather bottles and drinking vessels--Leather
+     curios--Shoes--Horn work.
+
+
+That "there is nothing like leather" has been believed by people of all
+ages, and in many countries the general belief has been put into
+practice, for many indeed are the uses to which leather has been put. As
+a lasting material it has been proved to possess excellent qualities.
+The artist, too, has found that leather is capable of being treated so
+as to give the effect of delicate carvings, and to serve well many
+purposes of decoration.
+
+In the East leather was used in patriarchal times, the skins of animals
+making excellent water bottles. In mediæval England leather black jacks,
+cups, and flagons withstood the rough usage of those roisterous times.
+The collector seeks both useful and ornamental, and finds much to
+delight among the old leathern objects hid away as being now quite
+useless or antiquated.
+
+
+Spanish Leather.
+
+As early as the fifteenth century Cordova, in Spain, was celebrated for
+its workers in leather, and for the fine ornamental leather vessels
+produced there. Some of the designs favoured by Spanish craftsmen were
+gruesome in the extreme. Indeed, many were fashioned for the purpose of
+creating fear in the use of the vessels so ornamented.
+
+A few years ago a remarkably fine collection of old Spanish leather work
+was exhibited in London. There were some hideous and grotesque figures,
+which it was said had been designed for the mental torture of the
+victims of the Inquisition. Some of the larger specimens were remarkably
+well executed, especially so some of the wine bottles which imitated
+very realistically the pose of men and women. Some of the female figures
+were represented wearing flowing gowns and costumes of the height of
+fashion--tall and noble women. By way of contrast there were little
+manikin wine jugs of the most grotesque forms.
+
+The Spaniards made leather upholsteries of remarkable designs; they also
+ornamented boxes, trunks, and cases for knives and costly trinkets.
+
+
+"Cuir boulli" Work.
+
+Most of the decorated leather work of that period, examples of which are
+not very difficult to secure, was made by the _cuir boulli_ process. The
+leather, after being boiled down to a pulp and salt and alum added, was
+then moulded to any desired form, the decoration being imparted in the
+process.
+
+The Victoria and Albert Museum is very rich in fine examples, and a
+description of some of the typical pieces there may serve as a guide to
+collectors hopeful of including some objects moulded by this process
+among their household relics.
+
+The work was carried on at Cordova and other places for a long period,
+some of the museum examples dating back to the fifteenth century. There
+are cases for holding what were then rare books and manuscripts, and a
+remarkable scribe's case with a red cover has loops on either side to
+which a cord was attached. The scribe was an important personage in
+commercial and private correspondence in the days when even rudimentary
+education was by no means general.
+
+In the same collection is a leather box for holding a knife and fork; on
+the outer case is a medallion, in the centre of which is a
+representation of the two spies returning from Canaan with a large bunch
+of grapes. There are also cases which have once held wine bottles, some
+ornamented in colours; indeed, the stamped, cut, and embossed designs of
+the _cuir boulli_ work were frequently enriched by the addition of red,
+yellow, and gold.
+
+There are some specially interesting examples of Italian work,
+representing a period covering nearly the whole of the Renaissance. In
+this connection there are pilgrim bottles of yellow glass encased in
+wonderful leather covers, cut and embossed. There are leather snuff
+boxes with trellis-work ornament and scroll borders, one very
+interesting piece being varnished to imitate tortoiseshell. There are
+also some attractive toilet objects, evidently antique presentation
+pieces. One is a most elaborately cut and incised comb case, on the
+exterior of which is the motto or legend: "DE BOEN AMORE." In the same
+collection there is a fine leather case for a cup or tankard. Such cup
+cases are not uncommon, many being the receptacles for treasured
+heirlooms. Perhaps one of the most noted examples of the use of embossed
+and decorative leather work is the ancient case of stamped leather
+intricately foliated, a highly decorative work of art in which is
+enclosed that remarkable goblet of legendary fame known as "The Luck of
+Eden Hall."
+
+
+Tapestry and Upholstery.
+
+Stamped and embossed leather work is very conspicuous in domestic
+upholstery. In very early times the leather work, hung upon the wall in
+panels, took the place of more modern wall-coverings, and it was truly
+lasting. Much of the Cordovan leather is still very fresh in appearance,
+although several centuries old. Some of the panels hanging on the walls
+at South Kensington look remarkably fresh, and, richly decorated in
+colours, many of them are very effective. A special branch of this work
+was that devoted to the decoration of chair backs; stamped leather work
+for upholstery has been used in this country to a large extent, and some
+of the large oak chairs are still upholstered in the original ornamental
+leather produced by boiling the hides by a special process, so that the
+material could be readily moulded. In more modern times, however, the
+decoration is effected by embossing and stamping, supplementing such
+ornament by the use of an immense quantity of small brass nails, which
+are arranged in geometrical patterns or straight lines, oftentimes names
+and dates being included in the design.
+
+In this connection also are screens of painted and gilt leather, chiefly
+of eighteenth-century manufacture. There is a good deal of this leather
+work to be found in old houses still, and much of it is capable of
+improvement by properly cleaning and touching up here and there so as to
+revive the old colours. Here and there hung up as wall decorations may
+be seen leather-covered boxes which were specially made to hold deeds;
+in the older examples there is a large circular piece below the narrow
+box, arranged so that the seal could hang in its proper position from
+the end of the deed; they were, of course, in common use before the days
+of safes and other methods of preserving parchments and property deeds.
+One in the Victoria and Albert Museum is stamped on the exterior with
+the description of the deed it originally contained, the inscription
+commencing thus: "THE GRAUNT OF HEN: THE 5 TO THE ABBOT OF RADING."
+
+
+Chests and Coffers.
+
+Before modern travelling requisites were known and in the days when
+journeys were few, the leather-covered coffer contained the whole
+travelling outfit of perhaps some noble lord and his household. There
+were also large coffers covered with leather used as permanent
+receptacles of clothing, covered with ornamental embossed leather work,
+some very decorative. There were smaller coffers, too; possibly they
+were jewel caskets in their day. There are others which may have been
+presentation cases, for their decoration is especially elaborate. In
+making these continental craftsmen seem to have excelled. In the
+Victoria and Albert Museum there is a curious German casket of wood
+covered with leather, strongly bound with iron, having three immense
+hasps from which locks once hung, altogether too massive for the little
+casket. One would think such precautions were of not much avail against
+theft, for the box itself could be removed readily! There is another
+charming little casket, with a circular or dome-shaped top, decorated
+and banded, a veritable prototype of the tin trunks generally in use a
+quarter of a century ago. There is also a remarkable piece, a wood box
+covered over with leather embossed by the _cuir boulli_ process. The
+chief design takes the form of two armed horsemen, surrounded by
+grotesque ornament on the top, on the sides being hunting scenes,
+episodes of the chase. This curious example of the work of
+seventeenth-century artists in leather measures 16½ in. in length by 12½
+in. in width. Another typical piece, of a highly decorative allegorical
+character, is a rectangular coffret with arched lid, the ornament being
+in colours and gilt. On the front is a knight and a lady, on the lid two
+paladins mounted on griffins, two savages with clubs and shields, and
+two images of the sun, these typifying the story of the delivery of a
+captured lady by a knight.
+
+
+Leather Bottles and Drinking Vessels.
+
+Several interesting specialistic collections of leather bottles and
+drinking vessels have been got together, showing the varied forms of the
+almost imperishable vessels, so suitable as liquor carriers and drinking
+cups in olden time. In the Guildhall Museum are several different types
+of bottles, black jacks, and silver-rimmed cups. Until comparatively
+recent times many old inns were famous for their leather drinking cups,
+but as the coaching days came to an end such vessels were gradually
+dispersed. Now that motor-cars have popularized the road once more, and
+old inns are again frequented, the collector seeks in vain for what were
+once quite common. In another noted collection there is a drinking cup
+or bottle moulded like a negro's head, and there are what are called
+pilgrim bottles, some of which are of ornamental type. The so-called
+pots have sometimes lids and loosely fitting covers; the black jacks,
+however, are chiefly open, ill-shaped vessels. Some of the black jacks
+were very large, one in the Taunton Museum measuring 19 in. in height.
+It was originally used in the servants' hall at Montacute House, which
+is one of the finest old buildings in Somerset. This famous jack was in
+olden time filled with beer every morning and placed on the servants'
+breakfast table. Those smaller cups with silver mounts and shields, on
+which are often engraved crests or initials of their former owners, are
+of the rarer type, but they are not infrequently found among the relics
+of an old family. There is a fine collection in the Hull Museum, and in
+other places where they are found in excellent condition, proving the
+truth of the rhyme published in _Westminster Drollery_ in the
+seventeenth century in praise of the black jack, which runs as
+follows:--
+
+    "No tankard, flagon, bottle, or jug
+    Are half so good, or so well can hold tug;
+    For when they are broken or full of cracks,
+    Then must they fly to the brave black jacks."
+
+
+Leather Curios.
+
+Some very fine pieces of leather work have been modelled as curios and
+ornaments. Some of the most notable are models of old warships and fully
+rigged galleons made of leather. Leather pictures were made some years
+ago; a little later leather modelling of baskets of flowers, and the
+making of picture frames of leather was a popular amusement, some of the
+ornamental brackets made of leather being specially effective. The
+surrounds of picture frames made of leather cut to shape, carved and
+modelled, had a very similar effect to the beautiful carved wood work of
+an earlier period. Some of the powder flasks of leather which were used
+a century or two ago are valued curios, as well as the leather cases
+stamped and embossed so decorative and appropriate to the pistols and
+knives they were made to contain. Of the finer objects there are small
+curios like leather snuff boxes and trinket cases.
+
+Of the more utilitarian leather work there is the wearing apparel of
+former days, the leather clothing of Cromwellian times and the leather
+boots. In the Victoria and Albert Museum there is a remarkably
+interesting case of leather shoes showing the evolution in style and
+appearance. There are some very pointed shoes worn in the fourteenth
+century, a slightly different shape in the fifteenth, both contrasting
+with the change in fashion which had come about in the sixteenth
+century, when the boots were square and some of the shoes very rounded.
+The Wellington boots of a later period are not yet much valued; there
+may come a time, however, when they will be regarded as museum curios.
+Leather gloves date back many centuries, and some of the old specimens
+with gauntlets and decorative cuffs are interesting antiques, as well as
+leather wallets, purses, and girdles.
+
+
+Shoes.
+
+Among sundry Eastern curios quaintly shaped and sometimes beautifully
+embroidered shoes are met with, such as those which have been brought
+over to this country from China and Eastern lands. Most of the shoes
+worn in the East are slipped off easily, and, like Persian and Turkish
+slippers, are made of red leather beautifully embroidered, silk, satin,
+and velvet being overlaid and embroidered with silver and sequins. The
+old practice of compressing the feet of young girls in China is dying
+out, but some of the curious little shoes which gave such pain to their
+wearers are seen as museum curios on account of their curious
+decoration. Indian shoes are met with at times, especially those
+embroidered with silver thread, and with green and other coloured silks.
+A curious ceremony is associated with the marriage of a Turkish bride,
+who wears a pair of clogs carved all over, sometimes with symbolical
+significance, on her way to her prescribed ceremonial visit to the
+bath. At one time it was customary for a Jewish bridegroom to present
+his bride with a shoe at the conclusion of the wedding ceremony, this
+custom being not far removed from that of throwing an old shoe after a
+newly married couple for luck.
+
+
+Horn Work.
+
+Art in horn work was practised more a century ago than it is to-day, the
+material being then a favourite one for drinking cups and a variety of
+ornamental work. Old snuff boxes were frequently made of horn impressed
+or stamped with beautiful designs, such as hunting scenes and
+mythological figures. Horn can either be cut, moulded, or turned, its
+natural elasticity making it very durable and difficult to break. Its
+source of supply is chiefly from the horned cattle, the buffalo and the
+bison, the horns of these beasts in their natural state frequently being
+mounted on shields just as in later years the horns of smaller animals,
+such as the South African varieties of the ibex, springbok, and similar
+horned sheep and cattle, are brought over to this country and mounted as
+ornaments. It is said that the old art of impressing or stamping horn
+and tortoiseshell has long been discarded, and is only retained for
+stamping buttons. Fancy hair ornaments were frequently so moulded, the
+horn or tortoiseshell being afterwards decorated with inlaid silver and
+gold.
+
+Some of the pressed work is extremely beautiful and has every appearance
+of being done by hand, but much cheaper, of course, as the patterns
+could be multiplied to any extent after the dies had been cut. Thin
+plates of horn were formerly used in lanterns, and a similar piece of
+horn was used as a protector over the ancient alphabet and child's
+spelling tablet that gave it the name of the horn book. Among household
+curios are drinking horns elaborately etched, and frequently turned in a
+lathe. They were popular in the seventeenth and early eighteenth
+centuries, and the turned patterns then so common were copied by the
+silversmiths, who made silver tankards and drinking cups on the same
+models. The cornucopia or horn of abundance figures frequently in
+sculpture, paintings, and works of art. The horn is one of the early
+instruments of music (see Chapter XV), and has long been associated with
+sports. It has sounded the "Tally Ho" of the fox hunt, and played an
+important part in coaching days. In some old houses veritable horns are
+found hung in conspicuous places as relics of the past, but the coaching
+horns just referred to are for the most part of metal.
+
+The Worshipful Company of Horners is still in evidence at City feasts.
+The work of the craft in olden time, as recorded by the chaplain of the
+Company in a little book he has prepared, giving the history of the
+Horners, was practised in the days of King Alfred. At least two hundred
+and fifty years before the Norman Conquest many of the patens and
+chalices used in churches were made by horners, and at one time cups,
+plates, and other vessels made of that useful material were in daily use
+in English homes.
+
+
+
+
+IX
+
+THE TOILET TABLE
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 64.--ANTIQUE DRESSING OR TOILET GLASS.
+
+(_In the Victoria and Albert Museum._)]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+THE TOILET TABLE
+
+     The table and its secrets--Combs--Patch boxes--Enamelled
+     objects--Perfume boxes and holders--Dressing
+     cases--Scratchbacks--Toilet chatelaines--Locks of hair--Jewel
+     cabinets.
+
+
+The mysteries of the toilet table are sometimes revealed in the curious
+furnishings of the dressing-room. The numerous accessories which are
+purchased from the beauty specialist, and as the result of speciously
+worded and attractively illustrated advertisements, in the present day,
+indicate that it is not at all unlikely that the fashions of all ages
+have demanded a plentiful supply of toilet requisites in order that the
+Society beauty might vie with her nearest rival. The curio collector is
+not so much concerned with the cosmetics, salves, pomades, and hair
+washes and dyes, the use of which has called forth receptacles for them,
+as with the choice boxes, cases, and implements of the tonsorial art
+which their use involved.
+
+To search for such things and to secure some hitherto unknown instrument
+or receptacle is ever the ambition of the energetic curio hunter. The
+field is large enough, for such curios are found in the tombs of the
+prehistoric dead, and among the household gods of the primitive savage
+in the few remaining unexplored inhabited countries to-day. Such objects
+may with a fair prospect of success be looked for among the relics of
+Assyrian and Egyptian races, and among the bronze curios of Ancient
+Greece and Rome; and excavations reveal relics of Saxon and mediæval
+England among the ruins which have been covered up for centuries.
+
+Coming down the ages, the mysteries of the toilet table, as pictured in
+the not always refined engravings of the copper-plate artists of a
+century or so ago, tell of habits and conditions prevailing among the
+ladies of Society then which would hardly be deemed polite and refined
+now.
+
+Ladies who used patches and cosmetics and dressed their hair in such a
+mode that it was rarely let down and brushed, needed many accessories
+now obsolete. Moreover, the gradual change which passed over Society,
+and the privacy of the modern toilet as compared with the days when much
+that is now deemed curious and antique was in common use, has brought
+about a new order of things, and made other trinkets than patch, powder,
+and salve boxes acceptable gifts between lovers; hence we scarcely
+realize the sentiment that induced the donors of toilet requisites to
+bestow them on the ladies of their choice, or the recipients to welcome
+some of the curios obviously given from sentimental motives.
+
+The illustrations in books published many years ago incidentally
+recorded the use of some of the curios then in the making. The artists
+certainly were not over-modest, and far from bashful in the lucid way in
+which they pictured or caricatured the toilet table, and the maiden who
+in those days was acquainted with the uses of the little relics of her
+day which are now among the household curios appropriately grouped under
+the heading of this chapter.
+
+
+The Table and its Secrets.
+
+It is before the looking glass, the central object on, or forming a part
+of, the toilet table, that the chief mysteries of the toilet are
+performed. It is obvious, therefore, that the table, to be in accord
+with the use its name suggests, should be the grand receptacle for all
+the minor preparations and their boxes or covers, as well as for the
+brushes and combs and mirrors and sundries a Society beauty may require.
+
+It is scarcely necessary to tax the mental faculties in imagining what
+may have been the equivalent to brushes and combs with which the
+prehistoric woman of thousands of years ago brushed and combed her
+tangled tresses. She was ingenious enough to break off and trim sharp
+prickly thorns, and to use them as pins to fasten her scanty home-made
+garments, no doubt; and she would probably find in Nature's supply what
+served her when making her toilet, and viewing herself in clear pool or
+stream. Artists have pictured such toilets, and poets have told of the
+toilet and the bath of Greek and Roman maidens of olden time.
+
+It is said that the toilet of a Roman lady occupied much of her time.
+After she had risen and taken her bath she placed herself in the hands
+of the _cosmotes_, slaves who possessed the secrets of preserving and
+beautifying the complexion of the skin. She frequently wore a medicated
+mask and went through what would to-day be considered very painful
+operations. Her skin was rubbed with pumice stone, and superfluous hairs
+were removed with a pair of tweezers. Grecian slaves were adepts at
+colouring eyelashes and eyebrows and treating the lips with red pomade.
+The mirror was in frequent use. Many of the polished metal mirrors of
+those days were adorned with precious stones and had handles of
+mother-o'-pearl; and silver and gold were common in the fashioning of
+the framework. Hair appointments, including combs, were very decorative,
+frequently being made of ivory, and many beautiful carved specimens are
+to be seen in our museums.
+
+The dressing table as we understand it to-day was of later days, for
+many centuries elapsed between the toilet of the ladies just mentioned
+and that of English dames whose odds and ends are to be found in most
+houses to-day--for few are without family relics of the toilet.
+
+The toilet or dressing table was originally quite small, and made solely
+for the purpose named. It opened very much like a small desk or bureau,
+and was seldom more than 18 in. or 20 in. in width. The desk-like flap
+served the purpose of a table; behind it was a number of tiny drawers in
+which the secret mysteries of the toilet were hidden. There, too, were
+the lady's trinkets and jewellery, safely housed in the depths of those
+curious recesses. Such a table was surmounted by a looking glass of the
+type now spoken of in a generic sense as Sheraton. In line with the more
+elaborately fitted tables were independent glasses fitted with a small
+drawer--a poor substitute, however, for the toilet table and glass,
+combined or used in conjunction, in front of which the ladies of the
+eighteenth century performed their toilets.
+
+In Fig. 64 is illustrated a very beautiful glass of the Oriental style
+of japanned decoration. The slide supports of the desk-like flap are on
+the principle adopted in the construction of contemporary bureaux. There
+is also a drawer, full of compartments, which draws out and discloses
+their covers and some of the instruments and articles of the toilet they
+contain.
+
+
+Combs.
+
+The combs of olden time were much more elaborate affairs than they are
+to-day. It would appear that the comb which must so frequently have been
+viewed by the fair user was considered the most appropriate toilet
+requisite on which to expend care and to lavish costly labour in order
+to make it truly a thing of beauty, to be retained and even jealously
+guarded.
+
+The precious metals and ivory were used as well as hard woods. Alas!
+like the fate of modern combs, the teeth--coarse and fine--snapped one
+by one, and oftentimes a rare and beautiful back, between the two rows
+of teeth that once were, is nearly all that is left of the once perfect
+comb. Many combs of ivory, however, carved all over with exquisite
+miniatures, have been preserved, and the scenes upon them have been
+incidents of the chase, classic love scenes, and sometimes reproductions
+in picture form of well-known biblical scenes, not always of the most
+delicately chosen subjects.
+
+Not long ago a very remarkable gold comb of first-century workmanship
+was found near the village of Znamenka, in Southern Russia, where
+excavations in a burial mound had brought to light the tomb of a
+Scythian king, whose head was adorned with this beautiful comb. The
+upper portion represented a combat between three warriors, one mounted
+on a charger. That comb, however, should be classed among "dress" combs
+rather than dressing combs.
+
+The ivory combs for combing the hair vary in size and in the strength of
+their teeth. Sometimes a comb made of boxwood was inlaid with ivory, and
+delicately pierced panels were inserted in the centre of the comb. In
+some instances a small mirror is found instead of a carved panel;
+especially is that the case with the smaller combs carried in a reticule
+or bag.
+
+Inscriptions were common, such, for instance, as those which breathed
+the sentiment on a boxwood comb in the British Museum, which is
+inscribed in French: "Accept with goodwill this little gift"; it is a
+pretty piece of early work, dating probably from the middle of the
+sixteenth century.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 65.--THREE OLD SCRATCHBACKS.]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 66.--SILVER CHATELAINE TOILET INSTRUMENTS.]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 67.--ANOTHER CHATELAINE SET.]
+
+
+Patch Boxes.
+
+The accessories of the toilet table--useful and ornamental--are many. It
+has ever been so, and in the change going on many odds and ends are left
+behind and become relics of former practices. Perhaps among the most
+interesting of these curios are the little boxes of porcelain, enamelled
+wares, and wood, which were once used as "patch" boxes, and as
+receptacles for the pigments employed when gumming patches upon the
+cheeks and forehead was the height of fashion, and when painting the
+face was the rule rather than the exception.
+
+It may be contended by some that these mysteries of the toilet are not
+unknown in the present day, but as yet the modern accessories of the
+toilet table do not come within the ken of the curio hunter. It was at
+the Court of Louis XV of France that the practice of gumming small
+pieces of black taffeta on the cheeks originated, the patches soon
+afterwards becoming common in this country. From simple circular discs
+were evolved stars, crescents, and other curious forms; then, as in so
+many other instances, extremes of fashion brought the practice into
+disrepute, for so extravagant became the style that the "coach and
+horses" patch and others as absurd came into favour. The famous Sam
+Pepys recorded in his Diary the first time he saw his wife wearing a
+black patch; apparently it caught his fancy, for he wrote: "My wife
+seemed very pretty to-day, it being the first time I had given her lief
+to wear a black patch." Incidentally it may be noted that the famous
+Pepys controlled even his wife's toilet, and that she was obedient to
+him even in the mysteries of the dressing table!
+
+
+Enamelled Objects.
+
+The receptacles for all these compounds varied; some were of wood,
+beautifully carved, often embellished with brass mountings, the insides
+being lined with silk, and small mirrors were inserted in the lids. The
+pretty trinket trays, curiously coloured and decorated, boxes, and
+little candlesticks for "my lady's table," made of Battersea and other
+enamels, were much in favour a century or more ago.
+
+Some remarkably charming boxes are met with stamped with the name of
+Lille, in France, where many such objects were made--the English enamels
+of that period are rarely if ever marked.
+
+It would appear that very many of these little articles were the gifts
+of friends or purchased as souvenirs of the comparatively rare visits to
+fashionable places of resort. Many of those given by friends were chosen
+because of the mottoes and emblems with which they were decorated; for,
+like the combs, they were made use of to convey messages of love and
+friendship. We can well understand the fear that might arise lest
+patches became loose and rendered the fair wearer ludicrous; hence the
+little mirrors so often found within the boxes, which it may be
+mentioned were carried about in the pocket ready for use when
+opportunity served.
+
+Many of the older specimens are found with mirrors of steel which, owing
+to exposure to damp, have become very rusty, and, in some instances,
+have perished altogether. Others with silvered glass mirrors show spots,
+and are much blurred from the same cause. The colourings of enamels
+vary; in some the groundwork is white, in others pink or rose-colour or
+blue. Little picture scenes are varied with the quaint mottoes or
+sentimental lines so much in vogue then.
+
+The illustrations given in Fig. 63 are typical of the choicer
+decorations, showing the floral style as well as the pictorial miniature
+scenes for which the artists of that time were famous. Some of the
+toilet sundries took the form of scent bottles, others etui cases and
+boxes for toilet requisites, including manicure sets.
+
+
+Perfume Boxes and Holders.
+
+Perfume has always been associated with the requisites of the lady's
+toilet. Sweet-smelling spices are referred to in biblical records, and
+even to-day the offering of perfume is a symbol of honour to the guest
+in the East; and some very beautiful Oriental scent sprinklers and spice
+boxes are now and then met with among Eastern curios. The long-necked
+rose-water sprinkler is the most common form, supplemented by betel-nut
+boxes and receptacles made by Persian artists for the famous attar of
+roses. Scents and "sweet odours" became fashionable in Europe in the
+fifteenth and sixteenth centuries; articles of clothing were scented,
+and there was a profusion of scent for the hair and in making the
+toilet.
+
+The pomander box, the favourite perfume holder of the sixteenth and
+seventeenth centuries of England, was in the form of an apple, the
+perfumes and spices being made up like a ball. It is said that the
+perfume was prepared from a sixteenth-century recipe, the basis of which
+was sweet apples or apple pulp, and scented gums and essences. From the
+pomander box smaller receptacles were evolved, and more elaborately
+prepared scents were kept in them. Some of the preparations consisted of
+camphor, mint, rosemary, and lavender in vinegar, a piece of sponge
+being saturated with the liquid. Then came the use of aromatic vinegar,
+and gradually beautiful little silver vinaigrettes were introduced. Many
+of them were very ornamental in shape, highly decorated with miniatures
+and floreated embellishment, the monogram or name of the owner often
+being added. In the outer case was usually a cover of perforated gold
+which closed over a piece of sponge, upon which aromatic vinegar or some
+similar preparation was poured. The best vinaigrettes are those bearing
+the hall-marks varying from 1800 to about 1840, when the making of
+vinaigrettes declined and other scents took their place.
+
+The burning of perfumes in bedrooms and the fumigation of wardrobes and
+chests by means of a fumador was a custom much resorted to by Portuguese
+ladies in the eighteenth century. Sweet lavender is still used in the
+linen cupboard, although its use was much more general in the days when
+London street cries were heard.
+
+
+Dressing Cases.
+
+When people travel and visit their friends their luggage includes among
+other things a dressing case, for there are many toilet requisites which
+are of a personal character, and cannot well be substituted by others.
+It is true that the need of portable dressing cases has increased of
+late years owing to greater travelling abroad. Dressing cases, however,
+are by no means modern, for some very beautiful examples with
+silver-topped bottles, hall-marked in the days of Queen Anne, are among
+the collectable curios. There is a still older example in the Victoria
+and Albert Museum--a case of tortoiseshell, filled with a complete
+toilet set, consisting of four combs and thirteen toilet instruments,
+partly of steel and partly of silver. It is an historic case, having
+been presented by Charles II to a Mr. T. Campland, who is said to have
+at one time sheltered him. Many old families have interesting and
+valuable examples, and not infrequently isolated cut-glass bottles with
+Georgian hall-marked silver tops which have formed part of the equipment
+of dressing cases are met with.
+
+
+Scratchbacks.
+
+Old English scratchbacks are among the rarities of the curios associated
+with the toilet table. It is unnecessary to comment upon the habits and
+customs of those periods when scratchbacks were found necessary, or to
+refer to the hygienic conditions of the toilet then conspicuous by their
+absence. It is sufficient to allude to these curious little
+instruments, mostly shaped like a hand, often of ivory, and always
+fitted with a handle in length from 12 to 15 in. The hand in some cases
+is large in proportion, measuring as much as 2½ in. in length, sometimes
+as an open hand, at others with the fingers closed, often very
+beautifully modelled. Horn and whalebone were favourite materials for
+the handle, although some were of ebony and other woods. Scratchbacks
+appear to have been made both in lefts and rights in this country; but
+the scratchbacks of the Far East were invariably rights. The
+accompanying illustrations, Fig. 65, show the usual types of these now
+obsolete toilet requisites, which it may be noted were sometimes
+duplicated by miniature scratchbacks carried about on the person, hung
+from the girdle.
+
+
+Toilet Chatelaines.
+
+The chatelaines worn by the ladies of olden time were bulky, and the
+various objects deemed necessary to carry about the person rendered them
+cumbersome in the extreme. A bunch of keys was always in evidence, and a
+glance at a few old keys indicates how large the keys of even quite
+small boxes were in olden time. There were the keys of the store
+cupboard, of the linen chest, and of the larder and the wine cellar.
+Drawers and cupboards and boxes, as well as the bureau or desk, were
+always locked, and to deliver up the keys was indeed to surrender one of
+the privileges of the matron and housewife which were jealously guarded.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 68.--FINE ORIENTAL LACQUERED BOX.]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 69.--SMALL LACQUER CABINET.]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 70.--A PAGODA-SHAPED CASKET.]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 71.--DECORATED JEWEL CASE.]
+
+There were articles of toilet use, too, worn at the girdle. It is
+recorded that Queen Elizabeth carried her earpick of gold ornamented
+with pearls and diamonds. The little set, which was worn at a lady's
+chatelaine in the eighteenth century, shown in Fig. 66, consists of
+toothpick, earpick, and tongue scraper of silver, whereas the set
+illustrated in Fig. 67 includes tweezers, a nail knife, and other
+instruments. There are some charming manicure sets extant, as well as
+isolated nail files of ivory and steel, and curious little instruments
+for simple surgical operations, such as strong-nerved ladies were not
+averse to perform in the good old days.
+
+
+Locks of Hair.
+
+Although long since separated from toilet operations, mention of locks
+of hair so carefully preserved may not inappropriately be made here.
+Many of these are associated with happy memories of childhood, others of
+more saddened recollections. It has been a common practice to preserve
+locks of hair of departed friends and relatives. In former days these
+locks of hair were often enclosed in lockets, some of which were very
+large. The simple lock did not always satisfy, for there are many
+artistic plaits and beautifully formed sprays, imitating feathers and
+even flowers, which were in years gone by cunningly interwoven and
+artistically arranged on cardboard preserved by glass, often in golden
+lockets and frames. Some persons have made quite important collections,
+one of the most noted being that of Menelik II, the Abyssinian king, who
+possessed upwards of two thousand locks, varying from light to dark, and
+from fine to coarse, each lock being labelled with the date and
+particulars of its acquisition. It would be well perhaps not to enter
+too closely into the source of some of these specimens, which had
+peculiar interest to the dusky king. It is said that some of them were
+chiefly admired for their settings, which included mounting with rare
+emeralds. The collection of emeralds, of which he had some of marvellous
+beauty and lustre, was another of that monarch's hobbies.
+
+
+Jewel Cabinets.
+
+In association with the toilet table are the numerous boxes which have
+been made as receptacles for jewels. From the days when the dower chest
+contained a small compartment for valuable trinkets the furniture of the
+lady's boudoir has been incomplete without a jewel box or some article
+of furniture where the knick-knacks of the home could be kept, and more
+especially the wearable jewellery. The Chinese and Japanese have ever
+been clever in the fashioning of small cabinets, and many delightful
+little boxes, cabinets, and jewellery receptacles have been brought over
+to this country.
+
+Some of the old lacquer ware is exceptionally interesting, the
+decorations upon such pieces being doubly so when the legends they
+depict are fully realized and understood. The accompanying illustrations
+represent four Japanese jewel cases which are exceptionally fine curios.
+Fig. 70 is decorated on the outside of the doors with a view of
+Itsukushima; and there are two peacocks on the top, and the two elders
+of Takasago are depicted on the back. The bamboo and the plum are
+designs symbolical of longevity. This truly exceptional piece was sold
+in the auction rooms of Glendining & Co., who also disposed of the
+remarkable jewel box shaped as a pagoda, illustrated in Fig. 71, a very
+beautiful piece elaborately decorated with birds and landscapes, and the
+box illustrated in Fig. 68 and small cabinet, Fig. 69.
+
+
+
+
+X
+
+THE OLD WORKBOX
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+THE OLD WORKBOX
+
+     Spinning wheels--Materials and work--Little
+     accessories--Cutlery--Quaint woodwork--The needlewoman--Old
+     samplers.
+
+
+Under the generic term of "workbox" the curios of the household
+associated with the industrial handiwork of former days may well be
+reviewed. There is no record of when receptacles for ladies' work were
+first introduced, although, no doubt, in very early days small oak
+boxes, carved, and bearing the owner's initials, and other indications
+of ownership, would be the chosen receptacles for the numerous oddments
+which are required in the practice and pursuit of every home handicraft,
+and especially those connected with plying the needle. There was a time,
+however, when the fabrics used in the making up of clothing were
+home-made, when the seamstress and the needleworker stitched and
+embroidered upon cloths spun if not actually woven by the housewife and
+her handmaidens. In the barrows containing remains of people of the
+Stone Age, and the peoples of the early Bronze Age, among the few
+ornaments and personal adornments buried with them were spinning
+whorls--the curiosities which remain to us of the earliest known form of
+textile craftsmanship.
+
+
+Spinning Wheels.
+
+In old pictures and woodblock engravings some curious illustrations are
+met with showing Englishwomen using the distaff. St. Distaff's Day was
+formerly the 7th of January, for it was then that the women resumed work
+after the Christmas festivities were over. The distaff and the spindle
+belonged to an age little understood now, and the occupations of the
+women of that date are almost forgotten. The spinning wheel was the
+outcome of the simpler distaff and spindle, and although the spinning
+wheels we find among the most interesting of household relics look
+primitive indeed compared with the complex machinery seen in the
+spinning mills to-day, those dating from the seventeenth and eighteenth
+centuries must have been considered ingenious contrivances when compared
+with the older models, just as the latest types of sewing machines show
+a wonderful advance from the early machines invented in the beginning of
+the nineteenth century.
+
+Very clever indeed were many women in manipulating the spinning wheel,
+and there seems to have been some competitive contests for notoriety
+among country women, who found a pleasing though perhaps at times
+tedious occupation in spinning the wool for the local weaver who wove
+the home-made cloth. It is recorded that in 1745 a woman at East Dereham
+spun a single pound of wool into a thread of 84,000 yards. She was
+far outdistanced, however, a few years later, when a young lady at
+Norwich out of a pound of combed wool produced a thread computed to
+measure 168,000 yards.
+
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 72.--OLD SPINNING WHEEL.
+
+(_In the collection of Mr. Phillips, of the Manor House, Hitchin._)]
+
+To secure a fine spinning wheel is the ambition of collectors, and many
+ladies point with pride to the old relic placed in a position of honour
+on an oak chest of drawers, or, perhaps, standing on a coffer in the
+hall. An exceptionally fine wheel is shown in Fig. 72; it is one of many
+secured by Mr. Phillips, of the Manor House, Hitchin. Another
+illustration is taken from a sketch of a spinning wheel in the Hull
+Museum (see Fig. 73). It appears that early in the nineteenth century
+Hull encouraged the training of domestic spinners, and at that time
+supported a spinning school. _Apropos_ of that institution reference may
+appropriately be made to Hadley's "History of Hull," in which the
+historian, in reference to Sunday Schools, which had then quite recently
+been founded, says: "From the Sunday School reports for this year [1788]
+it seems they did not take. To whatever cause this may be attributed, it
+by no means warrants the aspersions thrown upon the town on that
+account, which has with equal ardour and wisdom espoused that useful
+establishment of Spinning Schools, in preference to a preposterous
+institution replete with folly, intolerance, fanaticism, and mischief."
+In explanation it has been remarked that, "Evidently wheels were
+plentiful in Hull and Sunday Schools a novelty." To-day we can reverse
+the statement, for schools are plentiful but spinning wheels are rare!
+
+Collectors eagerly secure anything in the way of a genuine antique
+wheel, although the fastidious have the choice of two distinct
+types--those worked by hand and those operated by a treadle. Sometimes a
+spinning wheel made for the foot could be worked independently by the
+hand, just in the same way as modern sewing machines are made for hand
+or treadle, and sometimes a combination of both methods. The very
+general use of the spinning wheel is accounted for by the fact that this
+useful machine was met with in every cottage in the days when homespun
+yarns and wools were prepared by hand, and they were also found in the
+mansion and the palace, where they served to amuse the ladies of the
+household.
+
+There are many varieties of spinning wheels, among them the old oak
+spinning wheels used in England in the sixteenth and seventeenth
+centuries, and the more decorative used until quite late in the
+eighteenth century, from their ornament and lightness, apparently used
+more for preparing the material for fancy work rather than for really
+utilitarian purposes. Some highly decorative spinning wheels inlaid with
+mother-o'-pearl and ivory have been brought over to this country from
+Holland and other continental countries, perhaps the most decorative
+being those made by French workmen in the Chinese style, the wood being
+lacquered blue and ornamented with gilt.
+
+Mr. John Suddaby, who presented the spinning wheel we have illustrated
+to the Hull Wilberforce Museum, named after William Wilberforce, paid a
+high tribute to the famous philanthropist, who he declared to be
+associated with the spinning schools of the town. The old wheels of
+early date were gradually improved until they were rendered obsolete by
+the greater inventions of machines which could be worked by steam
+engines, thus originating the factory system of textile production.
+
+Among the sundry curios associated with the spinning wheel are
+handsomely carved wood distaffs of boxwood, curiously turned spindles;
+and now and then a pewter vessel of circular form, puzzling in its
+identity, turns out to be the rim cup from the distaff of an old
+spinning wheel.
+
+
+Materials and Work.
+
+Old workboxes appear to be very numerous. The older ones were mostly of
+wood, but the external decoration seems to have been a matter of taste,
+some preferring inlays. In early days moulded plaster ornament, richly
+gilded and coloured, was much favoured, and in still earlier times deep
+relief carvings in the oak of which the boxes were made. In the Stuart
+and later periods ladies worked the exterior ornament in silks and
+satins and embroidery. Among the workboxes in the Victoria and Albert
+Museum there is a painted box in distemper and gilding, the subject
+chosen for the ornamentation of the lid being the story of David and
+Bathsheba, round the sides being floral devices. This decorative workbox
+has drawers and compartments, a sliding front facilitating their use.
+
+In the same collection there are workboxes overlaid with straw work in
+geometrical patterns relieved by colour. Straw-work decoration was much
+favoured at the commencement of the nineteenth century, its origin being
+traceable to the French military prisoners in this country during the
+Napoleonic wars between the years 1797 and 1814, when many officers and
+men were detained at Porchester Castle, near Portsmouth, and at Norman
+Cross, near Peterborough. The grasses, of which the boxes were covered,
+were collected and dried by the prisoners, who obtained the different
+shades and tints which render this class of work so effective by
+steeping them in infusions of tea, according to a note by Dr. Strong,
+who visited the barracks at Norman Cross.
+
+The workboxes, so rich in gilding and relief, came from Italy, when, as
+early as the year 1400, caskets were covered with a species of lime
+which was moulded, the gesso, as it was called, on a gilt ground of
+white compo, giving it a very rich effect. Leather was used with good
+effect, too, for the ornamentation of workboxes, red morocco being much
+favoured in England early in the nineteenth century. Fig. 76 illustrates
+three very beautiful little fitted boxes with inlaid ornament and straw
+work.
+
+
+Little Accessories.
+
+The contents of an old workbox are many and varied. Among the odds and
+ends it is no uncommon thing to find relics of lace-making, by which so
+many cottagers have been able to maintain themselves for generations.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 73.--SPINNING WHEEL.
+
+(_In the Hull Museum._)]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 74.--OLD LACE BOBBINS.
+
+(_a_, _b_, _c_, _d_, _e_, and _f_, reading from left to right.)]
+
+There is something very remarkable about the manufacture of pillow lace,
+in that it is carried on in the villages of Buckinghamshire just as it
+was two or more centuries ago, and the pillow and the bobbins are almost
+identical in form and design--indeed, the patterns of the lace have
+changed little, for the workers cling tenaciously to the old designs,
+Flemish in their characteristics, just as they do to the old bobbins.
+
+Some of these little spools or bobbins have been handed down from mother
+to daughter as heirlooms, and many of them carry a romantic story, if it
+were but known. Just as the Welsh lovespoons and the Sunderland glass
+rolling-pins were given as love tokens, many of these bobbins are the
+result of patient labour, their decoration having often been the work of
+days; ivory, bone, wood, and metal being cut and shaped, gilded and
+stained, in order to provide the favoured one with a bobbin unlike any
+other and quite distinctive in design. In the making of pillow lace,
+pins, cleverly placed so as to form the pattern, were inserted into the
+cushion, and the threads on a dozen or more bobbins deftly twisted in
+and out and tied round the pins. The glass beads, many of the older ones
+of odd shapes and colours, hand-made, made the first distinction, and
+their weight helped to keep the light turned wood bobbins in place. It
+was the bobbins which were ornamental, and some of the older ones--those
+made in the eighteenth century--are very decorative, and now much sought
+after by collectors. Those illustrated in Fig. 74 have been selected
+from a large collection for their representative types: (A) is the
+oldest; the ornament is of pewter let into the wood, it has a very small
+spool; (B) is ivory, the incised parts stained green; (C) is bone, the
+incised pattern filled in with gold beaten into a thin plate; (D) is
+also of bone with a band of brass and coloured inlays; (E) walnut wood,
+turned in the deep grooves are six loose silver rings, some of the heads
+are of brass gilt; (F) the most modern type, such as may be seen in use
+in Buckinghamshire to-day, the present revival of the hand-made lace
+industry being due to the efforts of the North Bucks Lace Association.
+Of such handwork Cowper wrote:--
+
+    "Yon cottager who weaves at her own door,
+    Pillow and bobbins all her little store:
+    Content, though mean, and cheerful, if not gay,
+    Shuffering her threads about the livelong day."
+
+The lace-maker, and the housewife who occupied her leisure moments in
+lace-making, left behind many collectable curios. The worker of samplers
+and those advanced in the higher arts of needlecraft had also their
+little work necessaries. Very clever indeed were the workers of
+silk-embroidered pictures, and the instruments they used were fine and
+delicate, different indeed from the coarser needles of the knitter and
+the meshes of the netter. In later years the workbox became more
+substantial, and less attention was given to the exterior, for the
+interior fittings of the workbox became beautiful, and a wealth of art
+was shown in the carving of the ivory accessories, and the pearl tops of
+the thread and silk reels and winders and the curious little wax
+holders. There were cleverly contrived measuring tapes, and beautiful
+little baskets of ivory and wood, some filled with emery, others serving
+the purpose of receptacles for pins and needles. From these evolved the
+needlebooks and the more modern companions.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 75.--OLD PIN POPPETS AND ANCIENT PINS.]
+
+In Fig. 77 are shown several beautiful oddments taken out of an old
+workbox; they are all made of ivory, carved and fretted in such delicate
+tracery that it is a wonder that they have survived for a century or
+more without injury. Ivory work holders, in which ladies rolled their
+needlework when they went out to tea, were often beautifully carved;
+they, too, are charming additions to ivory workbox fittings.
+
+
+Cutlery.
+
+The cutler has contributed to the curios of the workbox. The knives and
+scissors, bodkins, and stilettos from an old workbox look strangely out
+of date when compared with those bought in the shops to-day. The chief
+thing that is so noticeable to the critical observer is the cutting of
+the steel and the hand ornamentation of those days. Some of the
+embroidery scissors were engraved all over with fancy patterns, and
+there are some remarkably quaint button-hole scissors, on which the
+owner's name or initials were often engraved.
+
+Some time ago an old lady made a small collection of thimbles. It was
+not a very expensive hobby, but the variety she secured was truly
+remarkable. There were thimbles of bone, ivory, steel, brass, enamel,
+silver, and even gold. Some were chased and engraved, some stamped and
+punched. There were thimbles of huge size and others with open ends, the
+same that sailors use.
+
+It is said that the thimble dates back to 1684, when one Nicholas
+Benschoten, of Amsterdam, sent one as a present to a lady friend with
+the dedicatory inscription: "To My frouw van Rensclear this little
+object which I have invented and executed as a protective covering for
+her industrious fingers." It is said the name in this country was
+originally "thumb-bell," so called because of the shape being of
+bell-like form. Of the thimbles of the wealthy it is recorded there are
+thimbles of onyx, mother-o'-pearl, and of gold, encrusted with rubies
+and diamonds--the seamstress has, however, to be content with useful if
+less costly "baubles."
+
+
+Quaint Woodwork.
+
+By way of contrast the outfit of the worker often includes wooden
+needles and occasionally utensils made of wood, but covered with
+evidences of love and tender regard for those who were destined to use
+them. The knitter seems to have been peculiarly fortunate, for knitting
+sticks and sheaths afforded the amateur carver ample opportunities of
+showing his skill; and, like the carved lovespoons, of which there is
+such a famous collection in the Cardiff Museum, the knitting sheaths and
+sticks seem to indicate that in a similar way the amorous swain gave
+vent to his feelings in the curious designs, mottoes, and names which he
+carved upon knitting sticks and kindred objects used by the lady of his
+choice. In the Victoria and Albert Museum there are some beautiful
+boxwood needle sticks; one example is cleverly carved with emblems of
+Faith, Hope, and Charity. Another beautiful needle stick in the same
+collection is mounted with silver. On some of the woodwork used for
+similar purposes there are cleverly designed pictures, and these were
+not always associated with private use, for the clothworkers in many
+districts used quite fanciful tools, especially in the villages, where
+time was of small moment, and the long winter evenings could be occupied
+with cutting and carving the handles and framework of the tools which in
+everyday practice served such a useful and often wage-earning purpose.
+In the Victoria and Albert Museum there is a remarkable cloth-measure
+made of walnut, bearing date 1745, three-sided, one being covered over
+with letters of the alphabet cut in deep relief, thus serving a useful
+purpose in the home or as an educational standard. On the second side
+there are cleverly designed pastoral and hunting scenes, and on the
+third the arms of the Swiss cantons. Other portions of the measure
+illustrate the implements and tools used by clothworkers at that period.
+
+Switzerland has long been famous for its wood carving, and many of the
+curios found in this country have come from the Swiss mountain villages.
+No doubt some of our readers have come across the old pin poppets which
+boys and girls carried with them to the village school half a century or
+more ago. The girls filled them with pins and needles, bodkin and
+stiletto, and the boys with pencils and pens. In Fig. 75 two curious old
+pin boxes are illustrated. The _pins_ shown on the same page are,
+however, of much older date; they are, in fact, merely thorns; these
+interesting and authentic relics of the "common objects of the home," or
+perhaps more correctly described, of dress, are to be seen in the
+National Collection of Wales at Cardiff, the measuring stick shown in
+the photograph giving their size. The pin poppet, as its name denotes,
+was, however, intended originally for the requirements of the early
+needleworker who at the dames' school won renown in those great
+achievements--the samplers of old. These, however, do not exhaust the
+wood-carving curios of the workbox, but they may serve to remind
+collectors of what they may hope to discover in their hunt for household
+curios.
+
+
+The Needlewoman.
+
+The curiosities much prized to-day, the work of the needlewoman, or
+those who plied the needle chiefly for purposes of amusement or to give
+pleasure to those on whom they bestowed the products of their skill, are
+met with in many distinct forms. This is not a work on needlework, or we
+might tell of the various stitches which are indicative of certain
+periods. It is, however, admissible to mention some of the household
+curios, the product of such patient labour applied to the skilful
+manipulation of silks and threads and cottons and wools, of all colours
+and substances, embroidered or worked on canvas or other fabric.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 76.--THREE OLD WORKBOXES.
+
+(_In the collection of Mr. Phillips, of Hitchin._)]
+
+The mistresses of the old English homes were very industrious. They
+worked crewel bed hangings and cross-stitch and tent-stitch upholstery
+in the seventeenth century, and in still earlier times richly ornamented
+linens and other fabrics with flowers and scriptural subjects. Writing
+in reference to Queen Mary, the wife of William III, Sir Charles Sedley
+said:--
+
+    "When she rode in coach abroad
+    She was always knotting thread."
+
+And her example was followed by many in humbler circumstances. In later
+years women have wrought needlework and beadwork pictures, and have even
+threaded their needles with human hair when no silk could be found fine
+enough.
+
+Of the permanent ornaments of the home--now valued curios--there are
+cases formerly used on a lady's toilet table, embroidered with floss
+silk and frequently dated. Some were made to hold devotional books,
+others were portable boxes, the covers of which were worked on white
+satin with coloured silks and beads, oftentimes scriptural scenes being
+depicted in silk; one very favourite scene in the seventeenth century
+was the visit of the Queen of Sheba to Solomon.
+
+Many beautifully embroidered trinket boxes record the patience with
+which they were worked, and were undoubtedly a labour of love. Among the
+smaller objects, gifts from friend to friend, were pincushions, some of
+which bear dates in the seventeenth century. These were worked in
+coloured silks on canvas, the ornament often taking the form of a fruit
+or flower basket, birds and insects. The favourite material and colour
+for the back of such pincushions was yellow satin. A rather pleasing
+variety consisted of bag and pincushion worked to match, the two being
+united by a cord of plaited silk. Of purses there were many varieties,
+chiefly made of coarse canvas worked in cross and tent stitches with
+coloured silks and silver threads, couched or laid over silver thread,
+and then stitched to the canvas concealing it. There are also miniature
+pincushions worked in silk like the old samplers and brocade pocket
+books, some of which were woven in France in the seventeenth century.
+There are also holdalls and needle cases in embroidery and cross stitch.
+The favourite colours worked by English ladies in the eighteenth century
+were pink, orange, and light green. On these were often worked mottoes
+and rhyme. One will serve as a sample:--
+
+    "When Judah's daughters captive led
+    Behold their mighty kings subdued."
+
+Loyal mottoes were frequently worked, especially during the days when
+the Pretenders were carrying on their hopeless campaign. There is a
+subtle reminder of the desire to make known loyal feelings, intermixed
+with prudence in concealing them, in the quaint embroidered garter in
+the British Museum which is inscribed "GOD BLESS P.C."
+
+To smokers were given embroidered tobacco pouches in green, pink, and
+silver; one charming old beadwork tobacco pouch in Taunton Castle is
+embroidered "LOVE ME FOR I AM THINE, 1631." There were necklaces and
+bracelets of needlework, and some of coloured glass beads, as well as
+the long watchguards worn round the neck, chiefly of the nineteenth
+century.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 77.--OLD WORKBOX FITTINGS.
+
+(_In the Author's collection._)]
+
+
+Old Samplers.
+
+Old samplers may well be regarded as educational, belonging to the
+schoolroom as well as to the workbox. They were intended to teach
+needlework, and served as reminders of alphabets, sums, and mapping.
+Many worked in silk on yellow linen in the eighteenth century were quite
+elaborate pieces of needlework. Those of the seventeenth century,
+chiefly of linen, were much cruder and simpler in design. During the
+latter half of the eighteenth century samplers were mostly worked on
+canvas or sampler cloth, a material which was used almost as long as
+samplers were in fashion. Different stitches were employed; there was
+the early drawn and cut work, and then the silk embroidery showing the
+girl's acquirement of the darning stitch.
+
+Some early tapestry maps are numbered among the educational curios in
+which samplers are so prominent. The Yorkshire Philosophical Society own
+two unique specimens of sixteenth-century tapestry, formerly in the
+possession of Horace Walpole. They measure about 16 ft. by 12 ft., the
+sections including Herefordshire, Shropshire, Gloucestershire,
+Oxfordshire, and a part of Berkshire. These remarkable maps are vividly
+coloured and show excellent pictorial scenes indicating villages, parks,
+and country seats. Such maps are rare, but now and then really
+interesting examples of needlework mapping are met with.
+
+Collectors keep an eye on preservation, but they are keen on dated
+specimens, and those with ornate and quaintly picturesque borders. The
+condition adds to the beauty, but not always to the value, for many of
+the older and less well-preserved samplers are now becoming scarce. They
+have been retained by those who have no interest in antiques because
+they bore the name of some fair ancestress who lived and worked on her
+sampler more than a century ago, leaving it behind as a memorial of her
+skill in the use of a needle for future generations to admire. How many
+ladies of the twentieth century are preparing permanent records of their
+skill in needlework for those who are to come to hand on to generations
+unborn? is a question some may like to ponder.
+
+
+
+
+XI
+
+THE LIBRARY
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+THE LIBRARY
+
+     From cover to cover--Old scrap books--Almanacs--The writing
+     table.
+
+
+The library is usually where the master of the house conducts his
+business correspondence and, if a student, spends much of his time among
+his favourite books, or, perchance, engages in literary work. In days
+gone by, when there were fewer opportunities of visiting public
+libraries, and when circulating libraries were few and far between, the
+man of letters accumulated around him standard works and ancient tomes,
+possibly seldom read. When such a library, perhaps scarcely examined for
+a century or more, comes to be dispersed, it often happens that
+curiosities are brought to light.
+
+The furniture of the library is full of interest, for a quaint writing
+table, bureau, or desk full of oddments is an exceedingly prolific field
+of research. In the following paragraphs a few of these curiosities are
+referred to; there are others, however, that the collector will
+discover, possibly one of the scarcer curios of the library, some of
+which realize unexpectedly high prices when they are brought under the
+hammer.
+
+
+From Cover to Cover.
+
+The books which constitute the library are often curious, and there is
+much that receives its monetary value on account of its antiquity and
+rarity. An old library will frequently include black-letter printing and
+old volumes illustrated with wood blocks, and, perchance, illuminated
+initial letters. Some of the volumes may be printed on vellum, and there
+may be some in manuscript. The bindings of presentation books may be of
+rich calf and tooled in gold; some may even have edge paintings and
+choice hand-painted illuminations. The subject-matter of the volumes
+often gives rise to specialistic collections. Some will find amusement
+in tracing the progress of a great industry through published
+information, like those curious old time tables in the early days of
+railways, and the pamphlets which are classed by the collector as
+"Railroadia," and from them learn the story of the "iron horse." There
+are others who collect books and prints relating to ballooning, the
+microscope, and many of the earlier sciences. There are topographical
+curiosities and historical marvels. Some books will be valued because of
+their illustrations, for the work of a master hand may be recognized by
+the expert searcher after valuables. The rare mezzotints, stipples, and
+delicate line engravings, to say nothing of the more valuable colour
+prints, often realize far more than the books themselves. Ancient art is
+more valued than the literary efforts of past masters of wielding the
+pen!
+
+It is thus that the books are often thrown away after the pictures or
+even superadded illustrations or mere name-plates have been removed. The
+collector of bookplates searches for his treasures. Some talk of the
+vandalism of the collector of ex-libris, but they must remember that it
+is quite easy to remove a bookplate without injuring the volume, and
+there are many worthless books. The name labels or bookplates found in
+English libraries range from the early dated plates of the close of the
+seventeenth century to the present day. The different styles of ornament
+in vogue in the respective periods of their engraving were with few
+exceptions adhered to by the printers of such plates. Thus the collector
+classifies his albums and rejoices in the variations and details of the
+engraver's fancy, while he separates them into such well-defined groups
+as early armorial, Jacobean, Chippendale, ribbon and wreath, urn,
+pictorial, armorial, and simple shield. To other than the enthusiastic
+collector, bookplates may possess merit in that they have belonged to
+famous men, and are souvenirs taken from the volumes which were once
+handled by distinguished statesmen, divines, and men of letters.
+
+
+Old Scrap Books.
+
+The making of scrap books or the filling of portfolios was not always an
+amusement for children, neither did older folk make those quaint scrap
+books with such assortments of literary and pictorial odds and ends
+solely for the amusement of their visitors. Many enthusiastic collectors
+stored their treasures in such books, the binding of which was often
+very costly and quite gorgeously ornamented. Some pointed with pride to
+collections of prints, others to albums of frontispieces, printers'
+marks, and tailpieces, some of which were beautiful little pictures.
+
+In modern times collectors rescue from the flames old tickets, pictorial
+benefit tickets, theatre passes, and quaint pictures which tell us of
+great events which happened in days gone by at Ranelagh, Vauxhall, and
+other places.
+
+Ranelagh, where the entertainments of which relics in the shape of
+beautifully engraved tickets are to be found, was at Chelsea, and the
+gardens visited by Walpole, Johnson, and Goldsmith were famous for their
+promenades and for the music and singing which might be enjoyed, among
+the evening pleasures being displays of fireworks and masked dances. In
+the summer tea and coffee were sipped under the trees, and there were
+water carnivals on the river. There were also masquerade balls and
+dances, for which tickets engraved by Bartolozzi and other famous
+artists were issued. It is these tickets which are preserved and
+collected now.
+
+The autograph hunter extends his hobby by adding old parchments and
+deeds with seals, for among the odd bundles of parchments in old
+libraries are many documents attested with thumb-marks and seals--"His
+mark," of days when many of the landed proprietors could not write their
+own names.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 78.--ANCIENT CLOG ALMANAC.]
+
+The joys of St. Valentine's Day, remembered by older people still, are
+unknown to the present generation, but collectors perpetuate February
+14th as it was kept in the past by filling albums with such old
+valentines as they may be able to secure.
+
+
+Watch Papers.
+
+Another comparatively small collection can be made up of pictorial watch
+papers, those rare little pictorial views which once reposed in the
+interior of the cases of old watches. Watches are by no means common
+curios of the household, but now and then an old silver verge or a
+decorated watch case thought little of is found to contain one of those
+pretty pictures which were chiefly engraved and printed in the
+eighteenth century. Many of the designs were printed on satin; some were
+devices in needlework; again others were cut out in the most lace-like
+designs. Theatrical celebrities were often pictured; thus the theatrical
+amateur would buy his watch paper representing the celebrated Miss
+Gunning, or possibly Mr. Garrick. The pictures were really gems, too,
+for great artists such as Angelica Kaufmann, Cipriani, and Bartolozzi
+did not disdain to engrave watch papers.
+
+
+Old Almanacs.
+
+Some of the best finds when libraries have been overhauled have been the
+curious old almanacs published when superstition was rife. The oldest,
+perhaps, were the clog almanacs, although some were common in
+Staffordshire until about 1820. The accompanying illustration (see Fig.
+78) was engraved in an old book referring to that county published more
+than a century ago. In Camden's _Britannia_ some information is given in
+reference to these early clog almanacs, in which it is said holidays
+were distinguished by hieroglyphics; in some the Massacre of the
+Innocents was denoted by a drawn sword; SS. Simon and Jude's Day by a
+ship, because they were fishers; and St. George's Day by a horse. In the
+Norway clog almanacs St. Martin's Day is marked with a goose, the custom
+of eating a goose now being transferred to Michaelmas. In the
+illustration given in Fig. 78 the first section embraces January,
+February, and March; the second, April, May, and June; the third, July,
+August, and September; and the fourth, October, November, and December.
+Conspicuously inscribed on the clog will be noticed the ring for New
+Year's Day; the star denoting the Epiphany; the axe for St. Paul;
+February 14th is indicated by a lover's knot; a spear denotes St.
+George's Day in April; and May Day by a tree branch. The keys of St.
+Peter are noticed as indicating the 29th of June; the scales of St.
+Michael are seen at the end of September. St. Catherine's wheel figures
+in the middle of November, immediately under it being the somewhat large
+cross of St. Andrew. Other symbols will doubtless be recognized on this
+interesting relic.
+
+The study of the almanac is not now one of the chief diversions of the
+fair sex. At one time, however, when ladies had fewer amusements than
+they have now, they spent much time poring over almanacs, and placed
+implicit trust in what they found recorded there, especially in the
+forecasts and prognostications for the future of those born on certain
+days and under so-called lucky or unlucky stars. One of the most popular
+calendars of olden time was "The Ladies' Diary or the Woman's Almanac,"
+containing many delightful and entertaining particulars for the fair
+sex. Let us take, for example, a copy of that popular almanac for the
+year of grace 1749. On the cover there is a picture of the Queen.
+Alluding to the peace then prevailing are the lines:--
+
+    "Perch'd o'er this Realm, the ancient seat of Kings,
+    Now dove-like peace the sprig of laurel brings;
+    And British fair ones happy days shall see,
+    While George shall reign, and Britons still are free."
+
+Another George is on the throne, and his consort Queen Mary is an ideal
+woman, and what to many is of the highest importance, Peace reigns in
+this country and Britons are still free!
+
+Among the contents of that curious almanac are Latin and French enigmas,
+mathematical questions and paradoxes. The concluding paragraph for the
+dedication of that day is entitled "Truth's Moral Euclid"; the
+proposition given being:--
+
+    "Virtue promotes happiness, private and public.
+    Vice is destructive of happiness, private and public.
+    Honour is the reward of virtue."
+
+One of the finest collections of old almanacs is in the Bodleian Library
+at Oxford--chiefly seventeenth-century productions. A still older
+almanac was the "Poor Robin" of 1664; another seventeenth-century
+almanac being the "Vox Stellarum" of Francis Moore, a quack doctor. In
+1733 Benjamin Franklin published in Philadelphia his "Poor Richard's
+Almanac," noted for its verses, jests, and sayings. The monopoly once
+possessed by the Stationers' Company has long been broken down, and of
+later almanacs and calendars there is no end. Among the miniature books,
+the collection of which is much favoured now, are some very tiny
+almanacs, like the beautiful specimens of such a calendar given in Fig.
+80, produced actual size, shown open and closed. This miniature almanac
+is printed on satin and is full of pleasing little pictures. It is the
+work of a French artist early in the nineteenth century, the pictures
+and their descriptions and the monthly calendars occupying alternate
+pages. The binding is of mother-o'-pearl, bound in ormolu and richly
+gilt and engraved. Some similar calendars in tiny leather bindings,
+beautifully tooled and ornamented in gold, are also collectable.
+
+
+The Writing Table.
+
+The writing table usually occupies an honoured place in the library. It
+may be a massive table of oak or a simple writing desk venerated on
+account of the great literary works which have been written upon it. It
+is no uncommon thing to read of large sums paid for a writing desk on
+which the manuscript of a famous book has been penned, and some of the
+writing tables upon which deeds of historical fame have been signed have
+gained a reputation and a money value out of all proportion to their
+curio or antiquarian merits. Not long ago the late King Edward presented
+to the Commonwealth of Australia the table on which the great Charter
+was signed, together with the inkstand and pen used on that occasion.
+Those will be relics for future generations to value.
+
+The table appointments are among the collectable curios of the library,
+and prominent among these is the inkstand. Inkstands find their
+prototypes in the inkhorns of the scribe; and throughout the generations
+which have provided curios for twentieth-century collectors there have
+been fresh supplies in silver, pewter, Sheffield plate, copper, bronze,
+iron, wood, china, and brass. Very beautiful indeed are some of the old
+inkstands in their separate vase-like attachments. The ink-well was
+formerly accompanied by a sand box or a pounce caster, in modern days
+superseded by a second ink-well. The sand casters for sprinkling pounce
+or sand upon newly written pages were a necessity before the days of
+blotting paper. Perhaps some day blotters, blotting pads, and the like,
+may become collectable curios!
+
+Collectors of old china are familiar with the rare boxes, egg-cup-like
+in form, made by Richard Chaffers, of Liverpool, the blue and white
+decoration, the name of the potter in the narrowed portion of the box
+being characteristic of what was for a long time known as "Dick's
+Pepperbox." It was, however, intended for a pounce box, the pounce or
+pumice being a fine powder of the cuttle-fish bone, afterwards giving
+the name to the pounce paper or transparent tracing material. Of the
+inkstands to be seen in our museums there are many dating from almost
+prehistoric times; their variety may be instanced by mention of one in
+the Berlin Museum, an Egyptian curio said to be 3,400 years old, below
+the ink compartments being a case for holding reed pens.
+
+In early days before even well-to-do people could read and write the
+scribe found a ready occupation. The materials he used were carried
+about in a writing case of metal, and among such curios are writing
+cases which were used in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. They
+were often the work of the craftsmen of Mesopotamia, who were clever
+artists in metal, and the work they performed came to Europe through
+Syria. The example shown in Fig. 81 is the work of Mahmud, the son of
+Sonkor, of Baghdad, and is dated 1281. This beautiful specimen may be
+seen in the British Museum.
+
+The implements the scribe used changed as time went on, for parchment
+was used quite early in the East. Writing was introduced into Spain by
+the Moors in the tenth century, although writing paper was not made in
+England until the fifteenth century.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 79.--OLD COIN TESTER.]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 80.--MINIATURE SOUVENIR ALMANAC.]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 81.--ANCIENT WRITING SET.]
+
+The evolution of the pen has been slow, for the use of quills continues
+still in some Government offices, and quills are still supplied to
+readers in the British Museum Reading Room. The old-fashioned quill pens
+were in days gone by shaped with a small knife made specially for that
+purpose. Indeed, it is to the quill pen that we are indebted for our
+"pen" knives, which have long been put to other uses. It was not
+every one who was expert in cutting a pen neatly and making it write
+well. Consequently an instrument was made for that purpose, known as the
+quill-pen cutter. These cutters are now and then met with in old desks,
+where they have lain unused for many years.
+
+Quill-pen making was an important industry until the invention of the
+steel pen, and the quality of the quill was a matter of importance to
+the scribe. In a trader's circular dated 1820 there is notice of the
+Royal Appointment of a Liverpool maker, who was authorized to exercise
+and enjoy all the rights, profits, privileges, and advantages of his
+appointment of Pen Cutter and Quill Dresser to His Majesty King George
+IV. In the same circular it is stated that the quill pens supplied were
+of varying qualities, secured from the swan, raven, goose, turkey, crow,
+and duck.
+
+Sealing correspondence was a necessity before gummed envelopes were
+invented. Then sealing-wax was in daily use on the writing table, and
+the signet ring or seal was requisitioned. The outfit of a library table
+would scarcely be complete without wax, wafer irons, and seals. One of
+the curios found now and then in old desks is a little cutting
+instrument useful in removing seals or opening letters which had been
+sealed. In the days before penny postage letters were sent carriage
+forward, and the postage which had to be paid on the receipt of letters
+from a distance was a heavy tax on those who had many friends and much
+correspondence.
+
+The penalty of being the recipient of much correspondence may, perhaps,
+have been lightened by the wording of the seal; for many old letter
+seals conveyed sentimental messages which to the receiver from that
+particular sender might have meant much. The following is a selection of
+the characteristic sentiments of the day: "Break the seal, read the
+letter, and keep the secret"; "You have a loyal friend"; and "Life is
+naught without a friend." We cannot tell what was the result of sending
+a letter bearing such a seal legend as:--
+
+    "Mine is a heart that loveth thee;
+    So, ladylove, do thou love me."
+
+Collectors' hobbies now and then are increased by the introduction of
+something entirely new, something never known before, and the world
+rejoices over a genuine novelty. The cynic declares that there is
+nothing new under the sun, but the introduction of the penny postage in
+1840, at the instigation of Rowland Hill, laid the foundation to stamp
+collecting, which has become the most popular of all collectors'
+hobbies. The philatelist is found in every civilized country, and the
+collection of postage stamps, used and unused, grows apace. A bundle of
+old letters in entire envelopes, posted forty or fifty years ago from
+one of the British Colonies, discovered when ransacking an old library,
+will probably prove the most valuable relic of the past found in it.
+
+
+
+
+XII
+
+THE SMOKER'S CABINET
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+THE SMOKER'S CABINET
+
+     Old pipes--Pipe racks--Tobacco boxes--Smokers' tongs and
+     stoppers--Snuff boxes and rasps.
+
+
+The slave of the pipe and the moderate smoker of years gone by have left
+behind them relics in nearly every home. Such curios are found when
+pulling down old houses, and clearing out rubbish heaps; and even when
+making excavations in the vicinity of once occupied ground remains left
+behind by smokers of olden times are discovered.
+
+Many are marked as curios on account of their curious forms; others have
+been regarded as such because their uses have become obsolete, and some
+because of their great beauty and the costliness of the materials of
+which they are made.
+
+The collectable curios of the smoker's cabinet consist of clay pipes,
+varying from the earliest form known to the later types not far removed
+from the modern clays still smoked by workmen; of pipes of curious forms
+and quaintly carved bowls; and the Eastern pipes, which look more like
+show pieces in their size and forms than any pipe made for actual use.
+The curios include tobacco jars, spill cups, and ash trays; and there
+are also brass and copper spittoons and pipe racks. An old smoker's desk
+often contains odd curios, such as the one-time common pipe-stoppers, so
+many of which were made by Birmingham "toy-makers" in the eighteenth
+century.
+
+
+Old Pipes.
+
+When tobacco was first introduced into this country, and smoking was
+taught to those whose descendants in countless numbers were destined to
+worship at the shrine of my Lady Nicotine on British soil, the pipe was
+brought over too; for tobacco and the tobacco pipe are inseparable,
+although the pipe shares its popularity with cigars and cigarettes.
+
+There are few records of early experiments in the modelling and baking
+of local clays by pipe makers; it was, however, soon discovered that
+Broseley clay was most suitable for the tobacco pipe, and there are
+pipes known to have been made at Broseley in the seventeenth century.
+The flat heels of the early pipes were useful in that pipes could then
+be laid down on the table. Then in the reign of James II an advance was
+made by the spur-like projection of the bowl, which was found to be
+convenient for the purpose of branding with the initials of the maker or
+his trade mark, and there are many examples of old marks, some of which
+are very curious, a not uncommon form being a punning rebus on the
+maker's name; thus we have a gauntlet, used by a man named Gauntlet.
+
+The earlier forms of clay pipes gradually gave way to the long-stemmed
+"churchwardens," which in course of time were again superseded by pipes
+with short stems. The meerschaum in its day had many followers, and some
+of the curiosities of the smoker's cabinet (the term "cabinet" is used
+here in a figurative rather than a realistic sense) are those
+elaborately carved specimens of meerschaum, that remarkably light
+material that lends itself so well to the carver's art.
+
+
+Pipe Racks.
+
+There appear to have been two distinct forms of racks--those used for
+cleaning or rebaking clay pipes, and the racks on which they were
+stored. The pipe rack was originally a wrought-iron frame upon which
+dirty clay pipes were stoved in a brick oven and restored to their
+original freshness. The stoving of pipes was a common practice not only
+in taverns and public clubs but in private houses in the days when long
+clay pipes were served to the guests, and a bowl of punch was placed
+before them--it was thus that convivial spirits enjoyed themselves in
+time gone by.
+
+Now and then these old pipe racks are met with in some outhouse or
+attic, but they are getting very scarce, for most of them appear to have
+found their way into the scrap heap of the old-metal dealer. Some of the
+racks intended for the storage of pipes and not for baking them were
+exceedingly decorative, the ornamental sides terminating with acorn
+knobs made of cast lead.
+
+
+Tobacco Boxes.
+
+It seems natural to suppose that the need of a suitable receptacle for
+tobacco would early be felt. Many of the old tobacco boxes--those for
+storage purposes--were made of lead or pewter. Lead was found to be cool
+and was also used as an appropriate lining for boxes made of other
+materials. Jars soon came into vogue, and there are quite ancient
+specimens, especially the old japanned boxes, ornamented with figures in
+gilt.
+
+There is, of course, a vast difference between the storage jar and the
+smaller box carried about by the smoker much in the same way as the
+pouch is now used. Many still prefer metal to other materials, and it is
+no uncommon thing to see brass and steel boxes in use in industrial
+districts. Few, however, excepting modern replicas of the antique, are
+decorated in the way the old Dutch tobacco boxes of brass were in the
+seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. It is not very clear why so many
+of them were engraved with scriptural subjects, for there does not
+appear to be much connection between biblical history and the pipe!
+Engravings of scenes depicting Noah and the Flood are common, the
+incongruity of the clothing shown being often commented upon; one writer
+upon the subject referred to the engravings on one of these tobacco
+boxes as being ornamented with Jewish characters wearing knee breeches
+of English type, talking to Dutch frauen. Historical portraits are not
+uncommonly met with on these quaint boxes, and quite a number of battle
+scenes have been engraved. Such metal work has been gathered together
+in several museums, and in the British Museum there is a fine collection
+of various shapes, some oval, others long and narrow, and some almost
+square. The brass tobacco box illustrated in Fig. 83 has a medallion
+portrait of Frederick the Great in the centre, such embossed subjects
+being very popular in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, both in
+England and in Holland, although Dutch artists gave preference to
+scriptural subjects, many fine examples of which are to be seen in our
+museums. Fortunately there are many really curious specimens obtainable
+at a moderate cost.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 82.--THREE CURIOUS PIPE-STOPPERS.]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 83.--BRASS TOBACCO BOX.
+
+(_In the British Museum._)]
+
+
+Smokers' Tongs and Stoppers.
+
+Curious little ember tongs were formerly used by smokers for taking up
+hot embers or ashes with which to light their pipes. Of these there are
+several varieties, most of them of polished steel, cut and chased. In
+the eighteenth century similar tongs were used for holding cigars; some
+were fitted with small knives, and a few of the earlier examples
+included tinder boxes. Not infrequently one end of the handle terminated
+in a tobacco stopper.
+
+Stoppers, were, however, destined soon to become an independent and
+important smokers' accessory. They were made of different materials,
+including brass, steel, bone, and ivory, to some being added a pick for
+clearing out the bowl of a pipe. Many curious handles were modelled,
+among the varieties being some representing soldiers in armour of the
+time of James I. There is one favourite type representing Charles I,
+crowned, and wearing the collar of the Garter, and another a bust of
+Oliver Cromwell. In one example a farm labourer works a flail, in
+another a milkmaid goes a-milking with her pail. There are many
+varieties of a hand holding a pipe, of jockeys and prize-fighters, and
+of St. George and the Dragon.
+
+The three stoppers illustrated in Fig. 82 are quite exceptional
+specimens, illustrating, however, the kind of stopper which collectors
+should keep a keen look out for. These examples are in the British
+Museum along with a few others of seventeenth and eighteenth-century
+manufacture, having striking characteristics. One is described as having
+a human figure at the butt, and at the other end a crowned head. The
+third example is an historic souvenir, having been made, as the
+inscription on the stopper indicates, from the royal oak which sheltered
+Charles II, by Mr. George Plaxton, at one time "parson of the parish."
+
+In the Taunton Castle Museum there is an exceptionally beautiful stopper
+made of ivory inscribed:--
+
+"NOW . MAN . WITH . MAN . IS . SO . VNJVST .
+THAT . ONE . CAN . SCARCE . TELL . WHO . TO . TRVST."
+
+There are similar stoppers in private collections. The inscription on
+one at South Petherton reads:--
+
+"THE . FAYREST . MAYD . THAT . DID . BAYR . LIFE .
+FOR . LOVE . TO . MAN . BECAME . A . WIFE."
+
+
+Snuff Boxes and Rasps.
+
+Snuff-taking has been a habit associated with smoking tobacco from quite
+early days. The preparation of snuff was formerly achieved at home, and
+consequently there sprang up the need of rasps, which were frequently
+carried about in the pocket, many of the cases being very ornamental.
+They varied in size, but the rasp cases usually held a plug or twist of
+tobacco from which the snuff was made.
+
+There are several fine old snuff rasps in the Victoria and Albert
+Museum, one large rasp measuring 15 in. in length; its case, which is of
+walnut and extremely decorative, is attributed to a Dutch carver who
+executed it in the second half of the seventeenth century. There is also
+a small iron rasp in a case of teak wood, which is inlaid with rosewood,
+ivory, and tortoiseshell, the rasp measuring about 8 in. in length. An
+eighteenth-century French rasp of boxwood is carved in low relief; on
+one side a pair of doves is represented, under the picture being the
+legend, "_Unis jusqu'a la mort_." On the other side there is a man
+blowing a horn with the legend, "_La fidelite est perdue_," around which
+is a rope-like frame supporting two cornucopiæ. Another curious variety
+of snuff rasp is made to run on wheels. When snuff-making became an
+established trade, and the need for snuff rasps to be carried was not so
+great, the decoration of snuff boxes became more ornate.
+
+It was in the days of Queen Anne that the height of the glory of the
+snuffer was reached; it was, however, during the reigns of the Georges
+that so many beautiful boxes were made. There were boxes carved out of
+a piece of wood, others of bone, papier-maché, and metal; indeed, all
+the metals seem to have been used, for among the curiosities of old
+snuff boxes are those made of iron, copper, brass, silver, and gold.
+Some of the more costly were enriched with diamonds and precious stones,
+and with tiny miniature paintings and beautiful Wedgwood cameos.
+
+In the days when snuff-taking was a commoner practice than it is now,
+the ornamental snuff box was the chosen gift to men of fame. Kings,
+princes, and the nobility received gold and jewelled snuff boxes on
+occasions when in more modern days they would have been given a scroll
+of vellum in a golden casket.
+
+Many provincial museums contain excellent collections of smokers'
+requisites. In the handbook of Welsh antiquities published in connection
+with the National Museum of Wales, in Cardiff, there are allusions to
+several interesting specimens, the writer of the guide quoting some
+lines penned by a sixteenth-century poet, who extolled tobacco thus:--
+
+    "Tobacco engages
+    Both sexes, all ages--
+        The poor as well as the wealthy;
+    From the Court to the cottage,
+    From childhood to dotage,
+        Both those that are sick and the healthy."
+
+
+
+
+XIII
+
+LOVE TOKENS AND LUCKY EMBLEMS
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+LOVE TOKENS AND LUCKY EMBLEMS
+
+     Amulets--Horse trappings--Emblems of luck--Lovespoons--Glass
+     curios.
+
+
+The collector rarely troubles about attempting to solve matters of
+dispute, and cares little to enter into argumentative discussions in
+reference to the supposed purposes of the curios he collects, or the
+different uses with which they have been associated. He does not inquire
+too deeply into the faiths and beliefs which may have been held and
+revered by his ancestors when he puts in his cabinet some curiosity
+which may have been regarded almost with reverential feelings and
+handled with superstitious regard by its original possessor. The more
+thoughtful man does, however, pay some tribute to their early
+associations. Our museums are filled with such relics, with delightfully
+carved reliquaries, triptychs, and marvellously carved beads which in
+their religious use as rosaries have been looked upon as something more
+than mere specimens of the carver's art. There are mysteries in beliefs
+which have been held dear in the past which are not understood by
+succeeding generations.
+
+It is difficult to understand in the present day the deep-seated faith
+in amulets and charms, which were thought to have brought about what
+would now be regarded as curious coincidences, or to place reliance upon
+the babbling utterances of some old crone who posed as a witch or a
+fortune-teller. Yet among such old-world stories there are germs of
+truth although misapplied. The emblems, amulets, and charms so
+implicitly believed in a few centuries ago are objects numbered among
+collectable curios, valued even in this prosaic age not only for their
+intrinsic worth and antiquarian interest, but for the so-called magic
+influences they were supposed to possess.
+
+There is something more understandable about love tokens, for we can
+tell their purpose, and indeed to-day, stripped of the charm which was
+often supposed to go with them, love tokens are given, received, and
+valued just as much as they were in the past.
+
+
+Amulets.
+
+The amulet, which in its realistic form is regarded as an antiquity to
+be preserved with care, was usually regarded either as a charm against
+disease, accident, or misfortune, or as something the possession of
+which would bring good luck. The efficacy of amulets was believed in by
+the most cultured and scientific peoples in the past, for it was an
+article of belief in Egypt and Chaldea. The Jews had regard for their
+phylacteries, and the Greeks and Romans had their amulets. The image of
+Thor was an amulet peculiar to the old Norsemen; and in Britain we have
+had many examples.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 84.--COLLECTION OF HARNESS AMULETS AND TEAM BELLS.
+
+(_In the possession of Mr. Charles Wayte, of Edenbridge._)]
+
+Although not necessarily objects to be worn, no doubt charms usually
+took the form of something which could be suspended, for the origin of
+the word coming to us through the Latin has been traced to an Arabic
+word, signifying a pendant. In the early Christian Church the fish was
+worn as a symbol or charm, and in many parts of rural England to-day
+amulets are kept, and even charms, as preventives against disease. Men
+and women buy so-called amulets from the jewellers' shops at the present
+time, and wear them on their watch chains or bangles, and round their
+necks; but the faith reposed in such charms by the educated classes in
+this country may be dismissed as a myth, for few really understand their
+true significance, or place any real reliance upon such fanciful relics
+of a former age--an age of superstition, when people blindly clutched at
+any mysterious protective power or emblem.
+
+
+Horse Trappings.
+
+Among the commoner emblems of good luck handed down from the far-off
+past, are the brass amulets worn on horse trappings even to-day. A set
+of brasses consists of a face brass, taking chief place of prominence on
+the horse's forehead; two ear brasses, which are seen behind the ears;
+ten martingale brasses, worn on the breast; and three brasses suspended
+from straps on each of the shoulders. These amulets were primarily worn
+to keep off the "evil eye," and thus protect the horse and its rider or
+its owner from calamity and harm. The brasses were varied in design,
+some of the more important being developments of the crescent moon.
+Some were made to imitate the sun with its pointed rays, others the
+Catherine wheel; the Kentish horse, too, a relic of Saxon days, has been
+frequently used, and there is the lotus flower of Egyptian origin. There
+are Moorish and Buddhist symbols, and many curious developments which
+have gone far astray from their original types. The agriculturist is
+still superstitious, and does not like to lessen the number of these
+somewhat weighty brasses suspended from his horse trappings. For
+purposes of utility they are useless; they remain, however, a connecting
+link with the superstitions of the past, and a collection of such
+curious objects is of extreme interest. In Fig. 84 is shown an
+exceptionally fine collection got together by Mr. Wayte, of Edenbridge,
+who collects many such things.
+
+
+Emblems of Luck.
+
+There seems to be a distinctive difference between the amulets which
+were protectors against harm and those which are emblems of good
+fortune. Perhaps hovering between the two may be classed such curios as
+those which tradition has held to be a preservative of luck, like "the
+Luck of Eden Hall," that wonderful goblet preserved with such great care
+in its charming case of _cour boulli_. In this category are the numerous
+gifts from friend to friend having no special emblematic value, but
+which were frequently handed over with such sayings as: "I give you this
+for luck," and "May good luck go with you." The wish and implied virtue
+in the charm has about as much value in it as the wish playfully and
+unbelievingly uttered by the twentieth-century maiden at the wishing
+well to-day.
+
+There is still, however, an undeniable lingering belief in the
+mysterious value in the possession of an emblem of luck, one of the best
+known and commonly used to-day being the horseshoe, preferably,
+according to old tradition, a cast shoe found and nailed up over the
+doorway or in some prominent place. It is generally believed that the
+horseshoe carries with it good luck on account of its form, which
+resembles the crescent moon, a notorious symbol in the days of the
+Crusaders, already referred to as being an important feature in the
+amulets or charms on horse trappings--such is the curious mixture of
+scepticism and superstitious faith met with to-day!
+
+
+Lovespoons.
+
+The collection of Welsh lovespoons in the National Museum of Wales,
+several of which are illustrated in Fig. 85, is quite unique. Dr. Hoyle,
+the Director of the Museum, in his admirable description of the case in
+which these pretty little objects are shown, explains that they are
+arranged to show the evolution of the lovespoon from the normal spoon.
+Such lovespoons might, a few years ago, have been seen in many Welsh
+homes, where they hung as things of ornament and sentiment, for it is
+said they were given in "spooning" days to the girl of his choice by the
+lover. The handle is of course the appropriate field of decoration, the
+double bowl being symbolic of "We two are one." The dated spoons were
+mostly made in the middle of the eighteenth century.
+
+
+Glass Curios.
+
+Some of the most pleasing love tokens are those made at Nailsea in
+Somerset, and in Sunderland. The commoner kinds, chiefly made at the
+latter place, were known as sailors' love tokens. They took the form of
+rolling-pins, which were evidently intended for ornament and not for
+use. A bow of ribbon was tied round the end of the pin by which the
+roller could be hung up. These glass rolling-pins were covered over with
+sentimental mottoes, generally accompanied by a ship, a typical feature
+of the decorations commonly used. Some of these little mementoes given
+away by sailors were of white semi-opaque glass, others were brilliantly
+coloured.
+
+Nailsea glass works were noted for the Italian influence shown in the
+colour effects produced in them. Among other objects made at those
+famous glass works were flasks and bottles for wines and spirits in
+greens, browns, and blues, to which were added in smaller quantities red
+and yellow. Other trinkets of an ornamental character were glass tobacco
+pipes, bells, and coach horns. There were also Nailsea walking sticks
+made of twisted glass, and many curious cups. Most of these were given
+for luck, especially as love tokens when sailors were about to set out
+on a voyage, the superstition attached to the gift being that if the
+glass pin were broken it was a sign that the vessel in which the
+giver had sailed had been wrecked. Hence it was that a ribbon was
+securely attached, and the gift hung up out of harm's reach.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 85.--OLD WELSH LOVE SPOONS.
+
+(_In the National Museum of Wales._)]
+
+In association with glass rolling-pins and other love tokens there are
+many sundry curios which from the mottoes upon them were evidently given
+with a similar purpose. Even objects of metal and brass were frequently
+inscribed with loving reminders of the donor. The pleasing little
+trinket and patch boxes of enamels and glass, referred to in another
+chapter, were given from sentimental motives as evidenced by their
+inscriptions. Covers of pocket books and tobacco pouches were covered
+over with similar legends, like a delightful beadwork tobacco pouch in
+the Taunton Castle Museum, on which is the motto or sentiment, "LOVE ME
+FOR I AM THINE, 1631," wrought by a seventeenth-century needleworker.
+
+Similar mottoes are found on the little pincushions formerly carried in
+the capacious pockets of women of olden time, sometimes wrought in
+needlework and at others in beads.
+
+
+
+
+XIV
+
+THE MARKING OF TIME
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+THE MARKING OF TIME
+
+     Clocks--Watches--Watch keys--Watch stands.
+
+
+The early marking of time was simple enough, for we are told that the
+Arabs, by driving a spear or a staff into the sand of the desert, told
+the time of day. The shadow of the sun roughly gave those who were
+familiar with astronomy the lay of the land and the time, approximately.
+When the dial and the gnomon were understood, dialling became a popular
+science, and ere long the sundial on the church tower, in a public
+place, or in a private garden, told the time. Then came the marking of
+time by pocket dials--an advance which foreshadowed the watch which was
+to come.
+
+The pocket dial was soon followed by mechanical clocks, the clock watch,
+and the more delicate work of the watchmaker. The watch has become more
+accurate in its marking of time by the introduction of machinery in its
+manufacture; and it is cheapened by competition, so that now every one
+for a mere trifle can carry in his pocket a watch by means of which he
+can tell accurately the hour of day, as Shakespeare has it in "As You
+Like It":--
+
+    "And then he drew a dial from his poke;
+    And looking on it with lack-lustre eye,
+    Says, very wisely, 'It is ten o'clock;
+    Thus we may see,' quoth he, 'how the world wags.'"
+
+Some further references to the sundial will be found in Chapter XVII,
+the sundial being one of the accompaniments of the old-world garden.
+
+
+Clocks.
+
+In "Chats on Old Copper and Brass" some mention is made of old clocks,
+and of the watch which grew in beauty and fineness of workmanship as it
+evolved from the watch-clock and the still earlier lantern and other old
+clocks, which were gradually introduced to supersede or supplement the
+earlier sundials. Very remarkable indeed are some of these household
+curios. The very movement of the clock, with its pendulum swinging to
+and fro and the loud tick which can be heard all over the room, gives a
+sort of venerated respect for the "grandfather," with its massive and
+often richly carved or inlaid oaken or mahogany case, making it an
+important piece of furniture in the room.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 86.--FINE GOTHIC FRENCH CLOCK.
+
+(_In the collection of W. Egan & Sons, Ltd., Cork._)]
+
+The Cromwellian lantern clock was beautiful in its way, and it may be
+regarded as the earliest type of commonly used domestic clocks, most of
+which were made at a later period than is denoted by the name of
+Cromwellian. They are, however, of a good respectable age, and are now
+really valuable household antiquities. The lantern clock may be
+regarded as the ancestor of the "grandfather," the works of which were
+protected by a wooden case. The evolution from the earlier type is quite
+easy to follow, for the wooden hood to protect the clock on the bracket
+shelf was added; then came the framed head, which was glazed, and
+eventually the lower case covering the weights.
+
+Much has been written about "grandfathers" and the smaller variety
+commonly designated "grandmothers." The dials of the earlier specimens
+are of brass and have only the hour hand, an onward step being marked
+when the minute finger was added. The mechanical arrangement by which
+the days of the week and the month were indicated was a happy addition,
+although some would, doubtless, regard them as somewhat unnecessary. The
+collector of antiques is likely to be imposed upon unless he is
+acquainted with the technical construction of both works and frame or
+case, for it is not an uncommon thing to fit in a modern antique case a
+set of old works.
+
+The timepiece is an innovation of comparatively recent days. From the
+first it became the central ornament on the mantelpiece, and many
+artists were employed in providing suitable designs and combining
+various materials to produce clocks in keeping with prevailing styles of
+furniture and decoration. The French clockmakers became experts as
+designers of the smaller and more varied cases of mantelpiece clocks,
+many fine examples of the Empire period ranking as art treasures as well
+as curios.
+
+Fig. 86 represents an exceptionally fine example of a Gothic French
+clock, beautifully modelled, and in excellent condition. Some of the
+gilt clocks and side vases to match were bought as mantelpiece
+ornaments, rather than for their merit as timekeepers, although the best
+makers always put in reliable works--there were no such works as those
+made by machinery and sold so cheaply to-day!
+
+The timepieces of early Victorian days are scarcely antiques, and few of
+them are treasured as such, although undoubtedly curious.
+
+
+Watches.
+
+The first step towards watches as we understand them was the manufacture
+of pocket clocks (many of which show Dutch influence in design), some of
+the cases of which were very beautiful. The watches which followed in
+due course were at first without glasses, and for the better protection
+of the works and of the delicate engravings and ornamentation of the
+backs and dials loose cases of metal or shagreen were made. Some of them
+were highly ornamental, little studs of gold or silver being arranged in
+geometrical and floral patterns on the exteriors. Two very pretty
+examples of such cases are shown in Fig. 88.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 87--SPECIMENS OF OLD WATCH KEYS.]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 88.--TWO ANTIQUE WATCH CASES.]
+
+Many of the watch backs were chased and perforated and beautifully
+enamelled; the dials were covered with painted miniatures, and gold
+watches were enriched with jewels. From Switzerland and Nuremberg come
+many choice examples; but there were clever watchmakers in England too,
+among them John Stevens, of Colchester, a sixteenth-century
+watchmaker noted for his pierced and engraved brass-gilt cases.
+
+Classical figures and designs showing Dutch influence became popular
+late in the seventeenth century; then fashions changed, and the Court of
+the Emperors of France exercised an influence over art in this and other
+countries, and watch cases and other lesser objects were made more or
+less in harmony. At one time curiously shaped cases were the fashion; at
+another octagonal watches, such as were made in the seventeenth century
+by Edmund Bull, of Fleet Street, who is said to have made an elliptic
+silver watch engraved all over with minute scriptural subjects.
+
+The collection of watches is a hobby indulged in by but few; there are,
+however, many single examples included in household curios, and not
+infrequently several handsomely engraved old watch cases are seen
+exhibited in the modern glass-topped curio tables so fashionable in
+twentieth-century drawing-rooms--now and then the interest in them being
+increased by the musical bells of the repeaters, many of which were made
+a century or more ago.
+
+
+Watch Keys.
+
+Keyless watches have been invented within the memory of most of us; it
+is obvious, therefore, that old watches were supplied with old keys,
+many of which were curious in form. The collector in search of a small
+group of collectable curios finds the watch key an excellent variety on
+which to specialize. When larger clocks were supplemented by the pocket
+watch, the loose key with which to wind it up naturally took the form of
+the larger clock keys. Such keys soon became more ornamental, for they
+were either carried in the pocket or attached to a chatelaine or bunch
+of keys; many of the bows were modelled on the pattern of other keys on
+the bunch.
+
+In the accompanying illustration, Fig. 87, some little idea may be
+formed of the early developments. The three keys in the upper row are of
+the clock-winder type, showing the gradual improvement in their
+formation. Then came a development of the metal keys, mostly of brass,
+the engraving and modelling of the key itself being improved, the
+ornamentation being supplemented by enamelling. The watch key ultimately
+became very ornate, for the more precious metals were gradually
+introduced, and rich enamels, rare gems and stones, and Wedgwood cameos
+were added.
+
+Pinchbeck metal was very much used for watch keys, the fob seals
+remaining in fashion until knee breeches went out. Some of the French
+keys are extremely decorative, and many cut and polished steel keys are
+worth collecting. It is said that Switzerland is one of the happy
+hunting-grounds of the watch-key collector, but there are many curio
+shops, both on the Continent and in this country, where fancy keys can
+be bought still at reasonable prices. In some localities special designs
+and metal have been made. Thus it is said that in Holland the silver
+keys of large size were long favoured, and many of these are still on
+sale. Another special feature about these curios is that makers at one
+time specialized on trade emblems, and it is quite possible to get
+together an interesting collection representing the attributes of
+musicians, butchers, bakers, and horticulturists, one signifying the
+latter industry being shown in Fig. 87, that on the left-hand corner of
+the lower row being fashioned in the form of a spade and a rake.
+
+
+Watch Stands.
+
+There are some very quaint old wood watch stands used chiefly as the
+temporary home of the watch at night, although some seem to have been
+permanently used by those who possessed a second watch. Some of the wood
+carvings were covered with old gilt; others were relieved in colours.
+Some were classic in design; others were like the little French clocks
+of the Empire period. Some were shaped like musical instruments, and
+others of more elaborate forms of decoration represent Mercury and
+Hercules supporting the watch stand. Some of the most beautiful are made
+of French lacquer and ornamented in the Vernis Martin style. To these
+may be added watch stands of marble, and curious inlays, of papier-maché
+and japanned wares, and some of brass and bronze.
+
+
+
+
+XV
+
+MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS
+
+     Early examples--Whistles and pipes--Violins and harps.
+
+
+There are few homes without some old musical instruments, indicating
+that at one time or other one or more members of the family have been
+musical. There is a sadness about the discovery of a long-neglected
+instrument, telling of the breaking up of the old home or of an absent
+one whose instrument has been cherished in memory of happy moments when
+harmonious sounds and beautiful music were drawn from the now
+long-neglected piano, harp, or violin. To its owner a simple flute or
+bugle is probably of as much value as an old piano, although the more
+important instrument may be more valuable as a curio and antique. There
+are some old instruments which increase in value, such, for instance, as
+violins made years ago by masters of constructional art, for they have
+become mellow with age, and, like the bells of some old parish church,
+now give out rich and yet soft notes when handled by a master hand. The
+story of the development of the piano from the very early prototypes is
+an enchanting theme to the lover of music, for there is a far remove
+from the modern pianoforte, and still newer player piano to the
+virginal, harpsichord, and spinet which may occasionally be found among
+the curios of the household.
+
+
+Early Examples.
+
+In the eleventh century, when musical notation came into being, a
+monochord was used to teach singing. The clavichord followed in due
+course, and by a rapid process of development regals, organs, and
+virginals evolved. The virginal, although distinct, was associated with
+the spinet, which with the later harpsichord may be found in houses
+which have been but little disturbed since the middle of the eighteenth
+century. It was in that century that the piano came, but not until it
+was well advanced, for in an old playbill of Covent Garden Theatre,
+published in 1767, it was announced that "Miss Brickler will sing a
+favourite song from _Judith_, accompanied by Mr. Dibdin on a new
+instrument called the piano forte." Of such instruments and of earlier
+types there are many fine examples in the Victoria and Albert Museum at
+South Kensington, in the Royal Scottish Museum, and in the Crosby-Brown
+Collection in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. In Fig.
+89 is seen a beautiful spinet in excellent condition.
+
+
+Whistles and Pipes.
+
+It is said by the exponents of artistic furnishing and decoration that
+no home can be complete without music, for it gives an atmosphere of
+art which nothing else can impart; and certainly a collection of
+household curios cannot be complete without some musical instrument,
+although but a humble example. It may be a moot point among collectors
+whether the insignificant whistle or primitive call can be regarded as
+sufficiently musical to rank in this category. It is certain, however,
+that it is one of the commonest of sound producers; if there is a boy in
+the home there is almost sure to be a whistle in the house. Few trouble
+about the scientific explanation of the sound produced by this common
+instrument, but experts tell us that the sound comes because
+condensations occur by the collision of air against the cutting edge
+placed in its path. Of antique whistles there are many types, those
+shown in Fig. 90 being the most frequently met with. The one marked "D"
+is said to be an attempt to increase the volume of sound by the
+extension of a cutting edge. A double sound is produced by that marked
+"F," whereas "A" is of the more familiar type, the example illustrated
+being an ivory whistle used upwards of a hundred years ago.
+
+From the whistle came the tin pipe capable of producing tunes in the
+hands of a skilful player. The whistle and pipe were in olden times
+associated with coaching days and inns. At one time it was customary for
+a whistle to be attached to the handles of spoons used on inn tables.
+Thirsty travellers blew the whistle when refreshment was required, and
+from that custom we get the common expression, "You may whistle for it."
+The horn, too, was a favourite instrument, and very necessary in days
+gone by, when it served many useful purposes.
+
+The horn is probably the most ancient of all wind instruments. It was
+used at the Jewish feast of the Atonement, and the Romans used it for
+signalling purposes, their infantry carrying circular bronze horns.
+There is an interesting popular fable that horns were first introduced
+into Western Europe by the Crusaders; but that is incorrect, in that
+bronze horns have been found in prehistoric barrows. The horn was
+commonly used for summoning the folk mote in Saxon times, and in quite
+early days horns sounded in English homes on the arrival of guests. The
+hunting horn was found in every house of importance in mediæval times,
+and in the sixteenth century it had become semicircular. Great composers
+testify to the value of the horn in instrumental music, Handel and
+Mozart writing pieces specially adapted for its use.
+
+Some very quaint old flutes are found among household instruments, the
+origin of the primitive pipe or flute being lost in the mists of
+antiquity. Among household curios old flutes beautifully inlaid stowed
+away in antique leather cases are interesting relics of former days.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 89. OLD SPINET.
+
+(_In the collection of Mr. Phillips, of Hitchin._)]
+
+
+Violins and Harps.
+
+To many the chief charm of old instruments is found in the delicious
+tones and notes produced by an old violin, which, if the work of a
+well-known maker, commands a fancy price; among the most valuable being
+an authentic Stradivarius. Many old English violins were made in Soho
+in the eighteenth century, for that was the centre of the trade,
+although in still earlier days violin makers worked in Piccadilly. In
+Soho, too, horns, trumpets, drums, and guitars were made. The guitar,
+but in slightly altered form, was the popular home instrument played
+upon by Greek and Roman maidens. Many of the earlier European lutes were
+in reality guitars. Some beautifully inlaid specimens are occasionally
+met with. Of these there are many varieties in the Victoria and Albert
+Museum; among them there is a guitar lyre, on which is a mask of Apollo,
+an exact imitation of the lyre of the Ancients, which was formerly used
+by a member of the Prince Regent's Band at the Royal Aquarium, Brighton.
+
+There is one other instrument which ranks high among the musical
+instruments of olden time found in British homes. It is the harp, heard
+to perfection in the drawing-room and the concert hall--an instrument
+upon which such beautiful melodies can be produced. There are many
+pretty legends about the harp heard with such delight and yet
+superstitious awe by the Vikings, who, on their return from Britain,
+told of the mysterious shores where mermaids of great beauty were said
+to rise from the seas, and, sitting upon the foam-lashed rocks, played
+upon their harps music of sweetest sound. American collectors to-day pay
+large sums for genuine Irish harps, which differ somewhat in size and
+form from those upon which Welsh maidens played. There are still a few
+such ancient instruments to be met with in Ireland and Wales.
+
+Of minor instruments there is not much to say--all are intensely
+interesting when they carry with them memories of former owners, for
+they are veritable mementoes of home amusements, pleasures, and
+delights.
+
+
+
+
+XVI
+
+PLAY AND SPORT
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+PLAY AND SPORT
+
+     Dolls--Toys--Old games--Outdoor amusements--Relics of sport.
+
+
+It would appear that there have been amusements at all periods of the
+world's history, and that everywhere work and play have gone hand in
+hand together. The occupations of the nursery have been an intermixture
+of lessons and play; amusements, although not always of an elevating or
+educative character, have for the most part tended to develop and form
+the mind, as well as strengthen the body. Recreation has played an
+important part in the upbringing of child and man, and when absent the
+advance has been retarded. The youth of all ages has found time for
+games and sports, which have enlivened the duties of manhood and
+womanhood by physical and mental pleasures. Even as age creeps on, men
+and women lessen the monotony of daily toil by indulging in indoor games
+and outside sports, suitable to their age and inclinations. As few games
+can be played or sport engaged in without accessories, it is not
+surprising that many relics of the play and sport of past generations
+are to be met with.
+
+Some of the appliances and apparatus which were acquired in the pursuit
+of these pleasures have become of antiquarian value, for many of them
+are curious and represent amusements almost forgotten. Others tell of
+the steady survival of the oldest games and amusements, but show the
+developments and alterations which have gone on in the methods of
+playing or in the appliances which have been invented to enhance the
+interest in those delights. These changes are seen more especially in
+sports and games of skill. As an instance, we may take one of the great
+manly sports, that of hunting game, a custom surviving from days when
+this England of ours was a wild and uncultivated forest and swamp, full
+of strange birds and many wild animals roamed therein. The flint-pointed
+arrow of primitive man was but the beginning in the evolution of arms.
+In the relics of these former plays and sports there is much to admire,
+and many objects to collect.
+
+There is something very pathetic about the household relics of the
+playroom and the nursery. Many little articles of clothing and valueless
+toys and trinkets are retained by a fond mother years after her
+offspring has grown up. They remind her of her early married life, and
+very often of children who have played in the nursery but who never
+lived to grow up. These pathetic relics have been carefully preserved
+for at least one generation. Then their associations have been
+forgotten, and those into whose hands they fall probably know nothing of
+their origin; to them they are merely curios. A sympathetic feeling may
+have induced a new owner to retain them for a little while longer,
+although of no great intrinsic value; but oftener than not they have
+been kept as connecting links between the old and the new, and thus they
+have been handed on until their age alone would make them collectable
+curios in this day of reverence for all things old!
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 90.--CURIOUS TYPES OF WHISTLES.]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 91.--QUAINT OLD TOY.
+
+(_In the possession of Mr. Phillips, of Hitchin._)]
+
+There has been a remarkable sequence in the toys of children of all
+generations, and of races far apart. The same games have been played,
+and the same toys used. Now and then a child more careful than usual
+preserves his or her toys when grown to man's or woman's estate; but
+such collections are rare. There are some noted collections, however,
+which have passed into the range of museum curios, grouped together as
+representative of the period when they were played with--authentic
+records of the playthings of that day. In Fig. 91 there is a remarkable
+old toy now in the diversified collection of household curios and
+antique furniture of Mr. Phillips, of the Manor House, Hitchin.
+
+
+Dolls.
+
+Probably the commonest toy is the doll, which children have ever
+regarded as the ideal plaything. The maternal instinct is strong in the
+youngest girl, and dolls are often looked upon as something more than
+mere toys. They are talked to, played with, and treated as if they were
+human beings. Their realism, at first imagined, seems to have grown up
+with their long use until a personality surrounds each one of the dolls
+in the nursery. Now and then a quaint doll is treasured as having been
+the plaything of more than one generation, especially so the old wooden
+Dutch dolls, strong and lasting, which have in some instances been
+handed on as playthings, almost as family heirlooms.
+
+The most famous collection of dolls played with by one child, and yet
+dressed to cover almost every period of English history--a veritable
+history of costume--is that famous collection in the London Museum,
+consisting of dolls dressed by and for the late Queen Victoria, who,
+doubtless, had unique opportunities of copying correctly the costumes of
+the Court, and of others less high in social status, during the reigns
+of the English sovereigns who had preceded her.
+
+Few, if any, can hope to possess such a representative collection; there
+are many who can find, however, curiously dressed dolls which are very
+helpful in learning something of local costumes and useful instructors
+in research after the habits and occupations of people who may have
+lived in places and districts little known to the present generation.
+
+Some children's toys are much older than they appear at first sight to
+be, for many very similar playthings were found in the playrooms of boys
+and girls who lived two thousand years ago. There are the dolls and
+quaint little figures played with by Greek and Roman children. Among the
+more familiar objects were little wooden tortoises, ducks, and pigs.
+Some were cleverly carved out of wood, and the arms and legs of dolls
+moved, much the same as the Dutch dolls of later days. Those children
+had chariots and horses of metal much the same as children have leaden
+soldiers now. They trundled hoops of bronze, in some of them bells being
+placed in the centre, ringing as they ran along. Some of the toys of
+these little Roman and Greek maidens and youths were very elaborate, and
+must have belonged to the children of the wealthy, who, like modern
+parents, gave presents to them on "name" days.
+
+Toys have always served the double purpose of amusement and education.
+Years before kindergarten methods were adopted--although unknown,
+probably, to parents--scientific and philosophic toys were doing good
+work, and driving home elementary truths. There were curious cylindrical
+mirrors, the inevitable kaleidoscope, and the water imps, an amusing
+toy, for the imps, inserted in a bowl or bottle of water, bobbed about
+in a curious way when the india-rubber cap which covered the neck was
+pressed and manipulated by the fingers. The modern picture theatre, with
+all its attractions to grown-up folks, was foreshadowed in the very
+primitive magic lantern, which threw a cloudy disc and an almost
+undiscernible picture, by the aid of an evil-smelling oil lamp, on an
+old sheet hung up in the nursery.
+
+
+Old Games.
+
+There are many curios reminding us of indoor games and winter amusements
+now obsolete, and of the change which has gone on in games still played.
+When we recall the number of new games which have been introduced during
+the last quarter of a century, it is surprising how few have survived.
+New games come and go, and their accessories are discarded as but toys
+of the moment. Most of the popular games are those which have been
+handed down throughout the ages, many of them of great antiquity,
+especially scientific games and games of skill. Among these games, or
+rather the apparatus for playing them, are often curios, for they are
+quite different to and often more decorative than those used in playing
+similar games to-day. We are accustomed to plain leather or wood chess
+and draught boards and the regulation patterns of the men nowadays, but
+formerly much time was expended in decorating and enriching chess boards
+and men. The boards often served other purposes too, many being
+beautifully inlaid and reversible; thus the older game boards were
+fitted with slides for backgammon, provision being made for chess,
+merelles, and fox and geese, the oak of which they were often made being
+relieved with rich marqueterie (_tarsia_) of ebony, ivory, and silver.
+
+It is not often that a collection of old chessmen is found among
+household curios, although it was not uncommon to discover among sundry
+ivory carvings a few odd pieces which had been secured on account of
+their beautiful carving. In India and China some very remarkable
+chessmen have been produced. The origin of the game is lost in
+antiquity, although it was played in the East at a very early period. It
+is said to have been introduced into Spain from Arabia, and to have been
+played by the Hindus more than a thousand years ago. It was certainly
+known in this country before the Norman Conquest. Some few years ago a
+very remarkable collection of chessmen, such as may be seen in isolated
+sets or still more frequently represented by single pieces in cabinets
+of old ivories, was dispersed under the hammer in a London saleroom.
+There were Chinese sets in red and white, wonderful figures standing
+upon concentric balls; antique Persian sets in cream-coloured ivory
+decorated in colours and gold, kings and queens on elephants, knights on
+horses, and bishops on camels; Burmese sets with royal personages seated
+on chairs of state; and some very remarkable English porcelain, Wedgwood
+ware, and Minton pottery sets.
+
+Several finds of Scandinavian chessmen, made, probably, in the twelfth
+century, have been made in the island of Lewis. From these and other
+sets met with in other places much has been learned about the evolution
+in the game.
+
+The queen does not appear to have been introduced into the game until
+the eleventh century. The castle has undergone many changes; its older
+name of "rook" was derived from the Persian word _rokh_, a hero. No
+doubt all the pieces were then carved personalities, well understood
+from king to pawn. In the modern forms of Staunton and London Club
+patterns the knight alone retains its semblance in the horse's head--a
+poor substitute for the beautifully carved warrior on horseback seen in
+some of the older sets.
+
+Draughts, or dames, is also a game of antiquity; and in the British
+Museum there is a set said to date back to the Saxon period. Some of the
+old boards are interesting relics, and the sets of carved draughtsmen,
+now scarce, are beautiful works of art.
+
+Backgammon is one of the older kindred games, frequently played on the
+interior of the chess board which was for that purpose marked with
+twelve points or flèches in alternate colours. In this game dice were
+used, and some of the old dice cups are very prettily decorated.
+
+Cribbage played with cards and a board is said to be essentially an
+English game. Some very remarkable cribbage boards were made many years
+ago, many of metal, others of wood and ivory; one exceptionally
+interesting piece, a brass cribbage board, in the Victoria and Albert
+Museum, is engraved: "MR. CHRISTR ELLIOTT AT WINBORROW GREEN, SUSSEX
+1768."
+
+Cards, of which there are so many curious types among the old examples
+found in many homes, were introduced into the West of Europe from the
+East about the fourteenth century. At first they were hand drawn and
+coloured, then printed from wood blocks, being subsequently printed from
+blocks and plates engraved on the types which were gradually
+standardized. Some very interesting collections of old cards have been
+made, one of the most complete being that of Lady Charlotte Schreiber,
+now in the Department of Prints and Drawings in the British Museum.
+
+In the days when card playing was at its height many fine brass counter
+trays and curious card trays were fashioned in brass and copper. Some of
+these may very well be collected, and are suitable receptacles for old
+metal counters, of which there are many varieties. Some of these
+counters were made by the diesinkers who helped tradesmen to provide
+themselves with token change, and they bear a striking resemblance to
+the contemporary metallic currency. Others were chiefly hand engraved,
+and often sold in small metal and silver boxes, those dating from the
+time of Queen Anne being the most interesting. The most popular card
+counters in the early days of the nineteenth century were brass copies
+of the spade-ace gold guinea, which they closely resembled, and it is
+feared, when gilt, were not infrequently palmed off as genuine gold.
+
+
+Outdoor Amusements.
+
+The outdoor games practised when household curios were being fashioned
+necessitated fewer accessories than such games do to-day, and many of
+them were crude and obviously the work of amateurs. Yet the same games
+were being played and possibly enjoyed as much, although the sport was
+rougher!
+
+When we think of winter amusements in the past somehow we conjure up
+pictures of hard frosts and crisp snow, although rain, damp, and fog
+were probably frequent visitors in Old England. Some of the games can be
+traced back to very early days--such, for instance, as skating, many
+ancient skates having been found. There is a remarkable contrast between
+the beautifully made skates now used on the comparatively rare occasions
+when the ice bears and the roller skates used all the year round, to
+those curious bone skates, so very primitive in their construction,
+examples of which are to be found in several local museums. In the Hull
+Museum, among the Market Weighton antiquities, there is a choice
+collection from East Yorkshire; one, made from the cannon bone of a
+horse, is smooth and well polished, having seen some active use,
+evidently belonging to some skater in the fifteenth or sixteenth
+century.
+
+The bone skates were fastened on to the feet much the same as metal
+skates, but they had no cutting edges, and consequently the skater
+carried a stick shod with an iron point, and by its aid propelled
+himself forward. Fitzstephen, writing in the time of Edward II,
+describes the ponds at Moorfields where the citizens of London skated.
+The ponds have long been dried up and built over; it is there, however,
+where, during excavations, some very fine examples of the old bone
+skates have been found.
+
+
+Relics of Old Sport.
+
+Among the relics of old sport met with are the curious and often
+beautifully embroidered hoods of white leather used in the days of
+hawking. These pretty little hoods, which were placed over the head of
+the hawk when carried on the wrist to the hunting field, were often
+embroidered in panels and furnished with braces for tying round the
+hawk's head. In the British Museum there is a curious silver lock-ring
+for a hawk engraved with arms and owner's name, apparently of
+seventeenth-century workmanship. No doubt the real purport of such
+curios is often overlooked, for not infrequently hawks' hoods have been
+found amongst old dolls' clothing, having been given to children in
+later years as playthings.
+
+
+Guns, Pistols, and Flasks.
+
+Eastern weapons have been brought over to this country in large numbers,
+some of them very ancient. It is said that among some of the Arab tribes
+it is no uncommon thing to meet with swords and daggers of antique form,
+richly damascened, and sometimes with jewelled hilts, made a thousand
+years or more ago, and a few years ago Crusaders' relics could be met
+with in the East. Many of these knives have silica blades, some of the
+handles being of jade. Those of grey jade are often piqué with gold,
+others, of ivory, being inlaid with jewels.
+
+There is not very much to interest in old guns of English make, for few
+found in houses date back beyond the commencement of the nineteenth
+century. Among them, however, are flint-locks and here and there an old
+wheel-lock. The pistols met with among household curios are often
+handsome and have been preserved in leather cases, carefully stowed
+away. Some of them record the days of duelling, others the dangers of
+the road, when highway robbers lurked in every wood, and many a family
+coach was waylaid and its occupants robbed of their jewels and their
+purses of gold. To those interested in sporting, and familiar with the
+breech-loading guns of the present day, much interest attaches to the
+old powder flasks which were once necessary accompaniments of sportsmen.
+There are many beautifully engraved, embossed, and decorated flasks in
+museums, some of the early seventeenth-century specimens being made of
+boxwood, others of ivory, frequently ornamented with hunting scenes. In
+Fig. 92 is shown a curious flint-lock powder tester, then also regarded
+as one of the essential accessories of the sportsman's outfit. The
+copper powder flask illustrated in Fig. 93 is now in the Hull Museum. It
+is specially interesting in that the plain copper work is engraved in
+the centre with its original owner's monogram--"W R" in script. This
+flask, made about the year 1750, was evidently a keepsake, for engraved
+round the circular disc is the legend "Keep this for Joseph's sake."
+
+In the Victoria and Albert Museum at South Kensington there are some
+more elaborate specimens, two of which are illustrated in Fig. 94. They
+are magnificent examples of metal repoussé work--a favourite decoration
+in the eighteenth century, copied in more inexpensive forms in the
+nineteenth century by makers of sporting accessories, who stamped them
+from dies and reproduced some of the old hunting scenes.
+
+A review of the outdoor sports and relics of former days would scarcely
+be complete without some mention of swords and rapiers, which were once
+commonly worn, along with pistols, alas! too frequently in use when a
+hasty word called forth a challenge to a duel. Many of these old swords
+are rusty, but they frequently show marks of former use. They are needed
+no longer by civilians in this country, and take their places in
+trophies of arms, forming important features in the decorative curios of
+the household.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 92.--A POWDER TESTER.
+
+FIG. 93.--A PRIMING FLASK.
+
+(_In the Municipal Museum, Hull._)]
+
+
+
+
+XVII
+
+MISCELLANEOUS
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+MISCELLANEOUS
+
+     Dower chests--Medicine chests--Old lacquer--The tool
+     chest--Egyptian curios--Ancient spectacles--Curious
+     chinaware--Garden curios--The mounting of curios--Obsolete
+     household names.
+
+
+There are many household curios which cannot be classified under the
+headings of the foregoing chapters. They represent well-known features
+in every home, and yet each little group has an individuality of its
+own. Some may say that the main features of house-furnishing have been
+left out of consideration, and that they are the most interesting
+household curios when age and disuse have come upon them. Household
+furniture, however, has been fully dealt with in the "Chats" series in
+the two volumes entitled "Chats on Old English Furniture," and "Chats on
+Cottage and Farmhouse Furniture," to which books those interested in the
+curiosities of cabinet-making and village carpentry are referred. Yet
+notwithstanding the completeness of those works there are a few objects
+which have so entirely passed into the range of household curios, and
+their uses were so entirely apart from present-day furniture, that some
+of them are specially noted in the following paragraphs, together with a
+few other isolated antiques.
+
+
+Dower Chests.
+
+If there is one piece of furniture above another that is surrounded with
+a halo of romance, surely it is the dower chest! We can picture the
+incoming of the coffer in all the newness of hand polish, fresh from the
+hands of the village carpenter or the retainer who had wrought the
+gnarled old oak grown on the estate for a favourite daughter of his
+lord--that chest which was to be packed full of fragrant linen, between
+which was laid sweet lavender, and richly embroidered garments for the
+bride, who, with her personal belongings stowed away therein, was to
+pass from the parental home to her newly wedded and unknown life. There
+are ancient chests full of historic memories, such as those in which the
+wealth of monarchs has been stored, like that in Knaresborough Castle,
+which, according to legend and some reference in old deeds, came over
+with William the Conqueror. In the Castle Museum there is another chest
+made for Queen Philippa in 1333--a veritable dower chest.
+
+Some of the older chests have had loops for poles by which they could be
+carried about; but such were more correctly treasure chests. The dower
+chests usually remained in the home of the bride, and in time became her
+receptacle for bedding and other household stores, the little tray or
+corner box for jewels and trinkets being disused and eventually done
+away with altogether. The evolution of the chest until it became a
+cabinet or a chest of drawers is a story for the lover of old furniture
+to tell, but the dower chest in its earlier forms is a curio rich in
+legend and folklore. It may interest American readers to record that
+many of the oldest specimens in the States were first used as packing
+cases of unusual strength, gifts from the old folks at home, when
+colonists in Jacobean days crossed the Atlantic. Curiously enough,
+American craftsmen copied them and maintained the purity of the old
+English style long after the makers of English dower chests had been
+influenced by Dutch and French design and inlay.
+
+
+Medicine Chests.
+
+Some of the early English medicine chests, the foundation of which is of
+wood, are covered with tapestry, others with green satin, sometimes
+ornamented with floral devices made of puffed satin, overlaid and
+outlined with gold thread. Medicine chests varied in size, but few
+households were "furnished" without a fitting receptacle for home-made
+recipes for simple ailments, such as were much resorted to in the past.
+The chests were usually well fitted with bottles and phials, and with
+glass stoppers or silver or pewter tops. Many of the medicines had been
+prescribed by local practitioners, and were regarded as sovereign
+remedies to be used on all occasions; others were family recipes held in
+high repute. In such chests there was often a drawer or compartment
+containing bleeding cups and lancet--a remedy often resorted to when an
+illness could not be diagnosed.
+
+
+Old Lacquer.
+
+The beautiful red lacquer work is getting scarce, although it has had a
+long run, for it is more than twelve hundred years since the Japanese
+learned the secret of making it from the Coreans, who in their turn had
+it from the Chinese. The secret of producing in China and Japan lacquer
+which cannot be imitated in other countries lies in the _rhus
+vernificifera_ which flourishes in those localities. It is the gum of
+that tree commonly called the lacquer-tree, which when taken fresh and
+applied to the object it is intended to lacquer turns jet-black on
+exposure to the sun, drying with great hardness. It will thus be seen
+that although French and English lacquers have been very popular, the
+imitation lacquer applied can have neither the effect nor the durability
+of the natural gum which sets so hard, and in the larger and more
+important objects can be applied again and again until quite a depth of
+lacquer is obtained, sometimes encrusted over with jewels and other
+materials embedded in it.
+
+The best English lacquer was made in this country between the years 1670
+and 1710, and was a very successful imitation of the Oriental. At that
+time and during the following century very many tea caddies, trays,
+screens, trinket boxes, and even furniture, were imported; and it was
+those which English workmen copied, gradually increasing the variety of
+household goods for which that material was so suitable.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 94.--OLD POWDER FLASKS.
+
+(_In the Victoria and Albert Museum._)]
+
+Old English lacquer differed from the more modern papier-maché in that
+instead of the pulp being composed entirely of paper, glued together and
+pressed, it was composed of a basis of wood, covered over with a black
+lacquer, on which the design was painted in colours. It was made under
+considerable difficulties, in that it had to compete with the imported
+Oriental wares which were made in China and Japan under more favourable
+natural conditions.
+
+The art of japanning was revived in England late in the eighteenth
+century, and some remarkable pieces appear to have been the work of
+amateurs who painted and gilded so-called lacquer work, tea caddies, and
+jewelled caskets. It must be remembered that the art of japanning was
+looked upon at one time as an accomplishment, for about the year 1700
+many gentlewomen were taught the art.
+
+French artists took up the Oriental style, and produced some very
+successful lacquer work, striking out in an entirely distinct style,
+which, as Vernis Martin decoration, became famous. The varnish or
+lacquer forming the foundation for those delightful little pictures was
+not unlike in effect the Oriental lacquer which to some extent it was
+intended to imitate.
+
+In the early nineteenth century lacquering as an art fell into
+disrepute, and such decorations were largely associated with the
+commoner metal wares, stoved and lacquered by the so-called japanning
+process carried out in Birmingham and other places, although there is
+now some admiration shown by collectors for small trays, bread baskets,
+candle boxes, and snuffer trays of metal, japanned and decorated by hand
+in colours and much fine gold pencilling.
+
+
+The Tool Chest.
+
+There have been amateur mechanics in all ages, and among the household
+curios are many old tools suggestive of having been made when the
+carpenter had plenty of time on his hands to decorate his tools with
+carvings, and frequently to make up his own kit. Thus old planes and
+braces were evidently the work of men who possessed some humour and
+skill, too, for some of the carved decoration is quite grotesque. There
+is a fine collection of old tools made and used in the seventeenth and
+early eighteenth centuries on view in one of our museums. There is a
+carpenter's plough, dated 1750, moulding planes and skew-mouthed
+fillisters of beechwood, and a router plane of carved hornbeam. The
+modern hand brace becomes more realistic, and its origin understood at a
+glance when we examine the old hand brace of turned and carved boxwood,
+dated 1642, in that collection. The part where the bit is fitted is
+literally a hand, carved out of solid wood, and the curious crank
+indicates an imaginary twist in the arm, perhaps suggested by some
+carpenter who was able to manipulate his tools in a way not commonly
+understood, thus giving to future carpenters a most useful tool.
+
+
+Egyptian Curios.
+
+Among the collectable curios of old households are many antiquities from
+foreign lands. Perhaps the most interesting, in that they afford us
+examples of the prototypes of household antiques as they were known to a
+nation possessing an early civilization, polish, and refinement, are
+those which have been discovered recently in Egyptian tombs. Some
+representative examples may be seen in the British Museum. There are
+toilet requisites including mirrors, combs, and even wigs and wig boxes,
+as well as a glass tube for stibium or eye paint. There are ivory
+pillows or head rests, models of the ghostly boats of the underworld,
+and a vast variety of children's toys, including wooden dolls with
+strings of mud beads to represent hair, porcelain elephants, and wooden
+cats; and there are children's balls made of blue glazed porcelain, and
+of leather stuffed with chopped straw. There are many games and
+amusements, such as stone draught boards, and draughtsmen in porcelain
+and wood. There are bells of bronze and some remarkable musical
+instruments like a harp, the body of which is in the form of a woman;
+and there are reed flutes and whistles and cymbals such as were carried
+by priestesses. There are curious ivory amulets, quaintly carved spoons,
+ivory boxes, and even theatre tickets. Necklaces and pendants and other
+articles of adornment are plentiful, for the Egyptian maidens possessed
+much jewellery--bracelets, rings, and necklaces. One very exceptionally
+fine relic of this far-off age is a toilet box complete with vases of
+unguents, eye paint, comb, and bronze shell on which to mix unguents,
+and other trinkets. Many such antiquities find their way into museums
+and private collections of household curios, and are useful and
+interesting for purposes of comparison, telling of customs which change
+not, and of the many connecting links which exist between the past and
+the present.
+
+
+Ancient Spectacles.
+
+It is truly astonishing how many ancient spectacles, which to collectors
+of such things would be veritable treasures, lie neglected and allowed
+to "knock about" until broken or otherwise damaged. Those mostly
+discovered are the heavy brass and silver-rimmed spectacles of about one
+hundred years ago, some very interesting specimens of which are to be
+seen in several of the larger local museums.
+
+Spectacles are of very respectable age, although they cannot be traced
+back to the ancient peoples, for the Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans,
+notwithstanding that they polished glass and rock crystal and possessed
+much scientific lore, were ignorant of their use as aids to sight.
+
+It is said that the credit of the discovery of how to make use of
+artificial aids to defective sight must be accorded to Roger Bacon, who
+in his book _Opus Majus_, published in the thirteenth century, mentioned
+magnifying glasses as being useful to old people to make them see
+better. True spectacles are said to have been fashioned in 1317 by
+Salvino degli Armati, a Florentine nobleman. At first they were convex;
+indeed, no mention of concave glasses for shortsighted persons was made
+until towards the middle of the sixteenth century. From that time onward
+there were developments, and among the household curios are to be found
+silver, brass, and tortoiseshell rims, and glasses of more or less
+utility.
+
+
+Curious China Ware.
+
+Old china and pottery have been fully dealt with by many specialist
+writers, but there are some household curios made of porcelain, china,
+and earthenware which cannot be omitted from this survey of household
+curios. Foremost among these are the now scarce Toby jugs, made at so
+many of the famous potteries. In a large collection the variations are
+at once recognized; yet the same idea seems to have run through the
+minds of the artists in fashioning these jugs, so essentially typical of
+the age in which they were made and used. Among the Sunderland jugs are
+many variations both in size and colouring; they were rich in colours,
+too, and look exceedingly well on an old cabinet.
+
+The posset cups of silver were supplemented by tygs and posset cups and
+many-handled drinking cups of early Staffordshire make. The brown and
+yellow slip decoration of this ware is a striking characteristic. All
+the early seventeenth-century ale drinking cups like the tygs had
+handles, and in those days of conviviality the double or multiplied
+handle served a useful purpose, for the vessels were in use when it was
+the custom of the ale-house for several friends to drink out of one
+vessel, just as in more polite society and on public occasions the
+loving cup was passed round.
+
+Some of the so-called portrait busts and statuettes of the eighteenth
+century are especially interesting to collectors. There are figures to
+suit all; musicians may delight in that of Handel; others in the busts
+of Wesley and Whitfield; explorers in the statue of Benjamin Franklin
+made about 1770, and some in that of John Wilks seated near an old
+column of a still earlier date. There is also a cleverly modelled figure
+of Geoffrey Chaucer. One of the best known groups is that of the "Vicar
+and Moses," made by Wood, of Burslem.
+
+
+Garden Curios.
+
+It is said that garden craft, like most other forms of art, came from
+the East; that the cultivation of gardens commenced in Egypt, Persia,
+and Assyria, travelling westward through Greece and Rome; and in some of
+the early English gardens which horticulturists are so fond of copying
+to-day there are traces of Eastern influence still remaining.
+
+Although the garden is the place where we expect to find flowers,
+foliage, and perhaps fruit and vegetables, it has always been associated
+with home life, and some of the charms of domestic comradeship owe their
+greatness to the garden and pleasance.
+
+It has always been the aim of the professional and the amateur gardener
+to furnish the lawn and flower-beds with appropriate settings, some of
+which have become very quaint in the eyes of twentieth-century
+horticulturists.
+
+The Egyptians had their trellised bowers, and their tiny pools of clear
+water. The Greeks, however, were fortunate in having undulated and even
+hilly ground to cultivate, and their gardens were much more picturesque
+than the level ground of Egypt, although the Orientals built terraces,
+and by artificial means enhanced the beauty of their gardens. The
+adornment of gardens with statuary comes to us from Greece, and many
+modern reproductions of ancient Greek statues are regarded as the curios
+of the modern garden. Delightful, indeed, are some of the statuettes in
+stone and lead representing Aphrodite and the Graces. The Roman gardens
+were magnificent in their miniature temples, replicas of which are found
+in the old Georgian summer-houses, such as may be seen at Kew, and in
+many private grounds, dating from that period. The Romans were lovers of
+roses, and had many charming rose bowers, curiously and cunningly
+formed.
+
+The dawn of gardening on some approved plan, and then ornamenting the
+portions not covered with greenery, began in monastic days. The oldest
+of the occupations of civilized man, it was long held in high repute,
+and many worthy men have posed as amateurs. Indeed, there have been
+Royal gardeners, among the most familiar being Edward I and Queen
+Elizabeth. From Tudor times onward the once waste land in the immediate
+vicinity of castles and palaces was cultivated, and the gardens of the
+nobility along the Strand in London were full of beautiful stonework and
+statuettes. A writer in the sixteenth century, describing an English
+garden of his day, wrote: "Every garden of account hath its fish pond,
+its maze, and its sundials."
+
+Many fine old fountains or miniature fishponds remain, and sundials are
+among the curios associated with the outdoor life of the home. The
+garden houses of the eighteenth century included a bowling green or
+court, viewed from the terrace; and towards the end of that period many
+leaden figures were cast, the favourite being replicas of Roman statuary
+dedicated to such deities as Bacchus, Venus, Neptune, and Minerva. These
+lead statues have been collected by dealers during the last few years.
+Some of them are really very beautifully formed, although in many
+instances the wear and tear of a couple of centuries has covered them
+over with scratches and indentations. A few years ago lead statues
+received little consideration from their owners, and the children made
+them targets for stone-throwing. They are thought more of now, and at
+several recent sales lead statuettes and vases have sold for
+considerable sums.
+
+Sometimes ancient lead cisterns are seen outside old houses; many of
+these and even rain-water spout heads, beautifully moulded and cast, are
+among the household curios for which there is some call among
+collectors.
+
+
+The Mounting of Curios.
+
+A miscellaneous assortment of curios displayed without any regard to
+their proper setting has just the same effect as a badly framed
+picture, or a painting with an inappropriate frame. Sundry curios may be
+made to look charming when properly shown in a glass-topped table or a
+suitable case, their value as home ornaments being materially increased.
+Indeed, there are many beautiful objects which look nothing unless
+properly framed. The Wedgwood cameo gems so varied and so very minutely
+tooled require proper display; according to their colours so should they
+be arranged on a velvet or cloth background with an ample margin to
+separate them. A group of miniatures looks nothing unless in suitable
+setting or mount. Much of the beauty of old china is lost because it is
+simply laid out without a colour scheme. A cup and saucer look very much
+better when shown on a stand, so that the saucer can be seen and every
+detail of the cup examined, the richness of the colouring inside or out,
+as the case may be, being thrown up by the ebonized stand on which it is
+placed. Carved ivories should certainly be shown with a dark setting. In
+a similar way Oriental plaques and even smaller plates with light
+backgrounds are set off to the best advantage when shown in dark ebony
+frames. The Orientals know the value of framework perhaps more than any
+other people, and among the curios they have sent over to this country
+are appropriately carved frames and stands. The almost priceless ginger
+jars when placed upon carved-wood stands, for which the Chinese are so
+famous, are beautiful indeed, the contrast of the black and blue against
+the black base being very striking. Indeed, much of the carved furniture
+of the Orientals has been specially designed as a framework for
+mother-o'-pearl and gem ornaments. The rare jade carvings in black ebony
+screens, and the marvellous carving of the larger screens are but
+appropriate settings to the painted and needlework pictures so rich in
+colours and gold. In Fig. 57 we illustrate a very remarkable piece in
+which the artist has expended his wonderful skill in providing a
+suitable stand or frame for a very beautiful early porcelain plate.
+Every detail of the carving is worthy of close inspection. This
+beautiful piece was included in a collection of jade, cloisonné enamels,
+and carved furniture gathered together in Java some years ago by a
+well-known collector of Chinese and Oriental curios. Now and then such
+pieces are to be seen in the shops of West End dealers. But it would be
+difficult indeed to find one so characteristic of the Chinese carver's
+art as the one shown.
+
+
+Obsolete Household Names.
+
+Most household goods and both useful and ornamental home appointments
+used at the present time are the outcome of progress and development,
+and their names have changed but little. The change has been in style,
+material, and manufacture rather than in newness of purpose. It is true
+that in modern household economy some of the present-day household
+utensils are the outcome of modern invention, having no similarity in
+form to the simpler primitive contrivances which they have superseded.
+Thus, for instance, the vacuum cleaner has little in its appearance to
+associate it with the old-fashioned carpet brush, neither has the
+modern knife cleaner much in common with the old knife board. There are
+some articles, however, which have become quite obsolete, and their
+names are fast disappearing from inventories of household goods, and,
+like the older antiquarian relics, are likely soon to be forgotten. In
+the foregoing chapters mention has been made of the collectable objects
+of household use, dating from the period of bronze to modern times, and
+no doubt there are many other articles which have entirely disappeared
+on account of their perishable nature, or from their very character,
+there being nothing to suggest their retention. It may be useful for
+purposes of reference to note the following articles of furniture,
+kitchen utensils, and mechanical contrivances, which were mentioned in a
+book published about one hundred years ago--house furnishings, about the
+ancient uses of which we hear nothing at the present time.
+
+     AMPLE--An ointment box, formerly carried by a medical man.
+
+     APPLE-GRATE--A sixteenth-century cradle of iron in which to
+     roast apples.
+
+     BOMBARD--A large leathern bottle for carrying beer; a term also
+     applied to ancient ale-barrels.
+
+     CANISTER--The ancient canister was a pannier or basket, the
+     name being appropriated to its modern use when tea came into
+     the market.
+
+     CHAFING-DISH--The name appropriated to modern cooking vessels
+     was originally applied to a dish upon which perfumes were
+     burnt, and in Roman times was an ensign of honour.
+
+     COMFIT BOXES--Boxes divided into compartments in which were
+     rare spices, handed round with dessert.
+
+     FINGER-GUARD--Horn finger-guards were formerly used by writing
+     masters to protect their nails when nibbing pens.
+
+     FIRE-SCREEN--Fire-screens are noted as early as the fourteenth
+     century, long before they were filled with needlework; they
+     were made of wicker, described by a sixteenth-century writer as
+     "a little wicker skrene sett in a frame of walnut tree."
+
+     SCRIP--Scrips were hung from girdles, and differed, among the
+     chief varieties being the shepherd's scrip, the pilgrim's
+     scrip, and the traveller's scrip, a kind of purse or wallet.
+
+     STANDISH--The old name for an ink horn or vessel, afterwards
+     applied to the stand or dish, or, as we call it now, inkstand,
+     which contained the box or vessel for ink, and another for
+     blotting powder.
+
+     TRENCHER--A wooden platter, a term more particularly applied to
+     the beautiful hand-painted circular boards for sweetmeats or
+     cakes.
+
+In conclusion, in the foregoing pages most of the best-known household
+curios--regarded as such by the collector--have been passed in review.
+The list is, however, by no means exhausted, for as search is made among
+the relics of former days many little-known objects come to light, and
+as isolated examples find their way into public and private
+collections.
+
+
+
+
+INDEX
+
+
+Ale tubes, 178
+
+Almanacs, 259-262
+
+American museums, 49
+
+Ample, 355
+
+Andirons, 42, 44, 47
+
+Apple-grate, 355
+
+Apple-scoops, 138, 141
+
+Arms of Cutlers' Company, 80
+
+
+Banner screens, 165
+
+Basting spoons, 133
+
+Battersea enamels, 91, 183, 212
+
+Beakers, 104
+
+Bellows, 57
+
+Bellows blower, 129
+
+Bells, 311
+
+Bilston enamel, 183
+
+Bodkins, 239
+
+Bohemian glass, 154
+
+Boilers, 133
+
+Bombards, 355
+
+Boule, Charles, 29
+
+Bow cupids, 112, 113
+
+Bristol glass, 176
+
+British glass, 96
+
+British Museum exhibits, 92, 138, 141, 165, 208, 246, 278, 331, 347
+
+Bronze pots, 133
+
+Buhl work, 29
+
+
+Caddies, 112
+
+Candle boxes, 65, 66
+
+Candle moulds, 65
+
+Candles, 65-67
+
+Candlesticks, 67
+
+Canisters, 355
+
+Carving-knives, 85
+
+Caskets, 192
+
+Caudle cups, 99
+
+Chafing dishes, 355
+
+Chantilly porcelain, 91
+
+Chatelaines, 216
+
+Chelsea cupids, 112, 113
+
+Chessmen, 328
+
+Chestnut roasters, 142
+
+Chests, 191
+
+Chimney ornaments, 150
+
+China, 349
+
+Chinese influence, 100
+
+Chinese lacquer, 29
+
+Chippendale influence, 101, 162
+
+Clocks, 298, 299
+
+Clog almanacs, 259
+
+Cloisonné enamel, 183
+
+Coaching horns, 197
+
+Cocoanut cups, 103
+
+Cocoanut flagons, 103
+
+Coffers, 191
+
+Combs, 206-208
+
+Comfit boxes, 355
+
+Continental gridirons, 137
+
+Cooking vessels, 138, 141
+
+Copper urns, 117
+
+Cordova leather, 187, 188
+
+Couvre de feu, 39
+
+Cream jugs, 108, 111
+
+Cribbage boards, 330
+
+Cruet stands, 96, 97
+
+Cuir boulli work, 84, 90, 188, 190, 192
+
+Cupids, Chelsea and Bow, 112, 113
+
+Cups, 99, 100
+
+Curio hunting, 24
+
+Cutlers' Company, 80
+
+Cutlery, 80-95, 239, 240
+
+
+Damascened steel, 90
+
+Derbyshire spar, 154, 157, 158
+
+Dolls, 325, 326
+
+Domesday Book, 23
+
+Dower chests, 340, 341
+
+Draughts, 329, 357
+
+Dressing cases, 215
+
+Dutch influence on art, 30
+
+Dutch ovens, 130
+
+
+Egyptian curios, 347
+
+Egyptian influence, 153
+
+Enamelled wares, 212
+
+Enamels, 182-184
+
+
+Fenders, 53, 54
+
+Finger guards, 355
+
+Fire-dogs, 47
+
+Fire drills, 39
+
+Fireirons, 53
+
+Fire-making appliances, 36-39
+
+Fireplace, the, 41-44
+
+Fireploughs, 39
+
+Fire screens, 356
+
+Flesh hooks, 138
+
+Floor candlesticks, 67
+
+Fluor spar, 157
+
+Flutes, 314
+
+Food-boxes, 141
+
+Forks, 85
+
+French art, 26
+
+French influence, 153
+
+
+Gallybawk, 134
+
+Games, 327-330
+
+Garden curios, 350, 351
+
+German wall warming stove, 50
+
+Glass and enamels, 175-184
+
+Glass beads, 235
+
+Glass curios, 290-293
+
+Glass ornaments, 178, 181
+
+Glass pictures, 181
+
+Glass rolling pins, 235
+
+Gourd cups, 104
+
+Grandfather clocks, 301
+
+Gridirons, 137, 138
+
+Grills, 137, 138
+
+Guildhall Museum exhibits, 85, 99, 193
+
+Guns, 333
+
+
+Hair ornaments, 196
+
+Hampton Court fireplaces, 48
+
+Hawk hoods, 332
+
+Home ornaments, 149-170
+
+Horn books, 197
+
+Horners, Worshipful Company, 197
+
+Horns, 313, 314
+
+Horn work, 196, 197
+
+Hull Museum exhibits, 193, 229, 332, 334
+
+
+Inkstands, 263
+
+Irish curios, 67
+
+Ivories, 166, 169
+
+
+Jack knives, 83
+
+Jade, 158, 161
+
+Japanned trays, 101
+
+Jewel caskets, 220, 221
+
+
+Kentish ironmasters, 50
+
+Kettles and stands, 108, 133
+
+Kettles, miniature, 169
+
+Kitchen grates, 129-133
+
+Kitchen, the, 125-145
+
+Knife-boxes, 117
+
+
+Lace bobbins, 232, 236
+
+Lantern clocks, 298
+
+Lanterns, 72-75
+
+Leather and horn, 187-197
+
+Leather bottles, 192-194
+
+Leather flasks, 194
+
+Leather pictures, 194
+
+Leather ships, 194
+
+Lights of former days, 61-75
+
+Lille enamels, 212
+
+Limoges enamels, 182-183
+
+Links extinguishers, 68
+
+Locks of hair, 219
+
+London Cutlers' Company, 84
+
+Love spoons, 235, 240, 289
+
+Love tokens, 283-293
+
+Lucky cups, 190
+
+Lucky emblems, 283-293
+
+
+Mantelpieces, 41, 42
+
+Marking of time, 297-307
+
+Marqueterie designs, 30
+
+Matches, early types, 41
+
+Medicine chests, 341
+
+Meissen porcelain, 91
+
+Met-soex or eating knives, 83
+
+Miniature curios, 169
+
+Monochord, 312
+
+Mosaics, 157
+
+Mother-o'-pearl, 107
+
+Mounting curios, 353
+
+Musical instruments, 311-317
+
+
+Nailsea glass, 177
+
+National Museum of Wales, 129, 141, 280
+
+National Museum of Naples, 45
+
+Needles of wood, 240
+
+Needlework, 246
+
+Nutcrackers, 113-117
+
+
+Oak settles, 162
+
+Obsolete names, 355, 356
+
+Oil lamps, 71, 72
+
+Old gilt, 165, 166
+
+Old lacquer, 342
+
+Ormolu, 150
+
+
+Pastrycooks' knives, 138
+
+Pastry wheels, 138
+
+Patch boxes, 204, 211, 213
+
+Peg tankards, 100, 103
+
+Pens, 264, 267
+
+Perfume boxes, 213
+
+Pianofortes, 312
+
+Piggins, 141
+
+Pipe racks, 273
+
+Pipes, 271, 272
+
+Pistol tinder boxes, 40
+
+Pistols, 333
+
+Play and sport, 321-334
+
+Playing cards, 330
+
+Pomander boxes, 214
+
+Pontypool wares, 106
+
+Porridge bowls, 141
+
+Porringers, 99, 100
+
+Pounce boxes, 263
+
+Priming flasks, 334
+
+Punch bowls, 98
+
+Punch ladles, 97
+
+Puzzle cups, 100
+
+
+Queen Anne style, 100
+
+
+Roasting cages, 130
+
+Roasting jacks, 125
+
+Rolling pins, 177
+
+Roman influence, 153
+
+Rushlights, 62-65
+
+Russian customs, 92
+
+
+Salt cellars, 95, 96
+
+Sand boxes, 263
+
+Saucepans, 125, 126
+
+Scrap books, 255, 256
+
+Scratchbacks, 215
+
+Sheraton influence, 112, 162
+
+Ships of glass, 182
+
+Shoes, 195
+
+Shovels, 53
+
+Skates, 332
+
+Skimmers, 133
+
+Smokers' cabinet, 271-280
+
+Smokers' tongs, 277
+
+Snuff boxes, 196, 279, 280
+
+Snuffer extinguishers, 68
+
+Snuffers, 67-71
+
+Snuff rasps, 279
+
+Spectacles, 348
+
+Spice boxes, 213
+
+Spinning wheels, 226-231
+
+Spits, 125, 129
+
+Spleen stone, 158
+
+Spoons, 86, 89, 117
+
+Staffordshire figures, 150
+
+Staffordshire wares, 97
+
+Stained glass, 181
+
+Standishes, 356
+
+Straw-work, 232
+
+Style, influence of, 26
+
+Sugar nippers, 111
+
+Sugar tongs, 111, 112
+
+Sussex backs, 42, 47, 50
+
+Sussex foundries, 50
+
+
+Table appointments, 79-118
+
+Tapestry, 190, 191
+
+Tapestry factories, 26
+
+Taunton Castle Museum exhibits, 177, 193, 246, 278, 293
+
+Teapots, 107
+
+Teatable, the, 107, 108
+
+Thimbles, 239
+
+Tickets, benefit, ball, etc., 256
+
+Tinder boxes, 39-41
+
+Tobacco boxes, 274, 277
+
+Tobacco pipes, 271, 272
+
+Tobacco pipes (glass), 177
+
+Tobacco stoppers, 277, 278
+
+Toddy ladles, 97
+
+Toilet table, the, 203-221
+
+Tools, ancient, 346
+
+Tower of London exhibits, 95
+
+Trays, 105-107
+
+Trenchers, 141, 356
+
+Trencher salts, 96
+
+Trivets, 54-57
+
+Turnspits, 130
+
+
+Vases, 153, 154
+
+Venetian glass, 91, 178
+
+Vernis Martin varnishes, 29
+
+Victoria and Albert Museum exhibits, 48, 57, 86, 89, 90, 142, 188, 191,
+    192, 215, 231, 241, 279, 312, 317, 330, 334
+
+Vinaigrettes, 214
+
+Violins, 314
+
+Virginals, 312
+
+
+Walking sticks (glass), 177
+
+Wallace collection, 29
+
+Wallets, 195
+
+Warming pans, 142, 145
+
+Watches, 302, 305
+
+Watch keys, 305, 306
+
+Watch papers, 259
+
+Watch stands, 307
+
+Waterford glass, 176
+
+Wedgwood cameos, 170, 280
+
+Whistles, 312, 313
+
+Wood carvings, 161-165
+
+Wooden cups, 104
+
+Woodware, 117
+
+Work boxes, 225-250
+
+Writing cases, 262
+
+Writing tables, 262
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+UNWIN BROTHERS, LIMITED, THE GRESHAM PRESS, WOKING AND LONDON
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Chats on Household Curios, by Fred W. Burgess
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHATS ON HOUSEHOLD CURIOS ***
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+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Chats on Household Curios, by Fred W. Burgess
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Chats on Household Curios
+
+Author: Fred W. Burgess
+
+Release Date: May 2, 2008 [EBook #25294]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: UTF-8
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHATS ON HOUSEHOLD CURIOS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Susan Skinner and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1"></a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<h1 style="text-align: left;">CHATS ON<br />
+HOUSEHOLD<br />
+CURIOS
+<img src="images/001.png" width="48" height="20" alt="" title="" />
+</h1>
+
+<hr style="width: 95%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2"></a></span></p>
+
+<h2>BOOKS FOR COLLECTORS</h2>
+
+<p class='center'>
+<i>With Frontispieces and many Illustrations<br />
+Large Crown 8vo, cloth.</i></p>
+<p>
+<b>CHATS ON ENGLISH CHINA.</b><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">By <span class="smcap">Arthur Hayden</span>.</span><br />
+<br />
+<b>CHATS ON OLD FURNITURE.</b><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">By <span class="smcap">Arthur Hayden</span>.<br /></span>
+<br />
+<b>CHATS ON OLD PRINTS.</b><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">By <span class="smcap">Arthur Hayden</span>.<br /></span>
+<br />
+<b>CHATS ON COSTUME.<br /></b>
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">By <span class="smcap">G. Woolliscroft Rhead</span>.<br /></span>
+<br />
+<b>CHATS ON OLD LACE AND NEEDLEWORK.<br /></b>
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">By <span class="smcap">E. L. Lowes</span>.<br /></span>
+<br />
+<b>CHATS ON ORIENTAL CHINA.<br /></b>
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">By <span class="smcap">J. F. Blacker</span>.<br /></span>
+<br />
+<b>CHATS ON OLD MINIATURES.<br /></b>
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">By J. J. Foster, F.S.A.<br /></span>
+<br />
+<b>CHATS ON ENGLISH EARTHENWARE.<br /></b>
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">By <span class="smcap">Arthur Hayden</span>.<br /></span>
+<br />
+<b>CHATS ON AUTOGRAPHS.<br /></b>
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">By <span class="smcap">A. M. Broadley</span>.<br /></span>
+<br />
+<b>CHATS ON PEWTER.<br /></b>
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">By <span class="smcap">H. J. L. J. Mass&eacute;, M.A.</span><br /></span>
+<br />
+<b>CHATS ON POSTAGE STAMPS.<br /></b>
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">By <span class="smcap">Fred. J. Melville</span>.<br /></span>
+<br />
+<b>CHATS ON OLD JEWELLERY AND TRINKETS.<br /></b>
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">By <span class="smcap">MacIver Percival</span>.<br /></span>
+<br />
+<b>CHATS ON COTTAGE AND FARMHOUSE FURNITURE.<br /></b>
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">By <span class="smcap">Arthur Hayden</span>.<br /></span>
+<br />
+<b>CHATS ON OLD COINS.<br /></b>
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">By <span class="smcap">Fred. W. Burgess</span>.<br /></span>
+<br />
+<b>CHATS ON OLD COPPER AND BRASS.<br /></b>
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">By <span class="smcap">Fred. W. Burgess</span>.<br /></span>
+<br />
+<b>CHATS ON HOUSEHOLD CURIOS.<br /></b>
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">By <span class="smcap">Fred. W. Burgess</span>.<br /></span>
+</p>
+<p class='center'>
+<i>In Preparation.</i></p>
+<p>
+<b>CHATS ON BARGAINS.<br /></b>
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">By <span class="smcap">Charles E. Jerningham</span>.<br /></span>
+<br />
+<b>CHATS ON JAPANESE PRINTS.<br /></b>
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">By <span class="smcap">Arthur Davison Ficke</span>.<br /></span>
+<br />
+<b>CHATS ON OLD CLOCKS AND WATCHES.<br /></b>
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">By <span class="smcap">Arthur Hayden</span>.<br /></span>
+<br />
+<b>CHATS ON OLD SILVER.<br /></b>
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">By <span class="smcap">Arthur Hayden</span>.<br /></span>
+</p>
+
+<p class='center'>
+LONDON: T. FISHER UNWIN.<br />
+NEW YORK: F. A. STOKES COMPANY.<br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4"></a></span></p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 411px;"><a name="Frontispiece" id="Frontispiece"></a><a name="FIG_1" id="FIG_1"></a>
+<img src="images/fig_1.jpg" width="411" height="600" alt="FIG. 1.&mdash;OLD FIREPLACE, SHOWING SUSSEX BACK, ANDIRONS, AND TRIVET.
+
+Frontispiece." title="" />
+<span class="caption">FIG. 1.&mdash;OLD FIREPLACE, SHOWING SUSSEX BACK, ANDIRONS, AND TRIVET.
+<br /><br />
+Frontispiece.</span>
+</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5"></a></span></p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+
+<h1 style="color: red;">
+<span class="smcap">Chats on<br />
+Household Curios</span><br />
+</h1>
+<p class='center'>BY<br />
+<br />
+<span style="font-size: x-large; color: red;">FRED. W. BURGESS<br /></span>
+<br />
+AUTHOR OF "CHATS ON OLD COINS," "CHATS ON OLD<br />
+COPPER AND BRASS," ETC.<br />
+<br />
+WITH 94 ILLUSTRATIONS<br />
+<br />
+LONDON
+<br />
+<span style="color: red;">T. FISHER UNWIN<br /></span>
+ADELPHI TERRACE<br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6"></a></span></p>
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p class='center'><i>First published in 1914</i></p>
+
+<p class='center'>(<i>All rights reserved</i>)<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">{7}</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="PREFACE" id="PREFACE"></a>PREFACE</h2>
+
+
+<p>There is a peculiar charm about the relics found
+in an old home&mdash;a home from which many generations
+of fledglings have flown. As each milestone
+in family history is passed some once common
+object of use or ornament is dropped by the way.
+Such interesting mementoes of past generations
+accumulate, and in course of time the older ones
+become curios.</p>
+
+<p>It is to create greater interest in these old-world
+odds and ends&mdash;some of trifling value to an outsider,
+others of great intrinsic worth&mdash;that this book
+has been written. The love of possession is to
+some possessors the chief delight; to others knowledge
+of the original purposes and uses of the
+objects acquired affords still greater pleasure. My
+intention has been rather to assist the latter class
+of collectors than to facilitate the mere assemblage
+of additional stores of curiosities. It is truly astonishing
+how rapidly the common uses of even household
+furnishings and culinary utensils are forgotten<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">{8}</a></span>
+when they are superseded by others of more
+modern type.</p>
+
+<p>The modern art of to-day and the revival of the
+much older furniture of the past have driven out
+the household gods of intermediate dates, and it
+is in that period intervening between the two extremes
+that most of the household curios reviewed
+in this work are found. Although many of the
+finest examples of household curios are now in
+museums, private collectors often possess exceptional
+specimens, and sometimes own the most
+representative groups of those things upon which
+they have specialized.</p>
+
+<p>The examples in this book have been drawn from
+various sources. As in "Chats on Old Copper and
+Brass" (which may almost be regarded as a companion
+work), the illustrations are taken from photographs
+of typical museum curios and objects in
+private collections, or have been specially sketched
+by my daughter, who has had access to many interesting
+collections, to the owners of which I am
+indebted for the illustrations I am able to make
+use of.</p>
+
+<p>My thanks are due to the Directors of the
+British Museum, who have allowed their printers,
+the University Press, Oxford, to supply electros
+of some exceptional objects now in the Museum;
+also to the Director of the Victoria and Albert
+Museum, at South Kensington; and the Director<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">{9}</a></span>
+of the London Museum, now located at Stafford
+House.</p>
+
+<p>Dr. Hoyle, the Director of the National Museum
+of Wales, at Cardiff, has most kindly had specially
+prepared for this work quite a number of photographs
+of very uncommon household curios. The
+Curator of the Hull Museum has loaned blocks,
+and photographs have been sent by Messrs. Egan
+and Co., Ltd., of Cork; Mr. Wayte, of Edenbridge;
+and Mr. Phillips, of the Manor House, Hitchin. To
+Mr. Evans, of Nailsea Court, Somerset, I am indebted
+for the loan of his unrivalled collection
+of ancient nutcrackers, some of which have been
+sketched for reproduction. I have also made use
+of examples in the collections of private friends,
+and illustrated some of my own household curios,
+many of them family relics.</p>
+
+<p>The story of domestic curios is made the more
+useful by these illustrations, and also by references to
+well-known collections. There is much to admire in
+the once common objects of the home, now curios,
+and it is in the hope that some may be led to
+appreciate more the antiques with which they are
+familiar that these pages have been penned. If that
+is achieved my object will have been accomplished.</p>
+
+<p style="text-align: right;">
+FRED. W. BURGESS.</p>
+<p><span class="smcap">London</span>, 1914.<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10"></a></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">{11}</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CONTENTS" id="CONTENTS"></a>CONTENTS</h2>
+
+
+<div class='center'>
+<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="">
+<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='left'>PAGE</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#PREFACE">PREFACE</a></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_7">7</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center' colspan='2'><a href="#CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>THE LOVE OF THE ANTIQUE</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_19">19</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>No place like home&mdash;Curios in the making&mdash;The influence of
+prevailing styles&mdash;A cultivated taste.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center' colspan='2'><a href="#CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>THE INGLE SIDE</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_33">33</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Fire-making appliances&mdash;Tinder boxes&mdash;The fireplace&mdash;Andirons and
+fire-dogs&mdash;Sussex backs&mdash;Fireirons and fenders&mdash;Trivets and
+stools&mdash;Bellows.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center' colspan='2'><a href="#CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>THE LIGHTS OF FORMER DAYS</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_59">59</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Rushlights and holders&mdash;Candles, moulds, and boxes&mdash;Snuffers, trays,
+and extinguishers&mdash;Oil lamps&mdash;Lanterns.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">{12}</a></span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center' colspan='2'><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>TABLE APPOINTMENTS</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_77">77</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Cutlery: Knives, forks, and spoons&mdash;Salt cellars&mdash;Cruet
+stands&mdash;Punch and toddy&mdash;Porringers and cups&mdash;Trays and
+waiters&mdash;The tea table&mdash;Cream jugs&mdash;Sugar tongs and
+nippers&mdash;Caddies&mdash;Cupids&mdash;Nutcrackers&mdash;Turned woodware.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center' colspan='2'><a href="#CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>THE KITCHEN</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_121">121</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>The kitchen grate&mdash;Boilers and kettles&mdash;Grills and
+gridirons&mdash;Cooking utensils&mdash;Warming pans.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center' colspan='2'><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>HOME ORNAMENTS</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_147">147</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Mantelpiece ornaments&mdash;Vases&mdash;Derbyshire Spars&mdash;Jade or spleen
+stone&mdash;Wood carvings&mdash;Old gilt.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center' colspan='2'><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>GLASS AND ENAMELS</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_173">173</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Waterford, Bristol, and Nailsea&mdash;Ornaments of glass&mdash;Enamels on
+metal.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center' colspan='2'><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>LEATHER AND HORN</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_185">185</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Spanish leather&mdash;Cuir boulli work&mdash;Tapestry and upholstery&mdash;Leather
+bottles and drinking vessels&mdash;Leather curios&mdash;Shoes&mdash;Horn work.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">{13}</a></span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center' colspan='2'><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>THE TOILET TABLE</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_199">199</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>The table and its secrets&mdash;Combs&mdash;Patch boxes&mdash;Enamelled
+objects&mdash;Perfume boxes and holders&mdash;Dressing
+cases&mdash;Scratchbacks&mdash;Toilet chatelaines&mdash;Locks of hair&mdash;Jewel
+cabinets.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center' colspan='2'><a href="#CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>THE OLD WORKBOX</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_223">223</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Spinning wheels&mdash;Materials and work&mdash;Little
+accessories&mdash;Cutlery&mdash;Quaint woodwork&mdash;The needlewoman&mdash;Old
+samplers.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center' colspan='2'><a href="#CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>THE LIBRARY</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_251">251</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>From cover to cover&mdash;Old scrap books&mdash;Almanacs&mdash;The writing table.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center' colspan='2'><a href="#CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>THE SMOKER'S CABINET</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_269">269</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Old pipes&mdash;Pipe racks&mdash;Tobacco boxes&mdash;Smokers' tongs and
+stoppers&mdash;Snuff boxes and rasps.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center' colspan='2'><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">CHAPTER XIII</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>LOVE TOKENS AND LUCKY EMBLEMS</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_281">281</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Amulets&mdash;Horse trappings&mdash;Emblems of luck&mdash;Love spoons&mdash;Glass
+curios.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">{14}</a></span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center' colspan='2'><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">CHAPTER XIV</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>THE MARKING OF TIME</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_295">295</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Clocks&mdash;Watches&mdash;Watch keys&mdash;Watch stands.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center' colspan='2'><a href="#CHAPTER_XV">CHAPTER XV</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_309">309</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Early examples&mdash;Whistles and pipes&mdash;Violins and harps.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center' colspan='2'><a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">CHAPTER XVI</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>PLAY AND SPORT</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_319">319</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Dolls&mdash;Toys&mdash;Old games&mdash;Outdoor amusements&mdash;Relics of sport.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center' colspan='2'><a href="#CHAPTER_XVII">CHAPTER XVII</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>MISCELLANEOUS</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_337">337</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Dower chests&mdash;Medicine chests&mdash;Old lacquer&mdash;The tool chest&mdash;Egyptian
+curios&mdash;Ancient spectacles&mdash;Curious chinaware&mdash;Garden curios&mdash;The
+mounting of curios&mdash;Obsolete household names.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#INDEX">INDEX</a></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_357">357</a></td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">{15}</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="LIST_OF_ILLUSTRATIONS" id="LIST_OF_ILLUSTRATIONS"></a>LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS</h2>
+
+
+
+<div class='center'>
+<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="">
+<tr><td align='left'>FIG.</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>1. OLD FIREPLACE, SHOWING SUSSEX BACK, ANDIRONS, AND TRIVET</td><td align='left'><i><a href="#Frontispiece">Frontispiece</a></i></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='right'>PAGE</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>2. ANDIRONS WITH RATCHETS</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_27">27</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>3. ORNAMENTED CRESSET DOGS</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_27">27</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>4. TELESCOPIC RUSH AND CANDLE HOLDER</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_27">27</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>5. RATCHET RUSH AND CANDLE HOLDER</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_27">27</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>6. ANCIENT ROMAN FIRE-DOG</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_37">37</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>7. SUSSEX GRATE BACK, DATED 1588</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_37">37</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>8. THREE SINGLE DOGS OR ANDIRONS</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_45">45</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>9. PAIR OF DATED SUSSEX ANDIRONS (1625)</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_45">45</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>10. PAIR OF SUSSEX ANDIRONS</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_45">45</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>11. SUSSEX BACK WITH ROYAL EMBLEMS</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_51">51</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>12. SUSSEX BACK WITH ARMS AND ROYAL INITIALS</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_51">51</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>13. FINE CARVED WALNUT WOOD BELLOWS</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_55">55</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>14. THREE RUSHLIGHT HOLDERS</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_63">63</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>15. THREE VARIETIES OF OLD OIL LAMPS</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_63">63</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>16. TWO WALNUT WOOD FLOOR-CANDLESTICKS</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_69">69</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>17. FINE PAIR OF ANCIENT SNUFFERS</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_73">73</a><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">{16}</a></span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>18. HANDSOMELY DECORATED KNIFE CASE AND CONTENTS</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_81">81</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>19. KNIFE, FORK, AND SPOON</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_87">87</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>20. PAIR OF DECORATED SPOONS</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_93">93</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>21. TWO WOODEN CUPS</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_101">101</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>22. WOODEN FLAGON, WITH COPPER BANDS</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_101">101</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>23. A COCOANUT CUP (SILVER-MOUNTED)</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_101">101</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>24. A COCOANUT CUP (SILVER-MOUNTED)</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_101">101</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>25. COCOANUT FLAGON</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_101">101</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>26. EARLY ENGLISH BRONZE EWER</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_109">109</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>27. INSCRIBED SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY WOOD DRINKING CUP</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_115">115</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>28-30. EARLY CARVED WOOD NUTCRACKERS</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_115">115</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>31-34. MEDI&AElig;VAL WOOD NUTCRACKERS</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_119">119</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>35-39. EARLY STEEL AND BRASS NUTCRACKERS</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_119">119</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>40. TWO ANTIQUE WARMING PANS</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_124">124</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>41. WELSH KITCHEN FIREPLACE</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_124">124</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>42. MECHANICAL ROASTING JACKS</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_127">127</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>43-46. GRIDIRONS SHOWING FOREIGN INFLUENCE IN DESIGN</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_131">131</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>47 AND 48. TWO WOODEN FOOD BOXES</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_135">135</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>49. A COLLECTION OF IRON FAT BOATS AND GREASE PANS</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_135">135</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>50. WOODEN COFFEE CRUSHERS AND PESTLES AND MORTAR</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_139">139</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>51. APPLE SCOOPS OF BONE</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_139">139</a><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">{17}</a></span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>52. WOODEN PIGGINS AND PORRIDGE BOWL</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_143">143</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>53. WOODEN PLATTER, BOWL, AND SPOONS</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_143">143</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>54. BRASS CHIMNEY ORNAMENT (ONE OF A PAIR)</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_151">151</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>55. BLACK AND GOLD DERBYSHIRE MARBLE VASE</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_155">155</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>56. TEMPLE GUARDIAN, CARVED FROM THE GNARLED ROOT OF A TREE</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_159">159</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>57. CARVED PLAQUE STAND</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_163">163</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>58 AND 59. MINIATURE COPPER AND SILVER KETTLES</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_167">167</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>60. MINIATURE IVORY COFFEE BOILER</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_167">167</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>61. TWO OLD-GILT JEWELLED ORNAMENTS</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_167">167</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>62. THREE FINE OLD IVORIES</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_171">171</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>63. BATTERSEA ENAMELS</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_179">179</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>64. ANTIQUE DRESSING OR TOILET GLASS</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_202">202</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>65. THREE OLD SCRATCHBACKS</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_209">209</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>66. SILVER CHATELAINE TOILET INSTRUMENTS</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_209">209</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>67. ANOTHER CHATELAINE SET</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_209">209</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>68. FINE ORIENTAL LACQUERED BOX</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_217">217</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>69. SMALL LACQUER CABINET</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_217">217</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>70. A PAGODA-SHAPED CASKET</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_217">217</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>71. DECORATED JEWEL CASE</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_217">217</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>72. OLD SPINNING WHEEL</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_227">227</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>73. SPINNING WHEEL</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_233">233</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>74. OLD LACE BOBBINS</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_233">233</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>75. OLD PIN POPPETS AND ANCIENT PINS</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_237">237</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>76. THREE OLD WORKBOXES</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_243">243</a><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">{18}</a></span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>77. OLD WORKBOX FITTINGS</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_247">247</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>78. ANCIENT CLOG ALMANAC</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_257">257</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>79. OLD COIN TESTER</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_265">265</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>80. MINIATURE SOUVENIR ALMANAC</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_265">265</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>81. ANCIENT WRITING SET</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_265">265</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>82. THREE CURIOUS PIPE-STOPPERS</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_275">275</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>83. BRASS TOBACCO BOX</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_275">275</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>84. COLLECTION OF HARNESS AMULETS AND TEAM BELLS</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_285">285</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>85. OLD WELSH LOVE SPOONS</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_291">291</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>86. FINE GOTHIC FRENCH CLOCK</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_299">299</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>87. SPECIMENS OF OLD WATCH KEYS</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_303">303</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>88. TWO ANTIQUE WATCH CASES</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_303">303</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>89. OLD SPINET</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_315">315</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>90. CURIOUS TYPES OF WHISTLES</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_323">323</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>91. QUAINT OLD TOY</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_323">323</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>92. A POWDER TESTER</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_335">335</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>93. A PRIMING FLASK</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_335">335</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>94. OLD POWDER FLASKS</td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_343">343</a></td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">{19}</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2 style="text-align: left;">I<br />
+<br />
+THE LOVE<br />
+OF THE<br />
+ANTIQUE</h2><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">{21}</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20"></a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I<br />
+<br />
+THE LOVE OF THE ANTIQUE</h2>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>No place like home&mdash;Curios in the making&mdash;The influence of prevailing
+styles&mdash;A cultivated taste.</p></div>
+
+
+<p>There is an inborn love of the antique in most
+men, although some are fond of asserting that their
+interests are bound up in the modern, and that they
+have no time to devote to the study of the antiquities
+of past ages or the things that were fashionable
+in times long past. Yet most people, when their
+secret longings are analysed, are found to have
+an admiration for the old; if not a superstitious
+veneration, at any rate a desire to perpetuate the
+memory of their ancestors and to keep in mind the
+things with which they were familiar. The wealthy
+man of to-day, who may have sprung from the
+people, secretly, if not openly, endeavours to surround
+himself with household gods which tell of a
+longer past and a closer relationship with the well-to-do
+than he can legitimately claim. In the pursuit
+of such things many a man has found his hobby;
+and there are few men who do not find recreation
+and delight in a hobby of some kind. Such interests<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">{22}</a></span>
+outside their regular occupations broaden their outlook
+and widen their knowledge. Some hobbies
+tend to lead to specialization, and the specialist is
+apt to become warped and narrowed; not so, however,
+the collector of household curios.</p>
+
+
+<h3>No Place Like Home.</h3>
+
+<p>It would be difficult to find greater delight than
+that which centres in those things that concern the
+home and home life. The love of the old homestead
+and the goods and chattels it contains is ingrained
+in the breast of every Britisher; and although families
+become scattered and some of their members find
+homes of their own beyond the seas, they find the
+greatest delight in the objects with which they were
+familiar in years gone by, and venerate the relics of
+former generations&mdash;the household gods which have
+been handed on from father to son.</p>
+
+<p>It is not the intrinsic value of the household curio
+that is its chief charm; it is rather the knowledge
+that its long association with those who have claimed
+its ownership from the time when it was "new" has
+made it truly a family relic. These thoughts, being
+so deeply rooted in the minds of most men and
+women, foster the love of household curios and
+intensify the interest shown in their possession.</p>
+
+<p>To all it is not given to own family relics; neither
+would they serve to satiate the ambition of the true
+collector, although they might form the nucleus of
+his collection. He seeks other treasures in the town
+and in the country and wherever such things are
+offered for sale.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">{23}</a></span></p>
+
+
+<h3>Curios in the Making.</h3>
+
+<p>The domestic habits of the people of this and
+other civilized countries have been the outcome of
+a slow process of upbuilding. There has been no
+sudden change; in all grades and under every
+different social condition, at every period, the improvement
+of the furnishings of the home has been
+one of gradual and, for the most part, steady
+progress.</p>
+
+<p>There was a time when, beyond the bare furniture,
+tapestry hangings, tools of the craftsmen, and
+weapons of the warrior, there were few household
+goods of a portable nature. In medi&aelig;val England
+the oak chest was sufficient to contain the valuables
+of a large household; and very often beyond a
+cabinet or sideboard or corner cupboard there were
+few receptacles where anything of value could be
+safeguarded. The dower chest, in which the bride
+brought to her husband household linen and her
+stock of clothing, and in the wooden compartment
+in one corner of the chest her jewels and coin of the
+realm&mdash;if she possessed any&mdash;was then a prominent
+piece of furniture. The oak chest, rendered formidable
+with its massive lock and bolts, opened with a
+ponderous key, was the chosen receptacle in after-years
+as a treasure chest, and regarded as the safest
+place in which to keep valuable documents and other
+property. In the Public Record Office may be seen
+the old iron box in which the Domesday Book was
+kept for many centuries. The old City Companies
+have their treasure chests still; and boxes studded
+over with iron nails and fitted with large hasps and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">{24}</a></span>
+locks are pointed out in many old houses as
+passports to family standing.</p>
+
+<p>The household curios which a collector seeks include
+objects of utility and ornament. Many of
+them are associated with household work, and quite
+a number of one-time kitchen and culinary utensils,
+as well as those which were once cherished in the
+best parlour or withdrawing-room, are found places
+among such curios. During the last few years
+domestic architecture has passed through several
+stages of advancement. The stiff and formal
+Georgian houses, the painful Victorian villas, and
+some of the earlier attempts at architectural improvement
+have been swept away to make room
+for modern replicas of still older styles which have
+been revived or incorporated in the <i>nouvre</i> art, which
+touches the home in its architecture and internal
+decoration, as well as in its furnishings. In modern
+dwellings the Elizabethan style has often been followed,
+although modern conveniences have been
+incorporated. When furnishing such houses with
+suitable replicas of the antique the householders of
+the last quarter of a century have been unconsciously,
+perhaps, fostering the love of household
+antiques and providing fitting homes for their
+family curios.</p>
+
+
+<h3>The Day of the Curio Hunter.</h3>
+
+<p>This is admittedly the day of curio hunting, and
+those who specialize on household curios have exceptional
+opportunities of displaying them to better
+advantage than those who cared for such things in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">{25}</a></span>
+the past. Perhaps it is because there were so few
+opportunities of arranging and displaying household
+antiques during the last three-quarters of the nineteenth
+century that many objects now treasured
+have been preserved so fresh and kept in such
+excellent condition. The housewives of the past
+generation were undoubtedly conservative in their
+retention of old household goods, and it is to their
+careful preservation that so many objects of interest,
+although perhaps fully a century old, come to the
+collector in such perfect condition.</p>
+
+<p>The patient labour expended by the amateur
+artist, the needleworker, and the connoisseur of
+home art a generation or two ago has provided the
+collector to-day with an exceptionally interesting class
+of curio, for there is much to admire in amateur
+craftsmanship, and especially in the handiwork of
+the needlewoman and the weaver and decorator of
+so many beautiful textiles which have been preserved
+to us. Sentiment was strong in the early nineteenth
+century, and among the love tokens of that day,
+chiefly the work of amateurs, some very beautiful
+and unique curios were produced. These, too, have
+come down to the collector of the twentieth century,
+and help him to secure specimens representing every
+decade, so that in a large collection, carefully selected,
+the slow and yet sure progress made in the fine arts,
+and the improvement in the ornamental surroundings
+in the home, is made clear. In each one of the
+different groups into which household curios may be
+divided there are many distinctive objects, all of
+which are in themselves interesting, but when viewed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">{26}</a></span>
+in association with other things which have been
+used at contemporary periods, or associated with the
+home life of persons similarly situated, but dwelling
+in different localities, are doubly interesting.</p>
+
+
+<h3>The Influence of Prevailing Styles.</h3>
+
+<p>In determining the origin of curios, and defining
+the periods during which they have been made, it is
+useful to have at least a little knowledge of the
+influence or character of the prevailing styles in the
+countries of origin. French art has exercised a great
+influence upon the productions of other nations; it
+has also been moulded by the curios and other
+articles of foreign origin then being sold in France.
+Regal and political influence have left their mark
+upon almost every period of French art, and have
+had much to do with the contemporary art of other
+nations, for France was for centuries a guide in most
+of the fine arts, and especially in those things which
+tended towards decorative effect. The furniture of
+France may be said to be an exponent of the
+country's history, so great has been the connection
+between French art, controlled by passing events,
+and its commercial products. It is said that the
+State pageants of the Louis XIV period tended to
+raise the tone of the work of French artisans and
+to encourage artists. That was a period of great
+development, for in the year 1670 the famous tapestry
+factories sprang into existence; and it must be
+admitted that the designing of those wonderful textiles
+influenced the manufacturers of furniture and
+smaller objects both in France and in other countries.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">{27}</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 433px;"><a name="FIG_2-5" id="FIG_2-5"></a>
+<img src="images/fig_2-5.jpg" width="433" height="600" alt="FIG. 2.&mdash;ANDIRONS WITH RATCHETS.
+FIG. 3.&mdash;ORNAMENTED CRESSET DOGS.
+FIG. 4.&mdash;TELESCOPIC RUSH AND CANDLE HOLDER.
+FIG. 5.&mdash;RATCHET RUSH AND CANDLE HOLDER." title="" /><br />
+<span class="caption">FIG. 2.&mdash;ANDIRONS WITH RATCHETS.<br />
+FIG. 3.&mdash;ORNAMENTED CRESSET DOGS.<br />
+FIG. 4.&mdash;TELESCOPIC RUSH AND CANDLE HOLDER.<br />
+FIG. 5.&mdash;RATCHET RUSH AND CANDLE HOLDER.</span>
+</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">{29}</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28"></a></span></p>
+
+<p>Sir Christopher Wren is reputed to have been
+carried away by the influence of the Louis XIV
+art. It was in that King's reign, too, that Charles
+Boule perfected his veneers of tortoiseshell and fine
+brass work. Buhl cabinets, fancy boxes, and many
+smaller objects found their way into this country,
+and are now household curios. When Philip of
+Orleans was Regent of France Boule introduced
+vermilion and gold-leaf as the groundwork upon
+which to throw up the beauty of tortoiseshell, and
+his designs became lavishly extravagant. Of these
+there are some beautiful examples extant; one,
+a facsimile of a bureau made in Paris in 1769, so
+elaborate that its cost was reputed to have been
+about &pound;20,000, is to be seen in the Wallace Collection
+at Hertford House. In the reign of Louis XV
+great encouragement was given to the importation
+of lacquer work from China, influencing the creation
+of similar works in France; and it was owing to
+his support that the Vernis Martin enamels or
+varnishes were produced. Then came those beautiful
+paintings of landscapes with which so many of the
+rarer household curios dating from that period were
+ornamented.</p>
+
+<p>The French style came over the Channel. Thus
+it was that French influence, as shown in its art in
+which its political history was reflected, permeated
+into the workshops of England. Then came the
+popularity of the designs of the Adam Brothers and
+Sheraton. During the Revolution in France art was
+at a standstill, but as soon as Napoleon had established
+his Empire artistic France began again, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">{30}</a></span>
+we see its influence in the Empire ornament of
+furniture and curios. Perhaps one of the most
+striking instances of change in style was that in
+our own country when the Prince of Orange came
+over and William and Mary were crowned King
+and Queen. Dutch influence on the art of Great
+Britain was immediately seen, and in the curios of
+that period there is a remarkable difference between
+those produced at that time, when Englishmen were
+content to allow the art of another nation to dominate
+their work, and those of an earlier date. Dutch
+marquetry is seen in cabinets and smaller household
+antiques in the manufacture of which panels were
+applicable. There was a change in design about
+the year 1695, just after Mary died, the characteristic
+seaweed following the floral, as if the very
+flowers had been banished after the Queen's death.
+The influence of the King and of his successors
+was very noticeable in the style and decoration of
+household goods; the history of this country at that
+time, just as the history of France had been, was
+reflected in the art of its craftsmen.</p>
+
+
+<h3>A Cultivated Taste.</h3>
+
+<p>The love of the antique is regarded by some as a
+cultivated taste. The specialization upon any one
+branch of household curios may justly be regarded
+as such, but surely not the regard, almost reverence,
+for family relics, although they are but the common
+things of everyday life! Their collection stimulates
+the connoisseur, and encourages him to fresh exertions,
+and in that sense the habit of keeping a keen<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">{31}</a></span>
+look out for anything that may illumine previous
+researches or add greater lustre to those things
+already secured, is gradually cultivated.</p>
+
+<p>Household curios are not unassociated with the
+folklore of the district where such objects have
+been made, or were commonly in use; and the very
+names of many things, the uses of which are almost
+forgotten, are suggestive of former occupations and
+older methods of practising household economy and
+the preparation of food. It is common knowledge
+that the purest old English is met with in the dialects
+of the countryside, and oftentimes once household
+words, now lost in modern speech, are found again
+when the old names or original purposes of the curios
+remaining to us are discovered. The cultivation of
+a taste for gathering together household antiques
+is much to be desired, and in the pursuit of such
+knowledge there is great pleasure&mdash;and as the value
+of genuine antiques is ever rising, some profit, too.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">{33}</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32"></a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2 style="text-align: left;">II<br />
+<br />
+THE<br />
+INGLE<br />
+SIDE</h2>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">{35}</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34"></a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II<br />
+<br />
+THE INGLE SIDE</h2>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Fire-making appliances&mdash;Tinder boxes&mdash;The fireplace&mdash;Andirons and
+fire-dogs&mdash;Sussex backs&mdash;Fireirons and fenders&mdash;Trivets and
+stools&mdash;Bellows.</p></div>
+
+
+<p>In winter the ingle side, or its equivalent in a modern
+house, appears to be the chief centre of attraction.
+It was ever so; and to-day the lessened necessity for
+crowding round the fire and sitting in the ingle nook,
+owing to modern methods of distributing the heat,
+in no way lessens the attraction which draws an
+Englishman to the fire. In the United States of
+America stoves of various kinds are deemed good
+substitutes, but in this country the open fire is
+preferred, and modern scientific research aims at
+perfecting and improving existing accepted methods
+of heating and warming rooms rather than of
+displacing them.</p>
+
+<p>In the days when the earliest collectable curios of
+the ingle side were being made by the village smith,
+and the local sculptor and mason were preparing the
+chimney corner and the mantelpiece to surround the
+fireplace, it was in front of the great open fire in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">{36}</a></span>
+kitchen, before which the large joints were roasted,
+that the retainers of the baron and the landowner
+or lord of the manor assembled on winter nights. It
+was around the fire which crackled on the hearth
+in the great hall that the more favoured ones forgathered,
+and in the lesser homestead the family
+drew up their chairs and found seats in the ingle
+nook, near the fire, when snow was upon the ground,
+and frost and cold draughts made them shiver in the
+houseplace.</p>
+
+<p>The fireplace has its attractions still, and builders
+and architects have designed many cosy corners
+within reach of the fire. The furnishings of the
+hearth have become more decorative as times have
+become more luxurious and art has gained the
+ascendant; and sometimes their greater ornament
+has been at the sacrifice of utility, but the root
+principles of construction as seen in the older
+grates and fire appointments remain.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">{37}</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 495px;"><a name="FIG_6" id="FIG_6"></a>
+<img src="images/fig_6.jpg" width="495" height="400" alt="FIG. 6.&mdash;ANCIENT ROMAN FIRE-DOG.
+
+(In the National Museum at Naples.)" title="" />
+<span class="caption">FIG. 6.&mdash;ANCIENT ROMAN FIRE-DOG.
+<br />
+(<i>In the National Museum at Naples.</i>)</span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 478px;"><a name="FIG_7" id="FIG_7"></a>
+<img src="images/fig_7.jpg" width="478" height="400" alt="FIG. 7.&mdash;SUSSEX GRATE BACK, DATED 1588." title="" />
+<span class="caption">FIG. 7.&mdash;SUSSEX GRATE BACK, DATED 1588.</span>
+</div>
+
+
+<h3>Fire-making Appliances.</h3>
+
+<p>It seems natural to inquire into the origin of the
+need of a fireplace, and to do so we must go back
+to prehistoric times and trace the discovery of fire-making
+apparatus, for without the means of lighting
+a fire it is obvious that the grate would be useless.
+With the fire came artificial light, the two great discoveries
+being perfected side by side, sometimes the
+one gaining ground, at others the one that had fallen
+behind shooting ahead as the result of some great
+discovery, or the application of scientific principles
+not deemed of utility to the one or the other as the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">{39}</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38"></a></span>
+case might be. The fire-making appliances which
+were in use for the purpose of lighting fires were
+of course used long before any scheme of artificial
+lighting&mdash;apart from the flames and radiance from
+the fire. Professor Flinders Petrie, that great investigator
+into the antiquities of the Ancients, tells us that
+fire-making by friction has been found to exist in far-off
+times. It would appear that the discovery of how
+to produce fire has been accomplished independently
+by men living under very different conditions and
+at all ages. The fire-making of the Ancients has
+been rediscovered by primitive people in more recent
+days, although it is probable that native races who
+until recently have been living apart from the great
+world outside have moved slowly in their march of
+civilization, and have been using the same methods
+as those first tried by their ancestors ages ago. In
+the unrivalled collection of appliances got together
+by Professor Petrie, there are fire drills from the
+Transvaal, bow drills used by the Esquimaux, and
+fire ploughs from North Queensland. Lighting fires
+must have been a slow and difficult task in the days
+when tinder boxes were in request, for when Curfew
+rang and the <i>couvre de feu</i> had done its work there
+was no fire in which to thrust the torch, and the
+entire process had to be gone over again when the
+fire had once more to be kindled.</p>
+
+
+<h3>Tinder Boxes.</h3>
+
+<p>The tinder box, formerly a real necessary, was to
+be found in every house, and in many instances, in
+the days before lucifer matches, it was a desirable<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">{40}</a></span>
+pocket companion. Tinder boxes were made of
+different materials; some were of wood, others of
+iron or brass. They lent themselves to ornamentation:
+thus some were engraved and quite artistic;
+many of the more recent ones were made of tin, and
+on the covers were decorative little scenes. The
+contents of the tinder boxes were of course flint
+and steel and tinder (something very inflammable,
+such as scorched linen), with a damper for extinguishing
+the smouldering fire after a light had been
+obtained, or in later days by the sulphur-tipped
+match applied to it. Among the varieties are what
+are termed pistol tinder boxes, instruments which
+contained a small charge of gunpowder, which, when
+fired, lighted the tinder. Tinder pouches or purses
+containing flint and tinder having a piece of steel
+riveted on to the edge of the purse or pouch were
+a common form. Those brought over from Central
+Asia were frequently decorated with dragons and the
+swastika symbol, in damascened work.</p>
+
+<p>Many inventions were put forward by chemists
+before the perfecting of the common match, the wax
+vesta, and the fusee. One of these was Berry's
+apparatus, which he devised in the beginning of
+the nineteenth century, calling it a "contrivance
+for lighting lamps in the dark." It consisted of an
+acid bottle with a string by which a conical stopper
+could be raised, and a chlorate match held against
+the stopper became ignited.</p>
+
+<p>Match boxes are collectable, and collectors of fire-making
+and lighting contrivances often include a
+few old matches. The lucifer match consisted of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">{41}</a></span>
+sticks tipped with potassium chlorate and sugar,
+held together with gum, igniting when touched with
+concentrated sulphuric acid. They were invented in
+1805, and by the year 1820 had quite taken the place
+of tinder boxes. Various lighting pastes were used,
+until the improvements which resulted in the "safety"
+matches. The dangerous sulphur and white phosphorus
+have given place in modern match-making to
+sesqui-sulphate mixtures; and wax vestas and other
+"strikers" have superseded the curious objects the
+collector meets with.</p>
+
+
+<h3>The Fireplace.</h3>
+
+<p>In studying the curios of the fireplace, it is scarcely
+necessary to go back beyond the grates and fire
+appointments which may be seen in the old houses
+standing to-day. Even during the last generation
+or two there have been many changes, and in rebuilding
+and refurnishing the antiquities of the fireplace
+have in many instances been swept away.
+During more recent days, however, there has been
+a greater appreciation of the curio value of mantelpieces
+and old grates, and it is no uncommon thing
+for hundreds and even thousands of pounds to be
+paid for rare specimens.</p>
+
+<p>In some instances the fireplace may truly be said
+to have been the central attraction, for the old grates
+and mantelpieces have often realized as much as the
+whole of the remainder of the materials secured when
+an old house has been pulled down. Some of these
+mantelpieces of olden time were magnificent memorials
+of the sculptor's and the carver's art. They<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">{42}</a></span>
+included overmantels, the entire breastwork of the
+chimney often being covered with stone or marble
+or black oak, right up to the ceiling or the
+cornice.</p>
+
+<p>The open hearth was the earlier form of fireplace,
+and long before chimneys were built logs of wood
+burned on it, and in still earlier times in a basket
+or brazier, the smoke finding its way to the roof, the
+rafters of which soon became blackened. Chimneys,
+however, are of early date, and the household curios
+of the fireplace have almost entirely been used under
+such conditions of fuel consumption, the up-draught
+of the chimney carrying away the smoke and harmful
+gases. The firebacks and the andirons, and later
+the fire-dogs, of the open fireplaces are collectable
+curios of considerable interest, and the hobby may
+be indulged in at a moderate cost. The collection
+of mantelpieces may be left to the wealthy and to
+those who have baronial halls in which to refix them.
+Fig. <a href="#FIG_1">1</a> represents an old fireplace in a panelled oak
+room with a Tudor ceiling. There is a Sussex back
+of rather small size, and a pair of andirons, on which
+a log of wood is shown reposing. An old saucepan
+has been reared up in the corner, and there is a
+trivet on the hearth. There is a very remarkable
+group of cresset dogs shown in Fig. <a href="#FIG_2-5">2</a>. One pair
+of dogs or andirons has ratchets on which supplementary
+bars were placed. These show an early
+advance from the simple andiron, and point to the
+later developments of the fire-grate with the fast
+bars which were to come. In the same group two
+rush-holders or candlesticks are shown, one with a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">{43}</a></span>
+ratchet, the other adjusted on a simple rod, the socket
+being held in place by a spring (see Figs. <a href="#FIG_2-5">4</a> and <a href="#FIG_2-5">5</a>).</p>
+
+<p>As time went on and change of fuel came about,
+the forests of England being gradually consumed on
+the domestic hearth, coal was substituted for the fast-vanishing
+wood. Then it was that a change was
+needed, and instead of the open fireplace and the
+andirons on which the logs of wood had formerly
+been laid, iron baskets or grates in which coal could
+be placed were made, so that the scattering of fuel
+and cinders on the open hearth could be prevented.
+Sussex backs gave place in time to the grate in
+which a metal back was frequently incorporated,
+flanked by the dogs in front. Then came the closed-in
+grates and the hob-registers of the eighteenth
+century, many being designed after the beautiful
+ornamentation produced by the Adam Brothers;
+also the decorative metal work enriched with ormolu
+and brass, which in due course again gave way to
+the plain and oftentimes ugly register grates of the
+Victorian Age, which in more modern times have
+been displaced by the reproductions of the antique,
+and by well-grates and scientifically constructed
+stoves and heating radiators by which heat can be
+conserved, the draught of the fire and the chimney
+regulated, and the coal burned more economically
+on slow-combustion and semi-slow-combustion principles.
+Science has taught builders and others how
+to radiate the heat, and prevent that waste which
+formerly went up the chimney, so that the necessity
+to sit round the fire is not as great as it once was,
+and rooms large and small are more evenly heated.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">{44}</a></span>
+The fireplace has once more become a thing of
+beauty, and all its appointments are rendered harmonious
+with the furnishings of the home, whether
+they are modern replicas of the homesteads of earlier
+periods or constructed according to the newer art of
+the present day.</p>
+
+
+<h3>Andirons and Fire-dogs.</h3>
+
+<p>The brazier on a piece of stone in the centre of the
+room served well when charcoal was plentiful, and
+although the smoke ascended amidst the rafters the
+heat spread and there was plenty of room for many
+persons to assemble "around" the fire. With chimneys
+built at the side of the house for convenience,
+the timber was laid upon the hearth flag. Under
+the conditions that appertained when great open
+chimneys allowed the rain and snow to fall upon
+the fire or on the logs laid ready for the burning, the
+difficulties of lighting a fire were experienced. Then
+the local smith came to the aid of the "domestic" or
+serf, and hammered into shape what were termed
+andirons, their use making it easier to light the logs,
+giving a current of air under them, causing them to
+burn brighter. The andirons were afterwards called
+fire-dogs, and in course of time bars rested on hooks
+or ratchets, or were laid across the dogs.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">{45}</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 549px;"><a name="FIG_8" id="FIG_8"></a>
+<img src="images/fig_8.jpg" width="549" height="400" alt="FIG. 8.&mdash;THREE SINGLE DOGS OR ANDIRONS." title="" />
+<span class="caption">FIG. 8.&mdash;THREE SINGLE DOGS OR ANDIRONS.</span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"><a name="FIG_9-10" id="FIG_9-10"></a>
+<img src="images/fig_9-10.jpg" width="600" height="430" alt="FIG. 9.&mdash;PAIR OF DATED SUSSEX ANDIRONS (1625).
+
+FIG. 10.&mdash;PAIR OF SUSSEX ANDIRONS.
+
+(In the collection of Mr. Wayte, of Edenbridge.)" title="" />
+<span class="caption">FIG. 9.&mdash;PAIR OF DATED SUSSEX ANDIRONS (1625).
+<br />
+FIG. 10.&mdash;PAIR OF SUSSEX ANDIRONS.
+<br />
+(<i>In the collection of Mr. Wayte, of Edenbridge.</i>)</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>There are no records of the earliest inventors of
+andirons or dogs. It is quite clear that small fire-dogs
+were in use in Rome at an early period; the
+one illustrated in Fig. <a href="#FIG_6">6</a>, measuring 6&frac34; in. in height,
+of artistic form, two draped figures being the supports
+of the arch, is in the National Museum in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">{47}</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46"></a></span>
+Naples, where there are many other beautiful examples
+of early Roman metal work. In the seventeenth
+century some of the more elaborate ornamental cast
+brass fire-dogs were enriched with black and white
+or blue and white enamel, several varieties of fireside
+ornaments being decorated in the same way.</p>
+
+<p>Enamel thus applied to metal is exceptionally
+valuable, as much as two hundred guineas being
+paid for an enamelled pair of fire-dogs. It is the
+ordinary forms of cast or wrought dogs with which
+collectors are mostly familiar, especially those made
+in the famous Sussex ironfields, such as those shown
+in Figs. <a href="#FIG_8">8</a>, <a href="#FIG_9-10">9</a>, and <a href="#FIG_9-10">10</a>, which are of early date, the
+pair illustrated in Fig. <a href="#FIG_9-10">9</a> being dated 1625, the
+others probably contemporary. Single examples of
+similar designs are shown in Fig. <a href="#FIG_8">8</a>. The need of the
+metal furnishings of the hearth&mdash;as the chimney
+places of the smaller manor houses and the dwellings
+of the traders were being erected&mdash;caused an
+impetus to the trade of the ironfounder and smith,
+and the founders and smiths of the Sussex villages
+came to the aid of the builder. There are dated
+examples from the sixteenth century onwards,
+recording the periods when these interesting souvenirs
+of domestic building and the great Sussex
+ironfields&mdash;now deserted&mdash;were in operation.</p>
+
+
+<h3>Sussex Backs.</h3>
+
+<p>There is a peculiar attraction about the castings
+made in Sussex in the days when the foundries of
+that county were in full work, and many villages
+were filled with busy pattern-makers, moulders, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">{48}</a></span>
+founders carrying on a thriving industry in districts
+which have now been given up to the plough; for
+the Sussex ironfields have been abandoned, as when
+the timber of the district was consumed it was impossible
+to work the forges economically, for coal was
+far distant and transport costs prohibitive. The old
+grate backs for which the Sussex foundries were famous
+in the seventeenth century were often modelled on
+Dutch designs, and some showed German characteristics.
+There are many noted English designs,
+too, mostly taking the forms of coats of arms and
+the shields and crests of the landlords for whom
+the stove-plates were made, some becoming "stock"
+patterns and often duplicated. There is quite a fine
+collection of these grate backs in several museums,
+and some good examples can still be bought from
+dealers whose agents secure them from time to time
+when property is being rebuilt. In the Victoria and
+Albert Museum there is a long oblong plate on which
+is cast the arms of Browne of Brenchley, in Kent,
+probably made in the second half of the seventeenth
+century. There are others with cherubs and curious
+supporters of shields of arms. A still earlier piece,
+probably cast about the year 1600, is an oblong
+Sussex back deeply recessed, on which is the arms
+of John Blount, Earl of Devonshire, another bearing
+the Royal arms of the Tudor period. In Hampton
+Court Palace there are some especially fine grate
+backs, mostly bearing the Royal arms. At a little
+earlier period the cast grate backs were chiefly plain
+with isolated crests or designs scattered over the
+surface, often quite irregularly.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">{49}</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The three fine examples of Sussex backs illustrated
+are typical of popular styles. Fig. <a href="#FIG_11">11</a> shows the
+Royal lion of England, accompanied by the emblems
+appearing on the Royal arms in the seventeenth
+century; the Tudor rose crowned, the Scottish
+thistle, and the French fleur-de-lis indicative of the
+throne of France to which English sovereigns then
+laid some claim. The date of this fine back is 1649.
+Fig. <a href="#FIG_7">7</a> is of an earlier period, being dated 1588,
+beneath which are the initials "I.F.C." There are
+also roses and fleurs-de-lis, as well as anchors and
+other emblems. The back shown in Fig. <a href="#FIG_12">12</a> has
+for its design the Royal arms surrounded by the
+Garter, and the initials "C.R.," a design which was
+duplicated very extensively soon after the Restoration.
+It will be noticed that the Royal arms formed
+the design of the Sussex back shown in position in
+Fig. <a href="#FIG_1">1</a>. Some of the German and Dutch designs are
+very curious, many of them representing scriptural
+subjects, like Moses and the brazen serpent; the
+death of Absalom; the temptation of Joseph; and
+the often-repeated story of the Garden of Eden.</p>
+
+<p>In the American museums there are some very
+interesting examples of foundry work; some of the
+cast backs, evidently modelled on German or Dutch
+designs, take the form of stove-plates, including both
+front and side plates, mostly bearing dates in the
+middle of the eighteenth century. Pennsylvania
+was the chief district in which these plates were
+made, some being cast by William Siegel, who went
+to America from Germany in 1758, and erected what
+was known as the Berkshire furnace. A curious early<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">{50}</a></span>
+stove-plate in an American collection, dated 1736, has
+upon it a scene known as "the dance after the wedding."
+It is said to have been used in the front of
+what was known as the German wall-warming stove.</p>
+
+<p>In form the Sussex shape is usually rectangular&mdash;that
+is, wider than its height. It would appear as if
+the back was at first moulded from a wooden plate,
+the crest, initials, or design being then impressed by
+movable moulds or stamps, generally of wood. These
+were irregularly placed, consequently crowns, roses,
+crosses, family badges, and all kinds of emblems
+were dotted promiscuously over the plate. Some of
+the plain plates with cable-twist borders were probably
+used as hearthstones and not as backs. The
+styles which were gradually developed were chiefly
+on the same lines as those which became popular in
+France. Their use lingered long in that country
+for until recently in many an old family mansion
+might have been seen a <i>plaque de chemin&eacute;e</i>, on which
+was the coat of arms and supporters of the original
+owner of the ch&acirc;teau, and sometimes of the kings
+of France. The Sussex ironfounders worked chiefly
+at Cowden, Hawkhurst, and Lamberhurst, and there
+were forges at Cranbrook, Coudhurst, Tonbridge, and
+Biddenden. The principal ironmasters of Kent were
+the Knights and the Tichbornes, whose descendants
+became baronets.</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"Life is not as idle ore,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But iron dug from central gloom,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And heated hot with burning fears,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And dipped in baths of hissing tears,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And battered with the shocks of doom<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">To shape and use."<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i16"><span class="smcap">Tennyson</span>, <i>In Memoriam</i>.<br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">{51}</a></span></div></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"><a name="FIG_11" id="FIG_11"></a>
+<img src="images/fig_11.jpg" width="400" height="362" alt="FIG. 11.&mdash;SUSSEX BACK WITH ROYAL EMBLEMS." title="" />
+<span class="caption">FIG. 11.&mdash;SUSSEX BACK WITH ROYAL EMBLEMS.</span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"><a name="FIG_12" id="FIG_12"></a>
+<img src="images/fig_12.jpg" width="400" height="319" alt="FIG. 12.&mdash;SUSSEX BACK WITH ARMS AND ROYAL INITIALS.
+
+(In the collection of Mr. Wayte, of Edenbridge.)" title="" />
+<span class="caption">FIG. 12.&mdash;SUSSEX BACK WITH ARMS AND ROYAL INITIALS.
+<br />
+(<i>In the collection of Mr. Wayte, of Edenbridge.</i>)</span>
+</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">{53}</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52"></a></span></p>
+
+
+<h3>Fireirons and Fenders.</h3>
+
+<p>Fire brasses or fireirons came into vogue with
+grates, although the sets now regarded as old fire
+brasses, some of which are very elaborate and massive,
+made at the beginning of the nineteenth century,
+were first used when fenders came into vogue;
+instead of being reared up alongside the fire-dogs
+in the chimney corner they rested on the fenders.
+There is not much to distinguish the variations in
+fireirons except the obvious indications of older
+workmanship and design, when contrasted with
+modern "irons." The shovel pans gave the artist
+in metal some opportunity for showing his skill in
+design and perforated work. It is probable that the
+earliest form of shovel was that known as the "slide,"
+its use being to shovel up the ashes of a wood fire, an
+operation necessary more frequently then than in
+modern days when coal has been the principal fuel
+consumed. Some of the older specimens are dated,
+and bear the owner's initials; thus one authentic
+specimen from Shopnoller, in the Quantock Hills,
+is engraved, "I T. 1784." Many of the Dutch metal
+workers produced very beautiful and decorative
+stands on which miniature sets of rich brasses were
+hung; some of the old English fireside stands were
+arranged as receptacles for tongs, shovel, and brush,
+and now and then the baluster stem supported by
+a tripod base had a central attachment from which a
+toddy kettle could be slung. The brass toddy kettle
+formerly stood upon the hob of the grate, singing
+merrily, always ready for the cup of tea which
+"cheers but not inebriates," or, as was frequently<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">{54}</a></span>
+the case, for the preparation of hot toddy or
+spirit.</p>
+
+<p>The evolution of the fender forms a pleasing story
+in connection with the ingle side. Perhaps the earlier
+form likely to interest collectors of household curios
+is that made of perforated brass, often some 8 in.
+or 10 in. in depth. These fenders standing on
+claw feet were afterwards fitted with bottom plates of
+iron, on which was a ridge or rest against which
+the fire brasses were prevented from slipping. Then
+came iron or steel scroll-shaped fenders, tapering
+down from a few inches in height at the ends to
+centres almost level with the ground. To obviate
+the inconvenience of there being no resting-place
+for the fireirons loose supports were fitted into
+sockets at the ends, and these afterwards were cast
+as part of the scroll. Then came the stiff and formal
+early Victorian metal work&mdash;iron fenders with steel
+tops relieved occasionally by ormolu ornament.
+These in their turn gave way to fender kerbs of
+metal, stone, marble, or tiles, and loose ornamented
+fire-dogs which have in more recent times served
+as rests for the fire brasses.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">{55}</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"><a name="FIG_13" id="FIG_13"></a>
+<img src="images/fig_13.jpg" width="400" height="621" alt="FIG. 13.&mdash;FINE CARVED WALNUT WOOD BELLOWS.
+
+(In the Victoria and Albert Museum.)" title="" />
+<span class="caption">FIG. 13.&mdash;FINE CARVED WALNUT WOOD BELLOWS.
+<br />
+(<i>In the Victoria and Albert Museum.</i>)</span>
+</div>
+
+<h3>Trivets and Stools.</h3>
+
+<p>Combination appliances were early adopted,
+although we are apt at times to associate combined
+utensils with modern innovations. The old
+English trivet of wrought iron made in the eighteenth
+century was frequently "improved" by the addition
+of a toasting fork, which could be adjusted and set at
+certain angles so that the toast could be left in front<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">{57}</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56"></a></span>
+of the fire for a few moments until it was quite ready
+to be taken off and put on a plate standing conveniently
+on the trivet until the dish or rack of toast
+was complete. (Some scarce trivets are illustrated
+in "Chats on Old Copper and Brass.")</p>
+
+<h3>Bellows.</h3>
+
+<p>The Germans were noted for the manufacture
+of decorative bellows cut and carved in quaint
+designs, some of the finest examples being made
+in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Others
+were made in Holland, some of the Dutch bellows
+being inlaid with mother-o'-pearl. There are also
+examples of old English carving, the style of the
+ornament taking the form of the designs on contemporary
+oak furniture. Some of the largest and
+handsomest bellows of English make are of late
+seventeenth-century workmanship. The example
+illustrated in Fig. <a href="#FIG_13">13</a> is a magnificent specimen, now
+in the Victoria and Albert Museum at South
+Kensington.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">{59}</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58"></a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2 style="text-align: left;">III<br />
+<br />
+THE<br />
+LIGHTS OF<br />
+FORMER DAYS</h2><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">{61}</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60"></a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III<br />
+<br />
+THE LIGHTS OF FORMER DAYS</h2>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Rushlights and holders&mdash;Candles, moulds, and boxes&mdash;Snuffers,
+trays, and extinguishers&mdash;Oil lamps&mdash;Lanterns.</p></div>
+
+
+<p>Household lighting has been one continuous effort
+to render the hours of darkness bright, and to provide
+by artificial means a luminosity which would, if not
+actually rivalling the sun, enable men to carry on
+their usual avocations with the same ease, convenience,
+and comfort after daylight had disappeared
+as during the earlier portion of the day. Every
+stage which has been advanced in artificial lighting
+has been welcomed in the home just as much as in
+the factory and in the workshop, for there are many
+daily duties as well as pleasures and amusements
+which are carried out much more satisfactorily when
+a good light is available than when there are shadows
+and dark corners only dimly lighted.</p>
+
+<p>To realize what artificial lighting was in the days
+now happily long past, it would be necessary to
+visit some old-world village, if one could be found,
+where there had been no attempt at street lighting,
+and in which not even oil had penetrated. The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">{62}</a></span>
+candles of very early times did not give more than a
+dim glimmer, and the darkness of medi&aelig;val England
+can be imagined from the primitive lighting appliances
+which are preserved. Fortunately the entire
+story of lighting as science came to the aid of trader
+and householder is revealed in the lights of former
+days, which as time went on became more varied
+and numerous, found in collections of well-authenticated
+specimens. The suggested caution implied
+is not unnecessary, for the periods overlap, and there
+is but little to show when such things as lamps and
+lanterns were actually made.</p>
+
+
+<h3>Rushlights and Holders.</h3>
+
+<p>In tracing the development of lighting from quite
+homely beginnings, rushlights, prepared by the
+cottager and the farm hand for the winter supply,
+seem to come first on the list. Rushlights, however,
+were used in this country by many until comparatively
+recent times side by side with lights much
+more advanced. But centuries earlier than we have
+any record of artificial lighting in this country, and
+equally as long before any of the earliest British
+curios of lighting were used, lighting engineers, if we
+may so call them, in Greece, Rome, Egypt, and still
+earlier in other Eastern countries, were far advanced.
+None of the lighting schemes of the Ancients, however,
+produced much more than the dim light of the
+swinging lamp in which oil was consumed.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">{63}</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"><a name="FIG_14" id="FIG_14"></a>
+<img src="images/fig_14.jpg" width="400" height="301" alt="FIG. 14.&mdash;THREE RUSHLIGHT HOLDERS.
+
+(In the National Museum of Wales, Cardiff.)" title="" />
+<span class="caption">FIG. 14.&mdash;THREE RUSHLIGHT HOLDERS.
+<br />
+(<i>In the National Museum of Wales, Cardiff.</i>)</span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"><a name="FIG_15" id="FIG_15"></a>
+<img src="images/fig_15.jpg" width="400" height="303" alt="FIG. 15.&mdash;THREE VARIETIES OF OLD OIL LAMPS." title="" />
+<span class="caption">FIG. 15.&mdash;THREE VARIETIES OF OLD OIL LAMPS.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>To range side by side a number of rushlight
+holders taken from districts widely apart, it becomes
+evident that there was a striking similarity between<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">{65}</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64"></a></span>
+the earlier types. The smiths everywhere seem to
+have fashioned a simple contrivance by which the
+rushlight or early candle could be held upright, and
+then, to give the "stick" solidity, the iron shaft was
+fastened securely into a wooden block, which was
+very often quite out of proportion to the size and
+weight of the stand, and apparently unnecessarily
+large and heavy. In the larger examples the holder
+is often made to slide upon an upright rod so as to
+be useful at different heights. The sliding rod was
+needed, for the light so dim could only be of real
+service when quite close to the person using it, or
+to the work it was intended to illumine (see Figs.
+<a href="#FIG_2-5">4</a> and <a href="#FIG_2-5">5</a>).</p>
+
+<p>Although some of the more elaborate and advanced
+holders were of copper or brass, most of them were
+of iron, the work of local smiths, few of whom made
+any attempt to decorate what they evidently regarded
+as strictly utilitarian articles (see Fig. <a href="#FIG_14">14</a>).
+Although rushlights antedated candles, some of the
+holders were made to answer a dual purpose, and on
+the same stem or slide as the rushlight holder there
+was a candle socket, an important feature fully
+exemplified in Figs. <a href="#FIG_2-5">4</a> and <a href="#FIG_2-5">5</a>.</p>
+
+
+<h3>Candles, Moulds, and Boxes.</h3>
+
+<p>The collector of household curios does not trouble
+about the candles; his object is to secure a few
+candle moulds, candle boxes, and, of course, candlesticks.
+It may, however, be convenient here to refer
+to the moulding of candles which was at one time a
+domestic duty just as it had been to collect rushes<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">{66}</a></span>
+and after they were dried dip them in fat, and to make
+lights which would burn with more or less steadiness.</p>
+
+<p>The candles were made from various fats, much of
+which was accumulated in the kitchen during the
+processes of cooking, supplemented by other ingredients
+deemed best for the purpose. The candle
+moulds or tubes in which wicks were inserted were
+of varying capacities and ranged from two to a
+dozen or more. The moulds were dipped in troughs
+of fat, having been heated sufficiently to melt the fat.
+The process was by no means new, in that it was
+used in this country by the Saxons; and at a still
+earlier period candles were made by the Romans,
+for among the sundry objects picked up among the
+uncovered ruins of Herculaneum have been small
+pieces of candle ends.</p>
+
+<p>There was but little advance in the art of candle-making,
+for the candle, briefly described as a rod of
+solidified tallow or wax surrounding a wick, remained
+almost unimproved until the eighteenth century,
+when spermaceti was introduced, and in more recent
+years paraffin has been substituted.</p>
+
+<p>Candles were hung up by their wicks in bunches
+until required for use, but those needed for immediate
+supply were always kept in candle boxes. It
+is these boxes of copper, brass, and tin which are
+sought after. The decorated japanned tin boxes
+are very pleasing, and some of the best, ornamented
+after the "Chinese style" or painted with little
+scenes, and rich in gold ornament, especially those
+made with other japanned wares at Pontypool in
+South Wales, are desirable acquisitions.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">{67}</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Of the varieties of candlesticks there is no end.
+The two great divisions are the pillar or table
+candlesticks, and the chamber candlesticks. The
+first named are chiefly seen with a small socket and
+flange to catch the running tallow, the last mentioned
+have larger dishes which catch the drips from
+candles which are being carried about. Among the
+varieties are the earliest form of pricket candlestick
+on which the candle was "stuck," the bell candlesticks,
+and the candlesticks which were fixed on
+brackets against the wall. As time went on varied
+materials were introduced, and ornament was chiefly
+in accord with prevailing styles, which influenced the
+maker of candlesticks as all other metal work. Iron,
+copper, brass, pewter, silver, and Britannia metal and
+wood have been used, and many of the handsomest
+chandeliers and brackets are those made of lustres
+and cut glass. The large chandeliers hung a century
+or two ago at great expense in the centre of large
+rooms have frequently been retained, and gas and
+electric light have been introduced instead of candles.
+In Fig. <a href="#FIG_16">16</a> we illustrate two exceedingly well-preserved
+old walnut floor-candlesticks, with brass
+sconces. They come from the Sister Isle, where
+there are still curios to be met with.</p>
+
+
+<h3>Snuffers, Trays, and Extinguishers.</h3>
+
+<p>There were difficulties to contend with in the use of
+candles, chiefly on account of the irregular burning of
+candles when exposed to the slightest draught, and
+to the imperfect combustion, which left a charred
+piece of wick which it was necessary to remove to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">{68}</a></span>
+make the candle burn once more. Then, again, the
+extinction of a burning candle involved some skill,
+and instruments were devised to effect this without
+causing unpleasant odours or smoke to arise. Previous
+to the use of lanterns out of doors, and oftentimes
+when halls and corridors were imperfectly lighted,
+torches thrust into the open fire and thus lighted
+were used. Extinguishers of iron were frequently
+erected near an outside door, or added to the iron
+railings outside the house. These were for the
+purpose of extinguishing links&mdash;many such are to be
+seen still outside old London houses. They were the
+prototypes from which originated the ordinary form
+of chamber candle extinguisher, frequently fastened
+to the "stick" by a chain.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">{69}</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"><a name="FIG_16" id="FIG_16"></a>
+<img src="images/fig_16.jpg" width="400" height="620" alt="FIG. 16.&mdash;TWO WALNUT WOOD FLOOR-CANDLESTICKS.
+
+(In the collection of W. Egan &amp; Sons, Ltd., of Cork.)" title="" />
+<span class="caption">FIG. 16.&mdash;TWO WALNUT WOOD FLOOR-CANDLESTICKS.
+<br />
+(<i>In the collection of W. Egan &amp; Sons, Ltd., of Cork.</i>)</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>The extinguishers used in the early days of candles
+are known now as snuffer-extinguishers, to distinguish
+them from snuffers (the old name was <i>doubters</i>). In
+form they were not unlike scissors; the two circular
+metal plates of which they were formed closed in
+and compressed the wick, thereby extinguishing the
+light. The earlier snuffers had very large boxes, and
+some were remarkably handsome, an exceptionally
+fine example being shown in Fig. <a href="#FIG_17">17</a>. They were
+discovered in an old house at Corton, in Dorset,
+in 1768, and were described by a writer towards the
+close of the eighteenth century thus: "They are of
+brass and weigh about 6 ounces. Their construction
+consists of two equilateral cavities, by the edges
+of which the snuff is cut off and received into the
+cavity from which it is not got out without much
+trouble." Snuffers of iron, and later of steel, are the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">{71}</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70"></a></span>
+commoner forms, but they are frequently of brass
+and of silver and Sheffield plate.</p>
+
+<p>The need of some convenient tray or receptacle
+for the snuffers, not always over-clean when they had
+been used a few times, was met at first by what are
+known as snuffer stands made of wrought metal, and
+often very ornamental. Then came the oblong tray
+of convenient shape, following in its decoration and
+ornament prevailing styles in other domestic tin or
+metal work. In this connection it should be pointed
+out that there are many varieties of taper holders
+and stands used for the small wax tapers, then
+common on the writing table.</p>
+
+
+<h3>Oil Lamps.</h3>
+
+<p>Although oil had long been a recognized illuminant
+from which a good artificial light could be
+obtained, it was not until the eighteenth century
+that any marked attempt was made to substitute
+oil for candles in this country. For really beautiful
+lamps we have to go back to the bronze lamps of
+ancient Greece and Rome, and the terra-cotta lamps
+of the early Christians, many of which were exceedingly
+interesting. Householders in England, and in
+America, too, preferred the beautiful silver candlesticks
+and those charming and artistic scrolls which
+once decorated the walls of the houses of the well-to-do.
+There came a time, however, when oil lamps
+were reinstated, and although candles still held
+sway and were difficult to displace, inventors and
+makers of oil lamps began to compete for the
+lighting industry. The three old lamps now in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">{72}</a></span>
+the Cardiff Museum, shown in Fig. <a href="#FIG_15">15</a>, must be
+classed among the commoner types of early lamps,
+once plentiful in farmhouses and cottages.</p>
+
+<p>The lamp used on the table in Victorian days was
+the moderator lamp, the principle of which was a
+spring forcing the oil up through the burner&mdash;but
+such lamps have no claim upon the curio hunter
+either for beauty of form or rarity of material.
+These lamps, which burned colza or seed oil, were
+superseded in time by paraffin and petroleum lamps.
+Now and then some wonderful invention flashed
+across the scene, but although various modern improved
+burners have come and gone, the lamp,
+excepting for purposes of ornament and decorative
+effect, has given way to coal gas and, in more
+modern times, to electric lighting. There are few
+household curios of any value associated with oil
+lighting, and as yet gas is too new!<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74"></a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">{73}</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 300px;"><a name="FIG_17" id="FIG_17"></a>
+<img src="images/fig_17.jpg" width="300" height="487" alt="FIG. 17.&mdash;FINE PAIR OF ANCIENT SNUFFERS." title="" />
+<span class="caption">FIG. 17.&mdash;FINE PAIR OF ANCIENT SNUFFERS.</span>
+</div>
+
+
+<h3>Lanterns.</h3>
+
+<p>The portable lantern made of iron and tin and
+glazed with horn was long an indispensable feature
+in every household. Horn lanterns were carried
+about everywhere in the days before street lighting
+was general, and to some extent they are needed
+in country districts to-day. There is a remarkable
+similarity between the modern glass lanterns of
+circular type and the old watchman's lanterns of a
+couple of centuries ago. The same design seems
+to have served the purpose through many generations,
+and to have been duplicated again and again.
+Among the ancient lanterns are some in which<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">{75}</a></span>
+candles have been burned, and others where the
+candle socket has been utilized for the insertion
+of a socket oil lamp. In more modern times the
+horn has given place to glass. The carriage lamps
+of former days served their purposes well, and
+although some are certainly antique, they are by
+no means desirable curios. The light they gave
+when driving through a country lane was indeed
+a dim flicker compared with the powerful arcs of
+the modern motor-car.</p>
+
+<p>The beacon fire is no longer seen on housetops,
+neither is the lantern in the yard and the vestibule
+furnished with a candle; but curiously enough, even
+in the most modern appointed houses, so great is
+the love for the antique in the furnishings of to-day,
+that beautifully modelled little replicas of the old
+horn lanterns are hung in entrance halls and passages&mdash;but
+instead of the candle there is the electric
+bulb!<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">{77}</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76"></a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2 style="text-align: left;">IV<br />
+<br />
+TABLE<br />
+APPOINTMENTS</h2><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">{79}</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78"></a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV<br />
+<br />
+TABLE APPOINTMENTS</h2>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Cutlery: Knives, forks, and spoons&mdash;Salt cellars&mdash;Cruet stands&mdash;Punch
+and toddy&mdash;Porringers and cups&mdash;Trays and waiters&mdash;The tea
+table&mdash;Cream jugs&mdash;Sugar tongs and nippers&mdash;Caddies&mdash;Cupids&mdash;Nutcrackers&mdash;Turned
+woodware.</p></div>
+
+
+<p>It is very difficult to realize in these days of
+refinement and of comparative luxury, even in the
+homes of the working classes, what the table
+appointments must have been in early English
+homes. Sometimes glowing accounts are given of
+the feasting of olden time; but no doubt many of
+the great occasions contrasted in their luxurious
+magnificence with the usual mode of living. They
+were, however, the days of feeding rather than of
+refinement in partaking of the sumptuous feast. The
+table appointments on such occasions were crude and
+simple, and they were altogether absent from the
+tables of the lower classes. It is difficult, indeed,
+to realize that the conditions under which people
+lived in medi&aelig;val England, in the days when the
+baron and his followers assembled in the great hall,
+and with his chosen companions sat above the salt,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">{80}</a></span>
+satisfied men of wealth; it was, however, in accord
+with the spirit of the age.</p>
+
+<p>The primitive methods of serving up food and
+eating it observed by the majority of people then
+would be looked upon with disgust nowadays by
+every one. The table appointments were not only
+very few, but those which were used, like the knife
+and spoon, were often brought into the feasting hall
+by those who were to use them. The polished oaken
+board was often laden with rough and readily prepared
+dishes, the result of some fortunate expedition
+or of a prosperous hunt. The knife was the chief
+implement used until comparatively recent days, for
+forks are quite a modern innovation. The spoon, it
+is true, goes back to hoary antiquity, but in England,
+even in the Middle Ages, spoons were used chiefly for
+ecclesiastical purposes. In Harrison's <i>Elizabethan
+England</i> we read that the times had changed, for
+instead of "treen platters" there were pewter plates,
+and tin or silver spoons instead of wood.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82"></a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">{81}</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"><a name="FIG_18" id="FIG_18"></a>
+<img src="images/fig_18.jpg" width="500" height="358" alt="FIG. 18.&mdash;HANDSOMELY DECORATED KNIFE CASE AND CONTENTS.
+
+(In the Victoria and Albert Museum.)" title="" />
+<span class="caption">FIG. 18.&mdash;HANDSOMELY DECORATED KNIFE CASE AND CONTENTS.
+<br />
+(<i>In the Victoria and Albert Museum.</i>)</span>
+</div>
+
+
+<h3>Cutlery: Knives, Forks, and Spoons.</h3>
+
+<p>The term "cutlery," derived from <i>coutellerie</i>, the
+French for cutlery, had been evolved from <i>culter</i>,
+the Latin for knife. Primarily it referred to cutting
+instruments, and especially to knives, but in a
+general way, when speaking of table cutlery, spoons
+and forks may appropriately be included. Early
+records referring to cutlery indiscriminately use the
+terms knives and swords; indeed, the arms granted
+to the London Cutlers' Company in the sixteenth
+year of the reign of Edward IV are two swords,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">{83}</a></span>
+crossed; later a crest, consisting of an elephant
+bearing a castle, was added. Homer tells us of
+knives carried at the girdle in his day, and describes
+them as of triangular form. The Anglo-Saxons and
+the Normans carried about with them met-soex or
+eating knives, but it was not until the end of the
+fifteenth century that knives were used at table,
+other than those which were carried at the girdle,
+every man using his own cutlery. In England,
+Sheffield was early noted for the manufacture of
+knives, for Chaucer tells us, "A Scheffeld thwitel
+bare he in his hose." Another form of spelling the
+word which denoted knife was <i>troytel</i>, and from
+these terms is derived "whittle." The jack knife
+came in in the days of James I, after whom it
+was named, the original term being Jacques-te-leg,
+these knives shutting into a groove or handle
+without spring or lock.</p>
+
+<p>The making of a table knife even in early times
+necessitated the work of many hands, for taking
+part in its production were the smiths who forged
+it, the bladers who made the blade out of the metal
+already hammered, and the haft-makers. When
+the knife was complete it was handed to the sheath-makers,
+who fashioned the sheath of leather, and
+sometimes encased it in metal. The host did not
+provide table cutlery for his guests until the reign
+of Elizabeth. In earlier times it was left to the
+traveller to provide himself with whatever he deemed
+necessary; thus it is recorded that when Henry VI
+made a tour in the north he carried with him
+knife, fork, and spoon, as it was stated "he scarcely<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">{84}</a></span>
+expected to find any at the houses of the nobility."
+From that custom, no doubt, arose the common
+practice of fitting separate sets, and afterwards sets
+for more than one person, in cases, the materials
+used being for many years the beautifully embossed
+<i>cuir boulli</i> leather work. Queen Elizabeth carried
+her knife and other appointments at her girdle,
+a custom followed by her ladies; although it is
+said that at the Court of the virgin queen it was
+customary for the gentlemen courtiers to cut up
+the meat on the platters of the fair ones with
+whom they were dining; the ladies at that time
+being content to prove the truth of the adage,
+"Fingers were made before forks."</p>
+
+<p>Collectors soon realize that there were many
+forms of knives even amongst those specially
+reserved for table use. Both blades and handles
+have passed through many stages in the gradual
+evolution from the hunting knife to the cutlery on
+the modern dinner table. The blades have been
+narrow and pointed like daggers, and they have
+been scimitar-shaped, and rounded off at the point.
+The qualities of the material have changed, too,
+Sheffield cutlers and those of other places vying
+with one another. The cutlery trade has long
+drifted north, although at one time the members
+of the London Cutlers' Company were proud of
+the quality of their goods, and boasted of their
+knives being "London made, haft and blade."
+This ancient Guild tried hard to maintain their
+pre-eminence, and in the days of Elizabeth
+obtained a Charter prohibiting all strangers from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">{85}</a></span>
+bringing any knives into England from beyond
+the seas.</p>
+
+<p>The carving knife seems to have had a separate
+descent from the large hunting knives used to cut
+up barons of beef, roasted oxen, and portions which
+were cut off the joint for each individual or for
+several persons.</p>
+
+<p>Forks for table use were a much later invention,
+although there were larger meat forks, flesh forks,
+and heavier iron kitchen appliances (see Chapter
+<a href="#CHAPTER_V">V</a>).</p>
+
+<p>In very early times small forks, of which there
+are some in the Guildhall Museum dating from
+Roman and Saxon times, were chiefly used for
+fruit. The use of forks at table, for meat, is attributed
+to the invention of an Italian, and the custom
+thus started rapidly spread "in good society" on
+the Continent of Europe. Thomas Coryate, a
+noted traveller, is said to have introduced them
+into Germany, and afterwards into England, where
+their use was at first much ridiculed as effeminate,
+the "fork-carving" traveller being spoken of in
+contempt.</p>
+
+<p>Forks were in regular use in England early
+in the sixteenth century. Dean Stanley, in his
+<i>Memorials of Westminster Abbey</i>, quotes from the
+Chapter Book of 1554, in which it is stated by
+Dean Weston (1553-6) that the College dinners
+"became somewhat disorderly, <i>forks</i> and knives
+were tossed freely to and fro." The old table
+forks were two-pronged, the prongs being long and
+set near together; the steel forks of the early<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">{86}</a></span>
+nineteenth century were three-pronged, and another
+prong was added later, the latter form being adapted
+by the makers of silver forks in more recent years.</p>
+
+<p>In Fig. <a href="#FIG_18">18</a> is shown a very handsome knife case
+and its contents, which are to be seen in the
+Victoria and Albert Museum. In Fig. <a href="#FIG_19">19</a> another
+example of a set of knife, fork, and spoon in the
+same collection is illustrated.</p>
+
+<p>The spoon is, like the knife, of great antiquity.
+It is said to have been suggested by shells on the
+shore, and by the hollow of the hand which in
+the most primitive days was used to drink with.
+The most beautiful old spoons are those made of
+silver, a magnificent pair being shown in Fig. <a href="#FIG_20">20</a>.
+Many such spoons are now almost priceless, especially
+the much-valued Apostle spoons, often given
+in olden time as christening gifts. Silver spoons
+more correctly belong to antique silver, which forms
+another branch of curio-collecting.</p>
+
+<p>Of spoons there are many made of other materials
+than silver, some being carved in wood (see
+Chapter <a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">XIII</a>), others of ivory, and some of bone.
+Many of the older spoons were made of brass or
+latten; but when silver became popular table spoons
+of silver were procured whenever it was possible to
+afford them, and a collection including in the varieties
+the Apostle and the seal top, and its various
+developments from the rat-tail to the fiddle, is
+obtainable. As regarding spoons Westman has
+written: "The spoon is one of the first things
+wanted when we come into the world, and it is one
+of the last things we part with before we go out."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">{87}</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"><a name="FIG_19" id="FIG_19"></a>
+<img src="images/fig_19.jpg" width="400" height="450" alt="FIG. 19.&mdash;KNIFE, FORK, AND SPOON.
+
+(In the Victoria and Albert Museum.)" title="" />
+<span class="caption">FIG. 19.&mdash;KNIFE, FORK, AND SPOON.
+<br />
+(<i>In the Victoria and Albert Museum.</i>)</span>
+</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">{89}</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88"></a></span></p>
+
+<p>The collector revels in the beautifully engraved
+blades of the rarer curios; in the handles so varied
+in their materials and ornament; and in the cases
+in which knives, forks, and spoons have in many
+instances been preserved. From the curios in
+museums and from family treasures it is evident
+that much of the cutlery has been presented as
+donations to the housekeeping outfit of a newly-married
+couple, or given as presentation sets or
+pieces on some special occasion; just as cutlery is
+often chosen for presentation purposes to-day.</p>
+
+<p>From the sixteenth century onwards such sets
+have been made and presented. The recently
+arranged cutlery room in the Victoria and Albert
+Museum at South Kensington, that great art treasure-house
+of the nation, contains an exceptionally
+representative collection. In some instances the
+examples are only single specimens which may have
+been presented separately, or they may have formed
+part of a more complete set. There are sets of
+carving knives with long blades, forks with double
+prongs, and broad-pointed flat-bladed servers, many
+of them etched and engraved all over. Even after
+carvers were regular features on the table the small
+knives and forks were brought by the guests who
+were bidden to the feast, for it must be remembered
+that it was not until 1670 that Prince Rupert
+brought the first complete set of forks to this country.</p>
+
+<p>In the Victoria and Albert Museum there is a
+very beautiful little knife, the handle of which is
+delicately carved, the group which constitutes the
+design representing our first parents standing beneath<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">{90}</a></span>
+the Tree of Knowledge, in the midst of which the
+wily serpent is cunningly concealed.</p>
+
+<p>Another pair consisting of a very handsome knife
+and fork have handles representing animals and
+grotesque figures. These were the work of Dutch
+artists in the seventeenth century; but curiously
+enough the quaint leather case in which this knife
+and fork are enclosed was evidently of earlier date,
+for it has upon it "1598." Some of the cases of
+leather made by the <i>cuir boulli</i> process are circular,
+there being separate holes for each of the knives they
+were intended to contain. Some of the knives are
+very curious, especially those with wooden or horn
+handles of sixteenth and early seventeenth-century
+make, which have been found in considerable numbers
+in Moorfields and Finsbury, along with sharpening
+steels. The ordinary table knives of a little later
+date, when they were sold in half-dozens and dozens
+along with two-pronged forks, were decorative, their
+handles being made of materials varying in quality
+and in the excellence of their manufacture. One
+of the most beautiful sets of rare historic value now
+on view in the Victoria and Albert Museum is part
+of a set of fourteen, the ivory handles being carved
+to represent the kings and queens of England.
+These rare examples of the English cutler's and
+ivory carver's art, dated 1607, have blades damascened
+with gold. There are knives also with handles of
+amber, one very remarkable set in amber over foil
+being decorated with the figure of Christ and His
+Apostles on one side of the handles, and on the
+other side there is the Apostles' Creed.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">{91}</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Among other materials used in the manufacture of
+handles for knives and forks, some of the latter
+having two prongs and others three, chiefly made in
+the eighteenth century, are: Battersea enamel on
+copper, Staffordshire agate ware, Meissen porcelain,
+Venetian millefiore glass, Bow porcelain, jasper,
+Venetian aventurine glass, enamelled earthenware,
+and Chantilly porcelain. In many instances these
+handles made of such beautiful materials are further
+decorated by miniature painted scenes and floral
+ornaments. Another favourite material is bone,
+some of the older handles being stained, mostly
+green, afterwards decorated with applied silver in
+floral and geometrical designs. There are a few
+maple-wood handles of the eighteenth century, and
+others of stag's horn and of shagreen.</p>
+
+<p>The knife box with its divisions, referred to elsewhere,
+is exemplified in many remarkably fine cases
+to be seen in our museums and in isolated specimens
+in private collections.</p>
+
+<p>The interest in a collection of household utensils
+is greatly enhanced by the halo of romance which
+surrounds the uses of some of them. This is seen
+and understood by the collector of cutlery perhaps
+more than of anything else, for many old customs
+have been associated with the giving of cutlery, and
+superstitious beliefs have crept in.</p>
+
+<p>The gift of cutlery at weddings was not always the
+prosaic thing it is nowadays, for the cases and even
+the knives were often accompanied by some sentimental
+rhyme or poetic inscription. Two knives,
+apparently the gift of bride and bridegroom to one<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">{92}</a></span>
+another, now in the British Museum, are engraved
+with separate inscriptions. One reads:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"My love is fixt I will not range,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">I like my choice I will not change";<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>while on the other is engraved:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"Witt, wealth, and beauty all doe well<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">But constant love doth fair excell. 1676."<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>The early uses of knives in association with religious
+rites are interesting, as, for instance, the golden
+knife with which the old Druids cut the mistletoe
+with pomp and much mystic ceremony. The early
+Christians made use of the knife and symbolized the
+cross when feasting; indeed, the old country habit&mdash;which
+is now deemed a sign of vulgarity&mdash;of crossing
+the knife and fork after dining, took its origin in that
+act of devotion, for together they form the Greek
+cross. Browning refers to the custom when he says:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"Knife and fork he never lays<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Crosswise, to my recollection,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">As I do in Jesu's praise."<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>In Russia this custom of the peasantry was deep-rooted;
+and there they were careful to take up the
+knife and fork and lay them down on the plate
+crossed before commencing their often meagre meal.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94"></a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">{93}</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"><a name="FIG_20" id="FIG_20"></a>
+<img src="images/fig_20.jpg" width="400" height="540" alt="FIG. 20.&mdash;PAIR OF DECORATED SPOONS.
+
+(In the Victoria and Albert Museum.)" title="" />
+<span class="caption">FIG. 20.&mdash;PAIR OF DECORATED SPOONS.
+<br />
+(<i>In the Victoria and Albert Museum.</i>)</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>Strange to say that although knives and forks
+have been crossed in reverence, to cross knives has
+been deemed unlucky, and to present a maiden with
+a pair of scissors&mdash;two crossed blades&mdash;has long been
+held by those who believe in such signs as unlucky.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">{95}</a></span>
+To give a knife is to "cut luck"&mdash;so the legend runs;
+hence so many when presenting a pocket knife will
+demand a penny (as the smallest coin when silver
+pennies were in circulation) in return. The Rev.
+Samuel Bishop, M.A., Master of the Merchant
+Taylors' School in 1795, wrote the following lines
+on the subject of presenting a knife to his wife:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"A knife, dear girl, cuts love, they say&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Mere modish love perhaps it may:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">For any tool of any kind<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Can separate what was never join'd."<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+
+<h3>Salt Cellars.</h3>
+
+<p>The condiments of the table were usually supplied
+in separate vessels. The use of salt with meat goes
+back to primitive times, although we have few records
+of the vessels in which it was served. The Arab chief
+offers his guest salt as an act of friendship, and as
+such it is partaken of. The classic Ancients consecrated
+salt before using it, and the salt cellar was
+placed upon the table together with the first fruits
+"for the gods," those to whom they were offered
+being generally Hercules or Mercury. The Greek
+salt cellars were shaped like bowls, and as the salt
+became an important feature as a dividing line
+between rich and poor, the size of the cellar grew.
+To realize the importance of the salt cellar in
+medi&aelig;val England, we have only to visit the Tower
+of London, where the great salt cellars of State are
+kept. The large standing salt was the dividing line
+upon the table. Salt cellars dating from the fourteenth
+century are in existence, and many curiously<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">{96}</a></span>
+shaped designs intervened before the bell-shaped
+salts which were fashionable in the days of Elizabeth
+and the trencher salts of Queen Anne and the early
+Georges. Salt cellars with feet came into fashion
+in the reign of George II; then followed many minor
+changes until the beautifully perforated salt cellars
+with blue liners bearing hall-marks dating from the
+close of the eighteenth century came into vogue. It
+is from among the Georgian table appointments that
+collectors gather most of their specimens. The
+materials of which these salt cellars were made
+vary; there are sterling silver, antique pewter, and
+Sheffield plate; and there are salt cellars of china
+and porcelain which may well be included in a
+collection of table curios.</p>
+
+
+<h3>Cruet Stands.</h3>
+
+<p>The separate bottles or cruets, casters, mustard
+pots, and very rarely salts, were gradually gathered
+together and placed in a frame which grew big in
+late Georgian and early Victorian days. For convenience
+the stand was placed in the centre of the
+table, and often made to revolve. Such cruets are
+met with in silver and other metals, also in papier-mach&eacute;,
+often ornamented with mother-o'-pearl and
+painted flowers. The greatest interest, however, is
+found in collecting separate bottles, such as those
+charming Bristol glass cruets, ornamented with flowers
+and lettered with the names of their contents, such as
+"<span class="smcap lowercase">VINEGAR</span>," "<span class="smcap lowercase">SALAD OIL</span>," "<span class="smcap lowercase">MUSTARD</span>," "<span class="smcap lowercase">PEPPER</span>."</p>
+
+<p>There is a greater variety of form in the metal
+cruets and casters, which followed the prevailing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">{97}</a></span>
+styles silversmiths were then employing. Especially
+graceful are the old pepperettes and vase-shaped
+casters. The woodturner, too, contributed to the
+table appointments of the eighteenth century, and the
+carver made some curious and even grotesque figures,
+the heads of which took off, and thus formed pepper
+casters. One of the most noted grotesque sets
+reminds us of the Toby fill-pot jugs in form, a complete
+set consisting of two salts, two mustards, and
+two pepper pots. Genuine specimens are very
+difficult to meet with now, although those Staffordshire
+cruets have been reproduced, and are offered
+either singly or in sets; but the difference between
+the genuine antique and the modern replica ought
+not to deceive even an amateur.</p>
+
+<p>There are varieties of mustard pots, which were in
+turn round, oval, square, hexagonal, and cylindrical,
+some being like miniature well buckets with perforated
+sides and blue metal liners.</p>
+
+
+<h3>Punch and Toddy.</h3>
+
+<p>A hundred years ago the punch bowl was
+inseparable from the convivial feast. It was a
+favourite sideboard ornament, and found in frequent
+use on the dining table, round which smokers and
+card players drew up and filled their glasses with
+punch and toddy. Ladles were indispensable, and
+were varied in form and in the materials of which
+they were composed. Punch ladles were in earlier
+days made of cherry-wood, mounted with a silver
+rim and fitted with a long handle, often made of
+twisted horn. The horn, which was somewhat<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">{98}</a></span>
+pliable, was secured to the bowl by a silver socket.
+Other ladles were made entirely of silver, some
+having a current coin of the realm, a guinea
+preferably, fixed in the bottom of the bowl&mdash;for
+luck. Some of the ladles were beautifully decorated
+in repousse, others were shaped like sauce boats;
+there were ladles without lips, others deep like the
+porringers, and yet others were quite round like a
+drinking bowl. Some are family heirlooms, others
+have been purchased in curio shops, and unfortunately
+during the last few years so great has been
+the demand for them that many modern copies have
+been palmed off as genuine antiques. The hall-mark
+on the rim is in many instances a guarantee of age,
+although some of the genuine specimens do not
+appear to have been hall-marked at all. The fact
+that an old coin is found fixed within the bowl is no
+criterion of antiquity, and does not always indicate
+that the punch ladle itself is contemporary with the
+coin, for old coins are common enough and readily
+fixed in new ladles.</p>
+
+<p>Collectors of old china simply revel in punch
+bowls. Punch was at the height of its popularity
+when most of the domestic porcelain and decorative
+china, now rare and valuable, was being made. The
+best known potters in Worcester, Derby, Bristol,
+Liverpool, and the Potteries made punch bowls,
+some ornamented with their characteristic decorations;
+others were specially emblematical, such, for
+instance, as the bowls covered with masonic signs;
+some were nautical in design, and many were
+enriched with coats of arms and crests. Several of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">{99}</a></span>
+the punch bowls belonging to the old City Companies
+are on view in the Guildhall Museum, and
+isolated specimens are seen to be in other places.</p>
+
+<p>Oriental china was at that time being imported
+into this country very extensively, and some remarkably
+delicate bowls, contrasting with Mason's strong
+ironstone, are obtainable. These bowls, ladles, and
+the charming little egg-shaped boxes which formerly
+contained a nutmeg and a tiny grater are household
+table furnishings of exceptional interest. It may
+interest some to learn that punch, which came into
+vogue in the seventeenth century, derived its name
+from a Hindustani word signifying five, indicative
+of the five ingredients of which it was composed&mdash;spirit,
+water, sugar, lemon, and spice.</p>
+
+
+<h3>Porringers and Cups.</h3>
+
+<p>Although sterling silver and other materials from
+which drinking vessels are usually made have been
+exhaustively dealt with in other volumes of the
+"Chats" series, as table appointments drinking cups
+must be referred to here. Caudle cups were in use
+in the sixteenth century, and throughout the century
+that followed they were used along with porringers,
+which differed from them only in that the mouths of
+the porringers were wider and the sides straight.
+The caudle cup, sometimes called a posset cup, is
+met with both without and with cover, and in some
+instances it is accompanied by a stand or tray.
+Caudle or posset was a drink consisting of milk
+curdled with wine, and in the days when it was
+drunk few went to bed without a cup of smoking<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">{100}</a></span>
+hot posset. Many of the early cups were beautifully
+embossed and florally ornamented, although others
+were quite plain, with the exception of an engraved
+shield, on which was a coat of arms, crest, or
+monogram. Many of the porringers which followed
+the earlier type were octagonal, and in some
+instances twelve-sided. In the reign of William and
+Mary the rage for Chinese figures and ornaments
+caused English silversmiths to decorate porringers
+with similar designs. The style which prevailed the
+longest was that known as "Queen Anne," much
+copied in modern replicas. Very pleasing, too, are
+eighteenth-century miniature porringers.</p>
+
+<p>There is much to please in the work of the silversmith
+and potter, as well as the glass blower, in the
+cups they fashioned; and the artist admires the
+chased engraving or the rich colouring, and perchance
+the etching and cutting of the cup. Some, however,
+show preference for the earlier cups and drinking
+vessels of commoner materials, and for those eccentricities
+of the table found in curious hunting cups,
+vessels which had to be emptied at a draught, or to
+be drunk under the most difficult conditions like the
+puzzle cups of Staffordshire make. The peg
+tankards of ancient date, a very fine example
+originally belonging to the Abbey of Glastonbury,
+afterwards in the possession of Lord Arundel of
+Wardour, held two quarts, the pegs dividing its
+contents into half-pints according to the Winchester
+standard. On that remarkable cup the twelve
+Apostles were carved round the sides, and on the
+lid was the scene at the Crucifixion.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">{101}</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"><a name="FIG_21-22" id="FIG_21-22"></a>
+<img src="images/fig_21-22.jpg" width="400" height="228" alt="FIG. 21.&mdash;TWO WOODEN CUPS.
+
+FIG. 22.&mdash;WOODEN FLAGON, WITH COPPER BANDS.
+
+(In the National Museum of Wales.)" title="" />
+<span class="caption">FIG. 21.&mdash;TWO WOODEN CUPS.
+<br />
+FIG. 22.&mdash;WOODEN FLAGON, WITH COPPER BANDS.
+<br />
+(<i>In the National Museum of Wales.</i>)</span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"><a name="FIGS_23_24_25" id="FIGS_23_24_25"></a>
+<img src="images/fig_23-25.jpg" width="400" height="280" alt="FIGS. 23, 24.&mdash;COCOANUT CUPS (SILVER-MOUNTED).
+
+FIG. 25.&mdash;COCOANUT FLAGON." title="" />
+<span class="caption">FIGS. 23, 24.&mdash;COCOANUT CUPS (SILVER-MOUNTED).
+<br />
+FIG. 25.&mdash;COCOANUT FLAGON.</span>
+</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">{103}</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102"></a></span></p>
+
+<p>It is said that the pegs were first ordered by
+Edgar, the Saxon king, to prevent excessive drinking,
+the tankard being passed round, every man
+being expected to drink down to the next peg.
+Heywood, in his <i>Philocathonista</i>, says: "Of drinking
+cups, divers and sundry sorts we have, some of elm,
+some of box, and some of maple and holly." According
+to the quaint spelling of those days there were
+then in use in Merrie England: "Mazers, noqqins,
+whiskins, piggins, cringes, ale-bowls, wassel bowls,
+tankard and kames from a pottle to a pint and from
+a pint to a gill." The leather cups and tankards or
+black jacks (see Chapter <a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">VIII</a>) were mostly used in
+country places by "shepheards and harvesters." A
+writer in a work published in the early years of the
+nineteenth century says: "Besides metal and wood
+and pottery we have cups of hornes of beasts, of
+cocker nuts, of goords, of eggs of ostriches, and of
+the shells of divers fishes."</p>
+
+<p>A simple cocoanut, mounted in silver and made
+into a cup, perhaps a century or more ago, is by no
+means to be despised. Some are beautifully polished
+and ornamented with incised work. Contemporary
+with the earlier specimens are pots made of ostrich
+eggs, mounted in silver, regarded of great value in
+the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Some of the
+university colleges possess fine examples, and there
+are many in the hands of London silversmiths.
+Figs. <a href="#FIGS_23_24_25">23</a> and <a href="#FIGS_23_24_25">24</a> represent two cocoanut cups with
+feet of silver, one engraved with the owner's initials,
+the foot being decorated with bead ornament.
+Fig. <a href="#FIGS_23_24_25">25</a> is a cocoanut mounted as a flagon with handle<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">{104}</a></span>
+of whalebone and rim and foot of silver. The use of
+such cups seems to have been very generally distributed
+all over the world, for there are many South
+American examples, as well as the English varieties.
+The gourd, too, was used for similar purposes; the
+Mexicans made such bowls and cups, finishing them
+off with silver mounts and sometimes adding silver
+feet. There are French flasks made of small gourds,
+sometimes scent flasks being made in the same way,
+not infrequently decorated with incised inlays of
+coloured composition on a black ground. Some of
+the English silversmiths engraved hunting scenes on
+small flasks made of the rind of a gourd, choosing
+hunting scenes and birds and familiar outdoor
+objects.</p>
+
+<p>In Figs. <a href="#FIG_21-22">21</a> and <a href="#FIG_21-22">21</a><span class="smcap lowercase">A</span> are shown two curious old
+wood drinking cups, and Fig. <a href="#FIG_21-22">22</a> represents a
+wooden jug bound with copper.</p>
+
+<p>Horn was a favourite material for cups, sometimes
+surmounted by elaborate covers and feet of silver.
+One of the rarest drinking horns, now in Queen's
+College, Oxford, was presented to the College by
+the Queen of Edward III in 1340. Of later types
+there are beakers and tumbler cups, the latter
+rounded at the base so that they were easily upset,
+the idea being that they must be emptied at the
+first draught. From these cups sprang the quaint
+hunting cups in porcelain, modelled in the form of
+a hare's head, or like a fox, some of the scarcest
+being evidently modelled for the fisherman's use,
+to take the form of a fish's head.</p>
+
+<p>The very remarkable drinking cup shown in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">{105}</a></span>
+Fig. <a href="#FIG_27">27</a> is made of walnut; the ridges, carved in deep
+relief, stand out boldly, each one being carved, the
+letters forming a complete metaphor, to which is
+added the name of its original owner, the inscription
+reading as follows:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p  style="margin-left: 2em;">
+"TAKE . NOT . FROM . ME .<br />
+AL . MY . STOR . AXCP . YE .<br />
+FILL . ME . VEE . SVME . MOR .<br />
+FOR . AV . TO . BORROV .<br />
+AND . NEVER . TO . PAY .<br />
+I . CALL . THAT .<br />
+FOVLL . PLAY .<br />
+I&#333;N WATSON 1695."<br />
+</p>
+
+
+<h3>Trays and Waiters.</h3>
+
+<p>In olden time not very far from the dining table
+stood the cupboard or buffet from which evolved the
+sideboard. On it were displayed the cups and
+flagons and table appointments not actually in use.
+It is true the servants carried the great dishes from
+the kitchen, and removed the lesser vessels on trays
+and "waiters," and it is such trays, especially those
+in silver and Sheffield plate used in the last century,
+which are now valuable. The waiter or serving man
+or woman has been an essential feature in domestic
+service from the earliest times, for the history of
+society invariably records those who wait at table:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"The waiters stand in ranks; the yeomen cry<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">'Make room,' as if a duke were passing by."<br /></span>
+<span class="i16"><span class="smcap">Swift</span>.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>It is an easy remove from the waiter to the tray or<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">{106}</a></span>
+vessel on which the waiters carried the things they
+served up to those on whom they waited. The
+name "salver," commonly applied to a tray or waiter,
+seems to have originated from the old custom of
+tasting meats before they were served, to salve or
+save their employers from harm. Among the more
+valuable are the trays or waiters of silver and
+Sheffield plate. Trays made of iron and japanned
+after the fashion of Japanese metal lacquer wares,
+which towards the close of the eighteenth century
+were so largely imported into this country, are often
+neglected, yet many of them are truly antiquarian
+and by no means unlovely.</p>
+
+<p>One of the chief seats of the industry was at
+Pontypool, but the business drifted to Birmingham.
+It was when the japan wares, so called from the
+attempt of the makers to copy the lacquers of Japan
+then much imported, were being successfully made
+amidst surroundings then exceedingly romantic in
+the little town singularly situated on a steep cliff
+overhanging the Avon Llwyd, that dealers found
+trays, breadbaskets, snuffer trays, knife trays, caddies,
+and urns much in request. In Bishopsgate Street
+Without, in London, there is a noted wine house
+known as the "Dirty Dick." This curious title was
+derived from the owner of a famous hardware store
+who kept it, and was dubbed "Dirty Dick" because
+of his untidy shop. The wild disorder of the
+establishment gave rise to a popular ballad of which
+the following are two of the first lines:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"A curious hardware shop in general full<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Of wares from Birmingham and Pontypool."<br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">{107}</a></span></div></div>
+
+<p>In addition to japanned wares there are trays of
+paper pulp ornamented with mother-o'-pearl and
+richly decorated with gold.</p>
+
+
+<h3>The Tea Table.</h3>
+
+<p>The modern tea table presents a much less formal
+array of china and good things than that of a generation
+or two back when high tea was an important
+function, and the good wife of the household loaded
+her table with many substantial dishes. The best
+china was taken from the cupboard, and family heirlooms
+in silver were arrayed on either side of the
+teapot. Needless to say the teapot was an indispensable
+adjunct, and some of the teapots belonging
+to the old sets are massive and gorgeous, rather than
+beautiful, although the earlier teapots made in this
+country in the eighteenth century, a time when tea
+was expensive and a real luxury, were quite small.</p>
+
+<p>There are many curiosities, too&mdash;such, for instance,
+as the Chinese teapots of the Ming period, when the
+potters seem to have vied with one another in
+producing grotesque forms, and from china clay
+fashioned objects which typified their mythological
+beliefs. Some of these teapots took the form of
+curious sea-horses represented as swimming in
+waves of green and amidst seaweed. Some of these
+fabulous beasts are spotted over with splashes of
+colour, and others have curious twig-like formations
+upon their sides, said to denote pieces of coral and
+water plants from the ocean. The teapot was at
+one time most frequently filled from the pretty little
+oval copper or brass kettle on the hob, or from a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">{108}</a></span>
+swing kettle on a stand on the table. The table
+kettle was generally heated by a spirit lamp which
+kept the water boiling ready for use. Of later years
+silver table appointments of early eighteenth-century
+make have become very scarce, and the curio value
+of the larger pieces has steadily risen. It would
+seem as if the maximum figure had been reached for
+silver of that period, for at the sale of the Fitzhenry
+collection a plain kettle and stand, an example of
+Ambrose Stevenson's work in 1717, realized &pound;697.</p>
+
+
+<h3>Cream Jugs.</h3>
+
+<p>The cream jug included in the tea and coffee sets
+of silver or metal, and in the tea china of which so
+many beautiful sets are still extant, has almost an
+independent position in connection with table
+appointments, for ever since tea drinking became
+general it was regarded as a necessity, and was made
+in accord with the then prevailing styles. It is
+almost the commonest collectable antique in this
+particular group. In silver it was always hall-marked,
+and its date can, therefore, be fixed.
+Briefly outlining the development of its form, it may
+be mentioned that it was quite plain in the reign of
+Queen Anne, when tea drinking came into fashion.
+When George I came to the throne it was widened
+somewhat and made a little shorter. At that time
+the silver cream jugs were hammered into shape out
+of a flat sheet, there being no seam; after the body
+was formed a rim was added and a lip put on.
+There was a deeper rim in the reign of George II,
+and then feet took the place of rims.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">{109}</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"><a name="FIG_26" id="FIG_26"></a>
+<img src="images/fig_26.jpg" width="400" height="503" alt="FIG. 26.&mdash;EARLY ENGLISH BRONZE EWER.
+
+(In the British Museum.)" title="" />
+<span class="caption">FIG. 26.&mdash;EARLY ENGLISH BRONZE EWER.
+<br />
+(<i>In the British Museum.</i>)</span>
+</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">{111}</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110"></a></span></p>
+
+<p>Gradually Chippendale carving and the shaped
+legs of the furniture then being used were reflected
+even in the cream jug, the lip in those days being
+hammered out of the body of the vessel with a
+graceful curve. Rims again took the place of feet in
+the reign of George III, and the tall legged cream
+jug came into vogue. The body was decorated with
+repousse work or engraved, and the shape gradually
+changed until the familiar helmet-shaped cream jug
+resulted. The helmet cream jugs were beautifully
+engraved with ribbon and wreath decoration, and
+frequently there was a beaded pattern round the rim
+and the handle. The same styles prevailed both in
+Sheffield plate and in Britannia metal, often misnamed
+pewter. The decoration on the china cream
+jugs was frequently floral, but in those made in the
+leading potteries there was a distinct following of the
+public style.</p>
+
+
+<h3>Sugar Tongs and Nippers.</h3>
+
+<p>With the use of lump sugar late in the eighteenth
+century sugar tongs were added to the table appointments,
+and their decoration and ornament usually
+followed that of teaspoons. They were sometimes
+engraved with the crests or initials of the owners, and
+occasionally, in the case of wedding presents, with
+the initials of both the master and mistress of the
+household, one being placed inside the sugar tongs
+and the other on the arch outside. In connection
+with the cutting of lump sugar steel sugar nippers
+were much used in the kitchen before lump sugar
+was bought from the grocer ready cut up. These<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">{112}</a></span>
+nippers, some of the earlier ones being chased and
+engraved, have now passed into the region of
+household curios.</p>
+
+
+<h3>Caddies.</h3>
+
+<p>As the tea table would be incomplete without the
+beverage brewed from tea-leaves it follows as a
+natural sequence that the housewife has always
+required a storebox for her supply, and in some
+cases one in which she could keep under lock and
+key more than one variety. When tea was first
+imported into this country it was sent over from China
+in a <i>kati</i>, a small wooden box holding about 1-1/3 lb.;
+hence the name passed on to the more elaborate
+receptacles on the sideboard containing the household
+supply. These boxes were mostly fashioned in
+accord with the furniture, many having the well-known
+Sheraton shell design on the lid, or on the
+front of the box. Some are square-sided, others
+tapered, generally finished with beautiful little brass
+caddy balls as feet, and often with brass ring handles
+and ornaments. The inside of the caddy was
+divided into two compartments, usually boxes lined
+with lead or lead paper, and frequently a central
+compartment for a sugar bowl was added. In
+nearly all the better boxes there was provision for
+the silver caddy spoon with which to apportion the
+accustomed supply.</p>
+
+
+<h3>Chelsea and Bow Cupids.</h3>
+
+<p>Those curious little boy figures known as Chelsea
+and Bow Cupids are for the most part classed with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">{113}</a></span>
+ornaments, but they more appropriately belong to
+table appointments, for in olden time when the cloth
+had been removed these curious little figures were
+placed upon the mahogany or oaken board along
+with the dessert, as if to guard the fruit and the wine.
+The Cupids are garlanded with flowers, baskets of
+which they have in their hands&mdash;delightful little
+figures when genuine antiques. They vary in size
+and are said to have been divided in the past as
+"small" and "large" boys.</p>
+
+
+<h3>Nutcrackers.</h3>
+
+<p>Many a famous joke has been cracked over the
+"walnuts and wine." It was when the board was
+cleared of the viands that the nuts and fruit were
+partaken of. The edible nuts mostly favoured before
+foreign supplies came into the market were the hazel,
+walnut, chestnut, and the famous Kent filberts.
+Although doubtless supplemented by any objects
+handy, the primitive method of cracking nuts with the
+teeth was generally practised by the common people.
+What more natural than for the early inventor to see
+in the human head the "box" in which to place his
+mechanical device and to give power and leverage
+by utilizing the legs of the man he had carved in
+wood. In the Middle Ages some remarkable carvings
+were produced, mostly working on the same lines as
+the earliest forms. In the seventeenth century, when
+metal crackers came into vogue, pressure was applied
+by means of a screw, and the contemporary wood
+crackers were designed on that principle. Afterwards
+the older type of cracker was revived, both in wood<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">{114}</a></span>
+and metal; subsequently the simpler form at present
+in use was adopted.</p>
+
+<p>Here and there in museums and among domestic
+relics odd pairs of these old crackers are discovered.
+The interest in them, however, grows when several
+early examples are placed side by side. There are a
+few instances of specialized collections, and through
+the courtesy of Mr. Charles Evans, of Nailsea Court,
+who possesses a unique collection of all periods, we
+are able to illustrate a variety of forms. Fig. <a href="#FIGS_31-34">31</a>
+represents a very early pair of nutcrackers, probably
+made in the fourteenth century; the one shown in
+Fig. <a href="#FIGS_31-34">34</a> has the Elizabethan ruff round the neck of
+the carved head; and Figs. <a href="#FIGS_28-30">28</a>, <a href="#FIGS_28-30">29</a>, and <a href="#FIGS_28-30">30</a> represent
+the screw period, Fig. <a href="#FIGS_28-30">28</a> being an early example.
+One of the finest pieces in the collection is Fig. <a href="#FIGS_28-30">29</a>,
+a cracker in the form of a hooded monk; Fig. <a href="#FIGS_28-30">30</a>
+being a charming bit of wood-carving in walnut
+wood, a somewhat grotesque figure representing
+an old fiddler. Fig. <a href="#FIGS_31-34">33</a> is a curious cracker combining
+a useful pick almost in the form of the
+bill of a bird, Fig. <a href="#FIGS_31-34">32</a> being of similar date.
+The next group shows the evolution from the
+metal screw to the more ordinary types, Figs. <a href="#FIGS_35-39">36</a>
+and <a href="#FIGS_35-39">38</a> being screw nutcrackers; <a href="#FIGS_35-39">35</a>, <a href="#FIGS_35-39">37</a>, and <a href="#FIGS_35-39">39</a>
+being quaint examples of early metal nutcrackers
+modelled on more modern form. Such curios
+are extremely interesting, and whether exhibited
+as specimens of carving or of metal
+work, or used as table ornaments combining utility
+and antiquarian interest, they are well worth
+securing.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">{115}</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"><a name="FIG_27" id="FIG_27"></a>
+<img src="images/fig_27.jpg" width="400" height="211" alt="FIG. 27.&mdash;INSCRIBED SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY WOOD DRINKING CUP.
+
+(In Taunton Castle Museum.)" title="" />
+<span class="caption">FIG. 27.&mdash;INSCRIBED SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY WOOD DRINKING CUP.
+<br />
+(<i>In Taunton Castle Museum.</i>)</span>
+</div>
+
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"><a name="FIGS_28-30" id="FIGS_28-30"></a>
+<img src="images/fig_28-30.jpg" width="400" height="398" alt="FIGS. 28-30.&mdash;EARLY CARVED WOOD NUTCRACKERS.
+
+(In the collection of Mr. Charles Evans, of Nailsea Court.)" title="" />
+<span class="caption">FIGS. 28-30.&mdash;EARLY CARVED WOOD NUTCRACKERS.
+<br />
+(<i>In the collection of Mr. Charles Evans, of Nailsea Court.</i>)</span>
+</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">{117}</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116"></a></span></p>
+
+
+<h3>Turned Woodware.</h3>
+
+<p>Table appointments have afforded amateur wood-turners
+and carvers opportunities of showing their
+skill. Even before the days of modern lathes with
+eccentric chucks and other improvements, turners
+were very clever in producing little articles for table
+use, and in their making expended a wealth of skill
+and time. Among these were pepper boxes and
+wooden salt cellars, and carved wooden spoons,
+especially salad servers, which are even still made
+and delicately carved, the Swiss peasants being
+famous for such work. One of the village occupations
+during winter evenings in years gone by was to
+make wooden objects, although most of their efforts
+were directed in other ways than table appointments
+(see Chapter <a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">XIII</a>, Fig. <a href="#FIG_85">85</a>).</p>
+
+
+<h3>On the Sideboard.</h3>
+
+<p>Not far removed from the dining table is the sideboard
+or buffet, so important a piece of furniture in
+the dining hall, for on it were formerly displayed table
+appointments and emblems of the feast. The urn-shaped
+knife boxes which were so often placed on
+either side were chiefly of mahogany, sometimes
+inlaid with satinwood and often with those rare
+shell-like ornaments which became so popular in
+the days of Chippendale and Sheraton. The compartments
+in which were placed the table knives
+prevented either blades or handles from being
+rubbed. Copper and metal urns were frequently
+conspicuous on the sideboard, although many of
+the small tables so much treasured now as antiques<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">{118}</a></span>
+in the drawing-room were originally made for urns
+to stand upon.</p>
+
+<p>There are many beautiful curios of the home made
+of wood, among them being such rare gems as wood
+screens and the frames of hand screens, some of
+which screwed on to the ends of the mantelpieces
+with small clamps.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">{119}</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"><a name="FIGS_31-34" id="FIGS_31-34"></a>
+<img src="images/fig_31-34.jpg" width="400" height="327" alt="FIGS. 31-34.&mdash;MEDI&AElig;VAL WOOD NUTCRACKERS." title="" />
+<span class="caption">FIGS. 31-34.&mdash;MEDI&AElig;VAL WOOD NUTCRACKERS.</span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"><a name="FIGS_35-39" id="FIGS_35-39"></a>
+<img src="images/fig_35-39.jpg" width="400" height="299" alt="FIGS. 35-39.&mdash;EARLY STEEL AND BRASS NUTCRACKERS.
+
+(In the collection of Mr. Charles Evans, of Nailsea Court.)" title="" />
+<span class="caption">FIGS. 35-39.&mdash;EARLY STEEL AND BRASS NUTCRACKERS.
+<br />
+(<i>In the collection of Mr. Charles Evans, of Nailsea Court.</i>)</span>
+</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">{121}</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120"></a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2 style="text-align: left;">V<br />
+<br />
+THE<br />
+KITCHEN</h2><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">{124}</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123"></a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122"></a></span></p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"><a name="FIG_40" id="FIG_40"></a>
+<img src="images/fig_40.jpg" width="400" height="299" alt="FIG. 40.&mdash;TWO ANTIQUE WARMING PANS.
+
+(In the Victoria and Albert Museum.)" title="" />
+<span class="caption">FIG. 40.&mdash;TWO ANTIQUE WARMING PANS.
+<br />
+(<i>In the Victoria and Albert Museum.</i>)</span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"><a name="FIG_41" id="FIG_41"></a>
+<img src="images/fig_41.jpg" width="400" height="303" alt="FIG. 41.&mdash;WELSH KITCHEN FIREPLACE.
+
+(In the National Museum of Wales.)" title="" />
+<span class="caption">FIG. 41.&mdash;WELSH KITCHEN FIREPLACE.
+<br />
+(<i>In the National Museum of Wales.</i>)</span>
+</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">{125}</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V<br />
+<br />
+THE KITCHEN</h2>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>The kitchen grate&mdash;Boilers and kettles&mdash;Grills and gridirons&mdash;Cooking
+utensils&mdash;Warming pans.</p></div>
+
+
+<p>It is in the kitchen and the pantry that domestic
+economy centres. The very essence of home life is
+found in the preparation of suitable food in which to
+satisfy human appetites. Whether the kitchen is
+furnished with apparatus sufficient to cook for the
+inmates of a large institution, or with the more
+modest appliances with which a chop or a steak can
+be grilled or a small joint roasted in a gas oven, the
+basis of cooking operations is the same, and the cook
+requires an outfit of culinary utensils small or large,
+according to what she has been accustomed to use or
+considers necessary for her immediate wants. In
+olden time the kitchen was furnished with fewer
+accessories in proportion to the meat consumed than
+at the present time, and the large hanging caldron and
+the strong and heavy wrought or cast iron saucepan
+on the fire, and the roasting spit and jack in front of
+it, went a long way towards completing the outfit.
+The gradual advance and increase in the furnishings<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">{126}</a></span>
+of the kitchen have been the outcome of development
+and progress in culinary art. Since the introduction
+of scientific cooking and the establishment of schools
+of cookery, the hired cook and the mistress who dons
+the apron and assumes the role of the economic
+housewife have learned to appreciate the use of
+modern culinary appliances, lighter in weight and
+convenient to handle. These differ according to the
+purposes for which they are to be used.</p>
+
+<p>Hygienic conditions now regarded as essential
+have displaced many of the older cooking pots which
+have been condemned as injurious to health. Greater
+knowledge of the chemistry of cooking, and of the
+action of acids upon metals, has enabled the scientific
+cook to differentiate between the pots and pans
+to use according to the various foods prepared. The
+beautifully finished light, handy, and convenient
+porcelain-enamelled saucepans and stewpans and
+aluminium cooking pots used on modern gas stoves
+and ranges, would have been just as unsuitable on the
+open fires of the older grates as what are now regarded
+as the curios of the kitchen would be deemed to be in
+modern culinary operations. In almost every house
+there are to be found obsolete utensils, some of which
+are valued on account of their great age, others
+because of their unusual forms, and some because of
+the beauty of workmanship and the costly materials
+of which they have been made. It is when turning out
+the kitchen and storeroom on the occasion of periodical
+cleanings that these old-world pots and pans come
+to light; at such times the collector may be able to
+secure scarce specimens and rescue them from oblivion.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">{127}</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"><a name="FIG_42" id="FIG_42"></a>
+<img src="images/fig_42.jpg" width="400" height="882" alt="FIG. 42.&mdash;MECHANICAL ROASTING JACKS.
+
+(In the collection of Mr. Charles Wayte.)" title="" />
+<span class="caption">FIG. 42.&mdash;MECHANICAL ROASTING JACKS.
+<br />
+(<i>In the collection of Mr. Charles Wayte.</i>)</span>
+</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">{129}</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128"></a></span></p>
+
+<p>It is not always easy to realize what the old kitchen
+was like when these vessels were in use, although in
+out-of-the-way places kitchens may occasionally be
+discovered in which but little change has been made.
+This is especially so in some of the Welsh villages,
+and in order that visitors may see what such kitchens
+are like a Welsh cottage fireplace showing the objects
+which might commonly have been found there a
+century ago has been reconstructed in the National
+Museum of Wales. This we are able to reproduce in
+Fig. <a href="#FIG_41">41</a> by the courtesy of the Director. The grate
+came from Llansantffraid, and was made by a local
+blacksmith; the spit and its bearers came from
+Glamorgan; the brass pot came from Barry, and the
+dog wheel (referred to on p. <a href="#Page_130">130</a>) from Haverfordwest;
+most of the minor accessories came from different
+parts of North Wales.</p>
+
+
+<h3>The Kitchen Grate.</h3>
+
+<p>The kitchen grate has evolved from the open fire;
+at first in the centre of the room, then removed for
+convenience to the side or end in front of which
+joints of meats were roasted on a spit in olden time.
+The spit, at first quite primitive, was improved upon
+by local smiths, until quite intricate arrangements
+provided the desired revolutions, and turned the meat
+round and round until it was properly cooked. In
+the thirteenth century the "bellows blower" was an
+officer in the Royal kitchen, his duty being to see
+that the soup on the fire was neither burnt nor
+smoked. In course of time the bellows blower in
+lesser households became a useful kitchen boy, turn<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">{130}</a></span>ing
+the spit by hand. It would seem, however, as if
+in quite early days efforts were made to economize
+labour in the kitchen, and turn the spit by mechanical
+contrivances.</p>
+
+<p>In roasting meat sliding prongs held the joint in
+place, a cage or basket being used for roasting
+poultry. This contrivance, first turned by hand, was
+afterwards accelerated and made more regular by
+the mechanical contrivances just referred to. These
+appear to have been of three different types. There
+was the clock jack, two splendid specimens of
+which are illustrated in Fig. <a href="#FIG_42">42</a>, types becoming
+exceedingly rare. Those illustrated were recently in
+the possession of Mr. Charles Wayte, of Edenbridge,
+an enthusiastic discoverer of antiquarian metal work
+in out-of-the-way places in Sussex and Kent. Earlier
+still there was the smoke jack or rotary fan fixed in
+the chimney, operated by an up-draught, pulleys and
+cords being attached to the end of the spit. The
+third method referred to involved the shifting of
+manual labour from man to his domestic beast, for
+the faithful hound was pressed into the service of the
+cook. The dog worked in a cage, operating a wheel
+or drum which in its turn revolved the turnspit.
+Such turnspits seem to have had a lingering existence,
+and were occasionally heard of in North Wales
+late in the nineteenth century.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132"></a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">{131}</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"><a name="FIG_43_44_45_46" id="FIG_43_44_45_46"></a>
+<img src="images/fig_43-46.jpg" width="400" height="623" alt="GRIDIRONS SHOWING FOREIGN INFLUENCE IN DESIGN: FIG. 43, ITALIAN;
+FIG. 44, FLEMISH; FIG. 45, DUTCH; FIG. 46, GERMAN." title="" />
+<span class="caption">GRIDIRONS SHOWING FOREIGN INFLUENCE IN DESIGN: FIG. 43, ITALIAN;
+FIG. 44, FLEMISH; FIG. 45, DUTCH; FIG. 46, GERMAN.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>Roasting before the fire lingered on long after the
+old-fashioned iron jacks and spits had ceased to be
+the common method of cooking meat. The meat
+hastener and the Dutch oven conserved and radiated
+the heat, the joint turning slowly by the clockwork<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">{133}</a></span>
+mechanism of the improved brass bottle jack. As
+the size of the fireplace narrowed and kitchens were
+built smaller roasting in ovens became popular; the
+cooker of to-day with its hot-plates, grills, and steam
+chests&mdash;whether heated by coal, gas, or electricity&mdash;presents
+a remarkable contrast to the old open
+fire grate.</p>
+
+<p>It will readily be understood that the necessary
+basting of meat roasting before the fire involved the
+use of ladles and other utensils before the modern
+cooking appliances were invented. Most of the old
+vessels were strong and lasting, and the materials
+employed in their construction were iron, copper, and
+brass. In Fig. <a href="#FIG_49">49</a> we show a selection of fat boats
+and hammered iron grease pans (in the centre of the
+plate is an old mothering-iron from Sussex) typical
+of the vessels used in open fire roasting. To these
+may be added basting spoons and skimmers, in
+many places called "skummers."</p>
+
+
+<h3>Boilers and Kettles.</h3>
+
+<p>It is probable that the cooking pot over the fire
+has been used side by side with roasting apparatus
+from the earliest times, although no doubt vessels
+would be required for boiling foods before roasting,
+in that discoveries show that the earliest method of
+roasting a piece of meat or a small animal was to
+encase it in clay and then expose it to the fire. The
+clay crust could then be broken and would, of course,
+have been destroyed.</p>
+
+<p>No doubt the crock antedated the bronze pot,
+which was at first made of metal plates hammered<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">{134}</a></span>
+and beaten into shape, and then riveted together.
+This method was followed by the craft of the founder,
+who cast vessels after the same model first in bronze
+and then in iron. The cooking pot was indispensable
+when the food of the common people was chiefly
+such as necessitated a vessel containing liquid; the
+name of this ancient vessel has furnished us with
+many apt quotations, and it is still the pot so many
+find difficult to keep boiling.</p>
+
+<p>There have been many contrivances by which to
+suspend the pot over the fire. Years ago the usual
+method of suspension was from a beam of wood or a
+bar of iron placed across the chimney opening&mdash;the
+name by which the bar was known in the North of
+England was a "gallybawk." Simple contrivances
+of metal followed, the suspension hooks and chains
+leading to improved cranes with rack and loop
+handles.</p>
+
+<p>No doubt many have noticed the apparent indiscriminate
+use of the term "kettle"; the tea kettle as
+we understand it to-day is a modern invention. The
+old kettle was a boiling pot with a bail handle, its
+modern survivor being the three-legged kettle of the
+gipsies, and the boiling pot or fish kettle of the
+modern household. Associated with the early use
+of tea kettles slung over a fire is the now scarce
+lazy-back or tilter, at one time common in the West
+of England and in South Wales.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136"></a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">{135}</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"><a name="FIGS_47_48" id="FIGS_47_48"></a>
+<img src="images/fig_47-48.jpg" width="400" height="300" alt="FIGS. 47, 48.&mdash;TWO WOODEN FOOD BOXES.
+
+(In the Cardiff Museum.)" title="" />
+<span class="caption">FIGS. 47, 48.&mdash;TWO WOODEN FOOD BOXES.
+<br />
+(<i>In the Cardiff Museum.</i>)</span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"><a name="FIG_49" id="FIG_49"></a>
+<img src="images/fig_49.jpg" width="400" height="519" alt="FIG. 49.&mdash;A COLLECTION OF IRON FAT BOATS AND GREASE PANS." title="" />
+<span class="caption">FIG. 49.&mdash;A COLLECTION OF IRON FAT BOATS AND GREASE PANS.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>In "Chats on Old Copper and Brass" some very
+interesting illustrations of old copper and brass
+saucepans, skillets, and pipkins are given. The
+skillet has survived for several centuries. Those<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">{137}</a></span>
+made in the seventeenth century were frequently
+inscribed with various religious and sentimental
+legends; one in the National Museum of Wales
+is inscribed "<span class="smcap lowercase">LOVE THY NEIGHBOUR</span>." Frying pans
+have been in common use for a great number of
+years and are still daily requisitioned. Bakestones,
+on which cakes were formerly baked, are, however,
+becoming obsolete. They were called girdle plates
+in the North of England, and bakestones in Wales
+and elsewhere.</p>
+
+
+<h3>Grills and Gridirons.</h3>
+
+<p>The gridiron or "griddle" was an appliance used
+extensively all over the Continent of Europe from
+the sixteenth century onward. In this country it
+was formerly made by the village blacksmith, and,
+like the iron stool, kitchen fender, and other iron and
+brass kitchen utensils and furnishings, was often
+made quite decorative. It would appear as if the
+smith filled up his spare moments in designing
+intricate patterns with which to decorate the grid.
+Some of the sixteenth and seventeenth-century
+European gridirons were quite elaborate, serving the
+double purpose of ornament and use, for when
+finished with for cooking purposes they were carefully
+cleaned and polished and hung up over the
+kitchen mantelpiece. Some of the characteristic
+types met with are shown in the accompanying
+illustrations. In Fig. <a href="#FIG_43_44_45_46">43</a> is seen the light and lacy
+Italian style; in Fig. <a href="#FIG_43_44_45_46">44</a> the openwork design of the
+Flemish; a formal Dutch pattern being illustrated
+in Fig. <a href="#FIG_43_44_45_46">45</a>; whereas the heavy German floreated<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">{138}</a></span>
+type is shown in Fig. <a href="#FIG_43_44_45_46">46</a>. Contrasting with these
+Continental types the English gridiron was strong
+and serviceable, and essentially a grid or grill, the
+smith putting his best work in the handle rather
+than the grid.</p>
+
+
+<h3>Cooking Utensils.</h3>
+
+<p>Besides pots and pans there are many cooking
+utensils which may now be reckoned among the
+domestic curios. There are, of course, ewers and
+basins, water-carrying and retaining vessels, and
+colanders of brass and earthenware, strainers and
+graters which have been used from time to time in
+the kitchen. Sometimes the metal worker appears
+to have gone out of the way to produce curious
+forms not always the most convenient for the
+purposes for which they were made&mdash;such, for
+instance, as the aquamaniles, several of which may
+be seen in the British Museum (see Fig. <a href="#FIG_26">26</a>).<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140"></a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">{139}</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"><a name="FIG_50" id="FIG_50"></a>
+<img src="images/fig_50.jpg" width="400" height="283" alt="FIG. 50.&mdash;WOODEN COFFEE CRUSHERS AND PESTLES AND MORTAR." title="" />
+<span class="caption">FIG. 50.&mdash;WOODEN COFFEE CRUSHERS AND PESTLES AND MORTAR.</span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"><a name="FIG_51" id="FIG_51"></a>
+<img src="images/fig_51.jpg" width="400" height="310" alt="FIG. 51.&mdash;APPLE SCOOPS OF BONE." title="" />
+<span class="caption">FIG. 51.&mdash;APPLE SCOOPS OF BONE.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>Some of the minor kitchen utensils include flesh
+hooks and forks and carving knives. There are
+spoons of every kind made in all metals, some
+of the earlier examples being of brass and
+latten. In this connection also may be mentioned
+ladles, fish slicers, and scoops. There are also
+many curious little pastrycooks' knives, and
+knives used for cutting vegetables and preparing
+a repast in olden time, many of them quite decorative,
+even the common pastry-wheel frequently
+being carved. It was at one time customary to
+expend much skill in decorating apple scoops, those
+shown in Fig. <a href="#FIG_51">51</a> being very choice specimens in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">{141}</a></span>
+National Museum of Wales, in Cardiff. The one on
+the left hand of the picture is made of bone, and
+is inlaid with a small brass name-plate; that on the
+right-hand side is of ivory delicately turned, the
+scoop being exceedingly thin; and those in the
+centre are all home-made out of the metacarpal
+bones of the sheep, being slightly ornamented with
+cut X-shaped lines and hatchings. In the same
+museum there are some remarkably interesting coffee
+crushers and mortars and pestles, several of these
+being illustrated in Fig. <a href="#FIG_50">50</a>. In Fig. <a href="#FIG_53">53</a> we show a
+representative selection reminiscent of the days when
+wooden spoons and wooden platters were in common
+use. The trencher takes its name from <i>tranche</i>, the
+old name of the platter which replaced the piece of
+bread on which it was formerly customary to serve
+up meat; like the bread, it was at first square. The
+minor kitchen accessories formerly in constant use
+included many objects of wood, such as the charming
+little nutmeg mills of turned rosewood, some of which
+are to be seen in the British Museum. There are
+also antique pasteboards and rolling-pins for rolling
+shortbread, pot stirrers of wood, and other utensils
+such as sand glasses.</p>
+
+<p>In Figs. <a href="#FIGS_47_48">47</a> and <a href="#FIGS_47_48">48</a> we illustrate two wooden food
+boxes, such as were formerly used to carry food to
+men working in the field. They are now deposited
+with other curios in the Cardiff Museum, where
+also may be seen some little wooden piggins, and
+bowls used for porridge; the piggin was an ancient
+vessel often mentioned in medi&aelig;val days (see
+Fig. <a href="#FIG_52">52</a>).<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">{142}</a></span></p>
+
+
+<h3>Warming Pans.</h3>
+
+<p>There are some household appointments which,
+like some of the brass skimmers, platters, engraved
+foot and hand warmers, chestnut roasters, and the
+like, have always served the double purpose of use
+and ornament. Among these are warming pans
+which in modern days have been brought out of
+their hiding-places, repolished, and hung up in conspicuous
+places by the fireside. In the Victoria
+and Albert Museum, as well as some of the provincial
+museums, there are many very fine examples,
+those having dates and names upon them being
+especially valued. As an instance of an exceptional
+specimen in the Victoria and Albert Museum we
+may mention one on which there is an engraving of
+reindeer, ducally gorged, the inscription upon this
+pan reading: "<span class="smcap lowercase">THE EARL OF ESSEX. HIS ARMES.</span>
+1630." Another elaborate warming pan is engraved
+with figures of a cavalier and a lady, richly embellished
+with peacocks and flowers. The pan is of
+copper, but the handle is of wrought iron with brass
+ornamental mounts. Some pans have wooden
+handles, either walnut or oak, some of the more
+modern being ebonized (see Fig. <a href="#FIG_40">40</a>).<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144"></a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">{143}</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"><a name="FIG_52" id="FIG_52"></a>
+<img src="images/fig_52.jpg" width="400" height="271" alt="FIG. 52.&mdash;WOODEN PIGGINS AND PORRIDGE BOWL." title="" />
+<span class="caption">FIG. 52.&mdash;WOODEN PIGGINS AND PORRIDGE BOWL.</span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"><a name="FIG_53" id="FIG_53"></a>
+<img src="images/fig_53.jpg" width="400" height="314" alt="FIG. 53.&mdash;WOODEN PLATTER, BOWL, AND SPOONS.
+
+(In the National Museum of Wales.)" title="" />
+<span class="caption">FIG. 53.&mdash;WOODEN PLATTER, BOWL, AND SPOONS.
+<br />
+(<i>In the National Museum of Wales.</i>)</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>This brief review of kitchen utensils by no means
+exhausts the varieties of old metal work and other
+curios which may still be found in kitchens.
+There appears to be no end to the minor varieties in
+form and decoration. This is natural when we
+remember that years ago kitchen utensils were not
+made in quantities after the same pattern as they
+are nowadays. They were the product of the local<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">{145}</a></span>
+maker, the smith and the village woodworker
+being frequently called upon to supply new kitchen
+utensils, and it would appear that they did their best
+to make their work successful in that the vessels
+they fashioned were lasting, and during their use
+contributed in no small degree towards the
+ornamentation of the home.</p>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">{147}</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146"></a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2 style="text-align: left;">VI<br />
+<br />
+HOME<br />
+ORNAMENTS</h2><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">{149}</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148"></a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI<br />
+<br />
+HOME ORNAMENTS</h2>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Mantelpiece ornaments&mdash;Vases&mdash;Derbyshire spars&mdash;Jade or spleen
+stone&mdash;Wood carvings&mdash;Old gilt.</p></div>
+
+
+<p>We are apt to wonder sometimes what it is that
+makes the house homelike, and why there are such
+strong attachments to the old home. Surely it is the
+familiar aspect of the furnishings, rather than the
+bricks and mortar, that makes the old home so dear!
+To the original owners there was an individuality
+about every piece, although to the collector the same
+characteristics of well-known objects tell that in days
+gone by the cabinet-maker followed stereotyped lines,
+and there were but few who moved out of the
+regular ruts and made distinctive designs in home
+ornaments and sundry furnishings. It is noteworthy,
+however, that however much alike in furniture no two
+houses were alike in their ornamental surroundings.
+The pictures and portraits on the walls have peculiarities
+recognized and understood by those who
+have dwelt for many years among them. Familiar
+table appointments, however humble, have a homelike
+look, and there are odd bits of old china in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">{150}</a></span>
+cabinet and silver or pewter on the sideboard which
+distinguish one house from another; and it has ever
+been so. Chimney ornaments, which may be quite
+commonplace, have well-known characteristics which
+cannot be duplicated. It is undoubtedly among the
+home ornaments that the tenderest thoughts linger,
+and it is the trinkets of comparatively little value to
+an outsider that members of the family store when
+the old home is broken up. There are such ornaments
+in every household; and whenever there is a
+sale there are those who gladly buy them because of
+their associations with those by whom they were
+owned and valued. The collector rarely gathers
+them on sentimental grounds, securing them as
+curious specimens or characteristic styles wanting in
+his collection. Some specialize on old china cups
+and saucers; others on rare porcelain figures; some
+on the beautiful gilt and ormolu knick-knacks which
+looked so well on the early Victorian drawing-room
+table, and others prefer odds and ends, some of
+which are mentioned in the following paragraphs.
+It is, perhaps, from the old ornaments of the home
+that we learn most about the true home-life lived in
+former years. Wood carvers, silversmiths, leather
+workers, glass blowers and potters fashioned their
+ornamental things after the living models they saw
+about them, in the days in which they worked. Thus
+in the groups of Staffordshire figures, now much
+sought after, we learn something of the story of
+life in the Potteries in the closing years of the
+nineteenth century. The story is recorded in the
+earthenware "landlord and landlady," "lovers arm
+in arm," and rustic cottages with which collectors
+are familiar.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">{151}</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"><a name="FIG_54" id="FIG_54"></a>
+<img src="images/fig_54.jpg" width="400" height="587" alt="FIG. 54.&mdash;BRASS CHIMNEY ORNAMENT (ONE OF A PAIR)." title="" />
+<span class="caption">FIG. 54.&mdash;BRASS CHIMNEY ORNAMENT (ONE OF A PAIR).</span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">{153}</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152"></a></span>
+</div>
+
+
+<h3>Mantelpiece Ornaments.</h3>
+
+<p>There are many quaint brass chimney ornaments
+which were popular in many parts of England
+fifty to sixty years ago much sought after nowadays.
+They were of polished brass, usually in pairs,
+and when several were arranged on a mantelpiece
+they presented a bright array. The one illustrated
+in Fig. <a href="#FIG_54">54</a> is of the type much favoured in country
+districts. It represents a shepherd with his crook,
+the companion brass being a shepherdess. On the
+sea-coast fishermen were much fancied, and in
+mining districts the miner with his pick and other
+industrial models were extensively sold. These
+were varied with birds and animals and miniature
+replicas of household furniture. The older ones are
+not very common, and therefore have been much
+copied, for of these goods there are many modern
+replicas.</p>
+
+
+<h3>Vases.</h3>
+
+<p>Ornamental vases have varied much in form,
+until a collection seems to cover every style of art.
+Thus Egyptian and Roman influence is seen in
+some; others of French origin, dating before the
+Empire period, are a combination of French art
+with Egyptian ornament, brought out during the
+Directoire, when after the Battle of the Pyramids
+French artists introduced the sphinx and other
+Egyptian ornaments into their art designs. During<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">{154}</a></span>
+the Empire period, the style that is said to consist
+of a blending of Roman, Greek, and Egyptian prevailed.
+Many of the continental countries have
+been noted for glass ornaments&mdash;especially vases.
+The beautiful Venetian glass is rich in colour, and
+the vases are varied and graceful in form, especially
+those of ewer-like shape. Bohemia has always been
+a noted centre of the glass industry. Then in our
+own country some beautiful vases have been produced.</p>
+
+<p>There are other materials which are met with in
+curiously shaped vases. At one time the beautiful
+Derbyshire spars were much used. There are
+biscuit china and Parian vases, and many exquisite
+vases of silver and other metals. Much might be
+written of the Oriental vases and enamels, especially
+of the artistic treasures of Old Japan and China,
+from whence so much of our early vases and beautiful
+porcelain came. Of the products of Chelsea
+and Bow, of Coalbrookdale and Derby, and of
+Bristol and Nantgrw, writers and collectors of rare
+ceramics have had much to record of the many-shaped
+vases with which the homes of the middle
+classes were made beautiful in the eighteenth and
+early nineteenth centuries. These are preserved with
+care, but many of the vases produced by the pioneers
+of the potting industry in this country serve their
+original purpose still, and glass and china and rare
+Wedgwood jasper ware ornament the home of the
+twentieth-century reader of the "Chats" series, as
+they did the "withdrawing" rooms of their original
+owners in the eighteenth century.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">{155}</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"><a name="FIG_55" id="FIG_55"></a>
+<img src="images/fig_55.jpg" width="400" height="416" alt="FIG. 55.&mdash;BLACK AND GOLD DERBYSHIRE MARBLE VASE.
+
+(In the Author&#39;s collection.)" title="" />
+<span class="caption">FIG. 55.&mdash;BLACK AND GOLD DERBYSHIRE MARBLE VASE.
+<br />
+(<i>In the Author&#39;s collection.</i>)</span>
+</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">{157}</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156"></a></span></p>
+
+
+<h3>Derbyshire Spars.</h3>
+
+<p>The Derbyshire spars and inlaid marbles just referred
+to were very popular, some exceedingly ornamental
+and decorative pieces being produced. Others
+were stiff and formal, and can scarcely be regarded
+as beautiful. The variety of marbles quarried in
+Derbyshire gave the artist ample opportunity of
+displaying taste in colour. The most beautiful are
+those made of fluor-spar, the celebrated Blue John
+Mine providing the most beautiful specimens. The
+purple shades present delightful tints, and some of
+the old workers in Derbyshire mosaics were exceptionally
+fortunate in their schemes of arrangement of the
+tiny pieces they inlaid so carefully. The marble
+workers in this country have never been able to
+produce those beautiful effects for which the Florentine
+school of artists was famous, although it has
+been claimed by some that the artists of the Peak
+produced in their larger works some equally as
+effective. Among old household ornaments small
+Roman mosaics, so called, are often met with. At
+one time the Florentine artists used gems and real
+stones, whereas the Romans chiefly employed glass.
+Many will be familiar with the Vatican pigeons and
+the fountain so frequently copied. It is said that the
+Derbyshire workers in mosaic excelled themselves in
+the production of a beautifully inlaid vase covered
+with flowers, foliage, and birds, prepared for the late
+Queen Victoria, in 1842. Half a century ago fancy
+shops were filled with the products of the Derbyshire
+mines, but most of the best pieces are now among
+household curios. The wide-topped vase shown in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">{158}</a></span>
+Fig. <a href="#FIG_55">55</a> is made from Derbyshire black and gold
+marble, and was produced in Matlock about sixty
+years ago. It may be interesting to collectors to
+mention that although the Romans are believed to
+have worked the Blue John mines, it was not until
+1770 that the lovely purple spar was rediscovered in
+the Hope Valley, a workman passing through the
+Winnats being attracted by the pieces of spar he
+saw lying about, eventually bringing them under the
+notice of the owner of a Rotherham marble works.
+Besides the smaller objects there are the larger
+tables, worked in the same materials, some of which
+are sometimes met with second-hand for quite
+trifling sums.</p>
+
+
+<h3>Jade or Spleen Stone.</h3>
+
+<p>Among the rarer curios of the home are those
+wonderful ornaments cut and carved out of jade, a
+beautiful stone which has been so highly prized by
+the Chinese. Its special value lies in the exquisite
+tints of the different hues. These marvellously varied
+stones were formerly quarried from the Kuen-Kask
+Valley, where jade or yu-stone runs in different-coloured
+veins through the rocks. It is said that
+jade in the form of spleen stone first came to Europe
+from America. It is found extensively in Mexico,
+and also in Burma, but the chief interest centres in
+the grotesque and cleverly carved Chinese curios.
+The beauty and value of these pieces lies not so
+much in their forms as in their marvellous tints and
+the clever way in which the Chinese workmen, in
+fashioning grotesque forms, have cut away practically<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160"></a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">{159}</a></span>
+all the colour of certain intruding shades, leaving the
+figures in some brilliant hue of green, red, or pink,
+standing out upon a base of some other shade. The
+curiously smoked mutton-fat colour is one of the
+rarest, but to the amateur the more transparent and
+brilliant tints possess the greatest beauty.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"><a name="FIG_56" id="FIG_56"></a>
+<img src="images/fig_56.jpg" width="400" height="602" alt="FIG. 56.&mdash;TEMPLE GUARDIAN, CARVED FROM THE GNARLED ROOT OF A TREE.
+
+(In the Author&#39;s collection.)" title="" />
+<span class="caption">FIG. 56.&mdash;TEMPLE GUARDIAN, CARVED FROM THE GNARLED ROOT OF A TREE.
+<br />
+(<i>In the Author&#39;s collection.</i>)</span>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">{161}</a></span>True jade, or nephrite, is a native silicate of calcium
+and magnesium, and does not exhibit either crystalline
+form or distinct cleavage. In addition to the
+"mutton-fat" shade spoken so highly of there are
+lovely shades in green, emerald, moss, tea and sea
+green, violet and yellow, and white and camphor; but
+the rarest of all combinations is violet, mutton-fat,
+and emerald green.</p>
+
+
+<h3>Wood Carvings.</h3>
+
+<p>Many of the more decorative household ornaments
+are made of wood. To cut down a tree or to whittle
+a stick has been the favourite occupation of men of
+all ages, and the possession of a pocket-knife the
+ambition of the schoolboy from time immemorial.
+Something to cut keeps him out of mischief and calls
+forth any ingenuity he may have. Some of the most
+wonderful curios have been cut by hand, fashioned
+with skill. Some are remarkably realistic in their
+forms, faithful copies of living originals, or of objects
+of still greater antiquity with which the wood carver
+has been familiar. Carvers have sometimes allowed
+themselves to run wild in their imaginations as they
+have cut and shaped a block of wood, giving it the
+most fantastic form, picturing myths and fables in a
+wonderfully realistic way. There seems to be no end<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">{162}</a></span>
+to the variety of wooden ornament. The carver has
+found a place in architectural design, too, many old
+houses being enriched with his handiwork. In the
+days when walls were panelled with oak, the carver
+and the wood worker delighted in cutting deep and
+intricate mouldings and in giving that delightful linen
+fold to the panels which would otherwise have been
+plain. That was the ambition of the household
+decorator of Elizabethan days. Tudor beams were
+cut and carved and quaint mottoes engraved upon
+them. The old oak settles&mdash;sometimes portable, at
+others fixtures&mdash;were carved all over, and the fronts
+of oak chests were often made into pictures of wood.
+They told the tale of the family tree by the coats of
+arms and the shields emblazoned by the cutter of
+wood, sometimes being enriched with colour; at
+others the picture forms were created by inlaying
+and superadding fretwork. There were intricate
+carvings of the Sheraton and Chippendale periods,
+and there were the wonderful floral sprays, cherubs,
+and other ornaments so cunningly wrought by Grinling
+Gibbons and his followers. Wooden ornament
+in those days took the form of over-doors, and wreaths
+running down the lintels; and massive mantelpieces
+of oak were carved deeply. There were vases of
+wood full of flowers cut from the same material
+standing on wooden pedestals. The floral sprays, it
+is said, were in some cases so delicately cut that they
+shook like natural flowers when any one crossed a
+room or a post-chaise rumbled along the street.
+Some remarkable picture frames were cut and carved
+by amateurs, corresponding well with the handiwork
+of the needlewoman they enshrined. The cutting
+and carving of banner screens was a work of art, and
+many times a labour of love.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164"></a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">{163}</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"><a name="FIG_57" id="FIG_57"></a>
+<img src="images/fig_57.jpg" width="400" height="597" alt="FIG. 57.&mdash;CARVED PLAQUE STAND." title="" />
+<span class="caption">FIG. 57.&mdash;CARVED PLAQUE STAND.</span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">{165}</a></span>
+</div>
+
+<p>There are quaint relics of other countries in wood
+carving among the curios of the home. Some remarkable
+pieces of carved cherry-trees have been brought
+over from Japan, the black trunk or root of the tree
+being turned into a grinning demon, similar to the
+one illustrated in Fig. <a href="#FIG_56">56</a>, which resembles the "temple
+guardian." Others have been fashioned like ancient
+idols or apes, many being an intermixture of different-coloured
+woods, varying from almost red-brown to
+black, throwing up the carving in relief. The Oriental
+was a clever wood carver, and with his primitive tools
+he cut and fashioned a piece of wood according to
+his own sweet will, evolving from it intricate works
+of art in wood. Perhaps the most remarkable examples
+of the wood-worker's skill are those tiny
+miniatures of which there is such a splendid collection
+in the British Museum, notably the almost microscopic
+reliquaries. The Japanese and Chinese have shown
+remarkable skill in carvings, and especially in the way
+they have set off china plates and bowls intended as
+ornamental objects; a truly magnificent example of
+such work is shown in Fig. <a href="#FIG_57">57</a>.</p>
+
+
+<h3>Old Gilt.</h3>
+
+<p>The highly decorative work known as old gilt, very
+fashionable in the early Victorian drawing-room, has
+quite recently been hunted up, and many pieces have
+been restored to positions of honour. The gilt, so-called,
+was in reality eighteen-carat gold overlaid<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">{166}</a></span>
+upon soft brass by a process not now practised.
+Delightfully decorative trinket stands, card trays, and
+little baskets were made in this way; and as they
+were afterwards coated over with a transparent
+varnish, they have preserved their colour; indeed,
+when found black with age, after carefully washing
+in soap and water, they frequently come out bright
+and untarnished. Then if brushed over with white
+of egg or some transparent white varnish they will
+keep their colour for many years to come. These
+decorative ornaments, often perforated as well as
+embossed, were frequently enriched with imitation
+jewels. Those shown in Fig. <a href="#FIG_61">61</a> are typical of the
+style of ornament referred to. Sometimes scent
+satchets and jewelled caskets are found fitted with
+quaint reels for sewing silk and curious needle
+holders. The more elaborate pieces are often ornamented
+with floral sprays made of porcelain; some
+of the baskets filled with coral and seaweed have
+curiously made little birds and butterflies, many of
+them being genuine Chelsea. Others are the framework
+for holding Bow figures or painted plaques.
+This Victorian gilt is at present not over-scarce, and
+as it is not as yet much in demand collectors have
+an exceptional opportunity of securing interesting
+specimens at moderate cost.</p>
+
+
+<h3>Old Ivories.</h3>
+
+<p>Much might be written about old ivories. Ivory
+has been a much-valued material for ornamental
+decoration from quite early times. In almost every
+home there are curios and pieces of furniture in which<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168"></a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">{167}</a></span>
+ivory has either been overlaid or inserted as panels.
+At one time it was much used for overlays, and in
+very thin plates made up into all kinds of decorative
+models.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"><a name="FIGS_58_59_60" id="FIGS_58_59_60"></a>
+<img src="images/fig_58-60.jpg" width="400" height="173" alt="FIGS. 58, 59.&mdash;MINIATURE COPPER AND SILVER KETTLES.
+
+FIG. 60.&mdash;MINIATURE IVORY COFFEE BOILER." title="" />
+<span class="caption">FIGS. 58, 59.&mdash;MINIATURE COPPER AND SILVER KETTLES.
+<br />
+FIG. 60.&mdash;MINIATURE IVORY COFFEE BOILER.</span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"><a name="FIG_61" id="FIG_61"></a>
+<img src="images/fig_61.jpg" width="400" height="300" alt="FIG. 61.&mdash;TWO OLD-GILT JEWELLED ORNAMENTS." title="" />
+<span class="caption">FIG. 61.&mdash;TWO OLD-GILT JEWELLED ORNAMENTS.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">{169}</a></span>There are carved tusks from Africa and India, and
+quaint native curios made of ivory cunningly wrought.
+It is from the East that we receive so many beautiful
+curios, and especially so from India, China, and Japan.
+The three remarkably handsome ivories illustrated
+in Fig. <a href="#FIG_62">62</a> will serve to illustrate the beautiful and
+oftentimes costly curios found in so many homes.</p>
+
+
+<h3>Miniature Antiques.</h3>
+
+<p>Some of the most pleasing little antiques are silver
+models of children's toys. The original models made
+contemporary with the furniture or household gods
+they purport to represent were frequently the gifts of
+godparents, and many are most elaborate in their
+designs, every detail found in the larger originals
+being faithfully reproduced. Some of these little
+silver toys, with which probably children were seldom
+allowed to play, represented common objects outside
+the home, such as the dovecote in the garden, the
+travelling coach with its prancing steeds, the pack-horse
+ascending the slope towards a bridge over a
+stream, in some instances objects of husbandry and
+agriculture, being given to children familiar with the
+country.</p>
+
+<p>Another favourite type of model curio is found in
+the remarkably tiny objects workmen sometimes
+prided themselves upon making&mdash;such curios, for
+instance, as the silver and copper kettles and coffee<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">{170}</a></span>
+pot shown in Figs. <a href="#FIGS_58_59_60">58</a>, <a href="#FIGS_58_59_60">59</a>, and <a href="#FIGS_58_59_60">60</a>. The larger specimen
+(drawn larger than the original) was made from
+a copper farthing, the smaller kettles being hammered
+out of threepenny-pieces; the coffee pot is of ivory&mdash;a
+charming model.</p>
+
+<p>There are a few sundries which should not be
+overlooked when collecting curious things reminiscent
+of home-life as it once was. Among these are
+the glass pictures once so much prized by well-to-do
+folk, now valued only by the collector of such things.
+These were really "prints from prints." The method
+of their preparation was most inartistic, although it
+was effectual. A piece of glass was coated with
+varnish, the print was then placed upon the varnish,
+and when dry and quite hard the paper was washed
+off, leaving a "print" upon the prepared surface,
+which was then painted over at the back, the picture
+thus being made complete.</p>
+
+<p>Much store was formerly set by the little plaques
+and medallions which, with silhouettes, hung upon the
+walls. Among the gems of such ornaments were the
+exquisite tablets and cameos made by Josiah Wedgwood,
+whose beautiful vases and miniature bottles, as
+well as tea-sets in the same wares, were so much
+admired.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">{171}</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"><a name="FIG_62" id="FIG_62"></a>
+<img src="images/fig_62.jpg" width="400" height="311" alt="FIG. 62.&mdash;THREE FINE OLD IVORIES." title="" />
+<span class="caption">FIG. 62.&mdash;THREE FINE OLD IVORIES.</span>
+</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">{173}</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172"></a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2 style="text-align: left;">VII<br />
+<br />
+GLASS<br />
+AND<br />
+ENAMELS</h2><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">{175}</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174"></a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII<br />
+<br />
+GLASS AND ENAMELS</h2>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Waterford, Bristol, and Nailsea&mdash;Ornaments of glass&mdash;Enamels on
+metal.</p></div>
+
+
+<p>Glass is used in every home. It is seen in its ornamental
+forms, and is necessary in almost every
+department. In kitchen and pantry there are dishes
+and tumblers and wine glasses and decanters ready
+for use. Among these there are often found old
+glasses&mdash;that is, glass vessels which from their rarity
+or age have attained a curio value; indeed, many
+housewives are unaware that their kitchen cupboard
+contains what would be valued as interesting specimens
+gladly purchased by collectors of glass. Many
+of the old tumblers are beautifully engraved, often
+having floral ornament and dainty rustic scenes.
+They are now and then commemorative of events
+which the glass maker has recorded with his graving
+tool, and sometimes they have been prepared to catch
+the passing fancy. The styles of table glass have
+changed, and their shapes and sizes have altered
+according to the popular custom of imbibing certain
+liquors.</p>
+
+<p>When punch ceased to be the customary drink,
+and lesser quantities of ale were consumed, punch<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">{176}</a></span>
+bowls and tankards were less in request. Their
+places were taken by wine glasses of more delicate
+forms, and charming tallboys and crinkled vessels of
+glass took the place of the older mugs and pewter
+cups. The glasses used in proffering and drinking
+toasts have changed much during the last century,
+and the "fiat" glasses of the Jacobite period, and
+those curious glasses with portraits of the Old
+Pretender and the Young Pretender upon them, are
+curios only, for they are no longer needed, neither
+is the toast of "The King" drunk "over the water."
+Spirit glasses and decanters have altered in form, but
+among those which have survived and are still sound
+are some rare examples of cutting, made in the days
+when the glass cutter worked with primitive tools,
+and such methods as the sand blast, chemical etching,
+and some of the newer processes were unknown.</p>
+
+
+<h3>Waterford, Bristol, and Nailsea.</h3>
+
+<p>Among table sundries are glass salts and cruets;
+the latter, however, have been modernized and
+reduced in size, and the bottles and curiously shaped
+oil and vinegar cruets of a hundred or more years
+ago look quaint when compared with those of the
+present day. Even the flower vases which formerly
+adorned the table, and the more decorative dishes
+used for fancy sweetmeats and confections, have
+changed, leaving in the process many of the older
+pieces, relegated to the store-cupboard, where disused
+glass so often remains until in due time it is rescued
+from oblivion by the collector of household curios.
+Among the eighteenth-century cut glass jugs and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">{177}</a></span>
+trifle bowls are many beautiful vessels, for the making
+of which certain districts from time to time became
+famous. The old Waterford glass is especially noteworthy,
+and as a speculation, apart from the interest
+it possesses for collectors, is worth securing. Bristol
+glass to the uninitiated appears to be a misnomer, in
+that the beautiful white milk-like surface upon which
+so many exquisite floral designs have been painted
+looks more like egg-shell porcelain, but when held up
+to the light is found to be of glass-like nature, pellucid
+although semi-opaque.</p>
+
+<p>Nailsea glass has many peculiar characteristics
+about it, notably the curiously introduced waved and
+twisted lines in colours. Many objects which were
+essentially curios, their utilitarian purposes having
+always been secondary, were made at Nailsea.
+There are gigantic models of tobacco pipes, formerly
+hung up against the walls as ornaments. As fitting
+companions to the pipes were walking-sticks of glass,
+some very remarkable designs which might at one
+time have been carried by the gallants of that day.
+They were often filled with sweetmeats and comfits,
+ornamented with bows of ribbon, and presented to
+ladies of their choice by devoted swains. A few of
+those curious sticks or shepherd's crooks, as they were
+called, are to be seen in most representative museum
+collections. The so-called rolling-pins of glass, made
+at Sunderland as well as at Nailsea and Bristol, were
+known as sailors' love tokens, and are referred to
+more fully in Chapter <a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">XIII</a>. In the Taunton Castle
+Museum there are some interesting specimens of old
+glass, notably one of the very rare dark bottle-glass<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">{178}</a></span>
+linen smoothers which came from South Petherton.
+Such smoothers were at one time favoured in the
+kitchen laundry in the days when servant-maids
+excelled in getting up linen, and prided themselves
+on the beautiful gloss they were able to impart&mdash;in
+the days before public laundries with their modern
+glossing machines were instituted.</p>
+
+<p>Some of our readers may have seen the curious
+glass tubes, one yard in length, into which ale was
+poured in the days when it was considered a desirable
+attainment to be able to drink at one draught a
+"yard of ale."</p>
+
+<p>Of the larger vessels such as wine bottles, the chief
+collectable feature about them is the old glass-bottle-makers'
+stamps, very frequently found on fragments
+of bottles, such stamps often turning up among the
+oddments of kitchen drawers which have probably
+been undisturbed for many years. To collect bottle
+stamps is certainly an uncommon hobby, but one
+that is not altogether devoid of interest.</p>
+
+
+<h3>Ornaments of Glass.</h3>
+
+<p>Of household ornaments in glass there appears to
+be no end. There are the glass Venetian vases and
+ewers, beautiful and graceful in form, richly ornamented
+in gold; and there are the old English and
+French vases, the colouring of which is not always in
+accord with modern taste. Cut glass, in whatever
+form it is met with, is appreciated, in that the workmanship
+involving so much studious labour is recognized.
+Continental glass has at all periods been
+imported into this country, and especially so<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">{179}</a></span>
+Bohemian glass, of which there are decanters of ruby,
+claret, blue, and other rich colours; some remarkable
+effects have been produced upon red glass by adding
+tinted colours and white decoration interspersed with
+gold. Glass lustres have acquired an antiquarian
+value, and chandeliers and mantelpiece lustre candlesticks
+are sought after by the collector, who sometimes
+finds interspersed with cut glass lustre pretty
+coloured china droppers.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"><a name="FIG_63" id="FIG_63"></a>
+<img src="images/fig_63.jpg" width="400" height="646" alt="FIG. 63.&mdash;BATTERSEA ENAMELS." title="" />
+<span class="caption">FIG. 63.&mdash;BATTERSEA ENAMELS.</span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">{181}</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180"></a></span>
+</div>
+
+
+<h3>Pictorial Art in Glass.</h3>
+
+<p>Stained-glass windows are associated with ecclesiastical
+edifices. Old English houses, however, not
+infrequently contain armorial panels, coats of arms in
+leaden frames, and curious little pictures in colours
+which can be hung against modern windows where
+the light will throw up the rich colouring of the old-time
+painters. Little patches of colour, too, were
+often introduced in otherwise plain diamond-shaped
+lattice panes.</p>
+
+<p>There are glass pictures, so-called, oftentimes consisting
+of coloured prints pasted on one side of the
+glass, a softened effect being produced by the glass
+through which they were seen; but they must be
+distinguished from the more costly paintings <i>on</i> glass
+sometimes met with.</p>
+
+<p>In many an old house the glass shade with its
+contents so inartistic, although removed from its
+place of honour on the parlour table, found a niche
+where it is preserved. Under such shades were preserved
+wool-work baskets filled with artificial flowers,
+among which were often small porcelain figures,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">{182}</a></span>
+butterflies and birds. Sometimes a Parian vase has
+been filled with wax flowers, the making of which
+was a favourite pastime half a century ago. The
+dried plant called "honesty" was frequently covered
+with a glass shade. Glass ships were exceedingly
+popular in seaport towns, and little miniature replicas
+of household furniture in glass are met with; indeed,
+there seems to have been no limit to the fancies and
+freaks of the glass blower, who has at different periods
+provided the present-day collector with curious, if
+very breakable, curios.</p>
+
+
+<h3>Enamels on Metal.</h3>
+
+<p>The art of enamelling on metal has been practised
+from very early times. In its earlier forms it was
+chiefly an art applied to jewellery and the ornamentation
+of ecclesiastical metal work. In time, however,
+it was applied as a convenient method of decorating
+utilitarian household articles such as fire-dogs and
+candlesticks. Those who frequent the more important
+museums often associate enamels with the
+costly and rare enamels of Limoges, and the choice
+bits of Italian enamels seen in the cases of metals
+where the most valuable curios are gathered together.
+Such vessels as those marvellous effects produced by
+the enamellers of Limoges are indeed rarely found
+among household curios; it is well, however, to note
+that the processes by which those effects were produced
+changed as time went on. The earlier translucent
+enamel of the Italian artists was laid over an
+incised metal ground, the design previously prepared
+showing through. In the later Limoges enamels the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">{183}</a></span>
+surface with which the copper base was overlaid was
+painted, very much in the same way as the miniature
+painters on enamels operated in after-years.</p>
+
+<p>The process of covering metal with enamels made
+of a species of glass is very ancient, but the basis
+of all enamels is the application of fusible colourless
+silicate or glass in pattern or design, mixed with
+metallic oxides, the prepared surface being afterwards
+fired until the enamel adheres firmly to the copper or
+other metal. The processes varied, but the firing or
+fusing was the same throughout. The name "enamel"
+is traceable to the French word <i>enail</i> and the Italian
+<i>smalto</i>, both having the same root as the Anglo-Saxon
+word "smelt." The enamels of China and
+Japan so extensively imported into this country of
+late years are chiefly made by filling cloisons or cells
+formed of fine metal wires or plates with coloured
+enamels and then firing them. As the collector
+advances in his appreciation of the old craftsmen, he
+soon recognizes the difference between the antiques
+sent over by Oriental merchants and the modern
+works made on present-day commercial lines, and
+not the work of men whose time was deemed of small
+account if they acquired notoriety for the beauty of
+their work.</p>
+
+<p>The household enamels of English make consist
+chiefly of those beautiful little boxes, trinkets, and
+domestic objects made at Battersea and Bilston in the
+eighteenth century. The enamels used for the ground
+were tinted rose, blue, and other shades, and ornamented
+with painted pictures and mottoes. A very fine
+group of Battersea patch boxes is shown in Fig. <a href="#FIG_63">63</a>.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">{185}</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184"></a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2 style="text-align: left;">VIII<br />
+<br />
+LEATHER<br />
+AND<br />
+HORN</h2><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">{187}</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186"></a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII<br />
+<br />
+LEATHER AND HORN</h2>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Spanish leather&mdash;"Cuir boulli" work&mdash;Tapestry and upholstery&mdash;Leather
+bottles and drinking vessels&mdash;Leather curios&mdash;Shoes&mdash;Horn
+work.</p></div>
+
+
+<p>That "there is nothing like leather" has been
+believed by people of all ages, and in many countries
+the general belief has been put into practice, for many
+indeed are the uses to which leather has been put.
+As a lasting material it has been proved to possess
+excellent qualities. The artist, too, has found that
+leather is capable of being treated so as to give the
+effect of delicate carvings, and to serve well many
+purposes of decoration.</p>
+
+<p>In the East leather was used in patriarchal times,
+the skins of animals making excellent water bottles.
+In medi&aelig;val England leather black jacks, cups, and
+flagons withstood the rough usage of those roisterous
+times. The collector seeks both useful and ornamental,
+and finds much to delight among the old
+leathern objects hid away as being now quite useless
+or antiquated.</p>
+
+
+<h3>Spanish Leather.</h3>
+
+<p>As early as the fifteenth century Cordova, in Spain,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">{188}</a></span>
+was celebrated for its workers in leather, and for the
+fine ornamental leather vessels produced there. Some
+of the designs favoured by Spanish craftsmen were
+gruesome in the extreme. Indeed, many were
+fashioned for the purpose of creating fear in the
+use of the vessels so ornamented.</p>
+
+<p>A few years ago a remarkably fine collection of
+old Spanish leather work was exhibited in London.
+There were some hideous and grotesque figures,
+which it was said had been designed for the mental
+torture of the victims of the Inquisition. Some of
+the larger specimens were remarkably well executed,
+especially so some of the wine bottles which imitated
+very realistically the pose of men and women. Some
+of the female figures were represented wearing flowing
+gowns and costumes of the height of fashion&mdash;tall
+and noble women. By way of contrast there
+were little manikin wine jugs of the most grotesque
+forms.</p>
+
+<p>The Spaniards made leather upholsteries of
+remarkable designs; they also ornamented boxes,
+trunks, and cases for knives and costly trinkets.</p>
+
+
+<h3>"Cuir boulli" Work.</h3>
+
+<p>Most of the decorated leather work of that period,
+examples of which are not very difficult to secure, was
+made by the <i>cuir boulli</i> process. The leather, after
+being boiled down to a pulp and salt and alum added,
+was then moulded to any desired form, the decoration
+being imparted in the process.</p>
+
+<p>The Victoria and Albert Museum is very rich in
+fine examples, and a description of some of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">{189}</a></span>
+typical pieces there may serve as a guide to collectors
+hopeful of including some objects moulded by
+this process among their household relics.</p>
+
+<p>The work was carried on at Cordova and other
+places for a long period, some of the museum examples
+dating back to the fifteenth century. There
+are cases for holding what were then rare books and
+manuscripts, and a remarkable scribe's case with a
+red cover has loops on either side to which a cord was
+attached. The scribe was an important personage
+in commercial and private correspondence in the
+days when even rudimentary education was by no
+means general.</p>
+
+<p>In the same collection is a leather box for holding
+a knife and fork; on the outer case is a medallion, in
+the centre of which is a representation of the two
+spies returning from Canaan with a large bunch of
+grapes. There are also cases which have once held
+wine bottles, some ornamented in colours; indeed,
+the stamped, cut, and embossed designs of the <i>cuir
+boulli</i> work were frequently enriched by the addition
+of red, yellow, and gold.</p>
+
+<p>There are some specially interesting examples of
+Italian work, representing a period covering nearly
+the whole of the Renaissance. In this connection
+there are pilgrim bottles of yellow glass encased in
+wonderful leather covers, cut and embossed. There
+are leather snuff boxes with trellis-work ornament
+and scroll borders, one very interesting piece being
+varnished to imitate tortoiseshell. There are also
+some attractive toilet objects, evidently antique presentation
+pieces. One is a most elaborately cut and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">{190}</a></span>
+incised comb case, on the exterior of which is the
+motto or legend: "<span class="smcap lowercase">DE BOEN AMORE</span>." In the same
+collection there is a fine leather case for a cup or
+tankard. Such cup cases are not uncommon, many
+being the receptacles for treasured heirlooms. Perhaps
+one of the most noted examples of the use of
+embossed and decorative leather work is the ancient
+case of stamped leather intricately foliated, a highly
+decorative work of art in which is enclosed that remarkable
+goblet of legendary fame known as "The
+Luck of Eden Hall."</p>
+
+
+<h3>Tapestry and Upholstery.</h3>
+
+<p>Stamped and embossed leather work is very conspicuous
+in domestic upholstery. In very early
+times the leather work, hung upon the wall in panels,
+took the place of more modern wall-coverings, and it
+was truly lasting. Much of the Cordovan leather is
+still very fresh in appearance, although several centuries
+old. Some of the panels hanging on the walls
+at South Kensington look remarkably fresh, and,
+richly decorated in colours, many of them are very
+effective. A special branch of this work was that
+devoted to the decoration of chair backs; stamped
+leather work for upholstery has been used in this
+country to a large extent, and some of the large oak
+chairs are still upholstered in the original ornamental
+leather produced by boiling the hides by a special
+process, so that the material could be readily moulded.
+In more modern times, however, the decoration is
+effected by embossing and stamping, supplementing
+such ornament by the use of an immense quantity of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">{191}</a></span>
+small brass nails, which are arranged in geometrical
+patterns or straight lines, oftentimes names and dates
+being included in the design.</p>
+
+<p>In this connection also are screens of painted and
+gilt leather, chiefly of eighteenth-century manufacture.
+There is a good deal of this leather work to be found
+in old houses still, and much of it is capable of improvement
+by properly cleaning and touching up here
+and there so as to revive the old colours. Here and
+there hung up as wall decorations may be seen leather-covered
+boxes which were specially made to hold
+deeds; in the older examples there is a large circular
+piece below the narrow box, arranged so that the seal
+could hang in its proper position from the end of the
+deed; they were, of course, in common use before
+the days of safes and other methods of preserving
+parchments and property deeds. One in the
+Victoria and Albert Museum is stamped on the
+exterior with the description of the deed it
+originally contained, the inscription commencing
+thus: "<span class="smcap lowercase">THE GRAUNT OF HEN: THE 5 TO THE
+ABBOT OF RADING</span>."</p>
+
+
+<h3>Chests and Coffers.</h3>
+
+<p>Before modern travelling requisites were known
+and in the days when journeys were few, the leather-covered
+coffer contained the whole travelling outfit of
+perhaps some noble lord and his household. There
+were also large coffers covered with leather used as
+permanent receptacles of clothing, covered with ornamental
+embossed leather work, some very decorative.
+There were smaller coffers, too; possibly they were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">{192}</a></span>
+jewel caskets in their day. There are others which
+may have been presentation cases, for their decoration
+is especially elaborate. In making these continental
+craftsmen seem to have excelled. In the Victoria
+and Albert Museum there is a curious German casket
+of wood covered with leather, strongly bound with
+iron, having three immense hasps from which locks
+once hung, altogether too massive for the little casket.
+One would think such precautions were of not much
+avail against theft, for the box itself could be removed
+readily! There is another charming little casket, with
+a circular or dome-shaped top, decorated and banded,
+a veritable prototype of the tin trunks generally in use
+a quarter of a century ago. There is also a remarkable
+piece, a wood box covered over with leather
+embossed by the <i>cuir boulli</i> process. The chief design
+takes the form of two armed horsemen, surrounded
+by grotesque ornament on the top, on the sides
+being hunting scenes, episodes of the chase. This
+curious example of the work of seventeenth-century
+artists in leather measures 16&frac12; in. in length by
+12&frac12; in. in width. Another typical piece, of a highly
+decorative allegorical character, is a rectangular coffret
+with arched lid, the ornament being in colours and
+gilt. On the front is a knight and a lady, on the lid
+two paladins mounted on griffins, two savages with
+clubs and shields, and two images of the sun, these
+typifying the story of the delivery of a captured lady
+by a knight.</p>
+
+
+<h3>Leather Bottles and Drinking Vessels.</h3>
+
+<p>Several interesting specialistic collections of leather<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">{193}</a></span>
+bottles and drinking vessels have been got together,
+showing the varied forms of the almost imperishable
+vessels, so suitable as liquor carriers and drinking
+cups in olden time. In the Guildhall Museum are
+several different types of bottles, black jacks, and
+silver-rimmed cups. Until comparatively recent
+times many old inns were famous for their leather
+drinking cups, but as the coaching days came to an
+end such vessels were gradually dispersed. Now that
+motor-cars have popularized the road once more, and
+old inns are again frequented, the collector seeks in
+vain for what were once quite common. In another
+noted collection there is a drinking cup or bottle
+moulded like a negro's head, and there are what are
+called pilgrim bottles, some of which are of ornamental
+type. The so-called pots have sometimes
+lids and loosely fitting covers; the black jacks, however,
+are chiefly open, ill-shaped vessels. Some of
+the black jacks were very large, one in the Taunton
+Museum measuring 19 in. in height. It was
+originally used in the servants' hall at Montacute
+House, which is one of the finest old buildings in
+Somerset. This famous jack was in olden time filled
+with beer every morning and placed on the servants'
+breakfast table. Those smaller cups with silver
+mounts and shields, on which are often engraved
+crests or initials of their former owners, are of the
+rarer type, but they are not infrequently found among
+the relics of an old family. There is a fine collection
+in the Hull Museum, and in other places where they
+are found in excellent condition, proving the truth of
+the rhyme published in <i>Westminster Drollery</i> in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">{194}</a></span>
+seventeenth century in praise of the black jack, which
+runs as follows:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"No tankard, flagon, bottle, or jug<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Are half so good, or so well can hold tug;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">For when they are broken or full of cracks,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Then must they fly to the brave black jacks."<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+
+<h3>Leather Curios.</h3>
+
+<p>Some very fine pieces of leather work have been
+modelled as curios and ornaments. Some of the
+most notable are models of old warships and fully
+rigged galleons made of leather. Leather pictures
+were made some years ago; a little later leather
+modelling of baskets of flowers, and the making of
+picture frames of leather was a popular amusement,
+some of the ornamental brackets made of leather
+being specially effective. The surrounds of picture
+frames made of leather cut to shape, carved and
+modelled, had a very similar effect to the beautiful
+carved wood work of an earlier period. Some of the
+powder flasks of leather which were used a century
+or two ago are valued curios, as well as the leather
+cases stamped and embossed so decorative and appropriate
+to the pistols and knives they were made to
+contain. Of the finer objects there are small curios
+like leather snuff boxes and trinket cases.</p>
+
+<p>Of the more utilitarian leather work there is the
+wearing apparel of former days, the leather clothing
+of Cromwellian times and the leather boots. In the
+Victoria and Albert Museum there is a remarkably
+interesting case of leather shoes showing the evolution
+in style and appearance. There are some very pointed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">{195}</a></span>
+shoes worn in the fourteenth century, a slightly different
+shape in the fifteenth, both contrasting with
+the change in fashion which had come about in the
+sixteenth century, when the boots were square and
+some of the shoes very rounded. The Wellington
+boots of a later period are not yet much valued;
+there may come a time, however, when they will be
+regarded as museum curios. Leather gloves date
+back many centuries, and some of the old specimens
+with gauntlets and decorative cuffs are interesting
+antiques, as well as leather wallets, purses, and
+girdles.</p>
+
+
+<h3>Shoes.</h3>
+
+<p>Among sundry Eastern curios quaintly shaped and
+sometimes beautifully embroidered shoes are met
+with, such as those which have been brought over to
+this country from China and Eastern lands. Most of
+the shoes worn in the East are slipped off easily, and,
+like Persian and Turkish slippers, are made of red
+leather beautifully embroidered, silk, satin, and velvet
+being overlaid and embroidered with silver and
+sequins. The old practice of compressing the feet of
+young girls in China is dying out, but some of the
+curious little shoes which gave such pain to their
+wearers are seen as museum curios on account of
+their curious decoration. Indian shoes are met with
+at times, especially those embroidered with silver
+thread, and with green and other coloured silks. A
+curious ceremony is associated with the marriage of
+a Turkish bride, who wears a pair of clogs carved all
+over, sometimes with symbolical significance, on her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">{196}</a></span>
+way to her prescribed ceremonial visit to the bath.
+At one time it was customary for a Jewish bridegroom
+to present his bride with a shoe at the conclusion
+of the wedding ceremony, this custom being
+not far removed from that of throwing an old shoe
+after a newly married couple for luck.</p>
+
+
+<h3>Horn Work.</h3>
+
+<p>Art in horn work was practised more a century ago
+than it is to-day, the material being then a favourite
+one for drinking cups and a variety of ornamental
+work. Old snuff boxes were frequently made of horn
+impressed or stamped with beautiful designs, such as
+hunting scenes and mythological figures. Horn can
+either be cut, moulded, or turned, its natural elasticity
+making it very durable and difficult to break. Its
+source of supply is chiefly from the horned cattle, the
+buffalo and the bison, the horns of these beasts in
+their natural state frequently being mounted on
+shields just as in later years the horns of smaller
+animals, such as the South African varieties of the
+ibex, springbok, and similar horned sheep and cattle,
+are brought over to this country and mounted as
+ornaments. It is said that the old art of impressing
+or stamping horn and tortoiseshell has long been
+discarded, and is only retained for stamping buttons.
+Fancy hair ornaments were frequently so moulded,
+the horn or tortoiseshell being afterwards decorated
+with inlaid silver and gold.</p>
+
+<p>Some of the pressed work is extremely beautiful
+and has every appearance of being done by hand,
+but much cheaper, of course, as the patterns could be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">{197}</a></span>
+multiplied to any extent after the dies had been cut.
+Thin plates of horn were formerly used in lanterns,
+and a similar piece of horn was used as a protector
+over the ancient alphabet and child's spelling tablet
+that gave it the name of the horn book. Among
+household curios are drinking horns elaborately
+etched, and frequently turned in a lathe. They were
+popular in the seventeenth and early eighteenth
+centuries, and the turned patterns then so common
+were copied by the silversmiths, who made silver
+tankards and drinking cups on the same models.
+The cornucopia or horn of abundance figures
+frequently in sculpture, paintings, and works of art.
+The horn is one of the early instruments of music
+(see Chapter <a href="#CHAPTER_XV">XV</a>), and has long been associated
+with sports. It has sounded the "Tally Ho" of the
+fox hunt, and played an important part in coaching
+days. In some old houses veritable horns are found
+hung in conspicuous places as relics of the past,
+but the coaching horns just referred to are for the
+most part of metal.</p>
+
+<p>The Worshipful Company of Horners is still in
+evidence at City feasts. The work of the craft in
+olden time, as recorded by the chaplain of the
+Company in a little book he has prepared, giving the
+history of the Horners, was practised in the days of
+King Alfred. At least two hundred and fifty years
+before the Norman Conquest many of the patens
+and chalices used in churches were made by horners,
+and at one time cups, plates, and other vessels made
+of that useful material were in daily use in English
+homes.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">{199}</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198"></a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2 style="text-align: left;">IX<br />
+<br />
+THE<br />
+TOILET<br />
+TABLE</h2><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">{202}</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201"></a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200"></a></span></p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"><a name="FIG_64" id="FIG_64"></a>
+<img src="images/fig_64.jpg" width="400" height="533" alt="FIG. 64.&mdash;ANTIQUE DRESSING OR TOILET GLASS.
+
+(In the Victoria and Albert Museum.)" title="" />
+<span class="caption">FIG. 64.&mdash;ANTIQUE DRESSING OR TOILET GLASS.
+<br />
+(<i>In the Victoria and Albert Museum.</i>)</span>
+</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">{203}</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX<br />
+<br />
+THE TOILET TABLE</h2>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>The table and its secrets&mdash;Combs&mdash;Patch boxes&mdash;Enamelled objects&mdash;Perfume
+boxes and holders&mdash;Dressing cases&mdash;Scratchbacks&mdash;Toilet
+chatelaines&mdash;Locks of hair&mdash;Jewel cabinets.</p></div>
+
+
+<p>The mysteries of the toilet table are sometimes
+revealed in the curious furnishings of the dressing-room.
+The numerous accessories which are purchased
+from the beauty specialist, and as the result
+of speciously worded and attractively illustrated
+advertisements, in the present day, indicate that it
+is not at all unlikely that the fashions of all ages
+have demanded a plentiful supply of toilet requisites
+in order that the Society beauty might vie with her
+nearest rival. The curio collector is not so much
+concerned with the cosmetics, salves, pomades, and
+hair washes and dyes, the use of which has called
+forth receptacles for them, as with the choice boxes,
+cases, and implements of the tonsorial art which
+their use involved.</p>
+
+<p>To search for such things and to secure some
+hitherto unknown instrument or receptacle is ever
+the ambition of the energetic curio hunter. The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">{204}</a></span>
+field is large enough, for such curios are found in
+the tombs of the prehistoric dead, and among the
+household gods of the primitive savage in the few
+remaining unexplored inhabited countries to-day.
+Such objects may with a fair prospect of success be
+looked for among the relics of Assyrian and Egyptian
+races, and among the bronze curios of Ancient Greece
+and Rome; and excavations reveal relics of Saxon
+and medi&aelig;val England among the ruins which
+have been covered up for centuries.</p>
+
+<p>Coming down the ages, the mysteries of the toilet
+table, as pictured in the not always refined engravings
+of the copper-plate artists of a century or so
+ago, tell of habits and conditions prevailing among
+the ladies of Society then which would hardly be
+deemed polite and refined now.</p>
+
+<p>Ladies who used patches and cosmetics and
+dressed their hair in such a mode that it was rarely
+let down and brushed, needed many accessories now
+obsolete. Moreover, the gradual change which
+passed over Society, and the privacy of the modern
+toilet as compared with the days when much that
+is now deemed curious and antique was in common
+use, has brought about a new order of things, and
+made other trinkets than patch, powder, and salve
+boxes acceptable gifts between lovers; hence we
+scarcely realize the sentiment that induced the
+donors of toilet requisites to bestow them on the
+ladies of their choice, or the recipients to welcome
+some of the curios obviously given from sentimental
+motives.</p>
+
+<p>The illustrations in books published many years<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">{205}</a></span>
+ago incidentally recorded the use of some of the
+curios then in the making. The artists certainly
+were not over-modest, and far from bashful in the
+lucid way in which they pictured or caricatured the
+toilet table, and the maiden who in those days was
+acquainted with the uses of the little relics of her day
+which are now among the household curios appropriately
+grouped under the heading of this chapter.</p>
+
+
+<h3>The Table and its Secrets.</h3>
+
+<p>It is before the looking glass, the central object
+on, or forming a part of, the toilet table, that the
+chief mysteries of the toilet are performed. It is
+obvious, therefore, that the table, to be in accord with
+the use its name suggests, should be the grand
+receptacle for all the minor preparations and their
+boxes or covers, as well as for the brushes and combs
+and mirrors and sundries a Society beauty may
+require.</p>
+
+<p>It is scarcely necessary to tax the mental faculties
+in imagining what may have been the equivalent
+to brushes and combs with which the prehistoric
+woman of thousands of years ago brushed and
+combed her tangled tresses. She was ingenious
+enough to break off and trim sharp prickly thorns,
+and to use them as pins to fasten her scanty home-made
+garments, no doubt; and she would probably
+find in Nature's supply what served her when making
+her toilet, and viewing herself in clear pool or stream.
+Artists have pictured such toilets, and poets have
+told of the toilet and the bath of Greek and Roman
+maidens of olden time.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">{206}</a></span></p>
+
+<p>It is said that the toilet of a Roman lady occupied
+much of her time. After she had risen and taken
+her bath she placed herself in the hands of the
+<i>cosmotes</i>, slaves who possessed the secrets of preserving
+and beautifying the complexion of the skin.
+She frequently wore a medicated mask and went
+through what would to-day be considered very
+painful operations. Her skin was rubbed with
+pumice stone, and superfluous hairs were removed
+with a pair of tweezers. Grecian slaves were adepts
+at colouring eyelashes and eyebrows and treating
+the lips with red pomade. The mirror was in
+frequent use. Many of the polished metal mirrors
+of those days were adorned with precious stones and
+had handles of mother-o'-pearl; and silver and gold
+were common in the fashioning of the framework.
+Hair appointments, including combs, were very
+decorative, frequently being made of ivory, and
+many beautiful carved specimens are to be seen in
+our museums.</p>
+
+<p>The dressing table as we understand it to-day
+was of later days, for many centuries elapsed between
+the toilet of the ladies just mentioned and
+that of English dames whose odds and ends are
+to be found in most houses to-day&mdash;for few are
+without family relics of the toilet.</p>
+
+<p>The toilet or dressing table was originally quite
+small, and made solely for the purpose named. It
+opened very much like a small desk or bureau, and
+was seldom more than 18 in. or 20 in. in width.
+The desk-like flap served the purpose of a table;
+behind it was a number of tiny drawers in which the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">{207}</a></span>
+secret mysteries of the toilet were hidden. There,
+too, were the lady's trinkets and jewellery, safely
+housed in the depths of those curious recesses. Such
+a table was surmounted by a looking glass of the
+type now spoken of in a generic sense as Sheraton.
+In line with the more elaborately fitted tables were
+independent glasses fitted with a small drawer&mdash;a
+poor substitute, however, for the toilet table and glass,
+combined or used in conjunction, in front of which
+the ladies of the eighteenth century performed their
+toilets.</p>
+
+<p>In Fig. <a href="#FIG_64">64</a> is illustrated a very beautiful glass of
+the Oriental style of japanned decoration. The slide
+supports of the desk-like flap are on the principle
+adopted in the construction of contemporary bureaux.
+There is also a drawer, full of compartments, which
+draws out and discloses their covers and some
+of the instruments and articles of the toilet they
+contain.</p>
+
+
+<h3>Combs.</h3>
+
+<p>The combs of olden time were much more
+elaborate affairs than they are to-day. It would
+appear that the comb which must so frequently
+have been viewed by the fair user was considered
+the most appropriate toilet requisite on which to
+expend care and to lavish costly labour in order
+to make it truly a thing of beauty, to be retained
+and even jealously guarded.</p>
+
+<p>The precious metals and ivory were used as well
+as hard woods. Alas! like the fate of modern combs,
+the teeth&mdash;coarse and fine&mdash;snapped one by one,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">{208}</a></span>
+and oftentimes a rare and beautiful back, between
+the two rows of teeth that once were, is nearly all
+that is left of the once perfect comb. Many combs
+of ivory, however, carved all over with exquisite
+miniatures, have been preserved, and the scenes upon
+them have been incidents of the chase, classic love
+scenes, and sometimes reproductions in picture form
+of well-known biblical scenes, not always of the most
+delicately chosen subjects.</p>
+
+<p>Not long ago a very remarkable gold comb of first-century
+workmanship was found near the village of
+Znamenka, in Southern Russia, where excavations
+in a burial mound had brought to light the tomb
+of a Scythian king, whose head was adorned with
+this beautiful comb. The upper portion represented
+a combat between three warriors, one mounted on
+a charger. That comb, however, should be classed
+among "dress" combs rather than dressing combs.</p>
+
+<p>The ivory combs for combing the hair vary in
+size and in the strength of their teeth. Sometimes
+a comb made of boxwood was inlaid with ivory, and
+delicately pierced panels were inserted in the centre
+of the comb. In some instances a small mirror is
+found instead of a carved panel; especially is that
+the case with the smaller combs carried in a reticule
+or bag.</p>
+
+<p>Inscriptions were common, such, for instance, as
+those which breathed the sentiment on a boxwood
+comb in the British Museum, which is inscribed in
+French: "Accept with goodwill this little gift"; it
+is a pretty piece of early work, dating probably from
+the middle of the sixteenth century.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">{209}</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px; clear: both;"><a name="FIG_65" id="FIG_65"></a>
+<img src="images/fig_65.jpg" width="400" height="205" alt="FIG. 65.&mdash;THREE OLD SCRATCHBACKS." title="" />
+<span class="caption">FIG. 65.&mdash;THREE OLD SCRATCHBACKS.</span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px; height: 400px;"><a name="FIG_66" id="FIG_66"></a><a name="FIG_67" id="FIG_67"></a>
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 200px;">
+<img src="images/fig_66.jpg" width="200" height="497" alt="FIG. 66.&mdash;SILVER CHATELAINE
+TOILET INSTRUMENTS." title="" />
+<span class="caption">FIG. 66.&mdash;SILVER CHATELAINE
+TOILET INSTRUMENTS.</span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="figright" style="width: 200px;">
+<img src="images/fig_67.jpg" width="200" height="560" alt="FIG. 67.&mdash;ANOTHER CHATELAINE
+SET." title="" />
+<span class="caption">FIG. 67.&mdash;ANOTHER CHATELAINE
+SET.</span>
+</div></div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210"></a></span></p>
+
+
+<h3>Patch Boxes.</h3>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">{211}</a></span>The accessories of the toilet table&mdash;useful and
+ornamental&mdash;are many. It has ever been so, and
+in the change going on many odds and ends are
+left behind and become relics of former practices.
+Perhaps among the most interesting of these curios
+are the little boxes of porcelain, enamelled wares,
+and wood, which were once used as "patch" boxes,
+and as receptacles for the pigments employed when
+gumming patches upon the cheeks and forehead
+was the height of fashion, and when painting the
+face was the rule rather than the exception.</p>
+
+<p>It may be contended by some that these mysteries
+of the toilet are not unknown in the present day, but
+as yet the modern accessories of the toilet table
+do not come within the ken of the curio hunter.
+It was at the Court of Louis XV of France that
+the practice of gumming small pieces of black taffeta
+on the cheeks originated, the patches soon afterwards
+becoming common in this country. From simple
+circular discs were evolved stars, crescents, and other
+curious forms; then, as in so many other instances,
+extremes of fashion brought the practice into
+disrepute, for so extravagant became the style that
+the "coach and horses" patch and others as absurd
+came into favour. The famous Sam Pepys recorded
+in his Diary the first time he saw his wife wearing
+a black patch; apparently it caught his fancy, for
+he wrote: "My wife seemed very pretty to-day, it
+being the first time I had given her lief to wear
+a black patch." Incidentally it may be noted that
+the famous Pepys controlled even his wife's toilet,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">{212}</a></span>
+and that she was obedient to him even in the
+mysteries of the dressing table!</p>
+
+
+<h3>Enamelled Objects.</h3>
+
+<p>The receptacles for all these compounds varied;
+some were of wood, beautifully carved, often embellished
+with brass mountings, the insides being
+lined with silk, and small mirrors were inserted in
+the lids. The pretty trinket trays, curiously coloured
+and decorated, boxes, and little candlesticks for "my
+lady's table," made of Battersea and other enamels,
+were much in favour a century or more ago.</p>
+
+<p>Some remarkably charming boxes are met with
+stamped with the name of Lille, in France, where
+many such objects were made&mdash;the English enamels
+of that period are rarely if ever marked.</p>
+
+<p>It would appear that very many of these little
+articles were the gifts of friends or purchased as
+souvenirs of the comparatively rare visits to
+fashionable places of resort. Many of those given
+by friends were chosen because of the mottoes and
+emblems with which they were decorated; for, like
+the combs, they were made use of to convey
+messages of love and friendship. We can well
+understand the fear that might arise lest patches
+became loose and rendered the fair wearer ludicrous;
+hence the little mirrors so often found within
+the boxes, which it may be mentioned were carried
+about in the pocket ready for use when opportunity
+served.</p>
+
+<p>Many of the older specimens are found with
+mirrors of steel which, owing to exposure to damp,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">{213}</a></span>
+have become very rusty, and, in some instances, have
+perished altogether. Others with silvered glass
+mirrors show spots, and are much blurred from the
+same cause. The colourings of enamels vary; in
+some the groundwork is white, in others pink or rose-colour
+or blue. Little picture scenes are varied with
+the quaint mottoes or sentimental lines so much in
+vogue then.</p>
+
+<p>The illustrations given in Fig. <a href="#FIG_63">63</a> are typical of
+the choicer decorations, showing the floral style as
+well as the pictorial miniature scenes for which the
+artists of that time were famous. Some of the toilet
+sundries took the form of scent bottles, others etui
+cases and boxes for toilet requisites, including
+manicure sets.</p>
+
+
+<h3>Perfume Boxes and Holders.</h3>
+
+<p>Perfume has always been associated with the
+requisites of the lady's toilet. Sweet-smelling spices
+are referred to in biblical records, and even to-day
+the offering of perfume is a symbol of honour to the
+guest in the East; and some very beautiful Oriental
+scent sprinklers and spice boxes are now and then
+met with among Eastern curios. The long-necked
+rose-water sprinkler is the most common form,
+supplemented by betel-nut boxes and receptacles
+made by Persian artists for the famous attar of
+roses. Scents and "sweet odours" became fashionable
+in Europe in the fifteenth and sixteenth
+centuries; articles of clothing were scented, and
+there was a profusion of scent for the hair and in
+making the toilet.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">{214}</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The pomander box, the favourite perfume holder
+of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries of
+England, was in the form of an apple, the
+perfumes and spices being made up like a ball.
+It is said that the perfume was prepared from
+a sixteenth-century recipe, the basis of which was
+sweet apples or apple pulp, and scented gums
+and essences. From the pomander box smaller
+receptacles were evolved, and more elaborately prepared
+scents were kept in them. Some of the
+preparations consisted of camphor, mint, rosemary,
+and lavender in vinegar, a piece of sponge being
+saturated with the liquid. Then came the use
+of aromatic vinegar, and gradually beautiful little
+silver vinaigrettes were introduced. Many of them
+were very ornamental in shape, highly decorated
+with miniatures and floreated embellishment, the
+monogram or name of the owner often being added.
+In the outer case was usually a cover of perforated
+gold which closed over a piece of sponge, upon which
+aromatic vinegar or some similar preparation was
+poured. The best vinaigrettes are those bearing the
+hall-marks varying from 1800 to about 1840, when
+the making of vinaigrettes declined and other
+scents took their place.</p>
+
+<p>The burning of perfumes in bedrooms and the
+fumigation of wardrobes and chests by means of a
+fumador was a custom much resorted to by Portuguese
+ladies in the eighteenth century. Sweet lavender is
+still used in the linen cupboard, although its use was
+much more general in the days when London street
+cries were heard.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">{215}</a></span></p>
+
+
+<h3>Dressing Cases.</h3>
+
+<p>When people travel and visit their friends their
+luggage includes among other things a dressing case,
+for there are many toilet requisites which are of a
+personal character, and cannot well be substituted
+by others. It is true that the need of portable
+dressing cases has increased of late years owing
+to greater travelling abroad. Dressing cases,
+however, are by no means modern, for some very
+beautiful examples with silver-topped bottles, hall-marked
+in the days of Queen Anne, are among the
+collectable curios. There is a still older example in
+the Victoria and Albert Museum&mdash;a case of tortoiseshell,
+filled with a complete toilet set, consisting of
+four combs and thirteen toilet instruments, partly of
+steel and partly of silver. It is an historic case,
+having been presented by Charles II to a Mr. T.
+Campland, who is said to have at one time sheltered
+him. Many old families have interesting and valuable
+examples, and not infrequently isolated cut-glass
+bottles with Georgian hall-marked silver tops which
+have formed part of the equipment of dressing cases
+are met with.</p>
+
+
+<h3>Scratchbacks.</h3>
+
+<p>Old English scratchbacks are among the rarities
+of the curios associated with the toilet table. It is
+unnecessary to comment upon the habits and customs
+of those periods when scratchbacks were found
+necessary, or to refer to the hygienic conditions of
+the toilet then conspicuous by their absence. It is
+sufficient to allude to these curious little instruments,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">{216}</a></span>
+mostly shaped like a hand, often of ivory, and always
+fitted with a handle in length from 12 to 15 in.
+The hand in some cases is large in proportion,
+measuring as much as 2&frac12; in. in length, sometimes
+as an open hand, at others with the fingers closed,
+often very beautifully modelled. Horn and whalebone
+were favourite materials for the handle, although
+some were of ebony and other woods. Scratchbacks
+appear to have been made both in lefts and rights in
+this country; but the scratchbacks of the Far East
+were invariably rights. The accompanying illustrations,
+Fig. <a href="#FIG_65">65</a>, show the usual types of these now
+obsolete toilet requisites, which it may be noted were
+sometimes duplicated by miniature scratchbacks
+carried about on the person, hung from the girdle.</p>
+
+
+<h3>Toilet Chatelaines.</h3>
+
+<p>The chatelaines worn by the ladies of olden time
+were bulky, and the various objects deemed necessary
+to carry about the person rendered them
+cumbersome in the extreme. A bunch of keys was
+always in evidence, and a glance at a few old keys
+indicates how large the keys of even quite small
+boxes were in olden time. There were the keys of the
+store cupboard, of the linen chest, and of the larder
+and the wine cellar. Drawers and cupboards and
+boxes, as well as the bureau or desk, were always
+locked, and to deliver up the keys was indeed to
+surrender one of the privileges of the matron and
+housewife which were jealously guarded.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218"></a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">{217}</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"><a name="FIG_68_69_70_71" id="FIG_68_69_70_71"></a>
+<img src="images/fig_68-71.jpg" width="400" height="595" alt="FIG. 68.&mdash;FINE ORIENTAL LACQUERED BOX." title="" />
+<span class="caption">FIG. 68.&mdash;FINE ORIENTAL LACQUERED BOX.<br />
+FIG. 69.&mdash;SMALL LACQUER CABINET.<br />
+FIG. 70.&mdash;A PAGODA-SHAPED CASKET.<br />
+FIG. 71.&mdash;DECORATED JEWEL CASE.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>There were articles of toilet use, too, worn at the
+girdle. It is recorded that Queen Elizabeth carried<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">{219}</a></span>
+her earpick of gold ornamented with pearls and
+diamonds. The little set, which was worn at a lady's
+chatelaine in the eighteenth century, shown in Fig. <a href="#FIG_66">66</a>,
+consists of toothpick, earpick, and tongue scraper of
+silver, whereas the set illustrated in Fig. <a href="#FIG_67">67</a> includes
+tweezers, a nail knife, and other instruments. There
+are some charming manicure sets extant, as well as
+isolated nail files of ivory and steel, and curious little
+instruments for simple surgical operations, such as
+strong-nerved ladies were not averse to perform in
+the good old days.</p>
+
+
+<h3>Locks of Hair.</h3>
+
+<p>Although long since separated from toilet operations,
+mention of locks of hair so carefully preserved
+may not inappropriately be made here. Many of
+these are associated with happy memories of childhood,
+others of more saddened recollections. It has
+been a common practice to preserve locks of hair of
+departed friends and relatives. In former days these
+locks of hair were often enclosed in lockets, some of
+which were very large. The simple lock did not
+always satisfy, for there are many artistic plaits and
+beautifully formed sprays, imitating feathers and even
+flowers, which were in years gone by cunningly interwoven
+and artistically arranged on cardboard preserved
+by glass, often in golden lockets and frames.
+Some persons have made quite important collections,
+one of the most noted being that of Menelik II, the
+Abyssinian king, who possessed upwards of two thousand
+locks, varying from light to dark, and from fine
+to coarse, each lock being labelled with the date and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">{220}</a></span>
+particulars of its acquisition. It would be well perhaps
+not to enter too closely into the source of some
+of these specimens, which had peculiar interest to the
+dusky king. It is said that some of them were chiefly
+admired for their settings, which included mounting
+with rare emeralds. The collection of emeralds, of
+which he had some of marvellous beauty and lustre,
+was another of that monarch's hobbies.</p>
+
+
+<h3>Jewel Cabinets.</h3>
+
+<p>In association with the toilet table are the numerous
+boxes which have been made as receptacles for jewels.
+From the days when the dower chest contained a
+small compartment for valuable trinkets the furniture
+of the lady's boudoir has been incomplete without a
+jewel box or some article of furniture where the
+knick-knacks of the home could be kept, and more
+especially the wearable jewellery. The Chinese and
+Japanese have ever been clever in the fashioning of
+small cabinets, and many delightful little boxes,
+cabinets, and jewellery receptacles have been brought
+over to this country.</p>
+
+<p>Some of the old lacquer ware is exceptionally
+interesting, the decorations upon such pieces being
+doubly so when the legends they depict are fully
+realized and understood. The accompanying illustrations
+represent four Japanese jewel cases which are
+exceptionally fine curios. Fig. <a href="#FIG_68_69_70_71">70</a> is decorated on the
+outside of the doors with a view of Itsukushima; and
+there are two peacocks on the top, and the two elders
+of Takasago are depicted on the back. The bamboo
+and the plum are designs symbolical of longevity.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">{221}</a></span>
+This truly exceptional piece was sold in the auction
+rooms of Glendining &amp; Co., who also disposed of the
+remarkable jewel box shaped as a pagoda, illustrated
+in Fig. <a href="#FIG_68_69_70_71">71</a>, a very beautiful piece elaborately decorated
+with birds and landscapes, and the box illustrated in
+Fig. <a href="#FIG_68_69_70_71">68</a> and small cabinet, Fig. <a href="#FIG_68_69_70_71">69</a>.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">{223}</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222"></a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2 style="text-align: left;">X<br />
+<br />
+THE<br />
+OLD<br />
+WORKBOX</h2><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">{225}</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224"></a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X<br />
+<br />
+THE OLD WORKBOX</h2>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Spinning wheels&mdash;Materials and work&mdash;Little accessories&mdash;Cutlery&mdash;Quaint
+woodwork&mdash;The needlewoman&mdash;Old samplers.</p></div>
+
+
+<p>Under the generic term of "workbox" the curios of
+the household associated with the industrial handiwork
+of former days may well be reviewed. There
+is no record of when receptacles for ladies' work were
+first introduced, although, no doubt, in very early days
+small oak boxes, carved, and bearing the owner's
+initials, and other indications of ownership, would be
+the chosen receptacles for the numerous oddments
+which are required in the practice and pursuit
+of every home handicraft, and especially those connected
+with plying the needle. There was a time,
+however, when the fabrics used in the making up
+of clothing were home-made, when the seamstress
+and the needleworker stitched and embroidered upon
+cloths spun if not actually woven by the housewife
+and her handmaidens. In the barrows containing
+remains of people of the Stone Age, and the peoples
+of the early Bronze Age, among the few ornaments
+and personal adornments buried with them were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">{226}</a></span>
+spinning whorls&mdash;the curiosities which remain to
+us of the earliest known form of textile craftsmanship.</p>
+
+
+<h3>Spinning Wheels.</h3>
+
+<p>In old pictures and woodblock engravings some
+curious illustrations are met with showing Englishwomen
+using the distaff. St. Distaff's Day was
+formerly the 7th of January, for it was then that the
+women resumed work after the Christmas festivities
+were over. The distaff and the spindle belonged to
+an age little understood now, and the occupations of
+the women of that date are almost forgotten. The
+spinning wheel was the outcome of the simpler
+distaff and spindle, and although the spinning wheels
+we find among the most interesting of household relics
+look primitive indeed compared with the complex
+machinery seen in the spinning mills to-day, those
+dating from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries
+must have been considered ingenious contrivances
+when compared with the older models, just as the
+latest types of sewing machines show a wonderful
+advance from the early machines invented in the
+beginning of the nineteenth century.</p>
+
+<p>Very clever indeed were many women in manipulating
+the spinning wheel, and there seems to have
+been some competitive contests for notoriety among
+country women, who found a pleasing though perhaps
+at times tedious occupation in spinning the wool for
+the local weaver who wove the home-made cloth.
+It is recorded that in 1745 a woman at East Dereham
+spun a single pound of wool into a thread of 84,000
+yards. She was far outdistanced, however, a few
+years later, when a young lady at Norwich out of
+a pound of combed wool produced a thread computed
+to measure 168,000 yards.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228"></a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">{227}</a></span></p>
+
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"><a name="FIG_72" id="FIG_72"></a>
+<img src="images/fig_72.jpg" width="400" height="520" alt="FIG. 72.&mdash;OLD SPINNING WHEEL.
+
+(In the collection of Mr. Phillips, of the Manor House, Hitchin.)" title="" />
+<span class="caption">FIG. 72.&mdash;OLD SPINNING WHEEL.
+<br />
+(<i>In the collection of Mr. Phillips, of the Manor House, Hitchin.</i>)</span>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">{229}</a></span>To secure a fine spinning wheel is the ambition of
+collectors, and many ladies point with pride to the
+old relic placed in a position of honour on an oak
+chest of drawers, or, perhaps, standing on a coffer
+in the hall. An exceptionally fine wheel is shown
+in Fig. <a href="#FIG_72">72</a>; it is one of many secured by Mr. Phillips,
+of the Manor House, Hitchin. Another illustration
+is taken from a sketch of a spinning wheel in the
+Hull Museum (see Fig. <a href="#FIG_73">73</a>). It appears that early
+in the nineteenth century Hull encouraged the training
+of domestic spinners, and at that time supported
+a spinning school. <i>Apropos</i> of that institution reference
+may appropriately be made to Hadley's
+"History of Hull," in which the historian, in reference
+to Sunday Schools, which had then quite
+recently been founded, says: "From the Sunday
+School reports for this year [1788] it seems they
+did not take. To whatever cause this may be attributed,
+it by no means warrants the aspersions thrown
+upon the town on that account, which has with equal
+ardour and wisdom espoused that useful establishment
+of Spinning Schools, in preference to a preposterous
+institution replete with folly, intolerance,
+fanaticism, and mischief." In explanation it has
+been remarked that, "Evidently wheels were plentiful
+in Hull and Sunday Schools a novelty." To-day
+we can reverse the statement, for schools are plentiful
+but spinning wheels are rare!<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">{230}</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Collectors eagerly secure anything in the way of a
+genuine antique wheel, although the fastidious have
+the choice of two distinct types&mdash;those worked by
+hand and those operated by a treadle. Sometimes a
+spinning wheel made for the foot could be worked
+independently by the hand, just in the same way
+as modern sewing machines are made for hand or
+treadle, and sometimes a combination of both
+methods. The very general use of the spinning
+wheel is accounted for by the fact that this useful
+machine was met with in every cottage in the days
+when homespun yarns and wools were prepared by
+hand, and they were also found in the mansion and
+the palace, where they served to amuse the ladies
+of the household.</p>
+
+<p>There are many varieties of spinning wheels, among
+them the old oak spinning wheels used in England in
+the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and the more
+decorative used until quite late in the eighteenth
+century, from their ornament and lightness, apparently
+used more for preparing the material for fancy
+work rather than for really utilitarian purposes.
+Some highly decorative spinning wheels inlaid with
+mother-o'-pearl and ivory have been brought over to
+this country from Holland and other continental
+countries, perhaps the most decorative being those
+made by French workmen in the Chinese style, the
+wood being lacquered blue and ornamented with
+gilt.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. John Suddaby, who presented the spinning
+wheel we have illustrated to the Hull Wilberforce
+Museum, named after William Wilberforce, paid a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">{231}</a></span>
+high tribute to the famous philanthropist, who he
+declared to be associated with the spinning schools
+of the town. The old wheels of early date were
+gradually improved until they were rendered obsolete
+by the greater inventions of machines which could
+be worked by steam engines, thus originating the
+factory system of textile production.</p>
+
+<p>Among the sundry curios associated with the spinning
+wheel are handsomely carved wood distaffs of
+boxwood, curiously turned spindles; and now and
+then a pewter vessel of circular form, puzzling in
+its identity, turns out to be the rim cup from the
+distaff of an old spinning wheel.</p>
+
+
+<h3>Materials and Work.</h3>
+
+<p>Old workboxes appear to be very numerous. The
+older ones were mostly of wood, but the external
+decoration seems to have been a matter of taste, some
+preferring inlays. In early days moulded plaster
+ornament, richly gilded and coloured, was much
+favoured, and in still earlier times deep relief carvings
+in the oak of which the boxes were made. In the
+Stuart and later periods ladies worked the exterior
+ornament in silks and satins and embroidery. Among
+the workboxes in the Victoria and Albert Museum
+there is a painted box in distemper and gilding, the
+subject chosen for the ornamentation of the lid being
+the story of David and Bathsheba, round the sides
+being floral devices. This decorative workbox has
+drawers and compartments, a sliding front facilitating
+their use.</p>
+
+<p>In the same collection there are workboxes over<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">{232}</a></span>laid
+with straw work in geometrical patterns relieved
+by colour. Straw-work decoration was much favoured
+at the commencement of the nineteenth century, its
+origin being traceable to the French military
+prisoners in this country during the Napoleonic wars
+between the years 1797 and 1814, when many officers
+and men were detained at Porchester Castle, near
+Portsmouth, and at Norman Cross, near Peterborough.
+The grasses, of which the boxes were
+covered, were collected and dried by the prisoners,
+who obtained the different shades and tints which
+render this class of work so effective by steeping
+them in infusions of tea, according to a note by
+Dr. Strong, who visited the barracks at Norman
+Cross.</p>
+
+<p>The workboxes, so rich in gilding and relief, came
+from Italy, when, as early as the year 1400, caskets
+were covered with a species of lime which was
+moulded, the gesso, as it was called, on a gilt ground
+of white compo, giving it a very rich effect. Leather
+was used with good effect, too, for the ornamentation
+of workboxes, red morocco being much favoured in
+England early in the nineteenth century. Fig. <a href="#FIG_76">76</a>
+illustrates three very beautiful little fitted boxes with
+inlaid ornament and straw work.</p>
+
+
+<h3>Little Accessories.</h3>
+
+<p>The contents of an old workbox are many and
+varied. Among the odds and ends it is no uncommon
+thing to find relics of lace-making, by which
+so many cottagers have been able to maintain themselves
+for generations.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">{233}</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"><a name="FIG_73" id="FIG_73"></a>
+<img src="images/fig_73.jpg" width="400" height="553" alt="FIG. 73.&mdash;SPINNING WHEEL.
+
+(In the Hull Museum.)" title="" />
+<span class="caption">FIG. 73.&mdash;SPINNING WHEEL.
+<br />
+(<i>In the Hull Museum.</i>)</span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"><a name="FIG_74" id="FIG_74"></a>
+<img src="images/fig_74.jpg" width="400" height="303" alt="FIG. 74.&mdash;OLD LACE BOBBINS.
+
+(a, b, c, d, e, and f, reading from left to right.)" title="" />
+<span class="caption">FIG. 74.&mdash;OLD LACE BOBBINS.
+<br />
+(<i>a</i>, <i>b</i>, <i>c</i>, <i>d</i>, <i>e</i>, and <i>f</i>, reading from left to right.)</span>
+</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">{235}</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234"></a></span></p>
+
+<p>There is something very remarkable about the
+manufacture of pillow lace, in that it is carried on in
+the villages of Buckinghamshire just as it was two or
+more centuries ago, and the pillow and the bobbins
+are almost identical in form and design&mdash;indeed, the
+patterns of the lace have changed little, for the
+workers cling tenaciously to the old designs,
+Flemish in their characteristics, just as they do to
+the old bobbins.</p>
+
+<p>Some of these little spools or bobbins have been
+handed down from mother to daughter as heirlooms,
+and many of them carry a romantic story, if it were
+but known. Just as the Welsh lovespoons and the
+Sunderland glass rolling-pins were given as love
+tokens, many of these bobbins are the result of
+patient labour, their decoration having often been the
+work of days; ivory, bone, wood, and metal being
+cut and shaped, gilded and stained, in order to
+provide the favoured one with a bobbin unlike any
+other and quite distinctive in design. In the making
+of pillow lace, pins, cleverly placed so as to form the
+pattern, were inserted into the cushion, and the
+threads on a dozen or more bobbins deftly twisted in
+and out and tied round the pins. The glass beads,
+many of the older ones of odd shapes and colours,
+hand-made, made the first distinction, and their
+weight helped to keep the light turned wood bobbins
+in place. It was the bobbins which were ornamental,
+and some of the older ones&mdash;those made in the
+eighteenth century&mdash;are very decorative, and now
+much sought after by collectors. Those illustrated
+in Fig. <a href="#FIG_74">74</a> have been selected from a large collection<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">{236}</a></span>
+for their representative types: (A) is the oldest; the
+ornament is of pewter let into the wood, it has a
+very small spool; (B) is ivory, the incised parts
+stained green; (C) is bone, the incised pattern filled
+in with gold beaten into a thin plate; (D) is also of
+bone with a band of brass and coloured inlays; (E)
+walnut wood, turned in the deep grooves are six
+loose silver rings, some of the heads are of brass
+gilt; (F) the most modern type, such as may be
+seen in use in Buckinghamshire to-day, the present
+revival of the hand-made lace industry being due
+to the efforts of the North Bucks Lace Association.
+Of such handwork Cowper wrote:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"Yon cottager who weaves at her own door,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Pillow and bobbins all her little store:<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Content, though mean, and cheerful, if not gay,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Shuffering her threads about the livelong day."<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>The lace-maker, and the housewife who occupied
+her leisure moments in lace-making, left behind
+many collectable curios. The worker of samplers
+and those advanced in the higher arts of needlecraft
+had also their little work necessaries. Very clever
+indeed were the workers of silk-embroidered pictures,
+and the instruments they used were fine and
+delicate, different indeed from the coarser needles of
+the knitter and the meshes of the netter. In later
+years the workbox became more substantial, and less
+attention was given to the exterior, for the interior
+fittings of the workbox became beautiful, and a
+wealth of art was shown in the carving of the ivory
+accessories, and the pearl tops of the thread and silk
+reels and winders and the curious little wax holders.
+There were cleverly contrived measuring tapes, and
+beautiful little baskets of ivory and wood, some
+filled with emery, others serving the purpose of
+receptacles for pins and needles. From these
+evolved the needlebooks and the more modern
+companions.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238"></a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">{237}</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"><a name="FIG_75" id="FIG_75"></a>
+<img src="images/fig_75.jpg" width="400" height="647" alt="FIG. 75.&mdash;OLD PIN POPPETS AND ANCIENT PINS." title="" />
+<span class="caption">FIG. 75.&mdash;OLD PIN POPPETS AND ANCIENT PINS.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">{239}</a></span>In Fig. <a href="#FIG_77">77</a> are shown several beautiful oddments
+taken out of an old workbox; they are all
+made of ivory, carved and fretted in such delicate
+tracery that it is a wonder that they have survived
+for a century or more without injury. Ivory work
+holders, in which ladies rolled their needlework when
+they went out to tea, were often beautifully carved;
+they, too, are charming additions to ivory workbox
+fittings.</p>
+
+
+<h3>Cutlery.</h3>
+
+<p>The cutler has contributed to the curios of the
+workbox. The knives and scissors, bodkins, and
+stilettos from an old workbox look strangely out of
+date when compared with those bought in the shops
+to-day. The chief thing that is so noticeable to the
+critical observer is the cutting of the steel and
+the hand ornamentation of those days. Some of
+the embroidery scissors were engraved all over with
+fancy patterns, and there are some remarkably quaint
+button-hole scissors, on which the owner's name or
+initials were often engraved.</p>
+
+<p>Some time ago an old lady made a small collection
+of thimbles. It was not a very expensive hobby,
+but the variety she secured was truly remarkable.
+There were thimbles of bone, ivory, steel, brass,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">{240}</a></span>
+enamel, silver, and even gold. Some were chased
+and engraved, some stamped and punched. There
+were thimbles of huge size and others with open
+ends, the same that sailors use.</p>
+
+<p>It is said that the thimble dates back to 1684,
+when one Nicholas Benschoten, of Amsterdam, sent
+one as a present to a lady friend with the dedicatory
+inscription: "To My frouw van Rensclear this little
+object which I have invented and executed as a
+protective covering for her industrious fingers." It
+is said the name in this country was originally
+"thumb-bell," so called because of the shape being of
+bell-like form. Of the thimbles of the wealthy it is
+recorded there are thimbles of onyx, mother-o'-pearl,
+and of gold, encrusted with rubies and
+diamonds&mdash;the seamstress has, however, to be content
+with useful if less costly "baubles."</p>
+
+
+<h3>Quaint Woodwork.</h3>
+
+<p>By way of contrast the outfit of the worker often
+includes wooden needles and occasionally utensils
+made of wood, but covered with evidences of love
+and tender regard for those who were destined to use
+them. The knitter seems to have been peculiarly
+fortunate, for knitting sticks and sheaths afforded the
+amateur carver ample opportunities of showing his
+skill; and, like the carved lovespoons, of which there
+is such a famous collection in the Cardiff Museum,
+the knitting sheaths and sticks seem to indicate that
+in a similar way the amorous swain gave vent to his
+feelings in the curious designs, mottoes, and names
+which he carved upon knitting sticks and kindred<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">{241}</a></span>
+objects used by the lady of his choice. In the Victoria
+and Albert Museum there are some beautiful
+boxwood needle sticks; one example is cleverly
+carved with emblems of Faith, Hope, and Charity.
+Another beautiful needle stick in the same collection
+is mounted with silver. On some of the woodwork
+used for similar purposes there are cleverly designed
+pictures, and these were not always associated with
+private use, for the clothworkers in many districts
+used quite fanciful tools, especially in the villages,
+where time was of small moment, and the long
+winter evenings could be occupied with cutting
+and carving the handles and framework of the tools
+which in everyday practice served such a useful and
+often wage-earning purpose. In the Victoria and
+Albert Museum there is a remarkable cloth-measure
+made of walnut, bearing date 1745, three-sided, one
+being covered over with letters of the alphabet cut
+in deep relief, thus serving a useful purpose in the
+home or as an educational standard. On the second
+side there are cleverly designed pastoral and hunting
+scenes, and on the third the arms of the Swiss
+cantons. Other portions of the measure illustrate
+the implements and tools used by clothworkers at
+that period.</p>
+
+<p>Switzerland has long been famous for its wood
+carving, and many of the curios found in this
+country have come from the Swiss mountain villages.
+No doubt some of our readers have come across the
+old pin poppets which boys and girls carried with
+them to the village school half a century or more ago.
+The girls filled them with pins and needles, bodkin<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">{242}</a></span>
+and stiletto, and the boys with pencils and pens. In
+Fig. <a href="#FIG_75">75</a> two curious old pin boxes are illustrated.
+The <i>pins</i> shown on the same page are, however, of
+much older date; they are, in fact, merely thorns;
+these interesting and authentic relics of the "common
+objects of the home," or perhaps more correctly
+described, of dress, are to be seen in the National
+Collection of Wales at Cardiff, the measuring stick
+shown in the photograph giving their size. The pin
+poppet, as its name denotes, was, however, intended
+originally for the requirements of the early needleworker
+who at the dames' school won renown in
+those great achievements&mdash;the samplers of old.
+These, however, do not exhaust the wood-carving
+curios of the workbox, but they may serve to remind
+collectors of what they may hope to discover in their
+hunt for household curios.</p>
+
+
+<h3>The Needlewoman.</h3>
+
+<p>The curiosities much prized to-day, the work of
+the needlewoman, or those who plied the needle
+chiefly for purposes of amusement or to give pleasure
+to those on whom they bestowed the products of their
+skill, are met with in many distinct forms. This is
+not a work on needlework, or we might tell of the
+various stitches which are indicative of certain periods.
+It is, however, admissible to mention some of the
+household curios, the product of such patient labour
+applied to the skilful manipulation of silks and
+threads and cottons and wools, of all colours and substances,
+embroidered or worked on canvas or other
+fabric.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">{243}</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"><a name="FIG_76" id="FIG_76"></a>
+<img src="images/fig_76.jpg" width="500" height="283" alt="FIG. 76.&mdash;THREE OLD WORKBOXES.
+
+(In the collection of Mr. Phillips, of Hitchin.)" title="" />
+<span class="caption">FIG. 76.&mdash;THREE OLD WORKBOXES.
+<br />
+(<i>In the collection of Mr. Phillips, of Hitchin.</i>)</span>
+</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">{245}</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244"></a></span></p>
+
+<p>The mistresses of the old English homes were very
+industrious. They worked crewel bed hangings and
+cross-stitch and tent-stitch upholstery in the seventeenth
+century, and in still earlier times richly ornamented
+linens and other fabrics with flowers and
+scriptural subjects. Writing in reference to Queen
+Mary, the wife of William III, Sir Charles Sedley
+said:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"When she rode in coach abroad<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">She was always knotting thread."<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>And her example was followed by many in humbler
+circumstances. In later years women have wrought
+needlework and beadwork pictures, and have even
+threaded their needles with human hair when no silk
+could be found fine enough.</p>
+
+<p>Of the permanent ornaments of the home&mdash;now
+valued curios&mdash;there are cases formerly used on a
+lady's toilet table, embroidered with floss silk and frequently
+dated. Some were made to hold devotional
+books, others were portable boxes, the covers of
+which were worked on white satin with coloured
+silks and beads, oftentimes scriptural scenes being
+depicted in silk; one very favourite scene in the
+seventeenth century was the visit of the Queen of
+Sheba to Solomon.</p>
+
+<p>Many beautifully embroidered trinket boxes record
+the patience with which they were worked, and were
+undoubtedly a labour of love. Among the smaller
+objects, gifts from friend to friend, were pincushions,
+some of which bear dates in the seventeenth
+century. These were worked in coloured
+silks on canvas, the ornament often taking the form<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">{246}</a></span>
+of a fruit or flower basket, birds and insects. The
+favourite material and colour for the back of such
+pincushions was yellow satin. A rather pleasing
+variety consisted of bag and pincushion worked to
+match, the two being united by a cord of plaited silk.
+Of purses there were many varieties, chiefly made of
+coarse canvas worked in cross and tent stitches with
+coloured silks and silver threads, couched or laid
+over silver thread, and then stitched to the canvas
+concealing it. There are also miniature pincushions
+worked in silk like the old samplers and brocade
+pocket books, some of which were woven in France
+in the seventeenth century. There are also holdalls
+and needle cases in embroidery and cross stitch. The
+favourite colours worked by English ladies in the
+eighteenth century were pink, orange, and light
+green. On these were often worked mottoes and
+rhyme. One will serve as a sample:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"When Judah's daughters captive led<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Behold their mighty kings subdued."<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Loyal mottoes were frequently worked, especially
+during the days when the Pretenders were carrying
+on their hopeless campaign. There is a subtle reminder
+of the desire to make known loyal feelings,
+intermixed with prudence in concealing them, in the
+quaint embroidered garter in the British Museum
+which is inscribed "<span class="smcap lowercase">GOD BLESS P.C.</span>"</p>
+
+<p>To smokers were given embroidered tobacco
+pouches in green, pink, and silver; one charming old
+beadwork tobacco pouch in Taunton Castle is embroidered
+"<span class="smcap lowercase">LOVE ME FOR I AM THINE</span>, 1631." There<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248"></a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">{247}</a></span>
+were necklaces and bracelets of needlework, and
+some of coloured glass beads, as well as the long
+watchguards worn round the neck, chiefly of the
+nineteenth century.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"><a name="FIG_77" id="FIG_77"></a>
+<img src="images/fig_77.jpg" width="500" height="319" alt="FIG. 77.&mdash;OLD WORKBOX FITTINGS.
+
+(In the Author&#39;s collection.)" title="" />
+<span class="caption">FIG. 77.&mdash;OLD WORKBOX FITTINGS.
+<br />
+(<i>In the Author&#39;s collection.</i>)</span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">{249}</a></span>
+</div>
+
+
+<h3>Old Samplers.</h3>
+
+<p>Old samplers may well be regarded as educational,
+belonging to the schoolroom as well as to the workbox.
+They were intended to teach needlework, and
+served as reminders of alphabets, sums, and mapping.
+Many worked in silk on yellow linen in the
+eighteenth century were quite elaborate pieces of
+needlework. Those of the seventeenth century,
+chiefly of linen, were much cruder and simpler in
+design. During the latter half of the eighteenth
+century samplers were mostly worked on canvas or
+sampler cloth, a material which was used almost as
+long as samplers were in fashion. Different stitches
+were employed; there was the early drawn and cut
+work, and then the silk embroidery showing the
+girl's acquirement of the darning stitch.</p>
+
+<p>Some early tapestry maps are numbered among
+the educational curios in which samplers are so
+prominent. The Yorkshire Philosophical Society
+own two unique specimens of sixteenth-century
+tapestry, formerly in the possession of Horace
+Walpole. They measure about 16 ft. by 12 ft.,
+the sections including Herefordshire, Shropshire,
+Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, and a part of Berkshire.
+These remarkable maps are vividly coloured and
+show excellent pictorial scenes indicating villages,
+parks, and country seats. Such maps are rare, but<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">{250}</a></span>
+now and then really interesting examples of needlework
+mapping are met with.</p>
+
+<p>Collectors keep an eye on preservation, but they
+are keen on dated specimens, and those with ornate
+and quaintly picturesque borders. The condition
+adds to the beauty, but not always to the value, for
+many of the older and less well-preserved samplers
+are now becoming scarce. They have been retained
+by those who have no interest in antiques because
+they bore the name of some fair ancestress who lived
+and worked on her sampler more than a century ago,
+leaving it behind as a memorial of her skill in the use
+of a needle for future generations to admire. How
+many ladies of the twentieth century are preparing
+permanent records of their skill in needlework for
+those who are to come to hand on to generations
+unborn? is a question some may like to ponder.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">{251}</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2 style="text-align: left;">XI<br />
+<br />
+THE<br />
+LIBRARY</h2><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">{253}</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252"></a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI<br />
+<br />
+THE LIBRARY</h2>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>From cover to cover&mdash;Old scrap books&mdash;Almanacs&mdash;The writing
+table.</p></div>
+
+
+<p>The library is usually where the master of the house
+conducts his business correspondence and, if a student,
+spends much of his time among his favourite
+books, or, perchance, engages in literary work. In
+days gone by, when there were fewer opportunities of
+visiting public libraries, and when circulating libraries
+were few and far between, the man of letters accumulated
+around him standard works and ancient tomes,
+possibly seldom read. When such a library, perhaps
+scarcely examined for a century or more, comes to
+be dispersed, it often happens that curiosities are
+brought to light.</p>
+
+<p>The furniture of the library is full of interest, for a
+quaint writing table, bureau, or desk full of oddments
+is an exceedingly prolific field of research. In the
+following paragraphs a few of these curiosities are
+referred to; there are others, however, that the
+collector will discover, possibly one of the scarcer
+curios of the library, some of which realize unex<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">{254}</a></span>pectedly
+high prices when they are brought under
+the hammer.</p>
+
+
+<h3>From Cover to Cover.</h3>
+
+<p>The books which constitute the library are often
+curious, and there is much that receives its monetary
+value on account of its antiquity and rarity. An old
+library will frequently include black-letter printing
+and old volumes illustrated with wood blocks, and,
+perchance, illuminated initial letters. Some of the
+volumes may be printed on vellum, and there may
+be some in manuscript. The bindings of presentation
+books may be of rich calf and tooled in gold;
+some may even have edge paintings and choice hand-painted
+illuminations. The subject-matter of the
+volumes often gives rise to specialistic collections.
+Some will find amusement in tracing the progress of
+a great industry through published information, like
+those curious old time tables in the early days of
+railways, and the pamphlets which are classed by the
+collector as "Railroadia," and from them learn the
+story of the "iron horse." There are others who
+collect books and prints relating to ballooning, the
+microscope, and many of the earlier sciences. There
+are topographical curiosities and historical marvels.
+Some books will be valued because of their illustrations,
+for the work of a master hand may be
+recognized by the expert searcher after valuables.
+The rare mezzotints, stipples, and delicate line
+engravings, to say nothing of the more valuable
+colour prints, often realize far more than the
+books themselves. Ancient art is more valued than<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">{255}</a></span>
+the literary efforts of past masters of wielding
+the pen!</p>
+
+<p>It is thus that the books are often thrown away
+after the pictures or even superadded illustrations or
+mere name-plates have been removed. The collector
+of bookplates searches for his treasures. Some talk
+of the vandalism of the collector of ex-libris, but they
+must remember that it is quite easy to remove a
+bookplate without injuring the volume, and there are
+many worthless books. The name labels or bookplates
+found in English libraries range from the early
+dated plates of the close of the seventeenth century
+to the present day. The different styles of ornament
+in vogue in the respective periods of their engraving
+were with few exceptions adhered to by the printers
+of such plates. Thus the collector classifies his
+albums and rejoices in the variations and details of
+the engraver's fancy, while he separates them into
+such well-defined groups as early armorial, Jacobean,
+Chippendale, ribbon and wreath, urn, pictorial,
+armorial, and simple shield. To other than the
+enthusiastic collector, bookplates may possess merit
+in that they have belonged to famous men, and are
+souvenirs taken from the volumes which were once
+handled by distinguished statesmen, divines, and men
+of letters.</p>
+
+
+<h3>Old Scrap Books.</h3>
+
+<p>The making of scrap books or the filling of portfolios
+was not always an amusement for children,
+neither did older folk make those quaint scrap
+books with such assortments of literary and pictorial<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">{256}</a></span>
+odds and ends solely for the amusement of their
+visitors. Many enthusiastic collectors stored their
+treasures in such books, the binding of which was
+often very costly and quite gorgeously ornamented.
+Some pointed with pride to collections of prints,
+others to albums of frontispieces, printers' marks,
+and tailpieces, some of which were beautiful little
+pictures.</p>
+
+<p>In modern times collectors rescue from the flames
+old tickets, pictorial benefit tickets, theatre passes,
+and quaint pictures which tell us of great events
+which happened in days gone by at Ranelagh,
+Vauxhall, and other places.</p>
+
+<p>Ranelagh, where the entertainments of which relics
+in the shape of beautifully engraved tickets are to be
+found, was at Chelsea, and the gardens visited by
+Walpole, Johnson, and Goldsmith were famous for
+their promenades and for the music and singing
+which might be enjoyed, among the evening pleasures
+being displays of fireworks and masked dances. In
+the summer tea and coffee were sipped under the
+trees, and there were water carnivals on the river.
+There were also masquerade balls and dances, for
+which tickets engraved by Bartolozzi and other
+famous artists were issued. It is these tickets which
+are preserved and collected now.</p>
+
+<p>The autograph hunter extends his hobby by
+adding old parchments and deeds with seals, for
+among the odd bundles of parchments in old libraries
+are many documents attested with thumb-marks and
+seals&mdash;"His mark," of days when many of the
+landed proprietors could not write their own names.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">{257}</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 300px;"><a name="FIG_78" id="FIG_78"></a>
+<img src="images/fig_78.jpg" width="300" height="524" alt="FIG. 78.&mdash;ANCIENT CLOG ALMANAC." title="" />
+<span class="caption">FIG. 78.&mdash;ANCIENT CLOG ALMANAC.</span>
+</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">{259}</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258"></a></span></p>
+
+<p>The joys of St. Valentine's Day, remembered by
+older people still, are unknown to the present generation,
+but collectors perpetuate February 14th as it
+was kept in the past by filling albums with such old
+valentines as they may be able to secure.</p>
+
+
+<h3>Watch Papers.</h3>
+
+<p>Another comparatively small collection can be
+made up of pictorial watch papers, those rare little
+pictorial views which once reposed in the interior of
+the cases of old watches. Watches are by no means
+common curios of the household, but now and then
+an old silver verge or a decorated watch case thought
+little of is found to contain one of those pretty pictures
+which were chiefly engraved and printed in
+the eighteenth century. Many of the designs were
+printed on satin; some were devices in needlework;
+again others were cut out in the most lace-like
+designs. Theatrical celebrities were often pictured;
+thus the theatrical amateur would buy his
+watch paper representing the celebrated Miss
+Gunning, or possibly Mr. Garrick. The pictures
+were really gems, too, for great artists such as
+Angelica Kaufmann, Cipriani, and Bartolozzi did
+not disdain to engrave watch papers.</p>
+
+
+<h3>Old Almanacs.</h3>
+
+<p>Some of the best finds when libraries have been
+overhauled have been the curious old almanacs published
+when superstition was rife. The oldest, perhaps,
+were the clog almanacs, although some were
+common in Staffordshire until about 1820. The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">{260}</a></span>
+accompanying illustration (see Fig. <a href="#FIG_78">78</a>) was engraved
+in an old book referring to that county published
+more than a century ago. In Camden's <i>Britannia</i>
+some information is given in reference to these early
+clog almanacs, in which it is said holidays were distinguished
+by hieroglyphics; in some the Massacre
+of the Innocents was denoted by a drawn sword;
+SS. Simon and Jude's Day by a ship, because they
+were fishers; and St. George's Day by a horse. In
+the Norway clog almanacs St. Martin's Day is
+marked with a goose, the custom of eating a goose
+now being transferred to Michaelmas. In the illustration
+given in Fig. <a href="#FIG_78">78</a> the first section embraces
+January, February, and March; the second, April,
+May, and June; the third, July, August, and September;
+and the fourth, October, November, and
+December. Conspicuously inscribed on the clog will
+be noticed the ring for New Year's Day; the star
+denoting the Epiphany; the axe for St. Paul;
+February 14th is indicated by a lover's knot; a spear
+denotes St. George's Day in April; and May Day by
+a tree branch. The keys of St. Peter are noticed as
+indicating the 29th of June; the scales of St. Michael
+are seen at the end of September. St. Catherine's
+wheel figures in the middle of November, immediately
+under it being the somewhat large cross of
+St. Andrew. Other symbols will doubtless be recognized
+on this interesting relic.</p>
+
+<p>The study of the almanac is not now one of the
+chief diversions of the fair sex. At one time,
+however, when ladies had fewer amusements than
+they have now, they spent much time poring over<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">{261}</a></span>
+almanacs, and placed implicit trust in what they
+found recorded there, especially in the forecasts and
+prognostications for the future of those born on
+certain days and under so-called lucky or unlucky
+stars. One of the most popular calendars of olden
+time was "The Ladies' Diary or the Woman's
+Almanac," containing many delightful and entertaining
+particulars for the fair sex. Let us take,
+for example, a copy of that popular almanac for
+the year of grace 1749. On the cover there is a
+picture of the Queen. Alluding to the peace then
+prevailing are the lines:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"Perch'd o'er this Realm, the ancient seat of Kings,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Now dove-like peace the sprig of laurel brings;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And British fair ones happy days shall see,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">While George shall reign, and Britons still are free."<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Another George is on the throne, and his consort
+Queen Mary is an ideal woman, and what to many
+is of the highest importance, Peace reigns in this
+country and Britons are still free!</p>
+
+<p>Among the contents of that curious almanac are
+Latin and French enigmas, mathematical questions
+and paradoxes. The concluding paragraph for the
+dedication of that day is entitled "Truth's Moral
+Euclid"; the proposition given being:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"Virtue promotes happiness, private and public.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Vice is destructive of happiness, private and public.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Honour is the reward of virtue."<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>One of the finest collections of old almanacs is in the
+Bodleian Library at Oxford&mdash;chiefly seventeenth-century
+productions. A still older almanac was the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">{262}</a></span>
+"Poor Robin" of 1664; another seventeenth-century
+almanac being the "Vox Stellarum" of Francis Moore,
+a quack doctor. In 1733 Benjamin Franklin published
+in Philadelphia his "Poor Richard's Almanac,"
+noted for its verses, jests, and sayings. The monopoly
+once possessed by the Stationers' Company has long
+been broken down, and of later almanacs and
+calendars there is no end. Among the miniature
+books, the collection of which is much favoured now,
+are some very tiny almanacs, like the beautiful
+specimens of such a calendar given in Fig. <a href="#FIG_80">80</a>, produced
+actual size, shown open and closed. This
+miniature almanac is printed on satin and is full of
+pleasing little pictures. It is the work of a French
+artist early in the nineteenth century, the pictures
+and their descriptions and the monthly calendars
+occupying alternate pages. The binding is of mother-o'-pearl,
+bound in ormolu and richly gilt and engraved.
+Some similar calendars in tiny leather
+bindings, beautifully tooled and ornamented in gold,
+are also collectable.</p>
+
+
+<h3>The Writing Table.</h3>
+
+<p>The writing table usually occupies an honoured
+place in the library. It may be a massive table of
+oak or a simple writing desk venerated on account
+of the great literary works which have been written
+upon it. It is no uncommon thing to read of large
+sums paid for a writing desk on which the manuscript
+of a famous book has been penned, and some of the
+writing tables upon which deeds of historical fame
+have been signed have gained a reputation and a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">{263}</a></span>
+money value out of all proportion to their curio or
+antiquarian merits. Not long ago the late King
+Edward presented to the Commonwealth of Australia
+the table on which the great Charter was signed,
+together with the inkstand and pen used on that
+occasion. Those will be relics for future generations
+to value.</p>
+
+<p>The table appointments are among the collectable
+curios of the library, and prominent among these is
+the inkstand. Inkstands find their prototypes in the
+inkhorns of the scribe; and throughout the generations
+which have provided curios for twentieth-century
+collectors there have been fresh supplies in
+silver, pewter, Sheffield plate, copper, bronze, iron,
+wood, china, and brass. Very beautiful indeed are
+some of the old inkstands in their separate vase-like
+attachments. The ink-well was formerly accompanied
+by a sand box or a pounce caster, in modern
+days superseded by a second ink-well. The sand
+casters for sprinkling pounce or sand upon newly
+written pages were a necessity before the days of
+blotting paper. Perhaps some day blotters, blotting
+pads, and the like, may become collectable curios!</p>
+
+<p>Collectors of old china are familiar with the rare
+boxes, egg-cup-like in form, made by Richard
+Chaffers, of Liverpool, the blue and white decoration,
+the name of the potter in the narrowed portion of
+the box being characteristic of what was for a long
+time known as "Dick's Pepperbox." It was, however,
+intended for a pounce box, the pounce or
+pumice being a fine powder of the cuttle-fish bone,
+afterwards giving the name to the pounce paper or<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">{264}</a></span>
+transparent tracing material. Of the inkstands to be
+seen in our museums there are many dating from
+almost prehistoric times; their variety may be instanced
+by mention of one in the Berlin Museum,
+an Egyptian curio said to be 3,400 years old, below
+the ink compartments being a case for holding
+reed pens.</p>
+
+<p>In early days before even well-to-do people could
+read and write the scribe found a ready occupation.
+The materials he used were carried about in a writing
+case of metal, and among such curios are writing
+cases which were used in the thirteenth and fourteenth
+centuries. They were often the work of the craftsmen
+of Mesopotamia, who were clever artists in
+metal, and the work they performed came to Europe
+through Syria. The example shown in Fig. <a href="#FIG_81">81</a> is
+the work of Mahmud, the son of Sonkor, of Baghdad,
+and is dated 1281. This beautiful specimen may
+be seen in the British Museum.</p>
+
+<p>The implements the scribe used changed as time
+went on, for parchment was used quite early in the
+East. Writing was introduced into Spain by the
+Moors in the tenth century, although writing paper
+was not made in England until the fifteenth century.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266"></a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">{265}</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"><a name="FIG_79" id="FIG_79"></a>
+<img src="images/fig_79.jpg" width="400" height="182" alt="FIG. 79.&mdash;OLD COIN TESTER." title="" />
+<span class="caption">FIG. 79.&mdash;OLD COIN TESTER.</span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"><a name="FIG_80" id="FIG_80"></a>
+<img src="images/fig_80.jpg" width="400" height="208" alt="FIG. 80.&mdash;MINIATURE SOUVENIR ALMANAC." title="" />
+<span class="caption">FIG. 80.&mdash;MINIATURE SOUVENIR ALMANAC.</span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"><a name="FIG_81" id="FIG_81"></a>
+<img src="images/fig_81.jpg" width="500" height="177" alt="FIG. 81.&mdash;ANCIENT WRITING SET." title="" />
+<span class="caption">FIG. 81.&mdash;ANCIENT WRITING SET.</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>The evolution of the pen has been slow, for the
+use of quills continues still in some Government
+offices, and quills are still supplied to readers in the
+British Museum Reading Room. The old-fashioned
+quill pens were in days gone by shaped with a small
+knife made specially for that purpose. Indeed, it is
+to the quill pen that we are indebted for our "pen"
+knives, which have long been put to other uses. It<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">{267}</a></span>
+was not every one who was expert in cutting a pen
+neatly and making it write well. Consequently an
+instrument was made for that purpose, known as the
+quill-pen cutter. These cutters are now and then
+met with in old desks, where they have lain unused
+for many years.</p>
+
+<p>Quill-pen making was an important industry until
+the invention of the steel pen, and the quality of the
+quill was a matter of importance to the scribe. In
+a trader's circular dated 1820 there is notice of
+the Royal Appointment of a Liverpool maker, who
+was authorized to exercise and enjoy all the rights,
+profits, privileges, and advantages of his appointment
+of Pen Cutter and Quill Dresser to His Majesty
+King George IV. In the same circular it is stated
+that the quill pens supplied were of varying qualities,
+secured from the swan, raven, goose, turkey, crow,
+and duck.</p>
+
+<p>Sealing correspondence was a necessity before
+gummed envelopes were invented. Then sealing-wax
+was in daily use on the writing table, and the
+signet ring or seal was requisitioned. The outfit of a
+library table would scarcely be complete without wax,
+wafer irons, and seals. One of the curios found now
+and then in old desks is a little cutting instrument
+useful in removing seals or opening letters which
+had been sealed. In the days before penny postage
+letters were sent carriage forward, and the postage
+which had to be paid on the receipt of letters from
+a distance was a heavy tax on those who had many
+friends and much correspondence.</p>
+
+<p>The penalty of being the recipient of much<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">{268}</a></span>
+correspondence may, perhaps, have been lightened
+by the wording of the seal; for many old letter seals
+conveyed sentimental messages which to the receiver
+from that particular sender might have meant much.
+The following is a selection of the characteristic
+sentiments of the day: "Break the seal, read the
+letter, and keep the secret"; "You have a loyal
+friend"; and "Life is naught without a friend." We
+cannot tell what was the result of sending a letter
+bearing such a seal legend as:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"Mine is a heart that loveth thee;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">So, ladylove, do thou love me."<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Collectors' hobbies now and then are increased by
+the introduction of something entirely new, something
+never known before, and the world rejoices
+over a genuine novelty. The cynic declares that
+there is nothing new under the sun, but the introduction
+of the penny postage in 1840, at the instigation
+of Rowland Hill, laid the foundation to stamp
+collecting, which has become the most popular of all
+collectors' hobbies. The philatelist is found in every
+civilized country, and the collection of postage
+stamps, used and unused, grows apace. A bundle
+of old letters in entire envelopes, posted forty or
+fifty years ago from one of the British Colonies,
+discovered when ransacking an old library, will
+probably prove the most valuable relic of the past
+found in it.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">{269}</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2 style="text-align: left;">XII<br />
+<br />
+THE SMOKER'S<br />
+CABINET</h2><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">{271}</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270"></a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII<br />
+<br />
+THE SMOKER'S CABINET</h2>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Old pipes&mdash;Pipe racks&mdash;Tobacco boxes&mdash;Smokers' tongs and stoppers&mdash;Snuff
+boxes and rasps.</p></div>
+
+
+<p>The slave of the pipe and the moderate smoker
+of years gone by have left behind them relics in
+nearly every home. Such curios are found when
+pulling down old houses, and clearing out rubbish
+heaps; and even when making excavations in the
+vicinity of once occupied ground remains left behind
+by smokers of olden times are discovered.</p>
+
+<p>Many are marked as curios on account of their
+curious forms; others have been regarded as such
+because their uses have become obsolete, and some
+because of their great beauty and the costliness of
+the materials of which they are made.</p>
+
+<p>The collectable curios of the smoker's cabinet
+consist of clay pipes, varying from the earliest form
+known to the later types not far removed from the
+modern clays still smoked by workmen; of pipes
+of curious forms and quaintly carved bowls; and the
+Eastern pipes, which look more like show pieces in
+their size and forms than any pipe made for actual<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">{272}</a></span>
+use. The curios include tobacco jars, spill cups, and
+ash trays; and there are also brass and copper
+spittoons and pipe racks. An old smoker's desk often
+contains odd curios, such as the one-time common
+pipe-stoppers, so many of which were made by Birmingham
+"toy-makers" in the eighteenth century.</p>
+
+
+<h3>Old Pipes.</h3>
+
+<p>When tobacco was first introduced into this
+country, and smoking was taught to those whose
+descendants in countless numbers were destined to
+worship at the shrine of my Lady Nicotine on
+British soil, the pipe was brought over too; for
+tobacco and the tobacco pipe are inseparable,
+although the pipe shares its popularity with cigars
+and cigarettes.</p>
+
+<p>There are few records of early experiments in the
+modelling and baking of local clays by pipe makers;
+it was, however, soon discovered that Broseley clay
+was most suitable for the tobacco pipe, and there are
+pipes known to have been made at Broseley in the
+seventeenth century. The flat heels of the early
+pipes were useful in that pipes could then be laid
+down on the table. Then in the reign of James II
+an advance was made by the spur-like projection of
+the bowl, which was found to be convenient for the
+purpose of branding with the initials of the maker
+or his trade mark, and there are many examples of
+old marks, some of which are very curious, a
+not uncommon form being a punning rebus on the
+maker's name; thus we have a gauntlet, used by a
+man named Gauntlet.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">{273}</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The earlier forms of clay pipes gradually gave way
+to the long-stemmed "churchwardens," which in
+course of time were again superseded by pipes
+with short stems. The meerschaum in its day had
+many followers, and some of the curiosities of the
+smoker's cabinet (the term "cabinet" is used here in
+a figurative rather than a realistic sense) are those
+elaborately carved specimens of meerschaum, that
+remarkably light material that lends itself so well
+to the carver's art.</p>
+
+
+<h3>Pipe Racks.</h3>
+
+<p>There appear to have been two distinct forms of
+racks&mdash;those used for cleaning or rebaking clay pipes,
+and the racks on which they were stored. The pipe
+rack was originally a wrought-iron frame upon which
+dirty clay pipes were stoved in a brick oven and
+restored to their original freshness. The stoving of
+pipes was a common practice not only in taverns and
+public clubs but in private houses in the days when
+long clay pipes were served to the guests, and a
+bowl of punch was placed before them&mdash;it was thus
+that convivial spirits enjoyed themselves in time
+gone by.</p>
+
+<p>Now and then these old pipe racks are met with in
+some outhouse or attic, but they are getting very
+scarce, for most of them appear to have found their
+way into the scrap heap of the old-metal dealer.
+Some of the racks intended for the storage of pipes
+and not for baking them were exceedingly decorative,
+the ornamental sides terminating with acorn
+knobs made of cast lead.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">{274}</a></span></p>
+
+
+<h3>Tobacco Boxes.</h3>
+
+<p>It seems natural to suppose that the need of a
+suitable receptacle for tobacco would early be felt.
+Many of the old tobacco boxes&mdash;those for storage
+purposes&mdash;were made of lead or pewter. Lead was
+found to be cool and was also used as an appropriate
+lining for boxes made of other materials. Jars soon
+came into vogue, and there are quite ancient
+specimens, especially the old japanned boxes, ornamented
+with figures in gilt.</p>
+
+<p>There is, of course, a vast difference between the
+storage jar and the smaller box carried about by the
+smoker much in the same way as the pouch is now
+used. Many still prefer metal to other materials,
+and it is no uncommon thing to see brass and steel
+boxes in use in industrial districts. Few, however,
+excepting modern replicas of the antique, are
+decorated in the way the old Dutch tobacco boxes
+of brass were in the seventeenth and eighteenth
+centuries. It is not very clear why so many of
+them were engraved with scriptural subjects, for
+there does not appear to be much connection
+between biblical history and the pipe! Engravings
+of scenes depicting Noah and the Flood are common,
+the incongruity of the clothing shown being often
+commented upon; one writer upon the subject
+referred to the engravings on one of these tobacco
+boxes as being ornamented with Jewish characters
+wearing knee breeches of English type, talking to
+Dutch frauen. Historical portraits are not uncommonly
+met with on these quaint boxes, and quite a
+number of battle scenes have been engraved. Such<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276"></a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">{275}</a></span>
+metal work has been gathered together in several
+museums, and in the British Museum there is a
+fine collection of various shapes, some oval, others
+long and narrow, and some almost square. The
+brass tobacco box illustrated in Fig. <a href="#FIG_83">83</a> has a
+medallion portrait of Frederick the Great in the
+centre, such embossed subjects being very popular
+in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, both
+in England and in Holland, although Dutch artists
+gave preference to scriptural subjects, many fine
+examples of which are to be seen in our museums.
+Fortunately there are many really curious specimens
+obtainable at a moderate cost.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"><a name="FIG_82" id="FIG_82"></a>
+<img src="images/fig_82.jpg" width="400" height="409" alt="FIG. 82.&mdash;THREE CURIOUS PIPE-STOPPERS." title="" />
+<span class="caption">FIG. 82.&mdash;THREE CURIOUS PIPE-STOPPERS.</span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"><a name="FIG_83" id="FIG_83"></a>
+<img src="images/fig_83.jpg" width="500" height="198" alt="FIG. 83.&mdash;BRASS TOBACCO BOX.
+
+(In the British Museum.)" title="" />
+<span class="caption">FIG. 83.&mdash;BRASS TOBACCO BOX.
+<br />
+(<i>In the British Museum.</i>)</span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">{277}</a></span>
+</div>
+
+
+<h3>Smokers' Tongs and Stoppers.</h3>
+
+<p>Curious little ember tongs were formerly used by
+smokers for taking up hot embers or ashes with
+which to light their pipes. Of these there are several
+varieties, most of them of polished steel, cut and
+chased. In the eighteenth century similar tongs
+were used for holding cigars; some were fitted
+with small knives, and a few of the earlier examples
+included tinder boxes. Not infrequently one end of
+the handle terminated in a tobacco stopper.</p>
+
+<p>Stoppers, were, however, destined soon to become
+an independent and important smokers' accessory.
+They were made of different materials, including
+brass, steel, bone, and ivory, to some being added a
+pick for clearing out the bowl of a pipe. Many
+curious handles were modelled, among the varieties
+being some representing soldiers in armour of the
+time of James I. There is one favourite type repre<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">{278}</a></span>senting
+Charles I, crowned, and wearing the collar of
+the Garter, and another a bust of Oliver Cromwell.
+In one example a farm labourer works a flail, in
+another a milkmaid goes a-milking with her pail.
+There are many varieties of a hand holding a pipe,
+of jockeys and prize-fighters, and of St. George
+and the Dragon.</p>
+
+<p>The three stoppers illustrated in Fig. <a href="#FIG_82">82</a> are quite
+exceptional specimens, illustrating, however, the kind
+of stopper which collectors should keep a keen look
+out for. These examples are in the British Museum
+along with a few others of seventeenth and eighteenth-century
+manufacture, having striking characteristics.
+One is described as having a human figure at the
+butt, and at the other end a crowned head. The
+third example is an historic souvenir, having been
+made, as the inscription on the stopper indicates,
+from the royal oak which sheltered Charles II, by
+Mr. George Plaxton, at one time "parson of the
+parish."</p>
+
+<p>In the Taunton Castle Museum there is an exceptionally
+beautiful stopper made of ivory inscribed:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>
+<span class="smcap lowercase" style="margin-left: 2em;">"NOW . MAN . WITH . MAN . IS . SO . VNJVST .<br /></span>
+<span class="smcap lowercase" style="margin-left: 2em;">THAT . ONE . CAN . SCARCE . TELL . WHO . TO . TRVST</span>."<br />
+</p>
+
+<p>There are similar stoppers in private collections.
+The inscription on one at South Petherton reads:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>
+<span class="smcap lowercase" style="margin-left: 2em;">"THE . FAYREST . MAYD . THAT . DID . BAYR . LIFE .<br /></span>
+<span class="smcap lowercase" style="margin-left: 2em;">FOR . LOVE . TO . MAN . BECAME . A . WIFE."</span><br />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">{279}</a></span></p>
+
+
+<h3>Snuff Boxes and Rasps.</h3>
+
+<p>Snuff-taking has been a habit associated with
+smoking tobacco from quite early days. The
+preparation of snuff was formerly achieved at home,
+and consequently there sprang up the need of rasps,
+which were frequently carried about in the pocket,
+many of the cases being very ornamental. They
+varied in size, but the rasp cases usually held a plug
+or twist of tobacco from which the snuff was made.</p>
+
+<p>There are several fine old snuff rasps in the Victoria
+and Albert Museum, one large rasp measuring 15 in.
+in length; its case, which is of walnut and extremely
+decorative, is attributed to a Dutch carver
+who executed it in the second half of the seventeenth
+century. There is also a small iron rasp in a case of
+teak wood, which is inlaid with rosewood, ivory, and
+tortoiseshell, the rasp measuring about 8 in. in
+length. An eighteenth-century French rasp of boxwood
+is carved in low relief; on one side a pair of
+doves is represented, under the picture being the
+legend, "<i>Unis jusqu'a la mort</i>." On the other side
+there is a man blowing a horn with the legend, "<i>La
+fidelite est perdue</i>," around which is a rope-like frame
+supporting two cornucopi&aelig;. Another curious variety
+of snuff rasp is made to run on wheels. When snuff-making
+became an established trade, and the need
+for snuff rasps to be carried was not so great, the
+decoration of snuff boxes became more ornate.</p>
+
+<p>It was in the days of Queen Anne that the height
+of the glory of the snuffer was reached; it was, however,
+during the reigns of the Georges that so many
+beautiful boxes were made. There were boxes carved<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">{280}</a></span>
+out of a piece of wood, others of bone, papier-mach&eacute;,
+and metal; indeed, all the metals seem to have been
+used, for among the curiosities of old snuff boxes are
+those made of iron, copper, brass, silver, and gold.
+Some of the more costly were enriched with diamonds
+and precious stones, and with tiny miniature paintings
+and beautiful Wedgwood cameos.</p>
+
+<p>In the days when snuff-taking was a commoner
+practice than it is now, the ornamental snuff box
+was the chosen gift to men of fame. Kings, princes,
+and the nobility received gold and jewelled snuff
+boxes on occasions when in more modern days
+they would have been given a scroll of vellum in
+a golden casket.</p>
+
+<p>Many provincial museums contain excellent collections
+of smokers' requisites. In the handbook of
+Welsh antiquities published in connection with the
+National Museum of Wales, in Cardiff, there are
+allusions to several interesting specimens, the writer
+of the guide quoting some lines penned by a sixteenth-century
+poet, who extolled tobacco thus:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"Tobacco engages<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Both sexes, all ages&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">The poor as well as the wealthy;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">From the Court to the cottage,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">From childhood to dotage,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Both those that are sick and the healthy."<br /></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">{281}</a></span></div></div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2 style="text-align: left;">XIII<br />
+<br />
+LOVE TOKENS<br />
+AND<br />
+LUCKY EMBLEMS</h2><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">{283}</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282"></a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII<br />
+<br />
+LOVE TOKENS AND LUCKY EMBLEMS</h2>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Amulets&mdash;Horse trappings&mdash;Emblems of luck&mdash;Lovespoons&mdash;Glass
+curios.</p></div>
+
+
+<p>The collector rarely troubles about attempting to
+solve matters of dispute, and cares little to enter into
+argumentative discussions in reference to the supposed
+purposes of the curios he collects, or the
+different uses with which they have been associated.
+He does not inquire too deeply into the faiths and
+beliefs which may have been held and revered by his
+ancestors when he puts in his cabinet some curiosity
+which may have been regarded almost with reverential
+feelings and handled with superstitious regard by its
+original possessor. The more thoughtful man does,
+however, pay some tribute to their early associations.
+Our museums are filled with such relics, with delightfully
+carved reliquaries, triptychs, and marvellously
+carved beads which in their religious use as rosaries
+have been looked upon as something more than mere
+specimens of the carver's art. There are mysteries
+in beliefs which have been held dear in the past
+which are not understood by succeeding generations.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">{284}</a></span></p>
+
+<p>It is difficult to understand in the present day
+the deep-seated faith in amulets and charms, which
+were thought to have brought about what would
+now be regarded as curious coincidences, or to
+place reliance upon the babbling utterances of some
+old crone who posed as a witch or a fortune-teller.
+Yet among such old-world stories there are germs
+of truth although misapplied. The emblems, amulets,
+and charms so implicitly believed in a few
+centuries ago are objects numbered among collectable
+curios, valued even in this prosaic age not
+only for their intrinsic worth and antiquarian interest,
+but for the so-called magic influences they were
+supposed to possess.</p>
+
+<p>There is something more understandable about
+love tokens, for we can tell their purpose, and indeed
+to-day, stripped of the charm which was often supposed
+to go with them, love tokens are given, received,
+and valued just as much as they were in the past.</p>
+
+
+<h3>Amulets.</h3>
+
+<p>The amulet, which in its realistic form is regarded
+as an antiquity to be preserved with care, was usually
+regarded either as a charm against disease, accident,
+or misfortune, or as something the possession of which
+would bring good luck. The efficacy of amulets was
+believed in by the most cultured and scientific peoples
+in the past, for it was an article of belief in Egypt
+and Chaldea. The Jews had regard for their phylacteries,
+and the Greeks and Romans had their amulets.
+The image of Thor was an amulet peculiar to the old
+Norsemen; and in Britain we have had many examples.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">{285}</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"><a name="FIG_84" id="FIG_84"></a>
+<img src="images/fig_84.jpg" width="400" height="625" alt="FIG. 84.&mdash;COLLECTION OF HARNESS AMULETS AND TEAM BELLS.
+
+(In the possession of Mr. Charles Wayte, of Edenbridge.)" title="" />
+<span class="caption">FIG. 84.&mdash;COLLECTION OF HARNESS AMULETS AND TEAM BELLS.
+<br />
+(<i>In the possession of Mr. Charles Wayte, of Edenbridge.</i>)</span>
+</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">{287}</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286"></a></span></p>
+
+<p>Although not necessarily objects to be worn, no
+doubt charms usually took the form of something
+which could be suspended, for the origin of the word
+coming to us through the Latin has been traced to
+an Arabic word, signifying a pendant. In the early
+Christian Church the fish was worn as a symbol or
+charm, and in many parts of rural England to-day
+amulets are kept, and even charms, as preventives
+against disease. Men and women buy so-called
+amulets from the jewellers' shops at the present time,
+and wear them on their watch chains or bangles, and
+round their necks; but the faith reposed in such
+charms by the educated classes in this country may
+be dismissed as a myth, for few really understand
+their true significance, or place any real reliance
+upon such fanciful relics of a former age&mdash;an age
+of superstition, when people blindly clutched at any
+mysterious protective power or emblem.</p>
+
+
+<h3>Horse Trappings.</h3>
+
+<p>Among the commoner emblems of good luck
+handed down from the far-off past, are the brass
+amulets worn on horse trappings even to-day. A
+set of brasses consists of a face brass, taking chief
+place of prominence on the horse's forehead; two
+ear brasses, which are seen behind the ears; ten
+martingale brasses, worn on the breast; and three
+brasses suspended from straps on each of the
+shoulders. These amulets were primarily worn to
+keep off the "evil eye," and thus protect the horse
+and its rider or its owner from calamity and harm.
+The brasses were varied in design, some of the more<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">{288}</a></span>
+important being developments of the crescent moon.
+Some were made to imitate the sun with its pointed
+rays, others the Catherine wheel; the Kentish horse,
+too, a relic of Saxon days, has been frequently used,
+and there is the lotus flower of Egyptian origin.
+There are Moorish and Buddhist symbols, and many
+curious developments which have gone far astray
+from their original types. The agriculturist is still
+superstitious, and does not like to lessen the number
+of these somewhat weighty brasses suspended
+from his horse trappings. For purposes of utility
+they are useless; they remain, however, a connecting
+link with the superstitions of the past, and a collection
+of such curious objects is of extreme interest.
+In Fig. <a href="#FIG_84">84</a> is shown an exceptionally fine collection
+got together by Mr. Wayte, of Edenbridge, who
+collects many such things.</p>
+
+
+<h3>Emblems of Luck.</h3>
+
+<p>There seems to be a distinctive difference between
+the amulets which were protectors against harm and
+those which are emblems of good fortune. Perhaps
+hovering between the two may be classed such
+curios as those which tradition has held to be a
+preservative of luck, like "the Luck of Eden Hall,"
+that wonderful goblet preserved with such great
+care in its charming case of <i>cour boulli</i>. In this
+category are the numerous gifts from friend to
+friend having no special emblematic value, but which
+were frequently handed over with such sayings as:
+"I give you this for luck," and "May good luck go
+with you." The wish and implied virtue in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">{289}</a></span>
+charm has about as much value in it as the wish
+playfully and unbelievingly uttered by the twentieth-century
+maiden at the wishing well to-day.</p>
+
+<p>There is still, however, an undeniable lingering
+belief in the mysterious value in the possession of an
+emblem of luck, one of the best known and commonly
+used to-day being the horseshoe, preferably,
+according to old tradition, a cast shoe found and
+nailed up over the doorway or in some prominent
+place. It is generally believed that the horseshoe
+carries with it good luck on account of its form,
+which resembles the crescent moon, a notorious
+symbol in the days of the Crusaders, already
+referred to as being an important feature in the
+amulets or charms on horse trappings&mdash;such is the
+curious mixture of scepticism and superstitious faith
+met with to-day!</p>
+
+
+<h3>Lovespoons.</h3>
+
+<p>The collection of Welsh lovespoons in the
+National Museum of Wales, several of which are
+illustrated in Fig. <a href="#FIG_85">85</a>, is quite unique. Dr. Hoyle,
+the Director of the Museum, in his admirable description
+of the case in which these pretty little objects
+are shown, explains that they are arranged to show
+the evolution of the lovespoon from the normal
+spoon. Such lovespoons might, a few years ago,
+have been seen in many Welsh homes, where they
+hung as things of ornament and sentiment, for it is
+said they were given in "spooning" days to the girl of
+his choice by the lover. The handle is of course the
+appropriate field of decoration, the double bowl being<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">{290}</a></span>
+symbolic of "We two are one." The dated spoons
+were mostly made in the middle of the eighteenth
+century.</p>
+
+
+<h3>Glass Curios.</h3>
+
+<p>Some of the most pleasing love tokens are those
+made at Nailsea in Somerset, and in Sunderland.
+The commoner kinds, chiefly made at the latter place,
+were known as sailors' love tokens. They took the
+form of rolling-pins, which were evidently intended
+for ornament and not for use. A bow of ribbon was
+tied round the end of the pin by which the roller
+could be hung up. These glass rolling-pins were
+covered over with sentimental mottoes, generally
+accompanied by a ship, a typical feature of the
+decorations commonly used. Some of these little
+mementoes given away by sailors were of white
+semi-opaque glass, others were brilliantly coloured.</p>
+
+<p>Nailsea glass works were noted for the Italian
+influence shown in the colour effects produced in
+them. Among other objects made at those famous
+glass works were flasks and bottles for wines and
+spirits in greens, browns, and blues, to which were
+added in smaller quantities red and yellow. Other
+trinkets of an ornamental character were glass
+tobacco pipes, bells, and coach horns. There were
+also Nailsea walking sticks made of twisted glass,
+and many curious cups. Most of these were given
+for luck, especially as love tokens when sailors were
+about to set out on a voyage, the superstition
+attached to the gift being that if the glass pin were
+broken it was a sign that the vessel in which the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292"></a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">{291}</a></span>
+giver had sailed had been wrecked. Hence it was
+that a ribbon was securely attached, and the gift
+hung up out of harm's reach.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 300px;"><a name="FIG_85" id="FIG_85"></a>
+<img src="images/fig_85.jpg" width="300" height="611" alt="FIG. 85.&mdash;OLD WELSH LOVE SPOONS.
+
+(In the National Museum of Wales.)" title="" />
+<span class="caption">FIG. 85.&mdash;OLD WELSH LOVE SPOONS.
+<br />
+(<i>In the National Museum of Wales.</i>)</span>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">{293}</a></span>In association with glass rolling-pins and other
+love tokens there are many sundry curios which from
+the mottoes upon them were evidently given with a
+similar purpose. Even objects of metal and brass
+were frequently inscribed with loving reminders of the
+donor. The pleasing little trinket and patch boxes
+of enamels and glass, referred to in another chapter,
+were given from sentimental motives as evidenced
+by their inscriptions. Covers of pocket books and
+tobacco pouches were covered over with similar
+legends, like a delightful beadwork tobacco pouch in
+the Taunton Castle Museum, on which is the motto
+or sentiment, "<span class="smcap lowercase">LOVE ME FOR I AM THINE</span>, 1631,"
+wrought by a seventeenth-century needleworker.</p>
+
+<p>Similar mottoes are found on the little pincushions
+formerly carried in the capacious pockets of women
+of olden time, sometimes wrought in needlework
+and at others in beads.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">{295}</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294"></a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2 style="text-align: left;">XIV<br />
+<br />
+THE<br />
+MARKING<br />
+OF<br />
+TIME</h2><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">{297}</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296"></a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV<br />
+<br />
+THE MARKING OF TIME</h2>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Clocks&mdash;Watches&mdash;Watch keys&mdash;Watch stands.</p></div>
+
+
+<p>The early marking of time was simple enough, for
+we are told that the Arabs, by driving a spear or
+a staff into the sand of the desert, told the time of
+day. The shadow of the sun roughly gave those
+who were familiar with astronomy the lay of the
+land and the time, approximately. When the dial
+and the gnomon were understood, dialling became
+a popular science, and ere long the sundial on the
+church tower, in a public place, or in a private garden,
+told the time. Then came the marking of time by
+pocket dials&mdash;an advance which foreshadowed the
+watch which was to come.</p>
+
+<p>The pocket dial was soon followed by mechanical
+clocks, the clock watch, and the more delicate
+work of the watchmaker. The watch has become
+more accurate in its marking of time by the introduction
+of machinery in its manufacture; and it is
+cheapened by competition, so that now every one
+for a mere trifle can carry in his pocket a watch
+by means of which he can tell accurately the hour<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">{298}</a></span>
+of day, as Shakespeare has it in "As You Like
+It":&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"And then he drew a dial from his poke;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">And looking on it with lack-lustre eye,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Says, very wisely, 'It is ten o'clock;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Thus we may see,' quoth he, 'how the world wags.'"<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Some further references to the sundial will be found
+in Chapter <a href="#CHAPTER_XVII">XVII</a>, the sundial being one of the
+accompaniments of the old-world garden.</p>
+
+
+<h3>Clocks.</h3>
+
+<p>In "Chats on Old Copper and Brass" some mention
+is made of old clocks, and of the watch which
+grew in beauty and fineness of workmanship as it
+evolved from the watch-clock and the still earlier
+lantern and other old clocks, which were gradually
+introduced to supersede or supplement the earlier
+sundials. Very remarkable indeed are some of these
+household curios. The very movement of the
+clock, with its pendulum swinging to and fro and
+the loud tick which can be heard all over the room,
+gives a sort of venerated respect for the "grandfather,"
+with its massive and often richly carved
+or inlaid oaken or mahogany case, making it an
+important piece of furniture in the room.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300"></a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">{299}</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"><a name="FIG_86" id="FIG_86"></a>
+<img src="images/fig_86.jpg" width="400" height="579" alt="FIG. 86.&mdash;FINE GOTHIC FRENCH CLOCK.
+
+(In the collection of W. Egan &amp; Sons, Ltd., Cork.)" title="" />
+<span class="caption">FIG. 86.&mdash;FINE GOTHIC FRENCH CLOCK.
+<br />
+(<i>In the collection of W. Egan &amp; Sons, Ltd., Cork.</i>)</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>The Cromwellian lantern clock was beautiful in
+its way, and it may be regarded as the earliest
+type of commonly used domestic clocks, most of
+which were made at a later period than is denoted
+by the name of Cromwellian. They are, however,
+of a good respectable age, and are now really valuable
+household antiquities. The lantern clock may<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">{301}</a></span>
+be regarded as the ancestor of the "grandfather," the
+works of which were protected by a wooden case.
+The evolution from the earlier type is quite easy
+to follow, for the wooden hood to protect the clock
+on the bracket shelf was added; then came the
+framed head, which was glazed, and eventually the
+lower case covering the weights.</p>
+
+<p>Much has been written about "grandfathers" and
+the smaller variety commonly designated "grandmothers."
+The dials of the earlier specimens are
+of brass and have only the hour hand, an onward
+step being marked when the minute finger was
+added. The mechanical arrangement by which the
+days of the week and the month were indicated was
+a happy addition, although some would, doubtless,
+regard them as somewhat unnecessary. The collector
+of antiques is likely to be imposed upon unless
+he is acquainted with the technical construction of
+both works and frame or case, for it is not an
+uncommon thing to fit in a modern antique case a
+set of old works.</p>
+
+<p>The timepiece is an innovation of comparatively
+recent days. From the first it became the central
+ornament on the mantelpiece, and many artists were
+employed in providing suitable designs and combining
+various materials to produce clocks in keeping
+with prevailing styles of furniture and decoration.
+The French clockmakers became experts as designers
+of the smaller and more varied cases of
+mantelpiece clocks, many fine examples of the
+Empire period ranking as art treasures as well as
+curios.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">{302}</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Fig. <a href="#FIG_86">86</a> represents an exceptionally fine example
+of a Gothic French clock, beautifully modelled, and
+in excellent condition. Some of the gilt clocks and
+side vases to match were bought as mantelpiece
+ornaments, rather than for their merit as timekeepers,
+although the best makers always put in
+reliable works&mdash;there were no such works as those
+made by machinery and sold so cheaply to-day!</p>
+
+<p>The timepieces of early Victorian days are scarcely
+antiques, and few of them are treasured as such,
+although undoubtedly curious.</p>
+
+
+<h3>Watches.</h3>
+
+<p>The first step towards watches as we understand
+them was the manufacture of pocket clocks (many
+of which show Dutch influence in design), some of
+the cases of which were very beautiful. The watches
+which followed in due course were at first without
+glasses, and for the better protection of the works
+and of the delicate engravings and ornamentation
+of the backs and dials loose cases of metal or
+shagreen were made. Some of them were highly
+ornamental, little studs of gold or silver being
+arranged in geometrical and floral patterns on the
+exteriors. Two very pretty examples of such cases
+are shown in Fig. <a href="#FIG_88">88</a>.</p>
+
+<p>Many of the watch backs were chased and perforated
+and beautifully enamelled; the dials were
+covered with painted miniatures, and gold watches
+were enriched with jewels. From Switzerland and
+Nuremberg come many choice examples; but there
+were clever watchmakers in England too, among<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304"></a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">{303}</a></span>
+them John Stevens, of Colchester, a sixteenth-century
+watchmaker noted for his pierced and engraved
+brass-gilt cases.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"><a name="FIG_87" id="FIG_87"></a>
+<img src="images/fig_87.jpg" width="400" height="301" alt="FIG. 87&mdash;SPECIMENS OF OLD WATCH KEYS." title="" />
+<span class="caption">FIG. 87&mdash;SPECIMENS OF OLD WATCH KEYS.</span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"><a name="FIG_88" id="FIG_88"></a>
+<img src="images/fig_88.jpg" width="400" height="251" alt="FIG. 88.&mdash;TWO ANTIQUE WATCH CASES." title="" />
+<span class="caption">FIG. 88.&mdash;TWO ANTIQUE WATCH CASES.</span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">{305}</a></span>
+</div>
+
+<p>Classical figures and designs showing Dutch influence
+became popular late in the seventeenth century;
+then fashions changed, and the Court of the Emperors
+of France exercised an influence over art in this and
+other countries, and watch cases and other lesser
+objects were made more or less in harmony. At
+one time curiously shaped cases were the fashion;
+at another octagonal watches, such as were made
+in the seventeenth century by Edmund Bull, of
+Fleet Street, who is said to have made an elliptic
+silver watch engraved all over with minute scriptural
+subjects.</p>
+
+<p>The collection of watches is a hobby indulged in
+by but few; there are, however, many single examples
+included in household curios, and not
+infrequently several handsomely engraved old watch
+cases are seen exhibited in the modern glass-topped
+curio tables so fashionable in twentieth-century drawing-rooms&mdash;now
+and then the interest in them being
+increased by the musical bells of the repeaters, many
+of which were made a century or more ago.</p>
+
+
+<h3>Watch Keys.</h3>
+
+<p>Keyless watches have been invented within the
+memory of most of us; it is obvious, therefore,
+that old watches were supplied with old keys, many
+of which were curious in form. The collector in
+search of a small group of collectable curios finds
+the watch key an excellent variety on which to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">{306}</a></span>
+specialize. When larger clocks were supplemented
+by the pocket watch, the loose key with which to
+wind it up naturally took the form of the larger
+clock keys. Such keys soon became more ornamental,
+for they were either carried in the pocket
+or attached to a chatelaine or bunch of keys; many
+of the bows were modelled on the pattern of other
+keys on the bunch.</p>
+
+<p>In the accompanying illustration, Fig. <a href="#FIG_87">87</a>, some
+little idea may be formed of the early developments.
+The three keys in the upper row are of the clock-winder
+type, showing the gradual improvement in
+their formation. Then came a development of the
+metal keys, mostly of brass, the engraving and
+modelling of the key itself being improved, the ornamentation
+being supplemented by enamelling. The
+watch key ultimately became very ornate, for the
+more precious metals were gradually introduced, and
+rich enamels, rare gems and stones, and Wedgwood
+cameos were added.</p>
+
+<p>Pinchbeck metal was very much used for watch
+keys, the fob seals remaining in fashion until knee
+breeches went out. Some of the French keys are
+extremely decorative, and many cut and polished
+steel keys are worth collecting. It is said that
+Switzerland is one of the happy hunting-grounds
+of the watch-key collector, but there are many
+curio shops, both on the Continent and in this
+country, where fancy keys can be bought still at
+reasonable prices. In some localities special designs
+and metal have been made. Thus it is said that
+in Holland the silver keys of large size were long<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">{307}</a></span>
+favoured, and many of these are still on sale.
+Another special feature about these curios is that
+makers at one time specialized on trade emblems,
+and it is quite possible to get together an interesting
+collection representing the attributes of musicians,
+butchers, bakers, and horticulturists, one signifying
+the latter industry being shown in Fig. <a href="#FIG_87">87</a>, that on
+the left-hand corner of the lower row being fashioned
+in the form of a spade and a rake.</p>
+
+
+<h3>Watch Stands.</h3>
+
+<p>There are some very quaint old wood watch stands
+used chiefly as the temporary home of the watch at
+night, although some seem to have been permanently
+used by those who possessed a second watch. Some
+of the wood carvings were covered with old gilt;
+others were relieved in colours. Some were classic
+in design; others were like the little French clocks
+of the Empire period. Some were shaped like
+musical instruments, and others of more elaborate
+forms of decoration represent Mercury and Hercules
+supporting the watch stand. Some of the most
+beautiful are made of French lacquer and ornamented
+in the Vernis Martin style. To these may
+be added watch stands of marble, and curious inlays,
+of papier-mach&eacute; and japanned wares, and some of
+brass and bronze.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">{309}</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308"></a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2 style="text-align: left;">XV<br />
+<br />
+MUSICAL<br />
+INSTRUMENTS</h2><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">{311}</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310"></a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV"></a>CHAPTER XV<br />
+<br />
+MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS</h2>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Early examples&mdash;Whistles and pipes&mdash;Violins and harps.</p></div>
+
+
+<p>There are few homes without some old musical
+instruments, indicating that at one time or other
+one or more members of the family have been
+musical. There is a sadness about the discovery
+of a long-neglected instrument, telling of the
+breaking up of the old home or of an absent one
+whose instrument has been cherished in memory
+of happy moments when harmonious sounds and
+beautiful music were drawn from the now long-neglected
+piano, harp, or violin. To its owner a
+simple flute or bugle is probably of as much value
+as an old piano, although the more important instrument
+may be more valuable as a curio and antique.
+There are some old instruments which increase in
+value, such, for instance, as violins made years ago
+by masters of constructional art, for they have
+become mellow with age, and, like the bells of
+some old parish church, now give out rich and yet
+soft notes when handled by a master hand. The
+story of the development of the piano from the very<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">{312}</a></span>
+early prototypes is an enchanting theme to the lover
+of music, for there is a far remove from the modern
+pianoforte, and still newer player piano to the virginal,
+harpsichord, and spinet which may occasionally
+be found among the curios of the household.</p>
+
+
+<h3>Early Examples.</h3>
+
+<p>In the eleventh century, when musical notation
+came into being, a monochord was used to teach
+singing. The clavichord followed in due course,
+and by a rapid process of development regals,
+organs, and virginals evolved. The virginal, although
+distinct, was associated with the spinet,
+which with the later harpsichord may be found in
+houses which have been but little disturbed since
+the middle of the eighteenth century. It was in
+that century that the piano came, but not until it
+was well advanced, for in an old playbill of Covent
+Garden Theatre, published in 1767, it was announced
+that "Miss Brickler will sing a favourite song from
+<i>Judith</i>, accompanied by Mr. Dibdin on a new instrument
+called the piano forte." Of such instruments
+and of earlier types there are many fine examples in
+the Victoria and Albert Museum at South Kensington,
+in the Royal Scottish Museum, and in the Crosby-Brown
+Collection in the Metropolitan Museum of
+Art in New York City. In Fig. <a href="#FIG_89">89</a> is seen a beautiful
+spinet in excellent condition.</p>
+
+
+<h3>Whistles and Pipes.</h3>
+
+<p>It is said by the exponents of artistic furnishing
+and decoration that no home can be complete with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">{313}</a></span>out
+music, for it gives an atmosphere of art which
+nothing else can impart; and certainly a collection
+of household curios cannot be complete without some
+musical instrument, although but a humble example.
+It may be a moot point among collectors whether
+the insignificant whistle or primitive call can be
+regarded as sufficiently musical to rank in this
+category. It is certain, however, that it is one of
+the commonest of sound producers; if there is a boy
+in the home there is almost sure to be a whistle in
+the house. Few trouble about the scientific explanation
+of the sound produced by this common instrument,
+but experts tell us that the sound comes
+because condensations occur by the collision of air
+against the cutting edge placed in its path. Of
+antique whistles there are many types, those shown
+in Fig. <a href="#FIG_90">90</a> being the most frequently met with.
+The one marked "D" is said to be an attempt
+to increase the volume of sound by the extension
+of a cutting edge. A double sound is produced
+by that marked "F," whereas "A" is of the more
+familiar type, the example illustrated being an ivory
+whistle used upwards of a hundred years ago.</p>
+
+<p>From the whistle came the tin pipe capable of
+producing tunes in the hands of a skilful player.
+The whistle and pipe were in olden times associated
+with coaching days and inns. At one time it was
+customary for a whistle to be attached to the handles
+of spoons used on inn tables. Thirsty travellers blew
+the whistle when refreshment was required, and from
+that custom we get the common expression, "You
+may whistle for it." The horn, too, was a favourite<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">{314}</a></span>
+instrument, and very necessary in days gone by,
+when it served many useful purposes.</p>
+
+<p>The horn is probably the most ancient of all wind
+instruments. It was used at the Jewish feast of the
+Atonement, and the Romans used it for signalling
+purposes, their infantry carrying circular bronze
+horns. There is an interesting popular fable that
+horns were first introduced into Western Europe
+by the Crusaders; but that is incorrect, in that
+bronze horns have been found in prehistoric barrows.
+The horn was commonly used for summoning the
+folk mote in Saxon times, and in quite early days
+horns sounded in English homes on the arrival of
+guests. The hunting horn was found in every house
+of importance in medi&aelig;val times, and in the sixteenth
+century it had become semicircular. Great
+composers testify to the value of the horn in instrumental
+music, Handel and Mozart writing pieces
+specially adapted for its use.</p>
+
+<p>Some very quaint old flutes are found among
+household instruments, the origin of the primitive
+pipe or flute being lost in the mists of antiquity.
+Among household curios old flutes beautifully inlaid
+stowed away in antique leather cases are interesting
+relics of former days.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316"></a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">{315}</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"><a name="FIG_89" id="FIG_89"></a>
+<img src="images/fig_89.jpg" width="500" height="351" alt="FIG. 89. OLD SPINET.
+
+(In the collection of Mr. Phillips, of Hitchin.)" title="" />
+<span class="caption">FIG. 89. OLD SPINET.
+<br />
+(<i>In the collection of Mr. Phillips, of Hitchin.</i>)</span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">{317}</a></span>
+</div>
+
+
+<h3>Violins and Harps.</h3>
+
+<p>To many the chief charm of old instruments is
+found in the delicious tones and notes produced by
+an old violin, which, if the work of a well-known
+maker, commands a fancy price; among the most
+valuable being an authentic Stradivarius. Many
+old English violins were made in Soho in the
+eighteenth century, for that was the centre of the
+trade, although in still earlier days violin makers
+worked in Piccadilly. In Soho, too, horns, trumpets,
+drums, and guitars were made. The guitar, but in
+slightly altered form, was the popular home instrument
+played upon by Greek and Roman maidens.
+Many of the earlier European lutes were in reality
+guitars. Some beautifully inlaid specimens are
+occasionally met with. Of these there are many
+varieties in the Victoria and Albert Museum; among
+them there is a guitar lyre, on which is a mask of
+Apollo, an exact imitation of the lyre of the Ancients,
+which was formerly used by a member of the Prince
+Regent's Band at the Royal Aquarium, Brighton.</p>
+
+<p>There is one other instrument which ranks high
+among the musical instruments of olden time found
+in British homes. It is the harp, heard to perfection
+in the drawing-room and the concert hall&mdash;an instrument
+upon which such beautiful melodies can be produced.
+There are many pretty legends about the
+harp heard with such delight and yet superstitious
+awe by the Vikings, who, on their return from
+Britain, told of the mysterious shores where mermaids
+of great beauty were said to rise from the
+seas, and, sitting upon the foam-lashed rocks, played
+upon their harps music of sweetest sound. American
+collectors to-day pay large sums for genuine Irish
+harps, which differ somewhat in size and form from
+those upon which Welsh maidens played. There
+are still a few such ancient instruments to be met
+with in Ireland and Wales.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">{318}</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Of minor instruments there is not much to say&mdash;all
+are intensely interesting when they carry with
+them memories of former owners, for they are
+veritable mementoes of home amusements, pleasures,
+and delights.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">{319}</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2 style="text-align: left;">XVI<br />
+<br />
+PLAY<br />
+AND<br />
+SPORT</h2><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">{321}</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320"></a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI"></a>CHAPTER XVI<br />
+<br />
+PLAY AND SPORT</h2>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Dolls&mdash;Toys&mdash;Old games&mdash;Outdoor amusements&mdash;Relics of sport.</p></div>
+
+
+<p>It would appear that there have been amusements
+at all periods of the world's history, and that everywhere
+work and play have gone hand in hand
+together. The occupations of the nursery have been
+an intermixture of lessons and play; amusements,
+although not always of an elevating or educative
+character, have for the most part tended to develop
+and form the mind, as well as strengthen the body.
+Recreation has played an important part in the
+upbringing of child and man, and when absent the
+advance has been retarded. The youth of all ages
+has found time for games and sports, which have
+enlivened the duties of manhood and womanhood by
+physical and mental pleasures. Even as age creeps
+on, men and women lessen the monotony of daily
+toil by indulging in indoor games and outside sports,
+suitable to their age and inclinations. As few games
+can be played or sport engaged in without accessories,
+it is not surprising that many relics of the play and
+sport of past generations are to be met with.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">{322}</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Some of the appliances and apparatus which were
+acquired in the pursuit of these pleasures have become
+of antiquarian value, for many of them are
+curious and represent amusements almost forgotten.
+Others tell of the steady survival of the oldest games
+and amusements, but show the developments and
+alterations which have gone on in the methods of
+playing or in the appliances which have been invented
+to enhance the interest in those delights.
+These changes are seen more especially in sports
+and games of skill. As an instance, we may take
+one of the great manly sports, that of hunting game,
+a custom surviving from days when this England of
+ours was a wild and uncultivated forest and swamp,
+full of strange birds and many wild animals roamed
+therein. The flint-pointed arrow of primitive man
+was but the beginning in the evolution of arms.
+In the relics of these former plays and sports there
+is much to admire, and many objects to collect.</p>
+
+<p>There is something very pathetic about the household
+relics of the playroom and the nursery. Many
+little articles of clothing and valueless toys and
+trinkets are retained by a fond mother years after
+her offspring has grown up. They remind her of
+her early married life, and very often of children
+who have played in the nursery but who never lived
+to grow up. These pathetic relics have been carefully
+preserved for at least one generation. Then
+their associations have been forgotten, and those
+into whose hands they fall probably know nothing
+of their origin; to them they are merely curios. A
+sympathetic feeling may have induced a new owner
+to retain them for a little while longer, although
+of no great intrinsic value; but oftener than not
+they have been kept as connecting links between
+the old and the new, and thus they have been
+handed on until their age alone would make them
+collectable curios in this day of reverence for all
+things old!<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">{323}</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"><a name="FIG_90" id="FIG_90"></a>
+<img src="images/fig_90.jpg" width="400" height="203" alt="FIG. 90.&mdash;CURIOUS TYPES OF WHISTLES." title="" />
+<span class="caption">FIG. 90.&mdash;CURIOUS TYPES OF WHISTLES.</span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"><a name="FIG_91" id="FIG_91"></a>
+<img src="images/fig_91.jpg" width="400" height="353" alt="FIG. 91.&mdash;QUAINT OLD TOY.
+
+(In the possession of Mr. Phillips, of Hitchin.)" title="" />
+<span class="caption">FIG. 91.&mdash;QUAINT OLD TOY.
+<br />
+(<i>In the possession of Mr. Phillips, of Hitchin.</i>)</span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">{325}</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324"></a></span>
+</div>
+
+<p>There has been a remarkable sequence in the
+toys of children of all generations, and of races
+far apart. The same games have been played, and
+the same toys used. Now and then a child more
+careful than usual preserves his or her toys when
+grown to man's or woman's estate; but such collections
+are rare. There are some noted collections,
+however, which have passed into the range of
+museum curios, grouped together as representative
+of the period when they were played with&mdash;authentic
+records of the playthings of that day. In Fig. <a href="#FIG_91">91</a>
+there is a remarkable old toy now in the diversified
+collection of household curios and antique furniture
+of Mr. Phillips, of the Manor House, Hitchin.</p>
+
+
+<h3>Dolls.</h3>
+
+<p>Probably the commonest toy is the doll, which
+children have ever regarded as the ideal plaything.
+The maternal instinct is strong in the youngest girl,
+and dolls are often looked upon as something more
+than mere toys. They are talked to, played with,
+and treated as if they were human beings. Their
+realism, at first imagined, seems to have grown up
+with their long use until a personality surrounds
+each one of the dolls in the nursery. Now and then<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">{326}</a></span>
+a quaint doll is treasured as having been the plaything
+of more than one generation, especially so the
+old wooden Dutch dolls, strong and lasting, which
+have in some instances been handed on as playthings,
+almost as family heirlooms.</p>
+
+<p>The most famous collection of dolls played with
+by one child, and yet dressed to cover almost every
+period of English history&mdash;a veritable history of
+costume&mdash;is that famous collection in the London
+Museum, consisting of dolls dressed by and for the
+late Queen Victoria, who, doubtless, had unique
+opportunities of copying correctly the costumes of
+the Court, and of others less high in social status,
+during the reigns of the English sovereigns who had
+preceded her.</p>
+
+<p>Few, if any, can hope to possess such a representative
+collection; there are many who can find,
+however, curiously dressed dolls which are very
+helpful in learning something of local costumes and
+useful instructors in research after the habits and
+occupations of people who may have lived in places
+and districts little known to the present generation.</p>
+
+<p>Some children's toys are much older than they
+appear at first sight to be, for many very similar
+playthings were found in the playrooms of boys
+and girls who lived two thousand years ago.
+There are the dolls and quaint little figures played
+with by Greek and Roman children. Among the
+more familiar objects were little wooden tortoises,
+ducks, and pigs. Some were cleverly carved out of
+wood, and the arms and legs of dolls moved, much
+the same as the Dutch dolls of later days. Those<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">{327}</a></span>
+children had chariots and horses of metal much the
+same as children have leaden soldiers now. They
+trundled hoops of bronze, in some of them bells being
+placed in the centre, ringing as they ran along.
+Some of the toys of these little Roman and Greek
+maidens and youths were very elaborate, and must
+have belonged to the children of the wealthy, who,
+like modern parents, gave presents to them on
+"name" days.</p>
+
+<p>Toys have always served the double purpose of
+amusement and education. Years before kindergarten
+methods were adopted&mdash;although unknown,
+probably, to parents&mdash;scientific and philosophic toys
+were doing good work, and driving home elementary
+truths. There were curious cylindrical mirrors, the inevitable
+kaleidoscope, and the water imps, an amusing
+toy, for the imps, inserted in a bowl or bottle of
+water, bobbed about in a curious way when the india-rubber
+cap which covered the neck was pressed and
+manipulated by the fingers. The modern picture
+theatre, with all its attractions to grown-up folks, was
+foreshadowed in the very primitive magic lantern,
+which threw a cloudy disc and an almost undiscernible
+picture, by the aid of an evil-smelling oil
+lamp, on an old sheet hung up in the nursery.</p>
+
+
+<h3>Old Games.</h3>
+
+<p>There are many curios reminding us of indoor
+games and winter amusements now obsolete, and
+of the change which has gone on in games still
+played. When we recall the number of new games
+which have been introduced during the last quarter<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">{328}</a></span>
+of a century, it is surprising how few have survived.
+New games come and go, and their accessories are
+discarded as but toys of the moment. Most of the
+popular games are those which have been handed
+down throughout the ages, many of them of great
+antiquity, especially scientific games and games of
+skill. Among these games, or rather the apparatus
+for playing them, are often curios, for they are quite
+different to and often more decorative than those used
+in playing similar games to-day. We are accustomed
+to plain leather or wood chess and draught boards
+and the regulation patterns of the men nowadays,
+but formerly much time was expended in decorating
+and enriching chess boards and men. The boards
+often served other purposes too, many being beautifully
+inlaid and reversible; thus the older game
+boards were fitted with slides for backgammon,
+provision being made for chess, merelles, and fox
+and geese, the oak of which they were often made
+being relieved with rich marqueterie (<i>tarsia</i>) of
+ebony, ivory, and silver.</p>
+
+<p>It is not often that a collection of old chessmen
+is found among household curios, although it was
+not uncommon to discover among sundry ivory
+carvings a few odd pieces which had been secured
+on account of their beautiful carving. In India and
+China some very remarkable chessmen have been
+produced. The origin of the game is lost in antiquity,
+although it was played in the East at a
+very early period. It is said to have been introduced
+into Spain from Arabia, and to have been
+played by the Hindus more than a thousand years<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">{329}</a></span>
+ago. It was certainly known in this country before
+the Norman Conquest. Some few years ago a very
+remarkable collection of chessmen, such as may be
+seen in isolated sets or still more frequently represented
+by single pieces in cabinets of old ivories,
+was dispersed under the hammer in a London saleroom.
+There were Chinese sets in red and white,
+wonderful figures standing upon concentric balls;
+antique Persian sets in cream-coloured ivory
+decorated in colours and gold, kings and queens
+on elephants, knights on horses, and bishops on
+camels; Burmese sets with royal personages seated
+on chairs of state; and some very remarkable
+English porcelain, Wedgwood ware, and Minton
+pottery sets.</p>
+
+<p>Several finds of Scandinavian chessmen, made,
+probably, in the twelfth century, have been made
+in the island of Lewis. From these and other sets
+met with in other places much has been learned
+about the evolution in the game.</p>
+
+<p>The queen does not appear to have been introduced
+into the game until the eleventh century.
+The castle has undergone many changes; its older
+name of "rook" was derived from the Persian word
+<i>rokh</i>, a hero. No doubt all the pieces were then
+carved personalities, well understood from king
+to pawn. In the modern forms of Staunton and
+London Club patterns the knight alone retains its
+semblance in the horse's head&mdash;a poor substitute
+for the beautifully carved warrior on horseback
+seen in some of the older sets.</p>
+
+<p>Draughts, or dames, is also a game of antiquity;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">{330}</a></span>
+and in the British Museum there is a set said to
+date back to the Saxon period. Some of the old
+boards are interesting relics, and the sets of carved
+draughtsmen, now scarce, are beautiful works of art.</p>
+
+<p>Backgammon is one of the older kindred games,
+frequently played on the interior of the chess board
+which was for that purpose marked with twelve
+points or fl&egrave;ches in alternate colours. In this game
+dice were used, and some of the old dice cups are
+very prettily decorated.</p>
+
+<p>Cribbage played with cards and a board is said to
+be essentially an English game. Some very remarkable
+cribbage boards were made many years ago,
+many of metal, others of wood and ivory; one
+exceptionally interesting piece, a brass cribbage
+board, in the Victoria and Albert Museum, is
+engraved: "<span class="smcap lowercase">MR. CHRISTR ELLIOTT AT WINBORROW
+GREEN, SUSSEX</span> 1768."</p>
+
+<p>Cards, of which there are so many curious types
+among the old examples found in many homes, were
+introduced into the West of Europe from the East
+about the fourteenth century. At first they were
+hand drawn and coloured, then printed from wood
+blocks, being subsequently printed from blocks and
+plates engraved on the types which were gradually
+standardized. Some very interesting collections of old
+cards have been made, one of the most complete being
+that of Lady Charlotte Schreiber, now in the Department
+of Prints and Drawings in the British Museum.</p>
+
+<p>In the days when card playing was at its height
+many fine brass counter trays and curious card trays
+were fashioned in brass and copper. Some of these<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">{331}</a></span>
+may very well be collected, and are suitable receptacles
+for old metal counters, of which there are
+many varieties. Some of these counters were made
+by the diesinkers who helped tradesmen to provide
+themselves with token change, and they bear a
+striking resemblance to the contemporary metallic
+currency. Others were chiefly hand engraved, and
+often sold in small metal and silver boxes, those
+dating from the time of Queen Anne being the most
+interesting. The most popular card counters in the
+early days of the nineteenth century were brass
+copies of the spade-ace gold guinea, which they
+closely resembled, and it is feared, when gilt, were
+not infrequently palmed off as genuine gold.</p>
+
+
+<h3>Outdoor Amusements.</h3>
+
+<p>The outdoor games practised when household curios
+were being fashioned necessitated fewer accessories
+than such games do to-day, and many of them were
+crude and obviously the work of amateurs. Yet the
+same games were being played and possibly enjoyed
+as much, although the sport was rougher!</p>
+
+<p>When we think of winter amusements in the past
+somehow we conjure up pictures of hard frosts and
+crisp snow, although rain, damp, and fog were probably
+frequent visitors in Old England. Some of the
+games can be traced back to very early days&mdash;such,
+for instance, as skating, many ancient skates having
+been found. There is a remarkable contrast between
+the beautifully made skates now used on the comparatively
+rare occasions when the ice bears and the
+roller skates used all the year round, to those curious<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332">{332}</a></span>
+bone skates, so very primitive in their construction,
+examples of which are to be found in several local
+museums. In the Hull Museum, among the Market
+Weighton antiquities, there is a choice collection
+from East Yorkshire; one, made from the cannon
+bone of a horse, is smooth and well polished, having
+seen some active use, evidently belonging to some
+skater in the fifteenth or sixteenth century.</p>
+
+<p>The bone skates were fastened on to the feet much
+the same as metal skates, but they had no cutting
+edges, and consequently the skater carried a stick
+shod with an iron point, and by its aid propelled
+himself forward. Fitzstephen, writing in the time of
+Edward II, describes the ponds at Moorfields where
+the citizens of London skated. The ponds have long
+been dried up and built over; it is there, however,
+where, during excavations, some very fine examples
+of the old bone skates have been found.</p>
+
+
+<h3>Relics of Old Sport.</h3>
+
+<p>Among the relics of old sport met with are the
+curious and often beautifully embroidered hoods of
+white leather used in the days of hawking. These
+pretty little hoods, which were placed over the head
+of the hawk when carried on the wrist to the hunting
+field, were often embroidered in panels and furnished
+with braces for tying round the hawk's head. In
+the British Museum there is a curious silver lock-ring
+for a hawk engraved with arms and owner's name,
+apparently of seventeenth-century workmanship.
+No doubt the real purport of such curios is often
+overlooked, for not infrequently hawks' hoods have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333">{333}</a></span>
+been found amongst old dolls' clothing, having been
+given to children in later years as playthings.</p>
+
+
+<h3>Guns, Pistols, and Flasks.</h3>
+
+<p>Eastern weapons have been brought over to this
+country in large numbers, some of them very ancient.
+It is said that among some of the Arab tribes it is no
+uncommon thing to meet with swords and daggers
+of antique form, richly damascened, and sometimes
+with jewelled hilts, made a thousand years or more
+ago, and a few years ago Crusaders' relics could be
+met with in the East. Many of these knives have
+silica blades, some of the handles being of jade.
+Those of grey jade are often piqu&eacute; with gold, others,
+of ivory, being inlaid with jewels.</p>
+
+<p>There is not very much to interest in old guns of
+English make, for few found in houses date back
+beyond the commencement of the nineteenth century.
+Among them, however, are flint-locks and here and
+there an old wheel-lock. The pistols met with
+among household curios are often handsome and
+have been preserved in leather cases, carefully
+stowed away. Some of them record the days of
+duelling, others the dangers of the road, when
+highway robbers lurked in every wood, and many
+a family coach was waylaid and its occupants
+robbed of their jewels and their purses of gold. To
+those interested in sporting, and familiar with the
+breech-loading guns of the present day, much
+interest attaches to the old powder flasks which
+were once necessary accompaniments of sportsmen.
+There are many beautifully engraved, embossed,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334">{334}</a></span>
+and decorated flasks in museums, some of the early
+seventeenth-century specimens being made of boxwood,
+others of ivory, frequently ornamented with
+hunting scenes. In Fig. <a href="#FIG_92_93">92</a> is shown a curious flint-lock
+powder tester, then also regarded as one of the
+essential accessories of the sportsman's outfit. The
+copper powder flask illustrated in Fig. <a href="#FIG_92_93">93</a> is now in
+the Hull Museum. It is specially interesting in that
+the plain copper work is engraved in the centre with
+its original owner's monogram&mdash;"<span class="smcap lowercase">W R</span>" in script.
+This flask, made about the year 1750, was evidently
+a keepsake, for engraved round the circular disc is
+the legend "Keep this for Joseph's sake."</p>
+
+<p>In the Victoria and Albert Museum at South Kensington
+there are some more elaborate specimens, two
+of which are illustrated in Fig. <a href="#FIG_94">94</a>. They are magnificent
+examples of metal repouss&eacute; work&mdash;a favourite
+decoration in the eighteenth century, copied in more
+inexpensive forms in the nineteenth century by makers
+of sporting accessories, who stamped them from dies
+and reproduced some of the old hunting scenes.</p>
+
+<p>A review of the outdoor sports and relics of former
+days would scarcely be complete without some
+mention of swords and rapiers, which were once
+commonly worn, along with pistols, alas! too frequently
+in use when a hasty word called forth a
+challenge to a duel. Many of these old swords are
+rusty, but they frequently show marks of former
+use. They are needed no longer by civilians in
+this country, and take their places in trophies of
+arms, forming important features in the decorative
+curios of the household.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335">{335}</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"><a name="FIG_92_93" id="FIG_92_93"></a>
+<img src="images/fig_92-93.jpg" width="400" height="588" alt="FIG. 92.&mdash;A POWDER TESTER.
+FIG. 93.&mdash;A PRIMING FLASK.
+(In the Municipal Museum, Hull.)" title="" />
+<span class="caption">FIG. 92.&mdash;A POWDER TESTER.
+<br />
+FIG. 93.&mdash;A PRIMING FLASK.
+<br />
+(<i>In the Municipal Museum, Hull.</i>)</span>
+</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_337" id="Page_337">{337}</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_336" id="Page_336"></a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2 style="text-align: left;">XVII<br />
+<br />
+MISCELLANEOUS</h2><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_339" id="Page_339">{339}</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_338" id="Page_338"></a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVII" id="CHAPTER_XVII"></a>CHAPTER XVII<br />
+<br />
+MISCELLANEOUS</h2>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>Dower chests&mdash;Medicine chests&mdash;Old lacquer&mdash;The tool chest&mdash;Egyptian
+curios&mdash;Ancient spectacles&mdash;Curious chinaware&mdash;Garden
+curios&mdash;The mounting of curios&mdash;Obsolete household
+names.</p></div>
+
+
+<p>There are many household curios which cannot be
+classified under the headings of the foregoing
+chapters. They represent well-known features in
+every home, and yet each little group has an
+individuality of its own. Some may say that the
+main features of house-furnishing have been left out
+of consideration, and that they are the most
+interesting household curios when age and disuse
+have come upon them. Household furniture, however,
+has been fully dealt with in the "Chats" series
+in the two volumes entitled "Chats on Old English
+Furniture," and "Chats on Cottage and Farmhouse
+Furniture," to which books those interested in the
+curiosities of cabinet-making and village carpentry
+are referred. Yet notwithstanding the completeness
+of those works there are a few objects which have so
+entirely passed into the range of household curios,
+and their uses were so entirely apart from present-<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_340" id="Page_340">{340}</a></span>day
+furniture, that some of them are specially noted
+in the following paragraphs, together with a few
+other isolated antiques.</p>
+
+
+<h3>Dower Chests.</h3>
+
+<p>If there is one piece of furniture above another
+that is surrounded with a halo of romance, surely it
+is the dower chest! We can picture the incoming
+of the coffer in all the newness of hand polish, fresh
+from the hands of the village carpenter or the
+retainer who had wrought the gnarled old oak
+grown on the estate for a favourite daughter of his
+lord&mdash;that chest which was to be packed full of
+fragrant linen, between which was laid sweet
+lavender, and richly embroidered garments for the
+bride, who, with her personal belongings stowed
+away therein, was to pass from the parental home to
+her newly wedded and unknown life. There are
+ancient chests full of historic memories, such as those
+in which the wealth of monarchs has been stored,
+like that in Knaresborough Castle, which, according
+to legend and some reference in old deeds, came over
+with William the Conqueror. In the Castle Museum
+there is another chest made for Queen Philippa in
+1333&mdash;a veritable dower chest.</p>
+
+<p>Some of the older chests have had loops for poles
+by which they could be carried about; but such were
+more correctly treasure chests. The dower chests
+usually remained in the home of the bride, and in time
+became her receptacle for bedding and other household
+stores, the little tray or corner box for jewels
+and trinkets being disused and eventually done away<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_341" id="Page_341">{341}</a></span>
+with altogether. The evolution of the chest until it
+became a cabinet or a chest of drawers is a story for
+the lover of old furniture to tell, but the dower chest
+in its earlier forms is a curio rich in legend and folklore.
+It may interest American readers to record
+that many of the oldest specimens in the States were
+first used as packing cases of unusual strength, gifts
+from the old folks at home, when colonists in
+Jacobean days crossed the Atlantic. Curiously
+enough, American craftsmen copied them and
+maintained the purity of the old English style long
+after the makers of English dower chests had
+been influenced by Dutch and French design and
+inlay.</p>
+
+
+<h3>Medicine Chests.</h3>
+
+<p>Some of the early English medicine chests, the
+foundation of which is of wood, are covered with
+tapestry, others with green satin, sometimes ornamented
+with floral devices made of puffed satin,
+overlaid and outlined with gold thread. Medicine
+chests varied in size, but few households were
+"furnished" without a fitting receptacle for home-made
+recipes for simple ailments, such as were much
+resorted to in the past. The chests were usually well
+fitted with bottles and phials, and with glass stoppers
+or silver or pewter tops. Many of the medicines had
+been prescribed by local practitioners, and were
+regarded as sovereign remedies to be used on all
+occasions; others were family recipes held in high
+repute. In such chests there was often a drawer or
+compartment containing bleeding cups and lancet<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_342" id="Page_342">{342}</a></span>&mdash;a
+remedy often resorted to when an illness could
+not be diagnosed.</p>
+
+
+<h3>Old Lacquer.</h3>
+
+<p>The beautiful red lacquer work is getting scarce,
+although it has had a long run, for it is more than
+twelve hundred years since the Japanese learned the
+secret of making it from the Coreans, who in their
+turn had it from the Chinese. The secret of producing
+in China and Japan lacquer which cannot
+be imitated in other countries lies in the <i>rhus
+vernificifera</i> which flourishes in those localities. It
+is the gum of that tree commonly called the lacquer-tree,
+which when taken fresh and applied to the
+object it is intended to lacquer turns jet-black on
+exposure to the sun, drying with great hardness. It
+will thus be seen that although French and English
+lacquers have been very popular, the imitation lacquer
+applied can have neither the effect nor the durability
+of the natural gum which sets so hard, and in the
+larger and more important objects can be applied
+again and again until quite a depth of lacquer is
+obtained, sometimes encrusted over with jewels and
+other materials embedded in it.</p>
+
+<p>The best English lacquer was made in this country
+between the years 1670 and 1710, and was a very
+successful imitation of the Oriental. At that time and
+during the following century very many tea caddies,
+trays, screens, trinket boxes, and even furniture, were
+imported; and it was those which English workmen
+copied, gradually increasing the variety of household
+goods for which that material was so suitable.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_343" id="Page_343">{343}</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"><a name="FIG_94" id="FIG_94"></a>
+<img src="images/fig_94.jpg" width="500" height="396" alt="FIG. 94.&mdash;OLD POWDER FLASKS.
+
+(In the Victoria and Albert Museum.)" title="" />
+<span class="caption">FIG. 94.&mdash;OLD POWDER FLASKS.
+<br />
+(<i>In the Victoria and Albert Museum.</i>)</span>
+</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_345" id="Page_345">{345}</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_344" id="Page_344"></a></span></p>
+
+<p>Old English lacquer differed from the more
+modern papier-mach&eacute; in that instead of the pulp
+being composed entirely of paper, glued together
+and pressed, it was composed of a basis of wood,
+covered over with a black lacquer, on which the
+design was painted in colours. It was made under
+considerable difficulties, in that it had to compete
+with the imported Oriental wares which were made
+in China and Japan under more favourable natural
+conditions.</p>
+
+<p>The art of japanning was revived in England late
+in the eighteenth century, and some remarkable
+pieces appear to have been the work of amateurs
+who painted and gilded so-called lacquer work,
+tea caddies, and jewelled caskets. It must be
+remembered that the art of japanning was looked
+upon at one time as an accomplishment, for about
+the year 1700 many gentlewomen were taught the
+art.</p>
+
+<p>French artists took up the Oriental style, and
+produced some very successful lacquer work, striking
+out in an entirely distinct style, which, as Vernis
+Martin decoration, became famous. The varnish
+or lacquer forming the foundation for those delightful
+little pictures was not unlike in effect the Oriental
+lacquer which to some extent it was intended to
+imitate.</p>
+
+<p>In the early nineteenth century lacquering as an
+art fell into disrepute, and such decorations were
+largely associated with the commoner metal wares,
+stoved and lacquered by the so-called japanning
+process carried out in Birmingham and other places,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_346" id="Page_346">{346}</a></span>
+although there is now some admiration shown by
+collectors for small trays, bread baskets, candle
+boxes, and snuffer trays of metal, japanned and
+decorated by hand in colours and much fine gold
+pencilling.</p>
+
+
+<h3>The Tool Chest.</h3>
+
+<p>There have been amateur mechanics in all ages,
+and among the household curios are many old tools
+suggestive of having been made when the carpenter
+had plenty of time on his hands to decorate his tools
+with carvings, and frequently to make up his own
+kit. Thus old planes and braces were evidently
+the work of men who possessed some humour and
+skill, too, for some of the carved decoration is
+quite grotesque. There is a fine collection of old
+tools made and used in the seventeenth and early
+eighteenth centuries on view in one of our
+museums. There is a carpenter's plough, dated
+1750, moulding planes and skew-mouthed fillisters
+of beechwood, and a router plane of carved hornbeam.
+The modern hand brace becomes more
+realistic, and its origin understood at a glance
+when we examine the old hand brace of turned
+and carved boxwood, dated 1642, in that collection.
+The part where the bit is fitted is literally a
+hand, carved out of solid wood, and the curious
+crank indicates an imaginary twist in the arm,
+perhaps suggested by some carpenter who was able
+to manipulate his tools in a way not commonly
+understood, thus giving to future carpenters a
+most useful tool.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_347" id="Page_347">{347}</a></span></p>
+
+
+<h3>Egyptian Curios.</h3>
+
+<p>Among the collectable curios of old households
+are many antiquities from foreign lands. Perhaps
+the most interesting, in that they afford us
+examples of the prototypes of household antiques
+as they were known to a nation possessing an
+early civilization, polish, and refinement, are those
+which have been discovered recently in Egyptian
+tombs. Some representative examples may be
+seen in the British Museum. There are toilet
+requisites including mirrors, combs, and even wigs
+and wig boxes, as well as a glass tube for stibium
+or eye paint. There are ivory pillows or head
+rests, models of the ghostly boats of the
+underworld, and a vast variety of children's toys,
+including wooden dolls with strings of mud beads
+to represent hair, porcelain elephants, and wooden
+cats; and there are children's balls made of blue
+glazed porcelain, and of leather stuffed with
+chopped straw. There are many games and
+amusements, such as stone draught boards, and
+draughtsmen in porcelain and wood. There are
+bells of bronze and some remarkable musical
+instruments like a harp, the body of which is in
+the form of a woman; and there are reed flutes
+and whistles and cymbals such as were carried by
+priestesses. There are curious ivory amulets,
+quaintly carved spoons, ivory boxes, and even
+theatre tickets. Necklaces and pendants and other
+articles of adornment are plentiful, for the Egyptian
+maidens possessed much jewellery&mdash;bracelets, rings,
+and necklaces. One very exceptionally fine relic<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_348" id="Page_348">{348}</a></span>
+of this far-off age is a toilet box complete with
+vases of unguents, eye paint, comb, and bronze
+shell on which to mix unguents, and other trinkets.
+Many such antiquities find their way into museums
+and private collections of household curios, and
+are useful and interesting for purposes of comparison,
+telling of customs which change not, and
+of the many connecting links which exist between
+the past and the present.</p>
+
+
+<h3>Ancient Spectacles.</h3>
+
+<p>It is truly astonishing how many ancient spectacles,
+which to collectors of such things would be veritable
+treasures, lie neglected and allowed to "knock
+about" until broken or otherwise damaged. Those
+mostly discovered are the heavy brass and silver-rimmed
+spectacles of about one hundred years ago,
+some very interesting specimens of which are to be
+seen in several of the larger local museums.</p>
+
+<p>Spectacles are of very respectable age, although
+they cannot be traced back to the ancient peoples,
+for the Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans, notwithstanding
+that they polished glass and rock crystal
+and possessed much scientific lore, were ignorant
+of their use as aids to sight.</p>
+
+<p>It is said that the credit of the discovery of how to
+make use of artificial aids to defective sight must be
+accorded to Roger Bacon, who in his book <i>Opus
+Majus</i>, published in the thirteenth century, mentioned
+magnifying glasses as being useful to old people to
+make them see better. True spectacles are said to
+have been fashioned in 1317 by Salvino degli Armati,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_349" id="Page_349">{349}</a></span>
+a Florentine nobleman. At first they were convex;
+indeed, no mention of concave glasses for shortsighted
+persons was made until towards the middle of the
+sixteenth century. From that time onward there
+were developments, and among the household curios
+are to be found silver, brass, and tortoiseshell rims,
+and glasses of more or less utility.</p>
+
+
+<h3>Curious China Ware.</h3>
+
+<p>Old china and pottery have been fully dealt with
+by many specialist writers, but there are some
+household curios made of porcelain, china, and
+earthenware which cannot be omitted from this
+survey of household curios. Foremost among these
+are the now scarce Toby jugs, made at so many of
+the famous potteries. In a large collection the
+variations are at once recognized; yet the same idea
+seems to have run through the minds of the artists in
+fashioning these jugs, so essentially typical of the age
+in which they were made and used. Among the
+Sunderland jugs are many variations both in size and
+colouring; they were rich in colours, too, and look
+exceedingly well on an old cabinet.</p>
+
+<p>The posset cups of silver were supplemented by
+tygs and posset cups and many-handled drinking
+cups of early Staffordshire make. The brown and
+yellow slip decoration of this ware is a striking
+characteristic. All the early seventeenth-century ale
+drinking cups like the tygs had handles, and in those
+days of conviviality the double or multiplied handle
+served a useful purpose, for the vessels were in use
+when it was the custom of the ale-house for several<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_350" id="Page_350">{350}</a></span>
+friends to drink out of one vessel, just as in more
+polite society and on public occasions the loving cup
+was passed round.</p>
+
+<p>Some of the so-called portrait busts and statuettes
+of the eighteenth century are especially interesting
+to collectors. There are figures to suit all; musicians
+may delight in that of Handel; others in the busts
+of Wesley and Whitfield; explorers in the statue of
+Benjamin Franklin made about 1770, and some in
+that of John Wilks seated near an old column of a
+still earlier date. There is also a cleverly modelled
+figure of Geoffrey Chaucer. One of the best known
+groups is that of the "Vicar and Moses," made by
+Wood, of Burslem.</p>
+
+
+<h3>Garden Curios.</h3>
+
+<p>It is said that garden craft, like most other forms
+of art, came from the East; that the cultivation of
+gardens commenced in Egypt, Persia, and Assyria,
+travelling westward through Greece and Rome; and
+in some of the early English gardens which horticulturists
+are so fond of copying to-day there are traces
+of Eastern influence still remaining.</p>
+
+<p>Although the garden is the place where we expect
+to find flowers, foliage, and perhaps fruit and
+vegetables, it has always been associated with
+home life, and some of the charms of domestic
+comradeship owe their greatness to the garden and
+pleasance.</p>
+
+<p>It has always been the aim of the professional and
+the amateur gardener to furnish the lawn and flower-beds
+with appropriate settings, some of which have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_351" id="Page_351">{351}</a></span>
+become very quaint in the eyes of twentieth-century
+horticulturists.</p>
+
+<p>The Egyptians had their trellised bowers, and
+their tiny pools of clear water. The Greeks, however,
+were fortunate in having undulated and even
+hilly ground to cultivate, and their gardens were
+much more picturesque than the level ground of
+Egypt, although the Orientals built terraces, and by
+artificial means enhanced the beauty of their gardens.
+The adornment of gardens with statuary comes to
+us from Greece, and many modern reproductions of
+ancient Greek statues are regarded as the curios
+of the modern garden. Delightful, indeed, are some
+of the statuettes in stone and lead representing
+Aphrodite and the Graces. The Roman gardens
+were magnificent in their miniature temples, replicas
+of which are found in the old Georgian summer-houses,
+such as may be seen at Kew, and in many
+private grounds, dating from that period. The
+Romans were lovers of roses, and had many
+charming rose bowers, curiously and cunningly
+formed.</p>
+
+<p>The dawn of gardening on some approved plan,
+and then ornamenting the portions not covered with
+greenery, began in monastic days. The oldest of
+the occupations of civilized man, it was long held in
+high repute, and many worthy men have posed as
+amateurs. Indeed, there have been Royal gardeners,
+among the most familiar being Edward I and Queen
+Elizabeth. From Tudor times onward the once
+waste land in the immediate vicinity of castles and
+palaces was cultivated, and the gardens of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_352" id="Page_352">{352}</a></span>
+nobility along the Strand in London were full of
+beautiful stonework and statuettes. A writer in
+the sixteenth century, describing an English garden
+of his day, wrote: "Every garden of account hath its
+fish pond, its maze, and its sundials."</p>
+
+<p>Many fine old fountains or miniature fishponds
+remain, and sundials are among the curios associated
+with the outdoor life of the home. The garden
+houses of the eighteenth century included a bowling
+green or court, viewed from the terrace; and towards
+the end of that period many leaden figures were
+cast, the favourite being replicas of Roman statuary
+dedicated to such deities as Bacchus, Venus, Neptune,
+and Minerva. These lead statues have been collected
+by dealers during the last few years. Some of them
+are really very beautifully formed, although in many
+instances the wear and tear of a couple of centuries
+has covered them over with scratches and indentations.
+A few years ago lead statues received little
+consideration from their owners, and the children
+made them targets for stone-throwing. They are
+thought more of now, and at several recent sales lead
+statuettes and vases have sold for considerable sums.</p>
+
+<p>Sometimes ancient lead cisterns are seen outside
+old houses; many of these and even rain-water spout
+heads, beautifully moulded and cast, are among the
+household curios for which there is some call among
+collectors.</p>
+
+
+<h3>The Mounting of Curios.</h3>
+
+<p>A miscellaneous assortment of curios displayed
+without any regard to their proper setting has just<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_353" id="Page_353">{353}</a></span>
+the same effect as a badly framed picture, or a painting
+with an inappropriate frame. Sundry curios may
+be made to look charming when properly shown in a
+glass-topped table or a suitable case, their value as
+home ornaments being materially increased. Indeed,
+there are many beautiful objects which look nothing
+unless properly framed. The Wedgwood cameo
+gems so varied and so very minutely tooled require
+proper display; according to their colours so should
+they be arranged on a velvet or cloth background
+with an ample margin to separate them. A group
+of miniatures looks nothing unless in suitable setting
+or mount. Much of the beauty of old china is lost
+because it is simply laid out without a colour scheme.
+A cup and saucer look very much better when
+shown on a stand, so that the saucer can be seen and
+every detail of the cup examined, the richness of the
+colouring inside or out, as the case may be, being
+thrown up by the ebonized stand on which it is
+placed. Carved ivories should certainly be shown
+with a dark setting. In a similar way Oriental
+plaques and even smaller plates with light backgrounds
+are set off to the best advantage when shown
+in dark ebony frames. The Orientals know the value
+of framework perhaps more than any other people,
+and among the curios they have sent over to this
+country are appropriately carved frames and stands.
+The almost priceless ginger jars when placed upon
+carved-wood stands, for which the Chinese are so
+famous, are beautiful indeed, the contrast of the black
+and blue against the black base being very striking.
+Indeed, much of the carved furniture of the Orientals<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_354" id="Page_354">{354}</a></span>
+has been specially designed as a framework for
+mother-o'-pearl and gem ornaments. The rare jade
+carvings in black ebony screens, and the marvellous
+carving of the larger screens are but appropriate
+settings to the painted and needlework pictures so
+rich in colours and gold. In Fig. <a href="#FIG_57">57</a> we illustrate a
+very remarkable piece in which the artist has
+expended his wonderful skill in providing a suitable
+stand or frame for a very beautiful early porcelain
+plate. Every detail of the carving is worthy of close
+inspection. This beautiful piece was included in a
+collection of jade, cloisonn&eacute; enamels, and carved
+furniture gathered together in Java some years ago
+by a well-known collector of Chinese and Oriental
+curios. Now and then such pieces are to be seen
+in the shops of West End dealers. But it would be
+difficult indeed to find one so characteristic of the
+Chinese carver's art as the one shown.</p>
+
+
+<h3>Obsolete Household Names.</h3>
+
+<p>Most household goods and both useful and ornamental
+home appointments used at the present time
+are the outcome of progress and development, and
+their names have changed but little. The change
+has been in style, material, and manufacture rather
+than in newness of purpose. It is true that in modern
+household economy some of the present-day household
+utensils are the outcome of modern invention,
+having no similarity in form to the simpler primitive
+contrivances which they have superseded. Thus, for
+instance, the vacuum cleaner has little in its appearance
+to associate it with the old-fashioned carpet<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_355" id="Page_355">{355}</a></span>
+brush, neither has the modern knife cleaner much in
+common with the old knife board. There are some
+articles, however, which have become quite obsolete,
+and their names are fast disappearing from inventories
+of household goods, and, like the older antiquarian
+relics, are likely soon to be forgotten. In
+the foregoing chapters mention has been made of the
+collectable objects of household use, dating from the
+period of bronze to modern times, and no doubt there
+are many other articles which have entirely disappeared
+on account of their perishable nature, or
+from their very character, there being nothing to
+suggest their retention. It may be useful for purposes
+of reference to note the following articles of
+furniture, kitchen utensils, and mechanical contrivances,
+which were mentioned in a book published
+about one hundred years ago&mdash;house furnishings,
+about the ancient uses of which we hear nothing at
+the present time.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p><b>Ample</b>&mdash;An ointment box, formerly carried by a medical man.</p>
+
+<p><b>Apple-grate</b>&mdash;A sixteenth-century cradle of iron in which to roast
+apples.</p>
+
+<p><b>Bombard</b>&mdash;A large leathern bottle for carrying beer; a term also
+applied to ancient ale-barrels.</p>
+
+<p><b>Canister</b>&mdash;The ancient canister was a pannier or basket, the name
+being appropriated to its modern use when tea came into the
+market.</p>
+
+<p><b>Chafing-dish</b>&mdash;The name appropriated to modern cooking vessels
+was originally applied to a dish upon which perfumes were
+burnt, and in Roman times was an ensign of honour.</p>
+
+<p><b>Comfit boxes</b>&mdash;Boxes divided into compartments in which were rare
+spices, handed round with dessert.</p>
+
+<p><b>Finger-guard</b>&mdash;Horn finger-guards were formerly used by writing
+masters to protect their nails when nibbing pens.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_356" id="Page_356">{356}</a></span></p>
+
+<p><b>Fire-screen</b>&mdash;Fire-screens are noted as early as the fourteenth century,
+long before they were filled with needlework; they were
+made of wicker, described by a sixteenth-century writer as "a
+little wicker skrene sett in a frame of walnut tree."</p>
+
+<p><b>Scrip</b>&mdash;Scrips were hung from girdles, and differed, among the chief
+varieties being the shepherd's scrip, the pilgrim's scrip, and
+the traveller's scrip, a kind of purse or wallet.</p>
+
+<p><b>Standish</b>&mdash;The old name for an ink horn or vessel, afterwards applied
+to the stand or dish, or, as we call it now, inkstand, which
+contained the box or vessel for ink, and another for blotting
+powder.</p>
+
+<p><b>Trencher</b>&mdash;A wooden platter, a term more particularly applied to the
+beautiful hand-painted circular boards for sweetmeats or cakes.</p></div>
+
+<p>In conclusion, in the foregoing pages most of the
+best-known household curios&mdash;regarded as such by
+the collector&mdash;have been passed in review. The
+list is, however, by no means exhausted, for as
+search is made among the relics of former days
+many little-known objects come to light, and as
+isolated examples find their way into public and
+private collections.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_357" id="Page_357">{357}</a></span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="INDEX" id="INDEX"></a>INDEX</h2>
+
+<ul class="IX">
+<li>Ale tubes, <a href="#Page_178">178</a></li>
+<li>Almanacs, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>-<a href="#Page_262">262</a></li>
+<li>American museums, <a href="#Page_49">49</a></li>
+<li>Ample, <a href="#Page_355">355</a></li>
+<li>Andirons, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_47">47</a></li>
+<li>Apple-grate, <a href="#Page_355">355</a></li>
+<li>Apple-scoops, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>, <a href="#Page_141">141</a></li>
+<li>Arms of Cutlers' Company, <a href="#Page_80">80</a></li>
+</ul>
+
+
+<ul class="IX">
+<li>Banner screens, <a href="#Page_165">165</a></li>
+<li>Basting spoons, <a href="#Page_133">133</a></li>
+<li>Battersea enamels, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>, <a href="#Page_212">212</a></li>
+<li>Beakers, <a href="#Page_104">104</a></li>
+<li>Bellows, <a href="#Page_57">57</a></li>
+<li>Bellows blower, <a href="#Page_129">129</a></li>
+<li>Bells, <a href="#Page_311">311</a></li>
+<li>Bilston enamel, <a href="#Page_183">183</a></li>
+<li>Bodkins, <a href="#Page_239">239</a></li>
+<li>Bohemian glass, <a href="#Page_154">154</a></li>
+<li>Boilers, <a href="#Page_133">133</a></li>
+<li>Bombards, <a href="#Page_355">355</a></li>
+<li>Boule, Charles, <a href="#Page_29">29</a></li>
+<li>Bow cupids, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_113">113</a></li>
+<li>Bristol glass, <a href="#Page_176">176</a></li>
+<li>British glass, <a href="#Page_96">96</a></li>
+<li>British Museum exhibits, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>, <a href="#Page_278">278</a>, <a href="#Page_331">331</a>, <a href="#Page_347">347</a></li>
+<li>Bronze pots, <a href="#Page_133">133</a></li>
+<li>Buhl work, <a href="#Page_29">29</a></li>
+</ul>
+
+
+<ul class="IX">
+<li>Caddies, <a href="#Page_112">112</a></li>
+<li>Candle boxes, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a></li>
+<li>Candle moulds, <a href="#Page_65">65</a></li>
+<li>Candles, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>-<a href="#Page_67">67</a></li>
+<li>Candlesticks, <a href="#Page_67">67</a></li>
+<li>Canisters, <a href="#Page_355">355</a></li>
+<li>Carving-knives, <a href="#Page_85">85</a></li>
+<li>Caskets, <a href="#Page_192">192</a></li>
+<li>Caudle cups, <a href="#Page_99">99</a></li>
+<li>Chafing dishes, <a href="#Page_355">355</a></li>
+<li>Chantilly porcelain, <a href="#Page_91">91</a></li>
+<li>Chatelaines, <a href="#Page_216">216</a></li>
+<li>Chelsea cupids, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_113">113</a></li>
+<li>Chessmen, <a href="#Page_328">328</a></li>
+<li>Chestnut roasters, <a href="#Page_142">142</a></li>
+<li>Chests, <a href="#Page_191">191</a></li>
+<li>Chimney ornaments, <a href="#Page_150">150</a></li>
+<li>China, <a href="#Page_349">349</a></li>
+<li>Chinese influence, <a href="#Page_100">100</a></li>
+<li>Chinese lacquer, <a href="#Page_29">29</a></li>
+<li>Chippendale influence, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>, <a href="#Page_162">162</a></li>
+<li>Clocks, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>, <a href="#Page_299">299</a></li>
+<li>Clog almanacs, <a href="#Page_259">259</a></li>
+<li>Cloisonn&eacute; enamel, <a href="#Page_183">183</a></li>
+<li>Coaching horns, <a href="#Page_197">197</a></li>
+<li>Cocoanut cups, <a href="#Page_103">103</a></li>
+<li>Cocoanut flagons, <a href="#Page_103">103</a></li>
+<li>Coffers, <a href="#Page_191">191</a></li>
+<li>Combs, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>-<a href="#Page_208">208</a></li>
+<li>Comfit boxes, <a href="#Page_355">355</a></li>
+<li>Continental gridirons, <a href="#Page_137">137</a></li>
+<li>Cooking vessels, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>, <a href="#Page_141">141</a></li>
+<li>Copper urns, <a href="#Page_117">117</a></li>
+<li>Cordova leather, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>, <a href="#Page_188">188</a></li>
+<li>Couvre de feu, <a href="#Page_39">39</a></li>
+<li>Cream jugs, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a></li>
+<li>Cribbage boards, <a href="#Page_330">330</a></li>
+<li>Cruet stands, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>, <a href="#Page_97">97</a></li>
+<li>Cuir boulli work, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>, <a href="#Page_192">192</a></li>
+<li>Cupids, Chelsea and Bow, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_113">113</a></li>
+<li>Cups, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a></li>
+<li>Curio hunting, <a href="#Page_24">24</a></li>
+<li>Cutlers' Company, <a href="#Page_80">80</a></li>
+<li>Cutlery, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>-<a href="#Page_95">95</a>, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a></li>
+</ul>
+
+<ul class="IX">
+<li>Damascened steel, <a href="#Page_90">90</a></li>
+<li>Derbyshire spar, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>, <a href="#Page_158">158</a></li>
+<li>Dolls, <a href="#Page_325">325</a>, <a href="#Page_326">326</a></li>
+<li>Domesday Book, <a href="#Page_23">23</a></li>
+<li>Dower chests, <a href="#Page_340">340</a>, <a href="#Page_341">341</a></li>
+<li>Draughts, <a href="#Page_329">329</a>, <a href="#Page_357">357</a></li>
+<li>Dressing cases, <a href="#Page_215">215</a></li>
+<li>Dutch influence on art, <a href="#Page_30">30</a></li>
+<li>Dutch ovens, <a href="#Page_130">130</a></li>
+</ul>
+
+<ul class="IX">
+<li>Egyptian curios, <a href="#Page_347">347</a></li>
+<li>Egyptian influence, <a href="#Page_153">153</a></li>
+<li>Enamelled wares, <a href="#Page_212">212</a></li>
+<li>Enamels, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>-<a href="#Page_184">184</a></li>
+</ul>
+
+<ul class="IX">
+<li>Fenders, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_54">54</a></li>
+<li>Finger guards, <a href="#Page_355">355</a></li>
+<li>Fire-dogs, <a href="#Page_47">47</a></li>
+<li>Fire drills, <a href="#Page_39">39</a></li>
+<li>Fireirons, <a href="#Page_53">53</a></li>
+<li>Fire-making appliances, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>-<a href="#Page_39">39</a></li>
+<li>Fireplace, the, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>-<a href="#Page_44">44</a></li>
+<li>Fireploughs, <a href="#Page_39">39</a></li>
+<li>Fire screens, <a href="#Page_356">356</a></li>
+<li>Flesh hooks, <a href="#Page_138">138</a></li>
+<li>Floor candlesticks, <a href="#Page_67">67</a></li>
+<li>Fluor spar, <a href="#Page_157">157</a></li>
+<li>Flutes, <a href="#Page_314">314</a></li>
+<li>Food-boxes, <a href="#Page_141">141</a></li>
+<li>Forks, <a href="#Page_85">85</a></li>
+<li>French art, <a href="#Page_26">26</a></li>
+<li>French influence, <a href="#Page_153">153</a></li>
+</ul>
+
+<ul class="IX">
+<li>Gallybawk, <a href="#Page_134">134</a></li>
+<li>Games, <a href="#Page_327">327</a>-<a href="#Page_330">330</a></li>
+<li>Garden curios, <a href="#Page_350">350</a>, <a href="#Page_351">351</a></li>
+<li>German wall warming stove, <a href="#Page_50">50</a></li>
+<li>Glass and enamels, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>-<a href="#Page_184">184</a></li>
+<li>Glass beads, <a href="#Page_235">235</a></li>
+<li>Glass curios, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>-<a href="#Page_293">293</a></li>
+<li>Glass ornaments, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>, <a href="#Page_181">181</a></li>
+<li>Glass pictures, <a href="#Page_181">181</a></li>
+<li>Glass rolling pins, <a href="#Page_235">235</a></li>
+<li>Gourd cups, <a href="#Page_104">104</a></li>
+<li>Grandfather clocks, <a href="#Page_301">301</a></li>
+<li>Gridirons, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>, <a href="#Page_138">138</a></li>
+<li>Grills, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>, <a href="#Page_138">138</a></li>
+<li>Guildhall Museum exhibits, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_193">193</a></li>
+<li>Guns, <a href="#Page_333">333</a></li>
+</ul>
+
+<ul class="IX">
+<li>Hair ornaments, <a href="#Page_196">196</a></li>
+<li>Hampton Court fireplaces, <a href="#Page_48">48</a></li>
+<li>Hawk hoods, <a href="#Page_332">332</a></li>
+<li>Home ornaments, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>-<a href="#Page_170">170</a></li>
+<li>Horn books, <a href="#Page_197">197</a></li>
+<li>Horners, Worshipful Company, <a href="#Page_197">197</a></li>
+<li>Horns, <a href="#Page_313">313</a>, <a href="#Page_314">314</a></li>
+<li>Horn work, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>, <a href="#Page_197">197</a></li>
+<li>Hull Museum exhibits, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>, <a href="#Page_332">332</a>, <a href="#Page_334">334</a></li>
+</ul>
+
+<ul class="IX">
+<li>Inkstands, <a href="#Page_263">263</a></li>
+<li>Irish curios, <a href="#Page_67">67</a></li>
+<li>Ivories, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>, <a href="#Page_169">169</a></li>
+</ul>
+
+<ul class="IX">
+<li>Jack knives, <a href="#Page_83">83</a></li>
+<li>Jade, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>, <a href="#Page_161">161</a></li>
+<li>Japanned trays, <a href="#Page_101">101</a></li>
+<li>Jewel caskets, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>, <a href="#Page_221">221</a></li>
+</ul>
+
+<ul class="IX">
+<li>Kentish ironmasters, <a href="#Page_50">50</a></li>
+<li>Kettles and stands, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>, <a href="#Page_133">133</a></li>
+<li>Kettles, miniature, <a href="#Page_169">169</a></li>
+<li>Kitchen grates, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>-<a href="#Page_133">133</a></li>
+<li>Kitchen, the, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>-<a href="#Page_145">145</a></li>
+<li>Knife-boxes, <a href="#Page_117">117</a></li>
+</ul>
+
+<ul class="IX">
+<li>Lace bobbins, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>, <a href="#Page_236">236</a></li>
+<li>Lantern clocks, <a href="#Page_298">298</a></li>
+<li>Lanterns, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>-<a href="#Page_75">75</a></li>
+<li>Leather and horn, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>-<a href="#Page_197">197</a></li>
+<li>Leather bottles, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>-<a href="#Page_194">194</a></li>
+<li>Leather flasks, <a href="#Page_194">194</a></li>
+<li>Leather pictures, <a href="#Page_194">194</a></li>
+<li>Leather ships, <a href="#Page_194">194</a></li>
+<li>Lights of former days, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>-<a href="#Page_75">75</a></li>
+<li>Lille enamels, <a href="#Page_212">212</a></li>
+<li>Limoges enamels, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>-<a href="#Page_183">183</a></li>
+<li>Links extinguishers, <a href="#Page_68">68</a></li>
+<li>Locks of hair, <a href="#Page_219">219</a></li>
+<li>London Cutlers' Company, <a href="#Page_84">84</a></li>
+<li>Love spoons, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>, <a href="#Page_289">289</a></li>
+<li>Love tokens, <a href="#Page_283">283</a>-<a href="#Page_293">293</a></li>
+<li>Lucky cups, <a href="#Page_190">190</a></li>
+<li>Lucky emblems, <a href="#Page_283">283</a>-<a href="#Page_293">293</a></li>
+</ul>
+
+<ul class="IX">
+<li>Mantelpieces, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a></li>
+<li>Marking of time, <a href="#Page_297">297</a>-<a href="#Page_307">307</a></li>
+<li>Marqueterie designs, <a href="#Page_30">30</a></li>
+<li>Matches, early types, <a href="#Page_41">41</a></li>
+<li>Medicine chests, <a href="#Page_341">341</a></li>
+<li>Meissen porcelain, <a href="#Page_91">91</a></li>
+<li>Met-soex or eating knives, <a href="#Page_83">83</a></li>
+<li>Miniature curios, <a href="#Page_169">169</a></li>
+<li>Monochord, <a href="#Page_312">312</a></li>
+<li>Mosaics, <a href="#Page_157">157</a></li>
+<li>Mother-o'-pearl, <a href="#Page_107">107</a></li>
+<li>Mounting curios, <a href="#Page_353">353</a></li>
+<li>Musical instruments, <a href="#Page_311">311</a>-<a href="#Page_317">317</a></li>
+</ul>
+
+<ul class="IX">
+<li>Nailsea glass, <a href="#Page_177">177</a></li>
+<li>National Museum of Wales, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>, <a href="#Page_280">280</a></li>
+<li>National Museum of Naples, <a href="#Page_45">45</a></li>
+<li>Needles of wood, <a href="#Page_240">240</a></li>
+<li>Needlework, <a href="#Page_246">246</a></li>
+<li>Nutcrackers, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>-<a href="#Page_117">117</a></li>
+</ul>
+
+<ul class="IX">
+<li>Oak settles, <a href="#Page_162">162</a></li>
+<li>Obsolete names, <a href="#Page_355">355</a>, <a href="#Page_356">356</a></li>
+<li>Oil lamps, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a></li>
+<li>Old gilt, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>, <a href="#Page_166">166</a></li>
+<li>Old lacquer, <a href="#Page_342">342</a></li>
+<li>Ormolu, <a href="#Page_150">150</a></li>
+</ul>
+
+<ul class="IX">
+<li>Pastrycooks' knives, <a href="#Page_138">138</a></li>
+<li>Pastry wheels, <a href="#Page_138">138</a></li>
+<li>Patch boxes, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>, <a href="#Page_213">213</a></li>
+<li>Peg tankards, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a></li>
+<li>Pens, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>, <a href="#Page_267">267</a></li>
+<li>Perfume boxes, <a href="#Page_213">213</a></li>
+<li>Pianofortes, <a href="#Page_312">312</a></li>
+<li>Piggins, <a href="#Page_141">141</a></li>
+<li>Pipe racks, <a href="#Page_273">273</a></li>
+<li>Pipes, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>, <a href="#Page_272">272</a></li>
+<li>Pistol tinder boxes, <a href="#Page_40">40</a></li>
+<li>Pistols, <a href="#Page_333">333</a></li>
+<li>Play and sport, <a href="#Page_321">321</a>-<a href="#Page_334">334</a></li>
+<li>Playing cards, <a href="#Page_330">330</a></li>
+<li>Pomander boxes, <a href="#Page_214">214</a></li>
+<li>Pontypool wares, <a href="#Page_106">106</a></li>
+<li>Porridge bowls, <a href="#Page_141">141</a></li>
+<li>Porringers, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a></li>
+<li>Pounce boxes, <a href="#Page_263">263</a></li>
+<li>Priming flasks, <a href="#Page_334">334</a></li>
+<li>Punch bowls, <a href="#Page_98">98</a></li>
+<li>Punch ladles, <a href="#Page_97">97</a></li>
+<li>Puzzle cups, <a href="#Page_100">100</a></li>
+</ul>
+
+<ul class="IX">
+<li>Queen Anne style, <a href="#Page_100">100</a></li>
+</ul>
+
+<ul class="IX">
+<li>Roasting cages, <a href="#Page_130">130</a></li>
+<li>Roasting jacks, <a href="#Page_125">125</a></li>
+<li>Rolling pins, <a href="#Page_177">177</a></li>
+<li>Roman influence, <a href="#Page_153">153</a></li>
+<li>Rushlights, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>-<a href="#Page_65">65</a></li>
+<li>Russian customs, <a href="#Page_92">92</a></li>
+</ul>
+
+<ul class="IX">
+<li>Salt cellars, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>, <a href="#Page_96">96</a></li>
+<li>Sand boxes, <a href="#Page_263">263</a></li>
+<li>Saucepans, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a></li>
+<li>Scrap books, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>, <a href="#Page_256">256</a></li>
+<li>Scratchbacks, <a href="#Page_215">215</a></li>
+<li>Sheraton influence, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_162">162</a></li>
+<li>Ships of glass, <a href="#Page_182">182</a></li>
+<li>Shoes, <a href="#Page_195">195</a></li>
+<li>Shovels, <a href="#Page_53">53</a></li>
+<li>Skates, <a href="#Page_332">332</a></li>
+<li>Skimmers, <a href="#Page_133">133</a></li>
+<li>Smokers' cabinet, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>-<a href="#Page_280">280</a></li>
+<li>Smokers' tongs, <a href="#Page_277">277</a></li>
+<li>Snuff boxes, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>, <a href="#Page_280">280</a></li>
+<li>Snuffer extinguishers, <a href="#Page_68">68</a></li>
+<li>Snuffers, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>-<a href="#Page_71">71</a></li>
+<li>Snuff rasps, <a href="#Page_279">279</a></li>
+<li>Spectacles, <a href="#Page_348">348</a></li>
+<li>Spice boxes, <a href="#Page_213">213</a></li>
+<li>Spinning wheels, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>-<a href="#Page_231">231</a></li>
+<li>Spits, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a></li>
+<li>Spleen stone, <a href="#Page_158">158</a></li>
+<li>Spoons, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_117">117</a></li>
+<li>Staffordshire figures, <a href="#Page_150">150</a></li>
+<li>Staffordshire wares, <a href="#Page_97">97</a></li>
+<li>Stained glass, <a href="#Page_181">181</a></li>
+<li>Standishes, <a href="#Page_356">356</a></li>
+<li>Straw-work, <a href="#Page_232">232</a></li>
+<li>Style, influence of, <a href="#Page_26">26</a></li>
+<li>Sugar nippers, <a href="#Page_111">111</a></li>
+<li>Sugar tongs, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a></li>
+<li>Sussex backs, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a></li>
+<li>Sussex foundries, <a href="#Page_50">50</a></li>
+</ul>
+
+<ul class="IX">
+<li>Table appointments, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>-<a href="#Page_118">118</a></li>
+<li>Tapestry, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>, <a href="#Page_191">191</a></li>
+<li>Tapestry factories, <a href="#Page_26">26</a></li>
+<li>Taunton Castle Museum exhibits, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>, <a href="#Page_278">278</a>, <a href="#Page_293">293</a></li>
+<li>Teapots, <a href="#Page_107">107</a></li>
+<li>Teatable, the, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108</a></li>
+<li>Thimbles, <a href="#Page_239">239</a></li>
+<li>Tickets, benefit, ball, etc., <a href="#Page_256">256</a></li>
+<li>Tinder boxes, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>-<a href="#Page_41">41</a></li>
+<li>Tobacco boxes, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>, <a href="#Page_277">277</a></li>
+<li>Tobacco pipes, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>, <a href="#Page_272">272</a></li>
+<li>Tobacco pipes (glass), <a href="#Page_177">177</a></li>
+<li>Tobacco stoppers, <a href="#Page_277">277</a>, <a href="#Page_278">278</a></li>
+<li>Toddy ladles, <a href="#Page_97">97</a></li>
+<li>Toilet table, the, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>-<a href="#Page_221">221</a></li>
+<li>Tools, ancient, <a href="#Page_346">346</a></li>
+<li>Tower of London exhibits, <a href="#Page_95">95</a></li>
+<li>Trays, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>-<a href="#Page_107">107</a></li>
+<li>Trenchers, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>, <a href="#Page_356">356</a></li>
+<li>Trencher salts, <a href="#Page_96">96</a></li>
+<li>Trivets, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>-<a href="#Page_57">57</a></li>
+<li>Turnspits, <a href="#Page_130">130</a></li>
+</ul>
+
+<ul class="IX">
+<li>Vases, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>, <a href="#Page_154">154</a></li>
+<li>Venetian glass, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_178">178</a></li>
+<li>Vernis Martin varnishes, <a href="#Page_29">29</a></li>
+<li>Victoria and Albert Museum exhibits, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>, <a href="#Page_241">241</a>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>, <a href="#Page_312">312</a>, <a href="#Page_317">317</a>, <a href="#Page_330">330</a>, <a href="#Page_334">334</a></li>
+<li>Vinaigrettes, <a href="#Page_214">214</a></li>
+<li>Violins, <a href="#Page_314">314</a></li>
+<li>Virginals, <a href="#Page_312">312</a></li>
+</ul>
+
+<ul class="IX">
+<li>Walking sticks (glass), <a href="#Page_177">177</a></li>
+<li>Wallace collection, <a href="#Page_29">29</a></li>
+<li>Wallets, <a href="#Page_195">195</a></li>
+<li>Warming pans, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>, <a href="#Page_145">145</a></li>
+<li>Watches, <a href="#Page_302">302</a>, <a href="#Page_305">305</a></li>
+<li>Watch keys, <a href="#Page_305">305</a>, <a href="#Page_306">306</a></li>
+<li>Watch papers, <a href="#Page_259">259</a></li>
+<li>Watch stands, <a href="#Page_307">307</a></li>
+<li>Waterford glass, <a href="#Page_176">176</a></li>
+<li>Wedgwood cameos, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>, <a href="#Page_280">280</a></li>
+<li>Whistles, <a href="#Page_312">312</a>, <a href="#Page_313">313</a></li>
+<li>Wood carvings, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>-<a href="#Page_165">165</a></li>
+<li>Wooden cups, <a href="#Page_104">104</a></li>
+<li>Woodware, <a href="#Page_117">117</a></li>
+<li>Work boxes, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>-<a href="#Page_250">250</a></li>
+<li>Writing cases, <a href="#Page_262">262</a></li>
+<li>Writing tables, <a href="#Page_262">262</a></li>
+</ul>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+<p class='center'>UNWIN BROTHERS, LIMITED, THE GRESHAM PRESS, WOKING AND LONDON</p>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Chats on Household Curios, by Fred W. Burgess
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHATS ON HOUSEHOLD CURIOS ***
+
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Chats on Household Curios, by Fred W. Burgess
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Chats on Household Curios
+
+Author: Fred W. Burgess
+
+Release Date: May 2, 2008 [EBook #25294]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHATS ON HOUSEHOLD CURIOS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Susan Skinner and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHATS ON HOUSEHOLD CURIOS
+
+BOOKS FOR COLLECTORS
+
+_With Frontispieces and many Illustrations
+Large Crown 8vo, cloth._
+
+CHATS ON ENGLISH CHINA.
+    By Arthur Hayden.
+
+CHATS ON OLD FURNITURE
+    By Arthur Hayden.
+
+CHATS ON OLD PRINTS.
+    By Arthur Hayden.
+
+CHATS ON COSTUME.
+    By G. Woolliscroft Rhead.
+
+CHATS ON OLD LACE AND NEEDLEWORK.
+    By E. L. Lowes.
+
+CHATS ON ORIENTAL CHINA.
+    By J. F. Blacker.
+
+CHATS ON OLD MINIATURES.
+    By J. J. Foster, F.S.A.
+
+CHATS ON ENGLISH EARTHENWARE.
+    By Arthur Hayden.
+
+CHATS ON AUTOGRAPHS.
+    By A. M. Broadley.
+
+CHATS ON PEWTER.
+    By H. J. L. J. Masse, M.A.
+
+CHATS ON POSTAGE STAMPS.
+    By Fred. J. Melville.
+
+CHATS ON OLD JEWELLERY AND TRINKETS.
+    By MacIver Percival.
+
+CHATS ON COTTAGE AND FARMHOUSE FURNITURE.
+    By Arthur Hayden.
+
+CHATS ON OLD COINS.
+    By Fred. W. Burgess.
+
+CHATS ON OLD COPPER AND BRASS.
+    By Fred. W. Burgess.
+
+CHATS ON HOUSEHOLD CURIOS.
+    By Fred. W. Burgess.
+
+
+_In Preparation._
+
+CHATS ON BARGAINS.
+    By Charles E. Jerningham.
+
+CHATS ON JAPANESE PRINTS.
+    By Arthur Davison Ficke.
+
+CHATS ON OLD CLOCKS AND WATCHES.
+    By Arthur Hayden.
+
+CHATS ON OLD SILVER.
+    By Arthur Hayden.
+
+LONDON: T. FISHER UNWIN.
+NEW YORK: F. A. STOKES COMPANY.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 1.--OLD FIREPLACE, SHOWING SUSSEX BACK, ANDIRONS,
+AND TRIVET.
+
+Frontispiece.]
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+CHATS ON
+HOUSEHOLD CURIOS
+
+BY
+
+FRED. W. BURGESS
+
+AUTHOR OF "CHATS ON OLD COINS," "CHATS ON OLD
+COPPER AND BRASS," ETC.
+
+WITH 94 ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+LONDON
+
+T. FISHER UNWIN
+ADELPHI TERRACE
+
+
+_First published in 1914_
+
+(_All rights reserved_)
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+
+There is a peculiar charm about the relics found in an old home--a home
+from which many generations of fledglings have flown. As each milestone
+in family history is passed some once common object of use or ornament
+is dropped by the way. Such interesting mementoes of past generations
+accumulate, and in course of time the older ones become curios.
+
+It is to create greater interest in these old-world odds and ends--some
+of trifling value to an outsider, others of great intrinsic worth--that
+this book has been written. The love of possession is to some possessors
+the chief delight; to others knowledge of the original purposes and uses
+of the objects acquired affords still greater pleasure. My intention has
+been rather to assist the latter class of collectors than to facilitate
+the mere assemblage of additional stores of curiosities. It is truly
+astonishing how rapidly the common uses of even household furnishings
+and culinary utensils are forgotten when they are superseded by others
+of more modern type.
+
+The modern art of to-day and the revival of the much older furniture of
+the past have driven out the household gods of intermediate dates, and
+it is in that period intervening between the two extremes that most of
+the household curios reviewed in this work are found. Although many of
+the finest examples of household curios are now in museums, private
+collectors often possess exceptional specimens, and sometimes own the
+most representative groups of those things upon which they have
+specialized.
+
+The examples in this book have been drawn from various sources. As in
+"Chats on Old Copper and Brass" (which may almost be regarded as a
+companion work), the illustrations are taken from photographs of typical
+museum curios and objects in private collections, or have been specially
+sketched by my daughter, who has had access to many interesting
+collections, to the owners of which I am indebted for the illustrations
+I am able to make use of.
+
+My thanks are due to the Directors of the British Museum, who have
+allowed their printers, the University Press, Oxford, to supply electros
+of some exceptional objects now in the Museum; also to the Director of
+the Victoria and Albert Museum, at South Kensington; and the Director
+of the London Museum, now located at Stafford House.
+
+Dr. Hoyle, the Director of the National Museum of Wales, at Cardiff, has
+most kindly had specially prepared for this work quite a number of
+photographs of very uncommon household curios. The Curator of the Hull
+Museum has loaned blocks, and photographs have been sent by Messrs. Egan
+and Co., Ltd., of Cork; Mr. Wayte, of Edenbridge; and Mr. Phillips, of
+the Manor House, Hitchin. To Mr. Evans, of Nailsea Court, Somerset, I am
+indebted for the loan of his unrivalled collection of ancient
+nutcrackers, some of which have been sketched for reproduction. I have
+also made use of examples in the collections of private friends, and
+illustrated some of my own household curios, many of them family relics.
+
+The story of domestic curios is made the more useful by these
+illustrations, and also by references to well-known collections. There
+is much to admire in the once common objects of the home, now curios,
+and it is in the hope that some may be led to appreciate more the
+antiques with which they are familiar that these pages have been penned.
+If that is achieved my object will have been accomplished.
+
+FRED. W. BURGESS.
+
+LONDON, 1914.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+                                                                    PAGE
+PREFACE                                                                7
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+THE LOVE OF THE ANTIQUE                                               19
+
+    No place like home--Curios in the making--The influence of
+    prevailing styles--A cultivated taste.
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+THE INGLE SIDE                                                        33
+
+    Fire-making appliances--Tinder boxes--The fireplace--Andirons and
+    fire-dogs--Sussex backs--Fireirons and fenders--Trivets and
+    stools--Bellows.
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+THE LIGHTS OF FORMER DAYS                                             59
+
+    Rushlights and holders--Candles, moulds, and boxes--Snuffers, trays,
+    and extinguishers--Oil lamps--Lanterns.
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+TABLE APPOINTMENTS                                                    77
+
+    Cutlery: Knives, forks, and spoons--Salt cellars--Cruet
+    stands--Punch and toddy--Porringers and cups--Trays and
+    waiters--The tea table--Cream jugs--Sugar tongs and
+    nippers--Caddies--Cupids--Nutcrackers--Turned woodware.
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+THE KITCHEN                                                          121
+
+    The kitchen grate--Boilers and kettles--Grills and
+    gridirons--Cooking utensils--Warming pans.
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+HOME ORNAMENTS                                                       147
+
+    Mantelpiece ornaments--Vases--Derbyshire Spars--Jade or spleen
+    stone--Wood carvings--Old gilt.
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+GLASS AND ENAMELS                                                    173
+
+    Waterford, Bristol, and Nailsea--Ornaments of glass--Enamels on
+    metal.
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+LEATHER AND HORN                                                     185
+
+    Spanish leather--Cuir boulli work--Tapestry and upholstery--Leather
+    bottles and drinking vessels--Leather curios--Shoes--Horn work.
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+THE TOILET TABLE                                                     199
+
+    The table and its secrets--Combs--Patch boxes--Enamelled
+    objects--Perfume boxes and holders--Dressing
+    cases--Scratchbacks--Toilet chatelaines--Locks of hair--Jewel
+    cabinets.
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+THE OLD WORKBOX                                                      223
+
+    Spinning wheels--Materials and work--Little
+    accessories--Cutlery--Quaint woodwork--The needlewoman--Old
+    samplers.
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+THE LIBRARY                                                          251
+
+    From cover to cover--Old scrap books--Almanacs--The writing table.
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+THE SMOKER'S CABINET                                                 269
+
+    Old pipes--Pipe racks--Tobacco boxes--Smokers' tongs and
+    stoppers--Snuff boxes and rasps.
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+LOVE TOKENS AND LUCKY EMBLEMS                                        281
+
+    Amulets--Horse trappings--Emblems of luck--Love spoons--Glass
+    curios.
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+THE MARKING OF TIME                                                  295
+
+    Clocks--Watches--Watch keys--Watch stands.
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS                                                  309
+
+    Early examples--Whistles and pipes--Violins and harps.
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+PLAY AND SPORT                                                       319
+
+    Dolls--Toys--Old games--Outdoor amusements--Relics of sport.
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+MISCELLANEOUS                                                        337
+
+    Dower chests--Medicine chests--Old lacquer--The tool chest--Egyptian
+    curios--Ancient spectacles--Curious chinaware--Garden curios--The
+    mounting of curios--Obsolete household names.
+
+
+INDEX                                                                357
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+FIG.
+
+1. OLD FIREPLACE, SHOWING SUSSEX BACK, ANDIRONS, AND TRIVET  _Frontispiece_
+
+                                                                    PAGE
+
+2. ANDIRONS WITH RATCHETS                                             27
+
+3. ORNAMENTED CRESSET DOGS                                            27
+
+4. TELESCOPIC RUSH AND CANDLE HOLDER                                  27
+
+5. RATCHET RUSH AND CANDLE HOLDER                                     27
+
+6. ANCIENT ROMAN FIRE-DOG                                             37
+
+7. SUSSEX GRATE BACK, DATED 1588                                      37
+
+8. THREE SINGLE DOGS OR ANDIRONS                                      45
+
+9. PAIR OF DATED SUSSEX ANDIRONS (1625)                               45
+
+10. PAIR OF SUSSEX ANDIRONS                                           45
+
+11. SUSSEX BACK WITH ROYAL EMBLEMS                                    51
+
+12. SUSSEX BACK WITH ARMS AND ROYAL INITIALS                          51
+
+13. FINE CARVED WALNUT WOOD BELLOWS                                   55
+
+14. THREE RUSHLIGHT HOLDERS                                           63
+
+15. THREE VARIETIES OF OLD OIL LAMPS                                  63
+
+16. TWO WALNUT WOOD FLOOR-CANDLESTICKS                                69
+
+17. FINE PAIR OF ANCIENT SNUFFERS                                     73
+
+18. HANDSOMELY DECORATED KNIFE CASE AND CONTENTS                      81
+
+19. KNIFE, FORK, AND SPOON                                            87
+
+20. PAIR OF DECORATED SPOONS                                          93
+
+21. TWO WOODEN CUPS                                                  101
+
+22. WOODEN FLAGON, WITH COPPER BANDS                                 101
+
+23. A COCOANUT CUP (SILVER-MOUNTED)                                  101
+
+24. A COCOANUT CUP (SILVER-MOUNTED)                                  101
+
+25. COCOANUT FLAGON                                                  101
+
+26. EARLY ENGLISH BRONZE EWER                                        109
+
+27. INSCRIBED SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY WOOD DRINKING CUP                  115
+
+28-30. EARLY CARVED WOOD NUTCRACKERS                                 115
+
+31-34. MEDIAEVAL WOOD NUTCRACKERS                                     119
+
+35-39. EARLY STEEL AND BRASS NUTCRACKERS                             119
+
+40. TWO ANTIQUE WARMING PANS                                         124
+
+41. WELSH KITCHEN FIREPLACE                                          124
+
+42. MECHANICAL ROASTING JACKS                                        127
+
+43-46. GRIDIRONS SHOWING FOREIGN INFLUENCE IN DESIGN                 131
+
+47 AND 48. TWO WOODEN FOOD BOXES                                     135
+
+49. A COLLECTION OF IRON FAT BOATS AND GREASE PANS                   135
+
+50. WOODEN COFFEE CRUSHERS AND PESTLES AND MORTAR                    139
+
+51. APPLE SCOOPS OF BONE                                             139
+
+52. WOODEN PIGGINS AND PORRIDGE BOWL                                 143
+
+53. WOODEN PLATTER, BOWL, AND SPOONS                                 143
+
+54. BRASS CHIMNEY ORNAMENT (ONE OF A PAIR)                           151
+
+55. BLACK AND GOLD DERBYSHIRE MARBLE VASE                            155
+
+56. TEMPLE GUARDIAN, CARVED FROM THE GNARLED ROOT OF A TREE          159
+
+57. CARVED PLAQUE STAND                                              163
+
+58 AND 59. MINIATURE COPPER AND SILVER KETTLES                       167
+
+60. MINIATURE IVORY COFFEE BOILER                                    167
+
+61. TWO OLD-GILT JEWELLED ORNAMENTS                                  167
+
+62. THREE FINE OLD IVORIES                                           171
+
+63. BATTERSEA ENAMELS                                                179
+
+64. ANTIQUE DRESSING OR TOILET GLASS                                 202
+
+65. THREE OLD SCRATCHBACKS                                           209
+
+66. SILVER CHATELAINE TOILET INSTRUMENTS                             209
+
+67. ANOTHER CHATELAINE SET                                           209
+
+68. FINE ORIENTAL LACQUERED BOX                                      217
+
+69. SMALL LACQUER CABINET                                            217
+
+70. A PAGODA-SHAPED CASKET                                           217
+
+71. DECORATED JEWEL CASE                                             217
+
+72. OLD SPINNING WHEEL                                               227
+
+73. SPINNING WHEEL                                                   233
+
+74. OLD LACE BOBBINS                                                 233
+
+75. OLD PIN POPPETS AND ANCIENT PINS                                 237
+
+76. THREE OLD WORKBOXES                                              243
+
+77. OLD WORKBOX FITTINGS                                             247
+
+78. ANCIENT CLOG ALMANAC                                             257
+
+79. OLD COIN TESTER                                                  265
+
+80. MINIATURE SOUVENIR ALMANAC                                       265
+
+81. ANCIENT WRITING SET                                              265
+
+82. THREE CURIOUS PIPE-STOPPERS                                      275
+
+83. BRASS TOBACCO BOX                                                275
+
+84. COLLECTION OF HARNESS AMULETS AND TEAM BELLS                     285
+
+85. OLD WELSH LOVE SPOONS                                            291
+
+86. FINE GOTHIC FRENCH CLOCK                                         299
+
+87. SPECIMENS OF OLD WATCH KEYS                                      303
+
+88. TWO ANTIQUE WATCH CASES                                          303
+
+89. OLD SPINET                                                       315
+
+90. CURIOUS TYPES OF WHISTLES                                        323
+
+91. QUAINT OLD TOY                                                   323
+
+92. A POWDER TESTER                                                  335
+
+93. A PRIMING FLASK                                                  335
+
+94. OLD POWDER FLASKS                                                343
+
+
+
+
+I
+
+THE LOVE OF THE ANTIQUE
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+THE LOVE OF THE ANTIQUE
+
+     No place like home--Curios in the making--The influence of
+     prevailing styles--A cultivated taste.
+
+
+There is an inborn love of the antique in most men, although some are
+fond of asserting that their interests are bound up in the modern, and
+that they have no time to devote to the study of the antiquities of past
+ages or the things that were fashionable in times long past. Yet most
+people, when their secret longings are analysed, are found to have an
+admiration for the old; if not a superstitious veneration, at any rate a
+desire to perpetuate the memory of their ancestors and to keep in mind
+the things with which they were familiar. The wealthy man of to-day, who
+may have sprung from the people, secretly, if not openly, endeavours to
+surround himself with household gods which tell of a longer past and a
+closer relationship with the well-to-do than he can legitimately claim.
+In the pursuit of such things many a man has found his hobby; and there
+are few men who do not find recreation and delight in a hobby of some
+kind. Such interests outside their regular occupations broaden their
+outlook and widen their knowledge. Some hobbies tend to lead to
+specialization, and the specialist is apt to become warped and narrowed;
+not so, however, the collector of household curios.
+
+
+No Place Like Home.
+
+It would be difficult to find greater delight than that which centres in
+those things that concern the home and home life. The love of the old
+homestead and the goods and chattels it contains is ingrained in the
+breast of every Britisher; and although families become scattered and
+some of their members find homes of their own beyond the seas, they find
+the greatest delight in the objects with which they were familiar in
+years gone by, and venerate the relics of former generations--the
+household gods which have been handed on from father to son.
+
+It is not the intrinsic value of the household curio that is its chief
+charm; it is rather the knowledge that its long association with those
+who have claimed its ownership from the time when it was "new" has made
+it truly a family relic. These thoughts, being so deeply rooted in the
+minds of most men and women, foster the love of household curios and
+intensify the interest shown in their possession.
+
+To all it is not given to own family relics; neither would they serve to
+satiate the ambition of the true collector, although they might form the
+nucleus of his collection. He seeks other treasures in the town and in
+the country and wherever such things are offered for sale.
+
+
+Curios in the Making.
+
+The domestic habits of the people of this and other civilized countries
+have been the outcome of a slow process of upbuilding. There has been no
+sudden change; in all grades and under every different social condition,
+at every period, the improvement of the furnishings of the home has been
+one of gradual and, for the most part, steady progress.
+
+There was a time when, beyond the bare furniture, tapestry hangings,
+tools of the craftsmen, and weapons of the warrior, there were few
+household goods of a portable nature. In mediaeval England the oak chest
+was sufficient to contain the valuables of a large household; and very
+often beyond a cabinet or sideboard or corner cupboard there were few
+receptacles where anything of value could be safeguarded. The dower
+chest, in which the bride brought to her husband household linen and her
+stock of clothing, and in the wooden compartment in one corner of the
+chest her jewels and coin of the realm--if she possessed any--was then a
+prominent piece of furniture. The oak chest, rendered formidable with
+its massive lock and bolts, opened with a ponderous key, was the chosen
+receptacle in after-years as a treasure chest, and regarded as the
+safest place in which to keep valuable documents and other property. In
+the Public Record Office may be seen the old iron box in which the
+Domesday Book was kept for many centuries. The old City Companies have
+their treasure chests still; and boxes studded over with iron nails and
+fitted with large hasps and locks are pointed out in many old houses as
+passports to family standing.
+
+The household curios which a collector seeks include objects of utility
+and ornament. Many of them are associated with household work, and quite
+a number of one-time kitchen and culinary utensils, as well as those
+which were once cherished in the best parlour or withdrawing-room, are
+found places among such curios. During the last few years domestic
+architecture has passed through several stages of advancement. The stiff
+and formal Georgian houses, the painful Victorian villas, and some of
+the earlier attempts at architectural improvement have been swept away
+to make room for modern replicas of still older styles which have been
+revived or incorporated in the _nouvre_ art, which touches the home in
+its architecture and internal decoration, as well as in its furnishings.
+In modern dwellings the Elizabethan style has often been followed,
+although modern conveniences have been incorporated. When furnishing
+such houses with suitable replicas of the antique the householders of
+the last quarter of a century have been unconsciously, perhaps,
+fostering the love of household antiques and providing fitting homes for
+their family curios.
+
+
+The Day of the Curio Hunter.
+
+This is admittedly the day of curio hunting, and those who specialize on
+household curios have exceptional opportunities of displaying them to
+better advantage than those who cared for such things in the past.
+Perhaps it is because there were so few opportunities of arranging and
+displaying household antiques during the last three-quarters of the
+nineteenth century that many objects now treasured have been preserved
+so fresh and kept in such excellent condition. The housewives of the
+past generation were undoubtedly conservative in their retention of old
+household goods, and it is to their careful preservation that so many
+objects of interest, although perhaps fully a century old, come to the
+collector in such perfect condition.
+
+The patient labour expended by the amateur artist, the needleworker, and
+the connoisseur of home art a generation or two ago has provided the
+collector to-day with an exceptionally interesting class of curio, for
+there is much to admire in amateur craftsmanship, and especially in the
+handiwork of the needlewoman and the weaver and decorator of so many
+beautiful textiles which have been preserved to us. Sentiment was strong
+in the early nineteenth century, and among the love tokens of that day,
+chiefly the work of amateurs, some very beautiful and unique curios were
+produced. These, too, have come down to the collector of the twentieth
+century, and help him to secure specimens representing every decade, so
+that in a large collection, carefully selected, the slow and yet sure
+progress made in the fine arts, and the improvement in the ornamental
+surroundings in the home, is made clear. In each one of the different
+groups into which household curios may be divided there are many
+distinctive objects, all of which are in themselves interesting, but
+when viewed in association with other things which have been used at
+contemporary periods, or associated with the home life of persons
+similarly situated, but dwelling in different localities, are doubly
+interesting.
+
+
+The Influence of Prevailing Styles.
+
+In determining the origin of curios, and defining the periods during
+which they have been made, it is useful to have at least a little
+knowledge of the influence or character of the prevailing styles in the
+countries of origin. French art has exercised a great influence upon the
+productions of other nations; it has also been moulded by the curios and
+other articles of foreign origin then being sold in France. Regal and
+political influence have left their mark upon almost every period of
+French art, and have had much to do with the contemporary art of other
+nations, for France was for centuries a guide in most of the fine arts,
+and especially in those things which tended towards decorative effect.
+The furniture of France may be said to be an exponent of the country's
+history, so great has been the connection between French art, controlled
+by passing events, and its commercial products. It is said that the
+State pageants of the Louis XIV period tended to raise the tone of the
+work of French artisans and to encourage artists. That was a period of
+great development, for in the year 1670 the famous tapestry factories
+sprang into existence; and it must be admitted that the designing of
+those wonderful textiles influenced the manufacturers of furniture and
+smaller objects both in France and in other countries.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 2.--ANDIRONS WITH RATCHETS.
+
+FIG. 3.--ORNAMENTED CRESSET DOGS.
+
+FIG. 4.--TELESCOPIC RUSH AND CANDLE HOLDER.
+
+FIG. 5.--RATCHET RUSH AND CANDLE HOLDER.]
+
+Sir Christopher Wren is reputed to have been carried away by the
+influence of the Louis XIV art. It was in that King's reign, too, that
+Charles Boule perfected his veneers of tortoiseshell and fine brass
+work. Buhl cabinets, fancy boxes, and many smaller objects found their
+way into this country, and are now household curios. When Philip of
+Orleans was Regent of France Boule introduced vermilion and gold-leaf as
+the groundwork upon which to throw up the beauty of tortoiseshell, and
+his designs became lavishly extravagant. Of these there are some
+beautiful examples extant; one, a facsimile of a bureau made in Paris in
+1769, so elaborate that its cost was reputed to have been about L20,000,
+is to be seen in the Wallace Collection at Hertford House. In the reign
+of Louis XV great encouragement was given to the importation of lacquer
+work from China, influencing the creation of similar works in France;
+and it was owing to his support that the Vernis Martin enamels or
+varnishes were produced. Then came those beautiful paintings of
+landscapes with which so many of the rarer household curios dating from
+that period were ornamented.
+
+The French style came over the Channel. Thus it was that French
+influence, as shown in its art in which its political history was
+reflected, permeated into the workshops of England. Then came the
+popularity of the designs of the Adam Brothers and Sheraton. During the
+Revolution in France art was at a standstill, but as soon as Napoleon
+had established his Empire artistic France began again, and we see its
+influence in the Empire ornament of furniture and curios. Perhaps one of
+the most striking instances of change in style was that in our own
+country when the Prince of Orange came over and William and Mary were
+crowned King and Queen. Dutch influence on the art of Great Britain was
+immediately seen, and in the curios of that period there is a remarkable
+difference between those produced at that time, when Englishmen were
+content to allow the art of another nation to dominate their work, and
+those of an earlier date. Dutch marquetry is seen in cabinets and
+smaller household antiques in the manufacture of which panels were
+applicable. There was a change in design about the year 1695, just after
+Mary died, the characteristic seaweed following the floral, as if the
+very flowers had been banished after the Queen's death. The influence of
+the King and of his successors was very noticeable in the style and
+decoration of household goods; the history of this country at that time,
+just as the history of France had been, was reflected in the art of its
+craftsmen.
+
+
+A Cultivated Taste.
+
+The love of the antique is regarded by some as a cultivated taste. The
+specialization upon any one branch of household curios may justly be
+regarded as such, but surely not the regard, almost reverence, for
+family relics, although they are but the common things of everyday life!
+Their collection stimulates the connoisseur, and encourages him to fresh
+exertions, and in that sense the habit of keeping a keen look out for
+anything that may illumine previous researches or add greater lustre to
+those things already secured, is gradually cultivated.
+
+Household curios are not unassociated with the folklore of the district
+where such objects have been made, or were commonly in use; and the very
+names of many things, the uses of which are almost forgotten, are
+suggestive of former occupations and older methods of practising
+household economy and the preparation of food. It is common knowledge
+that the purest old English is met with in the dialects of the
+countryside, and oftentimes once household words, now lost in modern
+speech, are found again when the old names or original purposes of the
+curios remaining to us are discovered. The cultivation of a taste for
+gathering together household antiques is much to be desired, and in the
+pursuit of such knowledge there is great pleasure--and as the value of
+genuine antiques is ever rising, some profit, too.
+
+
+
+
+II
+
+THE INGLE SIDE
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+THE INGLE SIDE
+
+     Fire-making appliances--Tinder boxes--The fireplace--Andirons
+     and fire-dogs--Sussex backs--Fireirons and fenders--Trivets and
+     stools--Bellows.
+
+
+In winter the ingle side, or its equivalent in a modern house, appears
+to be the chief centre of attraction. It was ever so; and to-day the
+lessened necessity for crowding round the fire and sitting in the ingle
+nook, owing to modern methods of distributing the heat, in no way
+lessens the attraction which draws an Englishman to the fire. In the
+United States of America stoves of various kinds are deemed good
+substitutes, but in this country the open fire is preferred, and modern
+scientific research aims at perfecting and improving existing accepted
+methods of heating and warming rooms rather than of displacing them.
+
+In the days when the earliest collectable curios of the ingle side were
+being made by the village smith, and the local sculptor and mason were
+preparing the chimney corner and the mantelpiece to surround the
+fireplace, it was in front of the great open fire in the kitchen,
+before which the large joints were roasted, that the retainers of the
+baron and the landowner or lord of the manor assembled on winter nights.
+It was around the fire which crackled on the hearth in the great hall
+that the more favoured ones forgathered, and in the lesser homestead the
+family drew up their chairs and found seats in the ingle nook, near the
+fire, when snow was upon the ground, and frost and cold draughts made
+them shiver in the houseplace.
+
+The fireplace has its attractions still, and builders and architects
+have designed many cosy corners within reach of the fire. The
+furnishings of the hearth have become more decorative as times have
+become more luxurious and art has gained the ascendant; and sometimes
+their greater ornament has been at the sacrifice of utility, but the
+root principles of construction as seen in the older grates and fire
+appointments remain.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 6.--ANCIENT ROMAN FIRE-DOG.
+
+(_In the National Museum at Naples._)]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 7.--SUSSEX GRATE BACK, DATED 1588.]
+
+
+Fire-making Appliances.
+
+It seems natural to inquire into the origin of the need of a fireplace,
+and to do so we must go back to prehistoric times and trace the
+discovery of fire-making apparatus, for without the means of lighting a
+fire it is obvious that the grate would be useless. With the fire came
+artificial light, the two great discoveries being perfected side by
+side, sometimes the one gaining ground, at others the one that had
+fallen behind shooting ahead as the result of some great discovery, or
+the application of scientific principles not deemed of utility to the
+one or the other as the case might be. The fire-making appliances
+which were in use for the purpose of lighting fires were of course used
+long before any scheme of artificial lighting--apart from the flames and
+radiance from the fire. Professor Flinders Petrie, that great
+investigator into the antiquities of the Ancients, tells us that
+fire-making by friction has been found to exist in far-off times. It
+would appear that the discovery of how to produce fire has been
+accomplished independently by men living under very different conditions
+and at all ages. The fire-making of the Ancients has been rediscovered
+by primitive people in more recent days, although it is probable that
+native races who until recently have been living apart from the great
+world outside have moved slowly in their march of civilization, and have
+been using the same methods as those first tried by their ancestors ages
+ago. In the unrivalled collection of appliances got together by
+Professor Petrie, there are fire drills from the Transvaal, bow drills
+used by the Esquimaux, and fire ploughs from North Queensland. Lighting
+fires must have been a slow and difficult task in the days when tinder
+boxes were in request, for when Curfew rang and the _couvre de feu_ had
+done its work there was no fire in which to thrust the torch, and the
+entire process had to be gone over again when the fire had once more to
+be kindled.
+
+
+Tinder Boxes.
+
+The tinder box, formerly a real necessary, was to be found in every
+house, and in many instances, in the days before lucifer matches, it was
+a desirable pocket companion. Tinder boxes were made of different
+materials; some were of wood, others of iron or brass. They lent
+themselves to ornamentation: thus some were engraved and quite artistic;
+many of the more recent ones were made of tin, and on the covers were
+decorative little scenes. The contents of the tinder boxes were of
+course flint and steel and tinder (something very inflammable, such as
+scorched linen), with a damper for extinguishing the smouldering fire
+after a light had been obtained, or in later days by the sulphur-tipped
+match applied to it. Among the varieties are what are termed pistol
+tinder boxes, instruments which contained a small charge of gunpowder,
+which, when fired, lighted the tinder. Tinder pouches or purses
+containing flint and tinder having a piece of steel riveted on to the
+edge of the purse or pouch were a common form. Those brought over from
+Central Asia were frequently decorated with dragons and the swastika
+symbol, in damascened work.
+
+Many inventions were put forward by chemists before the perfecting of
+the common match, the wax vesta, and the fusee. One of these was Berry's
+apparatus, which he devised in the beginning of the nineteenth century,
+calling it a "contrivance for lighting lamps in the dark." It consisted
+of an acid bottle with a string by which a conical stopper could be
+raised, and a chlorate match held against the stopper became ignited.
+
+Match boxes are collectable, and collectors of fire-making and lighting
+contrivances often include a few old matches. The lucifer match
+consisted of sticks tipped with potassium chlorate and sugar, held
+together with gum, igniting when touched with concentrated sulphuric
+acid. They were invented in 1805, and by the year 1820 had quite taken
+the place of tinder boxes. Various lighting pastes were used, until the
+improvements which resulted in the "safety" matches. The dangerous
+sulphur and white phosphorus have given place in modern match-making to
+sesqui-sulphate mixtures; and wax vestas and other "strikers" have
+superseded the curious objects the collector meets with.
+
+
+The Fireplace.
+
+In studying the curios of the fireplace, it is scarcely necessary to go
+back beyond the grates and fire appointments which may be seen in the
+old houses standing to-day. Even during the last generation or two there
+have been many changes, and in rebuilding and refurnishing the
+antiquities of the fireplace have in many instances been swept away.
+During more recent days, however, there has been a greater appreciation
+of the curio value of mantelpieces and old grates, and it is no uncommon
+thing for hundreds and even thousands of pounds to be paid for rare
+specimens.
+
+In some instances the fireplace may truly be said to have been the
+central attraction, for the old grates and mantelpieces have often
+realized as much as the whole of the remainder of the materials secured
+when an old house has been pulled down. Some of these mantelpieces of
+olden time were magnificent memorials of the sculptor's and the carver's
+art. They included overmantels, the entire breastwork of the chimney
+often being covered with stone or marble or black oak, right up to the
+ceiling or the cornice.
+
+The open hearth was the earlier form of fireplace, and long before
+chimneys were built logs of wood burned on it, and in still earlier
+times in a basket or brazier, the smoke finding its way to the roof, the
+rafters of which soon became blackened. Chimneys, however, are of early
+date, and the household curios of the fireplace have almost entirely
+been used under such conditions of fuel consumption, the up-draught of
+the chimney carrying away the smoke and harmful gases. The firebacks and
+the andirons, and later the fire-dogs, of the open fireplaces are
+collectable curios of considerable interest, and the hobby may be
+indulged in at a moderate cost. The collection of mantelpieces may be
+left to the wealthy and to those who have baronial halls in which to
+refix them. Fig. 1 represents an old fireplace in a panelled oak room
+with a Tudor ceiling. There is a Sussex back of rather small size, and a
+pair of andirons, on which a log of wood is shown reposing. An old
+saucepan has been reared up in the corner, and there is a trivet on the
+hearth. There is a very remarkable group of cresset dogs shown in Fig.
+2. One pair of dogs or andirons has ratchets on which supplementary bars
+were placed. These show an early advance from the simple andiron, and
+point to the later developments of the fire-grate with the fast bars
+which were to come. In the same group two rush-holders or candlesticks
+are shown, one with a ratchet, the other adjusted on a simple rod, the
+socket being held in place by a spring (see Figs. 4 and 5).
+
+As time went on and change of fuel came about, the forests of England
+being gradually consumed on the domestic hearth, coal was substituted
+for the fast-vanishing wood. Then it was that a change was needed, and
+instead of the open fireplace and the andirons on which the logs of wood
+had formerly been laid, iron baskets or grates in which coal could be
+placed were made, so that the scattering of fuel and cinders on the open
+hearth could be prevented. Sussex backs gave place in time to the grate
+in which a metal back was frequently incorporated, flanked by the dogs
+in front. Then came the closed-in grates and the hob-registers of the
+eighteenth century, many being designed after the beautiful
+ornamentation produced by the Adam Brothers; also the decorative metal
+work enriched with ormolu and brass, which in due course again gave way
+to the plain and oftentimes ugly register grates of the Victorian Age,
+which in more modern times have been displaced by the reproductions of
+the antique, and by well-grates and scientifically constructed stoves
+and heating radiators by which heat can be conserved, the draught of the
+fire and the chimney regulated, and the coal burned more economically on
+slow-combustion and semi-slow-combustion principles. Science has taught
+builders and others how to radiate the heat, and prevent that waste
+which formerly went up the chimney, so that the necessity to sit round
+the fire is not as great as it once was, and rooms large and small are
+more evenly heated. The fireplace has once more become a thing of
+beauty, and all its appointments are rendered harmonious with the
+furnishings of the home, whether they are modern replicas of the
+homesteads of earlier periods or constructed according to the newer art
+of the present day.
+
+
+Andirons and Fire-dogs.
+
+The brazier on a piece of stone in the centre of the room served well
+when charcoal was plentiful, and although the smoke ascended amidst the
+rafters the heat spread and there was plenty of room for many persons to
+assemble "around" the fire. With chimneys built at the side of the house
+for convenience, the timber was laid upon the hearth flag. Under the
+conditions that appertained when great open chimneys allowed the rain
+and snow to fall upon the fire or on the logs laid ready for the
+burning, the difficulties of lighting a fire were experienced. Then the
+local smith came to the aid of the "domestic" or serf, and hammered into
+shape what were termed andirons, their use making it easier to light the
+logs, giving a current of air under them, causing them to burn brighter.
+The andirons were afterwards called fire-dogs, and in course of time
+bars rested on hooks or ratchets, or were laid across the dogs.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 8.--THREE SINGLE DOGS OR ANDIRONS.]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 9.--PAIR OF DATED SUSSEX ANDIRONS (1625).
+
+FIG. 10.--PAIR OF SUSSEX ANDIRONS.
+
+(_In the collection of Mr. Wayte, of Edenbridge._)]
+
+There are no records of the earliest inventors of andirons or dogs. It
+is quite clear that small fire-dogs were in use in Rome at an early
+period; the one illustrated in Fig. 6, measuring 6 3/4 in. in height, of
+artistic form, two draped figures being the supports of the arch, is in
+the National Museum in Naples, where there are many other beautiful
+examples of early Roman metal work. In the seventeenth century some of
+the more elaborate ornamental cast brass fire-dogs were enriched with
+black and white or blue and white enamel, several varieties of fireside
+ornaments being decorated in the same way.
+
+Enamel thus applied to metal is exceptionally valuable, as much as two
+hundred guineas being paid for an enamelled pair of fire-dogs. It is the
+ordinary forms of cast or wrought dogs with which collectors are mostly
+familiar, especially those made in the famous Sussex ironfields, such as
+those shown in Figs. 8, 9, and 10, which are of early date, the pair
+illustrated in Fig. 9 being dated 1625, the others probably
+contemporary. Single examples of similar designs are shown in Fig. 8.
+The need of the metal furnishings of the hearth--as the chimney places
+of the smaller manor houses and the dwellings of the traders were being
+erected--caused an impetus to the trade of the ironfounder and smith,
+and the founders and smiths of the Sussex villages came to the aid of
+the builder. There are dated examples from the sixteenth century
+onwards, recording the periods when these interesting souvenirs of
+domestic building and the great Sussex ironfields--now deserted--were in
+operation.
+
+
+Sussex Backs.
+
+There is a peculiar attraction about the castings made in Sussex in the
+days when the foundries of that county were in full work, and many
+villages were filled with busy pattern-makers, moulders, and founders
+carrying on a thriving industry in districts which have now been given
+up to the plough; for the Sussex ironfields have been abandoned, as when
+the timber of the district was consumed it was impossible to work the
+forges economically, for coal was far distant and transport costs
+prohibitive. The old grate backs for which the Sussex foundries were
+famous in the seventeenth century were often modelled on Dutch designs,
+and some showed German characteristics. There are many noted English
+designs, too, mostly taking the forms of coats of arms and the shields
+and crests of the landlords for whom the stove-plates were made, some
+becoming "stock" patterns and often duplicated. There is quite a fine
+collection of these grate backs in several museums, and some good
+examples can still be bought from dealers whose agents secure them from
+time to time when property is being rebuilt. In the Victoria and Albert
+Museum there is a long oblong plate on which is cast the arms of Browne
+of Brenchley, in Kent, probably made in the second half of the
+seventeenth century. There are others with cherubs and curious
+supporters of shields of arms. A still earlier piece, probably cast
+about the year 1600, is an oblong Sussex back deeply recessed, on which
+is the arms of John Blount, Earl of Devonshire, another bearing the
+Royal arms of the Tudor period. In Hampton Court Palace there are some
+especially fine grate backs, mostly bearing the Royal arms. At a little
+earlier period the cast grate backs were chiefly plain with isolated
+crests or designs scattered over the surface, often quite irregularly.
+
+The three fine examples of Sussex backs illustrated are typical of
+popular styles. Fig. 11 shows the Royal lion of England, accompanied by
+the emblems appearing on the Royal arms in the seventeenth century; the
+Tudor rose crowned, the Scottish thistle, and the French fleur-de-lis
+indicative of the throne of France to which English sovereigns then laid
+some claim. The date of this fine back is 1649. Fig. 7 is of an earlier
+period, being dated 1588, beneath which are the initials "I.F.C." There
+are also roses and fleurs-de-lis, as well as anchors and other emblems.
+The back shown in Fig. 12 has for its design the Royal arms surrounded
+by the Garter, and the initials "C.R.," a design which was duplicated
+very extensively soon after the Restoration. It will be noticed that the
+Royal arms formed the design of the Sussex back shown in position in
+Fig. 1. Some of the German and Dutch designs are very curious, many of
+them representing scriptural subjects, like Moses and the brazen
+serpent; the death of Absalom; the temptation of Joseph; and the
+often-repeated story of the Garden of Eden.
+
+In the American museums there are some very interesting examples of
+foundry work; some of the cast backs, evidently modelled on German or
+Dutch designs, take the form of stove-plates, including both front and
+side plates, mostly bearing dates in the middle of the eighteenth
+century. Pennsylvania was the chief district in which these plates were
+made, some being cast by William Siegel, who went to America from
+Germany in 1758, and erected what was known as the Berkshire furnace. A
+curious early stove-plate in an American collection, dated 1736, has
+upon it a scene known as "the dance after the wedding." It is said to
+have been used in the front of what was known as the German wall-warming
+stove.
+
+In form the Sussex shape is usually rectangular--that is, wider than its
+height. It would appear as if the back was at first moulded from a
+wooden plate, the crest, initials, or design being then impressed by
+movable moulds or stamps, generally of wood. These were irregularly
+placed, consequently crowns, roses, crosses, family badges, and all
+kinds of emblems were dotted promiscuously over the plate. Some of the
+plain plates with cable-twist borders were probably used as hearthstones
+and not as backs. The styles which were gradually developed were chiefly
+on the same lines as those which became popular in France. Their use
+lingered long in that country for until recently in many an old family
+mansion might have been seen a _plaque de cheminee_, on which was the
+coat of arms and supporters of the original owner of the chateau, and
+sometimes of the kings of France. The Sussex ironfounders worked chiefly
+at Cowden, Hawkhurst, and Lamberhurst, and there were forges at
+Cranbrook, Coudhurst, Tonbridge, and Biddenden. The principal
+ironmasters of Kent were the Knights and the Tichbornes, whose
+descendants became baronets.
+
+    "Life is not as idle ore,
+    But iron dug from central gloom,
+    And heated hot with burning fears,
+    And dipped in baths of hissing tears,
+    And battered with the shocks of doom
+    To shape and use."
+
+                        TENNYSON, _In Memoriam_.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 11.--SUSSEX BACK WITH ROYAL EMBLEMS.]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 12.--SUSSEX BACK WITH ARMS AND ROYAL INITIALS.
+
+(_In the collection of Mr. Wayte, of Edenbridge._)]
+
+
+Fireirons and Fenders.
+
+Fire brasses or fireirons came into vogue with grates, although the sets
+now regarded as old fire brasses, some of which are very elaborate and
+massive, made at the beginning of the nineteenth century, were first
+used when fenders came into vogue; instead of being reared up alongside
+the fire-dogs in the chimney corner they rested on the fenders. There is
+not much to distinguish the variations in fireirons except the obvious
+indications of older workmanship and design, when contrasted with modern
+"irons." The shovel pans gave the artist in metal some opportunity for
+showing his skill in design and perforated work. It is probable that the
+earliest form of shovel was that known as the "slide," its use being to
+shovel up the ashes of a wood fire, an operation necessary more
+frequently then than in modern days when coal has been the principal
+fuel consumed. Some of the older specimens are dated, and bear the
+owner's initials; thus one authentic specimen from Shopnoller, in the
+Quantock Hills, is engraved, "I T. 1784." Many of the Dutch metal
+workers produced very beautiful and decorative stands on which miniature
+sets of rich brasses were hung; some of the old English fireside stands
+were arranged as receptacles for tongs, shovel, and brush, and now and
+then the baluster stem supported by a tripod base had a central
+attachment from which a toddy kettle could be slung. The brass toddy
+kettle formerly stood upon the hob of the grate, singing merrily, always
+ready for the cup of tea which "cheers but not inebriates," or, as was
+frequently the case, for the preparation of hot toddy or spirit.
+
+The evolution of the fender forms a pleasing story in connection with
+the ingle side. Perhaps the earlier form likely to interest collectors
+of household curios is that made of perforated brass, often some 8 in.
+or 10 in. in depth. These fenders standing on claw feet were afterwards
+fitted with bottom plates of iron, on which was a ridge or rest against
+which the fire brasses were prevented from slipping. Then came iron or
+steel scroll-shaped fenders, tapering down from a few inches in height
+at the ends to centres almost level with the ground. To obviate the
+inconvenience of there being no resting-place for the fireirons loose
+supports were fitted into sockets at the ends, and these afterwards were
+cast as part of the scroll. Then came the stiff and formal early
+Victorian metal work--iron fenders with steel tops relieved occasionally
+by ormolu ornament. These in their turn gave way to fender kerbs of
+metal, stone, marble, or tiles, and loose ornamented fire-dogs which
+have in more recent times served as rests for the fire brasses.
+
+
+Trivets and Stools.
+
+Combination appliances were early adopted, although we are apt at times
+to associate combined utensils with modern innovations. The old English
+trivet of wrought iron made in the eighteenth century was frequently
+"improved" by the addition of a toasting fork, which could be adjusted
+and set at certain angles so that the toast could be left in front of
+the fire for a few moments until it was quite ready to be taken off and
+put on a plate standing conveniently on the trivet until the dish or
+rack of toast was complete. (Some scarce trivets are illustrated in
+"Chats on Old Copper and Brass.")
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 13.--FINE CARVED WALNUT WOOD BELLOWS.
+
+(_In the Victoria and Albert Museum._)]
+
+
+Bellows.
+
+The Germans were noted for the manufacture of decorative bellows cut and
+carved in quaint designs, some of the finest examples being made in the
+seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Others were made in Holland, some
+of the Dutch bellows being inlaid with mother-o'-pearl. There are also
+examples of old English carving, the style of the ornament taking the
+form of the designs on contemporary oak furniture. Some of the largest
+and handsomest bellows of English make are of late seventeenth-century
+workmanship. The example illustrated in Fig. 13 is a magnificent
+specimen, now in the Victoria and Albert Museum at South Kensington.
+
+
+
+
+III
+
+THE LIGHTS OF FORMER DAYS
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+THE LIGHTS OF FORMER DAYS
+
+     Rushlights and holders--Candles, moulds, and boxes--Snuffers,
+     trays, and extinguishers--Oil lamps--Lanterns.
+
+
+Household lighting has been one continuous effort to render the hours of
+darkness bright, and to provide by artificial means a luminosity which
+would, if not actually rivalling the sun, enable men to carry on their
+usual avocations with the same ease, convenience, and comfort after
+daylight had disappeared as during the earlier portion of the day. Every
+stage which has been advanced in artificial lighting has been welcomed
+in the home just as much as in the factory and in the workshop, for
+there are many daily duties as well as pleasures and amusements which
+are carried out much more satisfactorily when a good light is available
+than when there are shadows and dark corners only dimly lighted.
+
+To realize what artificial lighting was in the days now happily long
+past, it would be necessary to visit some old-world village, if one
+could be found, where there had been no attempt at street lighting, and
+in which not even oil had penetrated. The candles of very early times
+did not give more than a dim glimmer, and the darkness of mediaeval
+England can be imagined from the primitive lighting appliances which are
+preserved. Fortunately the entire story of lighting as science came to
+the aid of trader and householder is revealed in the lights of former
+days, which as time went on became more varied and numerous, found in
+collections of well-authenticated specimens. The suggested caution
+implied is not unnecessary, for the periods overlap, and there is but
+little to show when such things as lamps and lanterns were actually
+made.
+
+
+Rushlights and Holders.
+
+In tracing the development of lighting from quite homely beginnings,
+rushlights, prepared by the cottager and the farm hand for the winter
+supply, seem to come first on the list. Rushlights, however, were used
+in this country by many until comparatively recent times side by side
+with lights much more advanced. But centuries earlier than we have any
+record of artificial lighting in this country, and equally as long
+before any of the earliest British curios of lighting were used,
+lighting engineers, if we may so call them, in Greece, Rome, Egypt, and
+still earlier in other Eastern countries, were far advanced. None of the
+lighting schemes of the Ancients, however, produced much more than the
+dim light of the swinging lamp in which oil was consumed.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 14.--THREE RUSHLIGHT HOLDERS.
+
+(_In the National Museum of Wales, Cardiff._)]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 15.--THREE VARIETIES OF OLD OIL LAMPS.]
+
+To range side by side a number of rushlight holders taken from districts
+widely apart, it becomes evident that there was a striking similarity
+between the earlier types. The smiths everywhere seem to have
+fashioned a simple contrivance by which the rushlight or early candle
+could be held upright, and then, to give the "stick" solidity, the iron
+shaft was fastened securely into a wooden block, which was very often
+quite out of proportion to the size and weight of the stand, and
+apparently unnecessarily large and heavy. In the larger examples the
+holder is often made to slide upon an upright rod so as to be useful at
+different heights. The sliding rod was needed, for the light so dim
+could only be of real service when quite close to the person using it,
+or to the work it was intended to illumine (see Figs. 4 and 5).
+
+Although some of the more elaborate and advanced holders were of copper
+or brass, most of them were of iron, the work of local smiths, few of
+whom made any attempt to decorate what they evidently regarded as
+strictly utilitarian articles (see Fig. 14). Although rushlights
+antedated candles, some of the holders were made to answer a dual
+purpose, and on the same stem or slide as the rushlight holder there was
+a candle socket, an important feature fully exemplified in Figs. 4 and
+5.
+
+
+Candles, Moulds, and Boxes.
+
+The collector of household curios does not trouble about the candles;
+his object is to secure a few candle moulds, candle boxes, and, of
+course, candlesticks. It may, however, be convenient here to refer to
+the moulding of candles which was at one time a domestic duty just as it
+had been to collect rushes and after they were dried dip them in fat,
+and to make lights which would burn with more or less steadiness.
+
+The candles were made from various fats, much of which was accumulated
+in the kitchen during the processes of cooking, supplemented by other
+ingredients deemed best for the purpose. The candle moulds or tubes in
+which wicks were inserted were of varying capacities and ranged from two
+to a dozen or more. The moulds were dipped in troughs of fat, having
+been heated sufficiently to melt the fat. The process was by no means
+new, in that it was used in this country by the Saxons; and at a still
+earlier period candles were made by the Romans, for among the sundry
+objects picked up among the uncovered ruins of Herculaneum have been
+small pieces of candle ends.
+
+There was but little advance in the art of candle-making, for the
+candle, briefly described as a rod of solidified tallow or wax
+surrounding a wick, remained almost unimproved until the eighteenth
+century, when spermaceti was introduced, and in more recent years
+paraffin has been substituted.
+
+Candles were hung up by their wicks in bunches until required for use,
+but those needed for immediate supply were always kept in candle boxes.
+It is these boxes of copper, brass, and tin which are sought after. The
+decorated japanned tin boxes are very pleasing, and some of the best,
+ornamented after the "Chinese style" or painted with little scenes, and
+rich in gold ornament, especially those made with other japanned wares
+at Pontypool in South Wales, are desirable acquisitions.
+
+Of the varieties of candlesticks there is no end. The two great
+divisions are the pillar or table candlesticks, and the chamber
+candlesticks. The first named are chiefly seen with a small socket and
+flange to catch the running tallow, the last mentioned have larger
+dishes which catch the drips from candles which are being carried about.
+Among the varieties are the earliest form of pricket candlestick on
+which the candle was "stuck," the bell candlesticks, and the
+candlesticks which were fixed on brackets against the wall. As time went
+on varied materials were introduced, and ornament was chiefly in accord
+with prevailing styles, which influenced the maker of candlesticks as
+all other metal work. Iron, copper, brass, pewter, silver, and Britannia
+metal and wood have been used, and many of the handsomest chandeliers
+and brackets are those made of lustres and cut glass. The large
+chandeliers hung a century or two ago at great expense in the centre of
+large rooms have frequently been retained, and gas and electric light
+have been introduced instead of candles. In Fig. 16 we illustrate two
+exceedingly well-preserved old walnut floor-candlesticks, with brass
+sconces. They come from the Sister Isle, where there are still curios to
+be met with.
+
+
+Snuffers, Trays, and Extinguishers.
+
+There were difficulties to contend with in the use of candles, chiefly
+on account of the irregular burning of candles when exposed to the
+slightest draught, and to the imperfect combustion, which left a charred
+piece of wick which it was necessary to remove to make the candle burn
+once more. Then, again, the extinction of a burning candle involved some
+skill, and instruments were devised to effect this without causing
+unpleasant odours or smoke to arise. Previous to the use of lanterns out
+of doors, and oftentimes when halls and corridors were imperfectly
+lighted, torches thrust into the open fire and thus lighted were used.
+Extinguishers of iron were frequently erected near an outside door, or
+added to the iron railings outside the house. These were for the purpose
+of extinguishing links--many such are to be seen still outside old
+London houses. They were the prototypes from which originated the
+ordinary form of chamber candle extinguisher, frequently fastened to the
+"stick" by a chain.
+
+The extinguishers used in the early days of candles are known now as
+snuffer-extinguishers, to distinguish them from snuffers (the old name
+was _doubters_). In form they were not unlike scissors; the two circular
+metal plates of which they were formed closed in and compressed the
+wick, thereby extinguishing the light. The earlier snuffers had very
+large boxes, and some were remarkably handsome, an exceptionally fine
+example being shown in Fig. 17. They were discovered in an old house at
+Corton, in Dorset, in 1768, and were described by a writer towards the
+close of the eighteenth century thus: "They are of brass and weigh about
+6 ounces. Their construction consists of two equilateral cavities, by
+the edges of which the snuff is cut off and received into the cavity
+from which it is not got out without much trouble." Snuffers of iron,
+and later of steel, are the commoner forms, but they are frequently
+of brass and of silver and Sheffield plate.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 16.--TWO WALNUT WOOD FLOOR-CANDLESTICKS.
+
+(_In the collection of W. Egan & Sons, Ltd., of Cork._)]
+
+The need of some convenient tray or receptacle for the snuffers, not
+always over-clean when they had been used a few times, was met at first
+by what are known as snuffer stands made of wrought metal, and often
+very ornamental. Then came the oblong tray of convenient shape,
+following in its decoration and ornament prevailing styles in other
+domestic tin or metal work. In this connection it should be pointed out
+that there are many varieties of taper holders and stands used for the
+small wax tapers, then common on the writing table.
+
+
+Oil Lamps.
+
+Although oil had long been a recognized illuminant from which a good
+artificial light could be obtained, it was not until the eighteenth
+century that any marked attempt was made to substitute oil for candles
+in this country. For really beautiful lamps we have to go back to the
+bronze lamps of ancient Greece and Rome, and the terra-cotta lamps of
+the early Christians, many of which were exceedingly interesting.
+Householders in England, and in America, too, preferred the beautiful
+silver candlesticks and those charming and artistic scrolls which once
+decorated the walls of the houses of the well-to-do. There came a time,
+however, when oil lamps were reinstated, and although candles still held
+sway and were difficult to displace, inventors and makers of oil lamps
+began to compete for the lighting industry. The three old lamps now in
+the Cardiff Museum, shown in Fig. 15, must be classed among the commoner
+types of early lamps, once plentiful in farmhouses and cottages.
+
+The lamp used on the table in Victorian days was the moderator lamp, the
+principle of which was a spring forcing the oil up through the
+burner--but such lamps have no claim upon the curio hunter either for
+beauty of form or rarity of material. These lamps, which burned colza or
+seed oil, were superseded in time by paraffin and petroleum lamps. Now
+and then some wonderful invention flashed across the scene, but although
+various modern improved burners have come and gone, the lamp, excepting
+for purposes of ornament and decorative effect, has given way to coal
+gas and, in more modern times, to electric lighting. There are few
+household curios of any value associated with oil lighting, and as yet
+gas is too new!
+
+
+Lanterns.
+
+The portable lantern made of iron and tin and glazed with horn was long
+an indispensable feature in every household. Horn lanterns were carried
+about everywhere in the days before street lighting was general, and to
+some extent they are needed in country districts to-day. There is a
+remarkable similarity between the modern glass lanterns of circular type
+and the old watchman's lanterns of a couple of centuries ago. The same
+design seems to have served the purpose through many generations, and to
+have been duplicated again and again. Among the ancient lanterns are
+some in which candles have been burned, and others where the candle
+socket has been utilized for the insertion of a socket oil lamp. In more
+modern times the horn has given place to glass. The carriage lamps of
+former days served their purposes well, and although some are certainly
+antique, they are by no means desirable curios. The light they gave when
+driving through a country lane was indeed a dim flicker compared with
+the powerful arcs of the modern motor-car.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 17.--FINE PAIR OF ANCIENT SNUFFERS.]
+
+The beacon fire is no longer seen on housetops, neither is the lantern
+in the yard and the vestibule furnished with a candle; but curiously
+enough, even in the most modern appointed houses, so great is the love
+for the antique in the furnishings of to-day, that beautifully modelled
+little replicas of the old horn lanterns are hung in entrance halls and
+passages--but instead of the candle there is the electric bulb!
+
+
+
+
+IV
+
+TABLE APPOINTMENTS
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+TABLE APPOINTMENTS
+
+     Cutlery: Knives, forks, and spoons--Salt cellars--Cruet
+     stands--Punch and toddy--Porringers and cups--Trays and
+     waiters--The tea table--Cream jugs--Sugar tongs and
+     nippers--Caddies--Cupids--Nutcrackers--Turned woodware.
+
+
+It is very difficult to realize in these days of refinement and of
+comparative luxury, even in the homes of the working classes, what the
+table appointments must have been in early English homes. Sometimes
+glowing accounts are given of the feasting of olden time; but no doubt
+many of the great occasions contrasted in their luxurious magnificence
+with the usual mode of living. They were, however, the days of feeding
+rather than of refinement in partaking of the sumptuous feast. The table
+appointments on such occasions were crude and simple, and they were
+altogether absent from the tables of the lower classes. It is difficult,
+indeed, to realize that the conditions under which people lived in
+mediaeval England, in the days when the baron and his followers assembled
+in the great hall, and with his chosen companions sat above the salt,
+satisfied men of wealth; it was, however, in accord with the spirit of
+the age.
+
+The primitive methods of serving up food and eating it observed by the
+majority of people then would be looked upon with disgust nowadays by
+every one. The table appointments were not only very few, but those
+which were used, like the knife and spoon, were often brought into the
+feasting hall by those who were to use them. The polished oaken board
+was often laden with rough and readily prepared dishes, the result of
+some fortunate expedition or of a prosperous hunt. The knife was the
+chief implement used until comparatively recent days, for forks are
+quite a modern innovation. The spoon, it is true, goes back to hoary
+antiquity, but in England, even in the Middle Ages, spoons were used
+chiefly for ecclesiastical purposes. In Harrison's _Elizabethan England_
+we read that the times had changed, for instead of "treen platters"
+there were pewter plates, and tin or silver spoons instead of wood.
+
+
+Cutlery: Knives, Forks, and Spoons.
+
+The term "cutlery," derived from _coutellerie_, the French for cutlery,
+had been evolved from _culter_, the Latin for knife. Primarily it
+referred to cutting instruments, and especially to knives, but in a
+general way, when speaking of table cutlery, spoons and forks may
+appropriately be included. Early records referring to cutlery
+indiscriminately use the terms knives and swords; indeed, the arms
+granted to the London Cutlers' Company in the sixteenth year of the
+reign of Edward IV are two swords, crossed; later a crest, consisting
+of an elephant bearing a castle, was added. Homer tells us of knives
+carried at the girdle in his day, and describes them as of triangular
+form. The Anglo-Saxons and the Normans carried about with them met-soex
+or eating knives, but it was not until the end of the fifteenth century
+that knives were used at table, other than those which were carried at
+the girdle, every man using his own cutlery. In England, Sheffield was
+early noted for the manufacture of knives, for Chaucer tells us, "A
+Scheffeld thwitel bare he in his hose." Another form of spelling the
+word which denoted knife was _troytel_, and from these terms is derived
+"whittle." The jack knife came in in the days of James I, after whom it
+was named, the original term being Jacques-te-leg, these knives shutting
+into a groove or handle without spring or lock.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 18.--HANDSOMELY DECORATED KNIFE CASE AND CONTENTS.
+
+(_In the Victoria and Albert Museum._)]
+
+The making of a table knife even in early times necessitated the work of
+many hands, for taking part in its production were the smiths who forged
+it, the bladers who made the blade out of the metal already hammered,
+and the haft-makers. When the knife was complete it was handed to the
+sheath-makers, who fashioned the sheath of leather, and sometimes
+encased it in metal. The host did not provide table cutlery for his
+guests until the reign of Elizabeth. In earlier times it was left to the
+traveller to provide himself with whatever he deemed necessary; thus it
+is recorded that when Henry VI made a tour in the north he carried with
+him knife, fork, and spoon, as it was stated "he scarcely expected to
+find any at the houses of the nobility." From that custom, no doubt,
+arose the common practice of fitting separate sets, and afterwards sets
+for more than one person, in cases, the materials used being for many
+years the beautifully embossed _cuir boulli_ leather work. Queen
+Elizabeth carried her knife and other appointments at her girdle, a
+custom followed by her ladies; although it is said that at the Court of
+the virgin queen it was customary for the gentlemen courtiers to cut up
+the meat on the platters of the fair ones with whom they were dining;
+the ladies at that time being content to prove the truth of the adage,
+"Fingers were made before forks."
+
+Collectors soon realize that there were many forms of knives even
+amongst those specially reserved for table use. Both blades and handles
+have passed through many stages in the gradual evolution from the
+hunting knife to the cutlery on the modern dinner table. The blades have
+been narrow and pointed like daggers, and they have been
+scimitar-shaped, and rounded off at the point. The qualities of the
+material have changed, too, Sheffield cutlers and those of other places
+vying with one another. The cutlery trade has long drifted north,
+although at one time the members of the London Cutlers' Company were
+proud of the quality of their goods, and boasted of their knives being
+"London made, haft and blade." This ancient Guild tried hard to maintain
+their pre-eminence, and in the days of Elizabeth obtained a Charter
+prohibiting all strangers from bringing any knives into England from
+beyond the seas.
+
+The carving knife seems to have had a separate descent from the large
+hunting knives used to cut up barons of beef, roasted oxen, and portions
+which were cut off the joint for each individual or for several persons.
+
+Forks for table use were a much later invention, although there were
+larger meat forks, flesh forks, and heavier iron kitchen appliances (see
+Chapter V).
+
+In very early times small forks, of which there are some in the
+Guildhall Museum dating from Roman and Saxon times, were chiefly used
+for fruit. The use of forks at table, for meat, is attributed to the
+invention of an Italian, and the custom thus started rapidly spread "in
+good society" on the Continent of Europe. Thomas Coryate, a noted
+traveller, is said to have introduced them into Germany, and afterwards
+into England, where their use was at first much ridiculed as effeminate,
+the "fork-carving" traveller being spoken of in contempt.
+
+Forks were in regular use in England early in the sixteenth century.
+Dean Stanley, in his _Memorials of Westminster Abbey_, quotes from the
+Chapter Book of 1554, in which it is stated by Dean Weston (1553-6) that
+the College dinners "became somewhat disorderly, _forks_ and knives were
+tossed freely to and fro." The old table forks were two-pronged, the
+prongs being long and set near together; the steel forks of the early
+nineteenth century were three-pronged, and another prong was added
+later, the latter form being adapted by the makers of silver forks in
+more recent years.
+
+In Fig. 18 is shown a very handsome knife case and its contents, which
+are to be seen in the Victoria and Albert Museum. In Fig. 19 another
+example of a set of knife, fork, and spoon in the same collection is
+illustrated.
+
+The spoon is, like the knife, of great antiquity. It is said to have
+been suggested by shells on the shore, and by the hollow of the hand
+which in the most primitive days was used to drink with. The most
+beautiful old spoons are those made of silver, a magnificent pair being
+shown in Fig. 20. Many such spoons are now almost priceless, especially
+the much-valued Apostle spoons, often given in olden time as christening
+gifts. Silver spoons more correctly belong to antique silver, which
+forms another branch of curio-collecting.
+
+Of spoons there are many made of other materials than silver, some being
+carved in wood (see Chapter XIII), others of ivory, and some of bone.
+Many of the older spoons were made of brass or latten; but when silver
+became popular table spoons of silver were procured whenever it was
+possible to afford them, and a collection including in the varieties the
+Apostle and the seal top, and its various developments from the rat-tail
+to the fiddle, is obtainable. As regarding spoons Westman has written:
+"The spoon is one of the first things wanted when we come into the
+world, and it is one of the last things we part with before we go out."
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 19.--KNIFE, FORK, AND SPOON.
+
+(_In the Victoria and Albert Museum._)]
+
+The collector revels in the beautifully engraved blades of the rarer
+curios; in the handles so varied in their materials and ornament; and in
+the cases in which knives, forks, and spoons have in many instances been
+preserved. From the curios in museums and from family treasures it is
+evident that much of the cutlery has been presented as donations to the
+housekeeping outfit of a newly-married couple, or given as presentation
+sets or pieces on some special occasion; just as cutlery is often chosen
+for presentation purposes to-day.
+
+From the sixteenth century onwards such sets have been made and
+presented. The recently arranged cutlery room in the Victoria and Albert
+Museum at South Kensington, that great art treasure-house of the nation,
+contains an exceptionally representative collection. In some instances
+the examples are only single specimens which may have been presented
+separately, or they may have formed part of a more complete set. There
+are sets of carving knives with long blades, forks with double prongs,
+and broad-pointed flat-bladed servers, many of them etched and engraved
+all over. Even after carvers were regular features on the table the
+small knives and forks were brought by the guests who were bidden to the
+feast, for it must be remembered that it was not until 1670 that Prince
+Rupert brought the first complete set of forks to this country.
+
+In the Victoria and Albert Museum there is a very beautiful little
+knife, the handle of which is delicately carved, the group which
+constitutes the design representing our first parents standing beneath
+the Tree of Knowledge, in the midst of which the wily serpent is
+cunningly concealed.
+
+Another pair consisting of a very handsome knife and fork have handles
+representing animals and grotesque figures. These were the work of Dutch
+artists in the seventeenth century; but curiously enough the quaint
+leather case in which this knife and fork are enclosed was evidently of
+earlier date, for it has upon it "1598." Some of the cases of leather
+made by the _cuir boulli_ process are circular, there being separate
+holes for each of the knives they were intended to contain. Some of the
+knives are very curious, especially those with wooden or horn handles of
+sixteenth and early seventeenth-century make, which have been found in
+considerable numbers in Moorfields and Finsbury, along with sharpening
+steels. The ordinary table knives of a little later date, when they were
+sold in half-dozens and dozens along with two-pronged forks, were
+decorative, their handles being made of materials varying in quality and
+in the excellence of their manufacture. One of the most beautiful sets
+of rare historic value now on view in the Victoria and Albert Museum is
+part of a set of fourteen, the ivory handles being carved to represent
+the kings and queens of England. These rare examples of the English
+cutler's and ivory carver's art, dated 1607, have blades damascened with
+gold. There are knives also with handles of amber, one very remarkable
+set in amber over foil being decorated with the figure of Christ and His
+Apostles on one side of the handles, and on the other side there is the
+Apostles' Creed.
+
+Among other materials used in the manufacture of handles for knives and
+forks, some of the latter having two prongs and others three, chiefly
+made in the eighteenth century, are: Battersea enamel on copper,
+Staffordshire agate ware, Meissen porcelain, Venetian millefiore glass,
+Bow porcelain, jasper, Venetian aventurine glass, enamelled earthenware,
+and Chantilly porcelain. In many instances these handles made of such
+beautiful materials are further decorated by miniature painted scenes
+and floral ornaments. Another favourite material is bone, some of the
+older handles being stained, mostly green, afterwards decorated with
+applied silver in floral and geometrical designs. There are a few
+maple-wood handles of the eighteenth century, and others of stag's horn
+and of shagreen.
+
+The knife box with its divisions, referred to elsewhere, is exemplified
+in many remarkably fine cases to be seen in our museums and in isolated
+specimens in private collections.
+
+The interest in a collection of household utensils is greatly enhanced
+by the halo of romance which surrounds the uses of some of them. This is
+seen and understood by the collector of cutlery perhaps more than of
+anything else, for many old customs have been associated with the giving
+of cutlery, and superstitious beliefs have crept in.
+
+The gift of cutlery at weddings was not always the prosaic thing it is
+nowadays, for the cases and even the knives were often accompanied by
+some sentimental rhyme or poetic inscription. Two knives, apparently the
+gift of bride and bridegroom to one another, now in the British Museum,
+are engraved with separate inscriptions. One reads:--
+
+    "My love is fixt I will not range,
+    I like my choice I will not change";
+
+while on the other is engraved:--
+
+    "Witt, wealth, and beauty all doe well
+    But constant love doth fair excell. 1676."
+
+The early uses of knives in association with religious rites are
+interesting, as, for instance, the golden knife with which the old
+Druids cut the mistletoe with pomp and much mystic ceremony. The early
+Christians made use of the knife and symbolized the cross when feasting;
+indeed, the old country habit--which is now deemed a sign of
+vulgarity--of crossing the knife and fork after dining, took its origin
+in that act of devotion, for together they form the Greek cross.
+Browning refers to the custom when he says:--
+
+    "Knife and fork he never lays
+    Crosswise, to my recollection,
+    As I do in Jesu's praise."
+
+In Russia this custom of the peasantry was deep-rooted; and there they
+were careful to take up the knife and fork and lay them down on the
+plate crossed before commencing their often meagre meal.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 20.--PAIR OF DECORATED SPOONS.
+
+(_In the Victoria and Albert Museum._)]
+
+Strange to say that although knives and forks have been crossed in
+reverence, to cross knives has been deemed unlucky, and to present a
+maiden with a pair of scissors--two crossed blades--has long been held
+by those who believe in such signs as unlucky. To give a knife is to
+"cut luck"--so the legend runs; hence so many when presenting a pocket
+knife will demand a penny (as the smallest coin when silver pennies were
+in circulation) in return. The Rev. Samuel Bishop, M.A., Master of the
+Merchant Taylors' School in 1795, wrote the following lines on the
+subject of presenting a knife to his wife:--
+
+    "A knife, dear girl, cuts love, they say--
+    Mere modish love perhaps it may:
+      For any tool of any kind
+    Can separate what was never join'd."
+
+
+Salt Cellars.
+
+The condiments of the table were usually supplied in separate vessels.
+The use of salt with meat goes back to primitive times, although we have
+few records of the vessels in which it was served. The Arab chief offers
+his guest salt as an act of friendship, and as such it is partaken of.
+The classic Ancients consecrated salt before using it, and the salt
+cellar was placed upon the table together with the first fruits "for the
+gods," those to whom they were offered being generally Hercules or
+Mercury. The Greek salt cellars were shaped like bowls, and as the salt
+became an important feature as a dividing line between rich and poor,
+the size of the cellar grew. To realize the importance of the salt
+cellar in mediaeval England, we have only to visit the Tower of London,
+where the great salt cellars of State are kept. The large standing salt
+was the dividing line upon the table. Salt cellars dating from the
+fourteenth century are in existence, and many curiously shaped designs
+intervened before the bell-shaped salts which were fashionable in the
+days of Elizabeth and the trencher salts of Queen Anne and the early
+Georges. Salt cellars with feet came into fashion in the reign of George
+II; then followed many minor changes until the beautifully perforated
+salt cellars with blue liners bearing hall-marks dating from the close
+of the eighteenth century came into vogue. It is from among the Georgian
+table appointments that collectors gather most of their specimens. The
+materials of which these salt cellars were made vary; there are sterling
+silver, antique pewter, and Sheffield plate; and there are salt cellars
+of china and porcelain which may well be included in a collection of
+table curios.
+
+
+Cruet Stands.
+
+The separate bottles or cruets, casters, mustard pots, and very rarely
+salts, were gradually gathered together and placed in a frame which grew
+big in late Georgian and early Victorian days. For convenience the stand
+was placed in the centre of the table, and often made to revolve. Such
+cruets are met with in silver and other metals, also in papier-mache,
+often ornamented with mother-o'-pearl and painted flowers. The greatest
+interest, however, is found in collecting separate bottles, such as
+those charming Bristol glass cruets, ornamented with flowers and
+lettered with the names of their contents, such as "VINEGAR," "SALAD
+OIL," "MUSTARD," "PEPPER."
+
+There is a greater variety of form in the metal cruets and casters,
+which followed the prevailing styles silversmiths were then employing.
+Especially graceful are the old pepperettes and vase-shaped casters. The
+woodturner, too, contributed to the table appointments of the eighteenth
+century, and the carver made some curious and even grotesque figures,
+the heads of which took off, and thus formed pepper casters. One of the
+most noted grotesque sets reminds us of the Toby fill-pot jugs in form,
+a complete set consisting of two salts, two mustards, and two pepper
+pots. Genuine specimens are very difficult to meet with now, although
+those Staffordshire cruets have been reproduced, and are offered either
+singly or in sets; but the difference between the genuine antique and
+the modern replica ought not to deceive even an amateur.
+
+There are varieties of mustard pots, which were in turn round, oval,
+square, hexagonal, and cylindrical, some being like miniature well
+buckets with perforated sides and blue metal liners.
+
+
+Punch and Toddy.
+
+A hundred years ago the punch bowl was inseparable from the convivial
+feast. It was a favourite sideboard ornament, and found in frequent use
+on the dining table, round which smokers and card players drew up and
+filled their glasses with punch and toddy. Ladles were indispensable,
+and were varied in form and in the materials of which they were
+composed. Punch ladles were in earlier days made of cherry-wood, mounted
+with a silver rim and fitted with a long handle, often made of twisted
+horn. The horn, which was somewhat pliable, was secured to the bowl by
+a silver socket. Other ladles were made entirely of silver, some having
+a current coin of the realm, a guinea preferably, fixed in the bottom of
+the bowl--for luck. Some of the ladles were beautifully decorated in
+repousse, others were shaped like sauce boats; there were ladles without
+lips, others deep like the porringers, and yet others were quite round
+like a drinking bowl. Some are family heirlooms, others have been
+purchased in curio shops, and unfortunately during the last few years so
+great has been the demand for them that many modern copies have been
+palmed off as genuine antiques. The hall-mark on the rim is in many
+instances a guarantee of age, although some of the genuine specimens do
+not appear to have been hall-marked at all. The fact that an old coin is
+found fixed within the bowl is no criterion of antiquity, and does not
+always indicate that the punch ladle itself is contemporary with the
+coin, for old coins are common enough and readily fixed in new ladles.
+
+Collectors of old china simply revel in punch bowls. Punch was at the
+height of its popularity when most of the domestic porcelain and
+decorative china, now rare and valuable, was being made. The best known
+potters in Worcester, Derby, Bristol, Liverpool, and the Potteries made
+punch bowls, some ornamented with their characteristic decorations;
+others were specially emblematical, such, for instance, as the bowls
+covered with masonic signs; some were nautical in design, and many were
+enriched with coats of arms and crests. Several of the punch bowls
+belonging to the old City Companies are on view in the Guildhall Museum,
+and isolated specimens are seen to be in other places.
+
+Oriental china was at that time being imported into this country very
+extensively, and some remarkably delicate bowls, contrasting with
+Mason's strong ironstone, are obtainable. These bowls, ladles, and the
+charming little egg-shaped boxes which formerly contained a nutmeg and a
+tiny grater are household table furnishings of exceptional interest. It
+may interest some to learn that punch, which came into vogue in the
+seventeenth century, derived its name from a Hindustani word signifying
+five, indicative of the five ingredients of which it was
+composed--spirit, water, sugar, lemon, and spice.
+
+
+Porringers and Cups.
+
+Although sterling silver and other materials from which drinking vessels
+are usually made have been exhaustively dealt with in other volumes of
+the "Chats" series, as table appointments drinking cups must be referred
+to here. Caudle cups were in use in the sixteenth century, and
+throughout the century that followed they were used along with
+porringers, which differed from them only in that the mouths of the
+porringers were wider and the sides straight. The caudle cup, sometimes
+called a posset cup, is met with both without and with cover, and in
+some instances it is accompanied by a stand or tray. Caudle or posset
+was a drink consisting of milk curdled with wine, and in the days when
+it was drunk few went to bed without a cup of smoking hot posset. Many
+of the early cups were beautifully embossed and florally ornamented,
+although others were quite plain, with the exception of an engraved
+shield, on which was a coat of arms, crest, or monogram. Many of the
+porringers which followed the earlier type were octagonal, and in some
+instances twelve-sided. In the reign of William and Mary the rage for
+Chinese figures and ornaments caused English silversmiths to decorate
+porringers with similar designs. The style which prevailed the longest
+was that known as "Queen Anne," much copied in modern replicas. Very
+pleasing, too, are eighteenth-century miniature porringers.
+
+There is much to please in the work of the silversmith and potter, as
+well as the glass blower, in the cups they fashioned; and the artist
+admires the chased engraving or the rich colouring, and perchance the
+etching and cutting of the cup. Some, however, show preference for the
+earlier cups and drinking vessels of commoner materials, and for those
+eccentricities of the table found in curious hunting cups, vessels which
+had to be emptied at a draught, or to be drunk under the most difficult
+conditions like the puzzle cups of Staffordshire make. The peg tankards
+of ancient date, a very fine example originally belonging to the Abbey
+of Glastonbury, afterwards in the possession of Lord Arundel of Wardour,
+held two quarts, the pegs dividing its contents into half-pints
+according to the Winchester standard. On that remarkable cup the twelve
+Apostles were carved round the sides, and on the lid was the scene at
+the Crucifixion.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 21.--TWO WOODEN CUPS.
+
+FIG. 22.--WOODEN FLAGON, WITH COPPER BANDS.
+
+(_In the National Museum of Wales._)]
+
+[Illustration: FIGS. 23, 24.--COCOANUT CUPS (SILVER-MOUNTED).
+
+FIG. 25.--COCOANUT FLAGON.]
+
+It is said that the pegs were first ordered by Edgar, the Saxon king, to
+prevent excessive drinking, the tankard being passed round, every man
+being expected to drink down to the next peg. Heywood, in his
+_Philocathonista_, says: "Of drinking cups, divers and sundry sorts we
+have, some of elm, some of box, and some of maple and holly." According
+to the quaint spelling of those days there were then in use in Merrie
+England: "Mazers, noqqins, whiskins, piggins, cringes, ale-bowls, wassel
+bowls, tankard and kames from a pottle to a pint and from a pint to a
+gill." The leather cups and tankards or black jacks (see Chapter VIII)
+were mostly used in country places by "shepheards and harvesters." A
+writer in a work published in the early years of the nineteenth century
+says: "Besides metal and wood and pottery we have cups of hornes of
+beasts, of cocker nuts, of goords, of eggs of ostriches, and of the
+shells of divers fishes."
+
+A simple cocoanut, mounted in silver and made into a cup, perhaps a
+century or more ago, is by no means to be despised. Some are beautifully
+polished and ornamented with incised work. Contemporary with the earlier
+specimens are pots made of ostrich eggs, mounted in silver, regarded of
+great value in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Some of the
+university colleges possess fine examples, and there are many in the
+hands of London silversmiths. Figs. 23 and 24 represent two cocoanut
+cups with feet of silver, one engraved with the owner's initials, the
+foot being decorated with bead ornament. Fig. 25 is a cocoanut mounted
+as a flagon with handle of whalebone and rim and foot of silver. The
+use of such cups seems to have been very generally distributed all over
+the world, for there are many South American examples, as well as the
+English varieties. The gourd, too, was used for similar purposes; the
+Mexicans made such bowls and cups, finishing them off with silver mounts
+and sometimes adding silver feet. There are French flasks made of small
+gourds, sometimes scent flasks being made in the same way, not
+infrequently decorated with incised inlays of coloured composition on a
+black ground. Some of the English silversmiths engraved hunting scenes
+on small flasks made of the rind of a gourd, choosing hunting scenes and
+birds and familiar outdoor objects.
+
+In Figs. 21 and 21A are shown two curious old wood drinking cups, and
+Fig. 22 represents a wooden jug bound with copper.
+
+Horn was a favourite material for cups, sometimes surmounted by
+elaborate covers and feet of silver. One of the rarest drinking horns,
+now in Queen's College, Oxford, was presented to the College by the
+Queen of Edward III in 1340. Of later types there are beakers and
+tumbler cups, the latter rounded at the base so that they were easily
+upset, the idea being that they must be emptied at the first draught.
+From these cups sprang the quaint hunting cups in porcelain, modelled in
+the form of a hare's head, or like a fox, some of the scarcest being
+evidently modelled for the fisherman's use, to take the form of a fish's
+head.
+
+The very remarkable drinking cup shown in Fig. 27 is made of walnut;
+the ridges, carved in deep relief, stand out boldly, each one being
+carved, the letters forming a complete metaphor, to which is added the
+name of its original owner, the inscription reading as follows:--
+
+    "TAKE . NOT . FROM . ME .
+    AL . MY . STOR . AXCP . YE .
+    FILL . ME . VEE . SVME . MOR .
+    FOR . AV . TO . BORROV .
+    AND . NEVER . TO . PAY .
+    I . CALL . THAT .
+    FOVLL . PLAY .
+    ION WATSON 1695."
+
+
+Trays and Waiters.
+
+In olden time not very far from the dining table stood the cupboard or
+buffet from which evolved the sideboard. On it were displayed the cups
+and flagons and table appointments not actually in use. It is true the
+servants carried the great dishes from the kitchen, and removed the
+lesser vessels on trays and "waiters," and it is such trays, especially
+those in silver and Sheffield plate used in the last century, which are
+now valuable. The waiter or serving man or woman has been an essential
+feature in domestic service from the earliest times, for the history of
+society invariably records those who wait at table:--
+
+    "The waiters stand in ranks; the yeomen cry
+    'Make room,' as if a duke were passing by."
+                                  SWIFT.
+
+It is an easy remove from the waiter to the tray or vessel on which the
+waiters carried the things they served up to those on whom they waited.
+The name "salver," commonly applied to a tray or waiter, seems to have
+originated from the old custom of tasting meats before they were served,
+to salve or save their employers from harm. Among the more valuable are
+the trays or waiters of silver and Sheffield plate. Trays made of iron
+and japanned after the fashion of Japanese metal lacquer wares, which
+towards the close of the eighteenth century were so largely imported
+into this country, are often neglected, yet many of them are truly
+antiquarian and by no means unlovely.
+
+One of the chief seats of the industry was at Pontypool, but the
+business drifted to Birmingham. It was when the japan wares, so called
+from the attempt of the makers to copy the lacquers of Japan then much
+imported, were being successfully made amidst surroundings then
+exceedingly romantic in the little town singularly situated on a steep
+cliff overhanging the Avon Llwyd, that dealers found trays,
+breadbaskets, snuffer trays, knife trays, caddies, and urns much in
+request. In Bishopsgate Street Without, in London, there is a noted wine
+house known as the "Dirty Dick." This curious title was derived from the
+owner of a famous hardware store who kept it, and was dubbed "Dirty
+Dick" because of his untidy shop. The wild disorder of the establishment
+gave rise to a popular ballad of which the following are two of the
+first lines:--
+
+    "A curious hardware shop in general full
+    Of wares from Birmingham and Pontypool."
+
+In addition to japanned wares there are trays of paper pulp ornamented
+with mother-o'-pearl and richly decorated with gold.
+
+
+The Tea Table.
+
+The modern tea table presents a much less formal array of china and good
+things than that of a generation or two back when high tea was an
+important function, and the good wife of the household loaded her table
+with many substantial dishes. The best china was taken from the
+cupboard, and family heirlooms in silver were arrayed on either side of
+the teapot. Needless to say the teapot was an indispensable adjunct, and
+some of the teapots belonging to the old sets are massive and gorgeous,
+rather than beautiful, although the earlier teapots made in this country
+in the eighteenth century, a time when tea was expensive and a real
+luxury, were quite small.
+
+There are many curiosities, too--such, for instance, as the Chinese
+teapots of the Ming period, when the potters seem to have vied with one
+another in producing grotesque forms, and from china clay fashioned
+objects which typified their mythological beliefs. Some of these teapots
+took the form of curious sea-horses represented as swimming in waves of
+green and amidst seaweed. Some of these fabulous beasts are spotted over
+with splashes of colour, and others have curious twig-like formations
+upon their sides, said to denote pieces of coral and water plants from
+the ocean. The teapot was at one time most frequently filled from the
+pretty little oval copper or brass kettle on the hob, or from a swing
+kettle on a stand on the table. The table kettle was generally heated by
+a spirit lamp which kept the water boiling ready for use. Of later years
+silver table appointments of early eighteenth-century make have become
+very scarce, and the curio value of the larger pieces has steadily
+risen. It would seem as if the maximum figure had been reached for
+silver of that period, for at the sale of the Fitzhenry collection a
+plain kettle and stand, an example of Ambrose Stevenson's work in 1717,
+realized L697.
+
+
+Cream Jugs.
+
+The cream jug included in the tea and coffee sets of silver or metal,
+and in the tea china of which so many beautiful sets are still extant,
+has almost an independent position in connection with table
+appointments, for ever since tea drinking became general it was regarded
+as a necessity, and was made in accord with the then prevailing styles.
+It is almost the commonest collectable antique in this particular group.
+In silver it was always hall-marked, and its date can, therefore, be
+fixed. Briefly outlining the development of its form, it may be
+mentioned that it was quite plain in the reign of Queen Anne, when tea
+drinking came into fashion. When George I came to the throne it was
+widened somewhat and made a little shorter. At that time the silver
+cream jugs were hammered into shape out of a flat sheet, there being no
+seam; after the body was formed a rim was added and a lip put on. There
+was a deeper rim in the reign of George II, and then feet took the place
+of rims.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 26.--EARLY ENGLISH BRONZE EWER.
+
+(_In the British Museum._)]
+
+Gradually Chippendale carving and the shaped legs of the furniture then
+being used were reflected even in the cream jug, the lip in those days
+being hammered out of the body of the vessel with a graceful curve. Rims
+again took the place of feet in the reign of George III, and the tall
+legged cream jug came into vogue. The body was decorated with repousse
+work or engraved, and the shape gradually changed until the familiar
+helmet-shaped cream jug resulted. The helmet cream jugs were beautifully
+engraved with ribbon and wreath decoration, and frequently there was a
+beaded pattern round the rim and the handle. The same styles prevailed
+both in Sheffield plate and in Britannia metal, often misnamed pewter.
+The decoration on the china cream jugs was frequently floral, but in
+those made in the leading potteries there was a distinct following of
+the public style.
+
+
+Sugar Tongs and Nippers.
+
+With the use of lump sugar late in the eighteenth century sugar tongs
+were added to the table appointments, and their decoration and ornament
+usually followed that of teaspoons. They were sometimes engraved with
+the crests or initials of the owners, and occasionally, in the case of
+wedding presents, with the initials of both the master and mistress of
+the household, one being placed inside the sugar tongs and the other on
+the arch outside. In connection with the cutting of lump sugar steel
+sugar nippers were much used in the kitchen before lump sugar was bought
+from the grocer ready cut up. These nippers, some of the earlier ones
+being chased and engraved, have now passed into the region of household
+curios.
+
+
+Caddies.
+
+As the tea table would be incomplete without the beverage brewed from
+tea-leaves it follows as a natural sequence that the housewife has
+always required a storebox for her supply, and in some cases one in
+which she could keep under lock and key more than one variety. When tea
+was first imported into this country it was sent over from China in a
+_kati_, a small wooden box holding about 1-1/3 lb.; hence the name
+passed on to the more elaborate receptacles on the sideboard containing
+the household supply. These boxes were mostly fashioned in accord with
+the furniture, many having the well-known Sheraton shell design on the
+lid, or on the front of the box. Some are square-sided, others tapered,
+generally finished with beautiful little brass caddy balls as feet, and
+often with brass ring handles and ornaments. The inside of the caddy was
+divided into two compartments, usually boxes lined with lead or lead
+paper, and frequently a central compartment for a sugar bowl was added.
+In nearly all the better boxes there was provision for the silver caddy
+spoon with which to apportion the accustomed supply.
+
+
+Chelsea and Bow Cupids.
+
+Those curious little boy figures known as Chelsea and Bow Cupids are for
+the most part classed with ornaments, but they more appropriately
+belong to table appointments, for in olden time when the cloth had been
+removed these curious little figures were placed upon the mahogany or
+oaken board along with the dessert, as if to guard the fruit and the
+wine. The Cupids are garlanded with flowers, baskets of which they have
+in their hands--delightful little figures when genuine antiques. They
+vary in size and are said to have been divided in the past as "small"
+and "large" boys.
+
+
+Nutcrackers.
+
+Many a famous joke has been cracked over the "walnuts and wine." It was
+when the board was cleared of the viands that the nuts and fruit were
+partaken of. The edible nuts mostly favoured before foreign supplies
+came into the market were the hazel, walnut, chestnut, and the famous
+Kent filberts. Although doubtless supplemented by any objects handy, the
+primitive method of cracking nuts with the teeth was generally practised
+by the common people. What more natural than for the early inventor to
+see in the human head the "box" in which to place his mechanical device
+and to give power and leverage by utilizing the legs of the man he had
+carved in wood. In the Middle Ages some remarkable carvings were
+produced, mostly working on the same lines as the earliest forms. In the
+seventeenth century, when metal crackers came into vogue, pressure was
+applied by means of a screw, and the contemporary wood crackers were
+designed on that principle. Afterwards the older type of cracker was
+revived, both in wood and metal; subsequently the simpler form at
+present in use was adopted.
+
+Here and there in museums and among domestic relics odd pairs of these
+old crackers are discovered. The interest in them, however, grows when
+several early examples are placed side by side. There are a few
+instances of specialized collections, and through the courtesy of Mr.
+Charles Evans, of Nailsea Court, who possesses a unique collection of
+all periods, we are able to illustrate a variety of forms. Fig. 31
+represents a very early pair of nutcrackers, probably made in the
+fourteenth century; the one shown in Fig. 34 has the Elizabethan ruff
+round the neck of the carved head; and Figs. 28, 29, and 30 represent
+the screw period, Fig. 28 being an early example. One of the finest
+pieces in the collection is Fig. 29, a cracker in the form of a hooded
+monk; Fig. 30 being a charming bit of wood-carving in walnut wood, a
+somewhat grotesque figure representing an old fiddler. Fig. 33 is a
+curious cracker combining a useful pick almost in the form of the bill
+of a bird, Fig. 32 being of similar date. The next group shows the
+evolution from the metal screw to the more ordinary types, Figs. 36 and
+38 being screw nutcrackers; 35, 37, and 39 being quaint examples of
+early metal nutcrackers modelled on more modern form. Such curios are
+extremely interesting, and whether exhibited as specimens of carving or
+of metal work, or used as table ornaments combining utility and
+antiquarian interest, they are well worth securing.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 27.--INSCRIBED SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY WOOD DRINKING
+CUP.
+
+(_In Taunton Castle Museum._)]
+
+
+[Illustration: FIGS. 28-30.--EARLY CARVED WOOD NUTCRACKERS.
+
+(_In the collection of Mr. Charles Evans, of Nailsea Court._)]
+
+
+Turned Woodware.
+
+Table appointments have afforded amateur wood-turners and carvers
+opportunities of showing their skill. Even before the days of modern
+lathes with eccentric chucks and other improvements, turners were very
+clever in producing little articles for table use, and in their making
+expended a wealth of skill and time. Among these were pepper boxes and
+wooden salt cellars, and carved wooden spoons, especially salad servers,
+which are even still made and delicately carved, the Swiss peasants
+being famous for such work. One of the village occupations during winter
+evenings in years gone by was to make wooden objects, although most of
+their efforts were directed in other ways than table appointments (see
+Chapter XIII, Fig. 85).
+
+
+On the Sideboard.
+
+Not far removed from the dining table is the sideboard or buffet, so
+important a piece of furniture in the dining hall, for on it were
+formerly displayed table appointments and emblems of the feast. The
+urn-shaped knife boxes which were so often placed on either side were
+chiefly of mahogany, sometimes inlaid with satinwood and often with
+those rare shell-like ornaments which became so popular in the days of
+Chippendale and Sheraton. The compartments in which were placed the
+table knives prevented either blades or handles from being rubbed.
+Copper and metal urns were frequently conspicuous on the sideboard,
+although many of the small tables so much treasured now as antiques in
+the drawing-room were originally made for urns to stand upon.
+
+There are many beautiful curios of the home made of wood, among them
+being such rare gems as wood screens and the frames of hand screens,
+some of which screwed on to the ends of the mantelpieces with small
+clamps.
+
+[Illustration: FIGS. 31-34.--MEDIAEVAL WOOD NUTCRACKERS.]
+
+[Illustration: FIGS. 35-39.--EARLY STEEL AND BRASS NUTCRACKERS.
+
+(_In the collection of Mr. Charles Evans, of Nailsea Court._)]
+
+
+
+
+V
+
+THE KITCHEN
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 40.--TWO ANTIQUE WARMING PANS.
+
+(_In the Victoria and Albert Museum._)]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 41.--WELSH KITCHEN FIREPLACE.
+
+(_In the National Museum of Wales._)]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+THE KITCHEN
+
+     The kitchen grate--Boilers and kettles--Grills and
+     gridirons--Cooking utensils--Warming pans.
+
+
+It is in the kitchen and the pantry that domestic economy centres. The
+very essence of home life is found in the preparation of suitable food
+in which to satisfy human appetites. Whether the kitchen is furnished
+with apparatus sufficient to cook for the inmates of a large
+institution, or with the more modest appliances with which a chop or a
+steak can be grilled or a small joint roasted in a gas oven, the basis
+of cooking operations is the same, and the cook requires an outfit of
+culinary utensils small or large, according to what she has been
+accustomed to use or considers necessary for her immediate wants. In
+olden time the kitchen was furnished with fewer accessories in
+proportion to the meat consumed than at the present time, and the large
+hanging caldron and the strong and heavy wrought or cast iron saucepan
+on the fire, and the roasting spit and jack in front of it, went a long
+way towards completing the outfit. The gradual advance and increase in
+the furnishings of the kitchen have been the outcome of development and
+progress in culinary art. Since the introduction of scientific cooking
+and the establishment of schools of cookery, the hired cook and the
+mistress who dons the apron and assumes the role of the economic
+housewife have learned to appreciate the use of modern culinary
+appliances, lighter in weight and convenient to handle. These differ
+according to the purposes for which they are to be used.
+
+Hygienic conditions now regarded as essential have displaced many of the
+older cooking pots which have been condemned as injurious to health.
+Greater knowledge of the chemistry of cooking, and of the action of
+acids upon metals, has enabled the scientific cook to differentiate
+between the pots and pans to use according to the various foods
+prepared. The beautifully finished light, handy, and convenient
+porcelain-enamelled saucepans and stewpans and aluminium cooking pots
+used on modern gas stoves and ranges, would have been just as unsuitable
+on the open fires of the older grates as what are now regarded as the
+curios of the kitchen would be deemed to be in modern culinary
+operations. In almost every house there are to be found obsolete
+utensils, some of which are valued on account of their great age, others
+because of their unusual forms, and some because of the beauty of
+workmanship and the costly materials of which they have been made. It is
+when turning out the kitchen and storeroom on the occasion of periodical
+cleanings that these old-world pots and pans come to light; at such
+times the collector may be able to secure scarce specimens and rescue
+them from oblivion.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 42.--MECHANICAL ROASTING JACKS.
+
+(_In the collection of Mr. Charles Wayte._)]
+
+It is not always easy to realize what the old kitchen was like when
+these vessels were in use, although in out-of-the-way places kitchens
+may occasionally be discovered in which but little change has been made.
+This is especially so in some of the Welsh villages, and in order that
+visitors may see what such kitchens are like a Welsh cottage fireplace
+showing the objects which might commonly have been found there a century
+ago has been reconstructed in the National Museum of Wales. This we are
+able to reproduce in Fig. 41 by the courtesy of the Director. The grate
+came from Llansantffraid, and was made by a local blacksmith; the spit
+and its bearers came from Glamorgan; the brass pot came from Barry, and
+the dog wheel (referred to on p. 130) from Haverfordwest; most of the
+minor accessories came from different parts of North Wales.
+
+
+The Kitchen Grate.
+
+The kitchen grate has evolved from the open fire; at first in the centre
+of the room, then removed for convenience to the side or end in front of
+which joints of meats were roasted on a spit in olden time. The spit, at
+first quite primitive, was improved upon by local smiths, until quite
+intricate arrangements provided the desired revolutions, and turned the
+meat round and round until it was properly cooked. In the thirteenth
+century the "bellows blower" was an officer in the Royal kitchen, his
+duty being to see that the soup on the fire was neither burnt nor
+smoked. In course of time the bellows blower in lesser households became
+a useful kitchen boy, turning the spit by hand. It would seem, however,
+as if in quite early days efforts were made to economize labour in the
+kitchen, and turn the spit by mechanical contrivances.
+
+In roasting meat sliding prongs held the joint in place, a cage or
+basket being used for roasting poultry. This contrivance, first turned
+by hand, was afterwards accelerated and made more regular by the
+mechanical contrivances just referred to. These appear to have been of
+three different types. There was the clock jack, two splendid specimens
+of which are illustrated in Fig. 42, types becoming exceedingly rare.
+Those illustrated were recently in the possession of Mr. Charles Wayte,
+of Edenbridge, an enthusiastic discoverer of antiquarian metal work in
+out-of-the-way places in Sussex and Kent. Earlier still there was the
+smoke jack or rotary fan fixed in the chimney, operated by an
+up-draught, pulleys and cords being attached to the end of the spit. The
+third method referred to involved the shifting of manual labour from man
+to his domestic beast, for the faithful hound was pressed into the
+service of the cook. The dog worked in a cage, operating a wheel or drum
+which in its turn revolved the turnspit. Such turnspits seem to have had
+a lingering existence, and were occasionally heard of in North Wales
+late in the nineteenth century.
+
+[Illustration: GRIDIRONS SHOWING FOREIGN INFLUENCE IN DESIGN: FIG. 43,
+ITALIAN; FIG. 44, FLEMISH; FIG. 45, DUTCH; FIG. 46, GERMAN.]
+
+Roasting before the fire lingered on long after the old-fashioned iron
+jacks and spits had ceased to be the common method of cooking meat. The
+meat hastener and the Dutch oven conserved and radiated the heat, the
+joint turning slowly by the clockwork mechanism of the improved brass
+bottle jack. As the size of the fireplace narrowed and kitchens were
+built smaller roasting in ovens became popular; the cooker of to-day
+with its hot-plates, grills, and steam chests--whether heated by coal,
+gas, or electricity--presents a remarkable contrast to the old open fire
+grate.
+
+It will readily be understood that the necessary basting of meat
+roasting before the fire involved the use of ladles and other utensils
+before the modern cooking appliances were invented. Most of the old
+vessels were strong and lasting, and the materials employed in their
+construction were iron, copper, and brass. In Fig. 49 we show a
+selection of fat boats and hammered iron grease pans (in the centre of
+the plate is an old mothering-iron from Sussex) typical of the vessels
+used in open fire roasting. To these may be added basting spoons and
+skimmers, in many places called "skummers."
+
+
+Boilers and Kettles.
+
+It is probable that the cooking pot over the fire has been used side by
+side with roasting apparatus from the earliest times, although no doubt
+vessels would be required for boiling foods before roasting, in that
+discoveries show that the earliest method of roasting a piece of meat or
+a small animal was to encase it in clay and then expose it to the fire.
+The clay crust could then be broken and would, of course, have been
+destroyed.
+
+No doubt the crock antedated the bronze pot, which was at first made of
+metal plates hammered and beaten into shape, and then riveted together.
+This method was followed by the craft of the founder, who cast vessels
+after the same model first in bronze and then in iron. The cooking pot
+was indispensable when the food of the common people was chiefly such as
+necessitated a vessel containing liquid; the name of this ancient vessel
+has furnished us with many apt quotations, and it is still the pot so
+many find difficult to keep boiling.
+
+There have been many contrivances by which to suspend the pot over the
+fire. Years ago the usual method of suspension was from a beam of wood
+or a bar of iron placed across the chimney opening--the name by which
+the bar was known in the North of England was a "gallybawk." Simple
+contrivances of metal followed, the suspension hooks and chains leading
+to improved cranes with rack and loop handles.
+
+No doubt many have noticed the apparent indiscriminate use of the term
+"kettle"; the tea kettle as we understand it to-day is a modern
+invention. The old kettle was a boiling pot with a bail handle, its
+modern survivor being the three-legged kettle of the gipsies, and the
+boiling pot or fish kettle of the modern household. Associated with the
+early use of tea kettles slung over a fire is the now scarce lazy-back
+or tilter, at one time common in the West of England and in South Wales.
+
+[Illustration: FIGS. 47, 48.--TWO WOODEN FOOD BOXES.
+
+(_In the Cardiff Museum._)]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 49.--A COLLECTION OF IRON FAT BOATS AND GREASE
+PANS.]
+
+In "Chats on Old Copper and Brass" some very interesting illustrations
+of old copper and brass saucepans, skillets, and pipkins are given. The
+skillet has survived for several centuries. Those made in the
+seventeenth century were frequently inscribed with various religious and
+sentimental legends; one in the National Museum of Wales is inscribed
+"LOVE THY NEIGHBOUR." Frying pans have been in common use for a great
+number of years and are still daily requisitioned. Bakestones, on which
+cakes were formerly baked, are, however, becoming obsolete. They were
+called girdle plates in the North of England, and bakestones in Wales
+and elsewhere.
+
+
+Grills and Gridirons.
+
+The gridiron or "griddle" was an appliance used extensively all over the
+Continent of Europe from the sixteenth century onward. In this country
+it was formerly made by the village blacksmith, and, like the iron
+stool, kitchen fender, and other iron and brass kitchen utensils and
+furnishings, was often made quite decorative. It would appear as if the
+smith filled up his spare moments in designing intricate patterns with
+which to decorate the grid. Some of the sixteenth and seventeenth-century
+European gridirons were quite elaborate, serving the double purpose of
+ornament and use, for when finished with for cooking purposes they were
+carefully cleaned and polished and hung up over the kitchen mantelpiece.
+Some of the characteristic types met with are shown in the accompanying
+illustrations. In Fig. 43 is seen the light and lacy Italian style; in
+Fig. 44 the openwork design of the Flemish; a formal Dutch pattern being
+illustrated in Fig. 45; whereas the heavy German floreated type is
+shown in Fig. 46. Contrasting with these Continental types the English
+gridiron was strong and serviceable, and essentially a grid or grill,
+the smith putting his best work in the handle rather than the grid.
+
+
+Cooking Utensils.
+
+Besides pots and pans there are many cooking utensils which may now be
+reckoned among the domestic curios. There are, of course, ewers and
+basins, water-carrying and retaining vessels, and colanders of brass and
+earthenware, strainers and graters which have been used from time to
+time in the kitchen. Sometimes the metal worker appears to have gone out
+of the way to produce curious forms not always the most convenient for
+the purposes for which they were made--such, for instance, as the
+aquamaniles, several of which may be seen in the British Museum (see
+Fig. 26).
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 50.--WOODEN COFFEE CRUSHERS AND PESTLES AND MORTAR.]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 51.--APPLE SCOOPS OF BONE.]
+
+Some of the minor kitchen utensils include flesh hooks and forks and
+carving knives. There are spoons of every kind made in all metals, some
+of the earlier examples being of brass and latten. In this connection
+also may be mentioned ladles, fish slicers, and scoops. There are also
+many curious little pastrycooks' knives, and knives used for cutting
+vegetables and preparing a repast in olden time, many of them quite
+decorative, even the common pastry-wheel frequently being carved. It was
+at one time customary to expend much skill in decorating apple scoops,
+those shown in Fig. 51 being very choice specimens in the National
+Museum of Wales, in Cardiff. The one on the left hand of the picture is
+made of bone, and is inlaid with a small brass name-plate; that on the
+right-hand side is of ivory delicately turned, the scoop being
+exceedingly thin; and those in the centre are all home-made out of the
+metacarpal bones of the sheep, being slightly ornamented with cut
+X-shaped lines and hatchings. In the same museum there are some
+remarkably interesting coffee crushers and mortars and pestles, several
+of these being illustrated in Fig. 50. In Fig. 53 we show a
+representative selection reminiscent of the days when wooden spoons and
+wooden platters were in common use. The trencher takes its name from
+_tranche_, the old name of the platter which replaced the piece of bread
+on which it was formerly customary to serve up meat; like the bread, it
+was at first square. The minor kitchen accessories formerly in constant
+use included many objects of wood, such as the charming little nutmeg
+mills of turned rosewood, some of which are to be seen in the British
+Museum. There are also antique pasteboards and rolling-pins for rolling
+shortbread, pot stirrers of wood, and other utensils such as sand
+glasses.
+
+In Figs. 47 and 48 we illustrate two wooden food boxes, such as were
+formerly used to carry food to men working in the field. They are now
+deposited with other curios in the Cardiff Museum, where also may be
+seen some little wooden piggins, and bowls used for porridge; the piggin
+was an ancient vessel often mentioned in mediaeval days (see Fig. 52).
+
+
+Warming Pans.
+
+There are some household appointments which, like some of the brass
+skimmers, platters, engraved foot and hand warmers, chestnut roasters,
+and the like, have always served the double purpose of use and ornament.
+Among these are warming pans which in modern days have been brought out
+of their hiding-places, repolished, and hung up in conspicuous places by
+the fireside. In the Victoria and Albert Museum, as well as some of the
+provincial museums, there are many very fine examples, those having
+dates and names upon them being especially valued. As an instance of an
+exceptional specimen in the Victoria and Albert Museum we may mention
+one on which there is an engraving of reindeer, ducally gorged, the
+inscription upon this pan reading: "THE EARL OF ESSEX. HIS ARMES. 1630."
+Another elaborate warming pan is engraved with figures of a cavalier and
+a lady, richly embellished with peacocks and flowers. The pan is of
+copper, but the handle is of wrought iron with brass ornamental mounts.
+Some pans have wooden handles, either walnut or oak, some of the more
+modern being ebonized (see Fig. 40).
+
+This brief review of kitchen utensils by no means exhausts the varieties
+of old metal work and other curios which may still be found in kitchens.
+There appears to be no end to the minor varieties in form and
+decoration. This is natural when we remember that years ago kitchen
+utensils were not made in quantities after the same pattern as they are
+nowadays. They were the product of the local maker, the smith and the
+village woodworker being frequently called upon to supply new kitchen
+utensils, and it would appear that they did their best to make their
+work successful in that the vessels they fashioned were lasting, and
+during their use contributed in no small degree towards the
+ornamentation of the home.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 52.--WOODEN PIGGINS AND PORRIDGE BOWL.]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 53.--WOODEN PLATTER, BOWL, AND SPOONS.
+
+(_In the National Museum of Wales._)]
+
+
+
+
+VI
+
+HOME ORNAMENTS
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+HOME ORNAMENTS
+
+     Mantelpiece ornaments--Vases--Derbyshire spars--Jade or spleen
+     stone--Wood carvings--Old gilt.
+
+
+We are apt to wonder sometimes what it is that makes the house homelike,
+and why there are such strong attachments to the old home. Surely it is
+the familiar aspect of the furnishings, rather than the bricks and
+mortar, that makes the old home so dear! To the original owners there
+was an individuality about every piece, although to the collector the
+same characteristics of well-known objects tell that in days gone by the
+cabinet-maker followed stereotyped lines, and there were but few who
+moved out of the regular ruts and made distinctive designs in home
+ornaments and sundry furnishings. It is noteworthy, however, that
+however much alike in furniture no two houses were alike in their
+ornamental surroundings. The pictures and portraits on the walls have
+peculiarities recognized and understood by those who have dwelt for many
+years among them. Familiar table appointments, however humble, have a
+homelike look, and there are odd bits of old china in the cabinet and
+silver or pewter on the sideboard which distinguish one house from
+another; and it has ever been so. Chimney ornaments, which may be quite
+commonplace, have well-known characteristics which cannot be duplicated.
+It is undoubtedly among the home ornaments that the tenderest thoughts
+linger, and it is the trinkets of comparatively little value to an
+outsider that members of the family store when the old home is broken
+up. There are such ornaments in every household; and whenever there is a
+sale there are those who gladly buy them because of their associations
+with those by whom they were owned and valued. The collector rarely
+gathers them on sentimental grounds, securing them as curious specimens
+or characteristic styles wanting in his collection. Some specialize on
+old china cups and saucers; others on rare porcelain figures; some on
+the beautiful gilt and ormolu knick-knacks which looked so well on the
+early Victorian drawing-room table, and others prefer odds and ends,
+some of which are mentioned in the following paragraphs. It is, perhaps,
+from the old ornaments of the home that we learn most about the true
+home-life lived in former years. Wood carvers, silversmiths, leather
+workers, glass blowers and potters fashioned their ornamental things
+after the living models they saw about them, in the days in which they
+worked. Thus in the groups of Staffordshire figures, now much sought
+after, we learn something of the story of life in the Potteries in the
+closing years of the nineteenth century. The story is recorded in the
+earthenware "landlord and landlady," "lovers arm in arm," and rustic
+cottages with which collectors are familiar.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 54.--BRASS CHIMNEY ORNAMENT (ONE OF A PAIR).]
+
+
+Mantelpiece Ornaments.
+
+There are many quaint brass chimney ornaments which were popular in many
+parts of England fifty to sixty years ago much sought after nowadays.
+They were of polished brass, usually in pairs, and when several were
+arranged on a mantelpiece they presented a bright array. The one
+illustrated in Fig. 54 is of the type much favoured in country
+districts. It represents a shepherd with his crook, the companion brass
+being a shepherdess. On the sea-coast fishermen were much fancied, and
+in mining districts the miner with his pick and other industrial models
+were extensively sold. These were varied with birds and animals and
+miniature replicas of household furniture. The older ones are not very
+common, and therefore have been much copied, for of these goods there
+are many modern replicas.
+
+
+Vases.
+
+Ornamental vases have varied much in form, until a collection seems to
+cover every style of art. Thus Egyptian and Roman influence is seen in
+some; others of French origin, dating before the Empire period, are a
+combination of French art with Egyptian ornament, brought out during the
+Directoire, when after the Battle of the Pyramids French artists
+introduced the sphinx and other Egyptian ornaments into their art
+designs. During the Empire period, the style that is said to consist of
+a blending of Roman, Greek, and Egyptian prevailed. Many of the
+continental countries have been noted for glass ornaments--especially
+vases. The beautiful Venetian glass is rich in colour, and the vases are
+varied and graceful in form, especially those of ewer-like shape.
+Bohemia has always been a noted centre of the glass industry. Then in
+our own country some beautiful vases have been produced.
+
+There are other materials which are met with in curiously shaped vases.
+At one time the beautiful Derbyshire spars were much used. There are
+biscuit china and Parian vases, and many exquisite vases of silver and
+other metals. Much might be written of the Oriental vases and enamels,
+especially of the artistic treasures of Old Japan and China, from whence
+so much of our early vases and beautiful porcelain came. Of the products
+of Chelsea and Bow, of Coalbrookdale and Derby, and of Bristol and
+Nantgrw, writers and collectors of rare ceramics have had much to record
+of the many-shaped vases with which the homes of the middle classes were
+made beautiful in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. These
+are preserved with care, but many of the vases produced by the pioneers
+of the potting industry in this country serve their original purpose
+still, and glass and china and rare Wedgwood jasper ware ornament the
+home of the twentieth-century reader of the "Chats" series, as they did
+the "withdrawing" rooms of their original owners in the eighteenth
+century.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 55.--BLACK AND GOLD DERBYSHIRE MARBLE VASE.
+
+(_In the Author's collection._)]
+
+
+Derbyshire Spars.
+
+The Derbyshire spars and inlaid marbles just referred to were very
+popular, some exceedingly ornamental and decorative pieces being
+produced. Others were stiff and formal, and can scarcely be regarded as
+beautiful. The variety of marbles quarried in Derbyshire gave the artist
+ample opportunity of displaying taste in colour. The most beautiful are
+those made of fluor-spar, the celebrated Blue John Mine providing the
+most beautiful specimens. The purple shades present delightful tints,
+and some of the old workers in Derbyshire mosaics were exceptionally
+fortunate in their schemes of arrangement of the tiny pieces they inlaid
+so carefully. The marble workers in this country have never been able to
+produce those beautiful effects for which the Florentine school of
+artists was famous, although it has been claimed by some that the
+artists of the Peak produced in their larger works some equally as
+effective. Among old household ornaments small Roman mosaics, so called,
+are often met with. At one time the Florentine artists used gems and
+real stones, whereas the Romans chiefly employed glass. Many will be
+familiar with the Vatican pigeons and the fountain so frequently copied.
+It is said that the Derbyshire workers in mosaic excelled themselves in
+the production of a beautifully inlaid vase covered with flowers,
+foliage, and birds, prepared for the late Queen Victoria, in 1842. Half
+a century ago fancy shops were filled with the products of the
+Derbyshire mines, but most of the best pieces are now among household
+curios. The wide-topped vase shown in Fig. 55 is made from Derbyshire
+black and gold marble, and was produced in Matlock about sixty years
+ago. It may be interesting to collectors to mention that although the
+Romans are believed to have worked the Blue John mines, it was not until
+1770 that the lovely purple spar was rediscovered in the Hope Valley, a
+workman passing through the Winnats being attracted by the pieces of
+spar he saw lying about, eventually bringing them under the notice of
+the owner of a Rotherham marble works. Besides the smaller objects there
+are the larger tables, worked in the same materials, some of which are
+sometimes met with second-hand for quite trifling sums.
+
+
+Jade or Spleen Stone.
+
+Among the rarer curios of the home are those wonderful ornaments cut and
+carved out of jade, a beautiful stone which has been so highly prized by
+the Chinese. Its special value lies in the exquisite tints of the
+different hues. These marvellously varied stones were formerly quarried
+from the Kuen-Kask Valley, where jade or yu-stone runs in
+different-coloured veins through the rocks. It is said that jade in the
+form of spleen stone first came to Europe from America. It is found
+extensively in Mexico, and also in Burma, but the chief interest centres
+in the grotesque and cleverly carved Chinese curios. The beauty and
+value of these pieces lies not so much in their forms as in their
+marvellous tints and the clever way in which the Chinese workmen, in
+fashioning grotesque forms, have cut away practically all the colour
+of certain intruding shades, leaving the figures in some brilliant hue
+of green, red, or pink, standing out upon a base of some other shade.
+The curiously smoked mutton-fat colour is one of the rarest, but to the
+amateur the more transparent and brilliant tints possess the greatest
+beauty.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 56.--TEMPLE GUARDIAN, CARVED FROM THE GNARLED ROOT
+OF A TREE.
+
+(_In the Author's collection._)]
+
+True jade, or nephrite, is a native silicate of calcium and magnesium,
+and does not exhibit either crystalline form or distinct cleavage. In
+addition to the "mutton-fat" shade spoken so highly of there are lovely
+shades in green, emerald, moss, tea and sea green, violet and yellow,
+and white and camphor; but the rarest of all combinations is violet,
+mutton-fat, and emerald green.
+
+
+Wood Carvings.
+
+Many of the more decorative household ornaments are made of wood. To cut
+down a tree or to whittle a stick has been the favourite occupation of
+men of all ages, and the possession of a pocket-knife the ambition of
+the schoolboy from time immemorial. Something to cut keeps him out of
+mischief and calls forth any ingenuity he may have. Some of the most
+wonderful curios have been cut by hand, fashioned with skill. Some are
+remarkably realistic in their forms, faithful copies of living
+originals, or of objects of still greater antiquity with which the wood
+carver has been familiar. Carvers have sometimes allowed themselves to
+run wild in their imaginations as they have cut and shaped a block of
+wood, giving it the most fantastic form, picturing myths and fables in a
+wonderfully realistic way. There seems to be no end to the variety of
+wooden ornament. The carver has found a place in architectural design,
+too, many old houses being enriched with his handiwork. In the days when
+walls were panelled with oak, the carver and the wood worker delighted
+in cutting deep and intricate mouldings and in giving that delightful
+linen fold to the panels which would otherwise have been plain. That was
+the ambition of the household decorator of Elizabethan days. Tudor beams
+were cut and carved and quaint mottoes engraved upon them. The old oak
+settles--sometimes portable, at others fixtures--were carved all over,
+and the fronts of oak chests were often made into pictures of wood. They
+told the tale of the family tree by the coats of arms and the shields
+emblazoned by the cutter of wood, sometimes being enriched with colour;
+at others the picture forms were created by inlaying and superadding
+fretwork. There were intricate carvings of the Sheraton and Chippendale
+periods, and there were the wonderful floral sprays, cherubs, and other
+ornaments so cunningly wrought by Grinling Gibbons and his followers.
+Wooden ornament in those days took the form of over-doors, and wreaths
+running down the lintels; and massive mantelpieces of oak were carved
+deeply. There were vases of wood full of flowers cut from the same
+material standing on wooden pedestals. The floral sprays, it is said,
+were in some cases so delicately cut that they shook like natural
+flowers when any one crossed a room or a post-chaise rumbled along the
+street. Some remarkable picture frames were cut and carved by amateurs,
+corresponding well with the handiwork of the needlewoman they
+enshrined. The cutting and carving of banner screens was a work of art,
+and many times a labour of love.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 57.--CARVED PLAQUE STAND.]
+
+There are quaint relics of other countries in wood carving among the
+curios of the home. Some remarkable pieces of carved cherry-trees have
+been brought over from Japan, the black trunk or root of the tree being
+turned into a grinning demon, similar to the one illustrated in Fig. 56,
+which resembles the "temple guardian." Others have been fashioned like
+ancient idols or apes, many being an intermixture of different-coloured
+woods, varying from almost red-brown to black, throwing up the carving
+in relief. The Oriental was a clever wood carver, and with his primitive
+tools he cut and fashioned a piece of wood according to his own sweet
+will, evolving from it intricate works of art in wood. Perhaps the most
+remarkable examples of the wood-worker's skill are those tiny miniatures
+of which there is such a splendid collection in the British Museum,
+notably the almost microscopic reliquaries. The Japanese and Chinese
+have shown remarkable skill in carvings, and especially in the way they
+have set off china plates and bowls intended as ornamental objects; a
+truly magnificent example of such work is shown in Fig. 57.
+
+
+Old Gilt.
+
+The highly decorative work known as old gilt, very fashionable in the
+early Victorian drawing-room, has quite recently been hunted up, and
+many pieces have been restored to positions of honour. The gilt,
+so-called, was in reality eighteen-carat gold overlaid upon soft brass
+by a process not now practised. Delightfully decorative trinket stands,
+card trays, and little baskets were made in this way; and as they were
+afterwards coated over with a transparent varnish, they have preserved
+their colour; indeed, when found black with age, after carefully washing
+in soap and water, they frequently come out bright and untarnished. Then
+if brushed over with white of egg or some transparent white varnish they
+will keep their colour for many years to come. These decorative
+ornaments, often perforated as well as embossed, were frequently
+enriched with imitation jewels. Those shown in Fig. 61 are typical of
+the style of ornament referred to. Sometimes scent satchets and jewelled
+caskets are found fitted with quaint reels for sewing silk and curious
+needle holders. The more elaborate pieces are often ornamented with
+floral sprays made of porcelain; some of the baskets filled with coral
+and seaweed have curiously made little birds and butterflies, many of
+them being genuine Chelsea. Others are the framework for holding Bow
+figures or painted plaques. This Victorian gilt is at present not
+over-scarce, and as it is not as yet much in demand collectors have an
+exceptional opportunity of securing interesting specimens at moderate
+cost.
+
+
+Old Ivories.
+
+Much might be written about old ivories. Ivory has been a much-valued
+material for ornamental decoration from quite early times. In almost
+every home there are curios and pieces of furniture in which ivory
+has either been overlaid or inserted as panels. At one time it was much
+used for overlays, and in very thin plates made up into all kinds of
+decorative models.
+
+[Illustration: FIGS. 58, 59.--MINIATURE COPPER AND SILVER KETTLES.
+
+FIG. 60.--MINIATURE IVORY COFFEE BOILER.]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 61.--TWO OLD-GILT JEWELLED ORNAMENTS.]
+
+There are carved tusks from Africa and India, and quaint native curios
+made of ivory cunningly wrought. It is from the East that we receive so
+many beautiful curios, and especially so from India, China, and Japan.
+The three remarkably handsome ivories illustrated in Fig. 62 will serve
+to illustrate the beautiful and oftentimes costly curios found in so
+many homes.
+
+
+Miniature Antiques.
+
+Some of the most pleasing little antiques are silver models of
+children's toys. The original models made contemporary with the
+furniture or household gods they purport to represent were frequently
+the gifts of godparents, and many are most elaborate in their designs,
+every detail found in the larger originals being faithfully reproduced.
+Some of these little silver toys, with which probably children were
+seldom allowed to play, represented common objects outside the home,
+such as the dovecote in the garden, the travelling coach with its
+prancing steeds, the pack-horse ascending the slope towards a bridge
+over a stream, in some instances objects of husbandry and agriculture,
+being given to children familiar with the country.
+
+Another favourite type of model curio is found in the remarkably tiny
+objects workmen sometimes prided themselves upon making--such curios,
+for instance, as the silver and copper kettles and coffee pot shown in
+Figs. 58, 59, and 60. The larger specimen (drawn larger than the
+original) was made from a copper farthing, the smaller kettles being
+hammered out of threepenny-pieces; the coffee pot is of ivory--a
+charming model.
+
+There are a few sundries which should not be overlooked when collecting
+curious things reminiscent of home-life as it once was. Among these are
+the glass pictures once so much prized by well-to-do folk, now valued
+only by the collector of such things. These were really "prints from
+prints." The method of their preparation was most inartistic, although
+it was effectual. A piece of glass was coated with varnish, the print
+was then placed upon the varnish, and when dry and quite hard the paper
+was washed off, leaving a "print" upon the prepared surface, which was
+then painted over at the back, the picture thus being made complete.
+
+Much store was formerly set by the little plaques and medallions which,
+with silhouettes, hung upon the walls. Among the gems of such ornaments
+were the exquisite tablets and cameos made by Josiah Wedgwood, whose
+beautiful vases and miniature bottles, as well as tea-sets in the same
+wares, were so much admired.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 62.--THREE FINE OLD IVORIES.]
+
+
+
+
+VII
+
+GLASS AND ENAMELS
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+GLASS AND ENAMELS
+
+     Waterford, Bristol, and Nailsea--Ornaments of glass--Enamels on
+     metal.
+
+
+Glass is used in every home. It is seen in its ornamental forms, and is
+necessary in almost every department. In kitchen and pantry there are
+dishes and tumblers and wine glasses and decanters ready for use. Among
+these there are often found old glasses--that is, glass vessels which
+from their rarity or age have attained a curio value; indeed, many
+housewives are unaware that their kitchen cupboard contains what would
+be valued as interesting specimens gladly purchased by collectors of
+glass. Many of the old tumblers are beautifully engraved, often having
+floral ornament and dainty rustic scenes. They are now and then
+commemorative of events which the glass maker has recorded with his
+graving tool, and sometimes they have been prepared to catch the passing
+fancy. The styles of table glass have changed, and their shapes and
+sizes have altered according to the popular custom of imbibing certain
+liquors.
+
+When punch ceased to be the customary drink, and lesser quantities of
+ale were consumed, punch bowls and tankards were less in request. Their
+places were taken by wine glasses of more delicate forms, and charming
+tallboys and crinkled vessels of glass took the place of the older mugs
+and pewter cups. The glasses used in proffering and drinking toasts have
+changed much during the last century, and the "fiat" glasses of the
+Jacobite period, and those curious glasses with portraits of the Old
+Pretender and the Young Pretender upon them, are curios only, for they
+are no longer needed, neither is the toast of "The King" drunk "over the
+water." Spirit glasses and decanters have altered in form, but among
+those which have survived and are still sound are some rare examples of
+cutting, made in the days when the glass cutter worked with primitive
+tools, and such methods as the sand blast, chemical etching, and some of
+the newer processes were unknown.
+
+
+Waterford, Bristol, and Nailsea.
+
+Among table sundries are glass salts and cruets; the latter, however,
+have been modernized and reduced in size, and the bottles and curiously
+shaped oil and vinegar cruets of a hundred or more years ago look quaint
+when compared with those of the present day. Even the flower vases which
+formerly adorned the table, and the more decorative dishes used for
+fancy sweetmeats and confections, have changed, leaving in the process
+many of the older pieces, relegated to the store-cupboard, where disused
+glass so often remains until in due time it is rescued from oblivion by
+the collector of household curios. Among the eighteenth-century cut
+glass jugs and trifle bowls are many beautiful vessels, for the making
+of which certain districts from time to time became famous. The old
+Waterford glass is especially noteworthy, and as a speculation, apart
+from the interest it possesses for collectors, is worth securing.
+Bristol glass to the uninitiated appears to be a misnomer, in that the
+beautiful white milk-like surface upon which so many exquisite floral
+designs have been painted looks more like egg-shell porcelain, but when
+held up to the light is found to be of glass-like nature, pellucid
+although semi-opaque.
+
+Nailsea glass has many peculiar characteristics about it, notably the
+curiously introduced waved and twisted lines in colours. Many objects
+which were essentially curios, their utilitarian purposes having always
+been secondary, were made at Nailsea. There are gigantic models of
+tobacco pipes, formerly hung up against the walls as ornaments. As
+fitting companions to the pipes were walking-sticks of glass, some very
+remarkable designs which might at one time have been carried by the
+gallants of that day. They were often filled with sweetmeats and
+comfits, ornamented with bows of ribbon, and presented to ladies of
+their choice by devoted swains. A few of those curious sticks or
+shepherd's crooks, as they were called, are to be seen in most
+representative museum collections. The so-called rolling-pins of glass,
+made at Sunderland as well as at Nailsea and Bristol, were known as
+sailors' love tokens, and are referred to more fully in Chapter XIII. In
+the Taunton Castle Museum there are some interesting specimens of old
+glass, notably one of the very rare dark bottle-glass linen smoothers
+which came from South Petherton. Such smoothers were at one time
+favoured in the kitchen laundry in the days when servant-maids excelled
+in getting up linen, and prided themselves on the beautiful gloss they
+were able to impart--in the days before public laundries with their
+modern glossing machines were instituted.
+
+Some of our readers may have seen the curious glass tubes, one yard in
+length, into which ale was poured in the days when it was considered a
+desirable attainment to be able to drink at one draught a "yard of ale."
+
+Of the larger vessels such as wine bottles, the chief collectable
+feature about them is the old glass-bottle-makers' stamps, very
+frequently found on fragments of bottles, such stamps often turning up
+among the oddments of kitchen drawers which have probably been
+undisturbed for many years. To collect bottle stamps is certainly an
+uncommon hobby, but one that is not altogether devoid of interest.
+
+
+Ornaments of Glass.
+
+Of household ornaments in glass there appears to be no end. There are
+the glass Venetian vases and ewers, beautiful and graceful in form,
+richly ornamented in gold; and there are the old English and French
+vases, the colouring of which is not always in accord with modern taste.
+Cut glass, in whatever form it is met with, is appreciated, in that the
+workmanship involving so much studious labour is recognized. Continental
+glass has at all periods been imported into this country, and especially
+so Bohemian glass, of which there are decanters of ruby, claret,
+blue, and other rich colours; some remarkable effects have been produced
+upon red glass by adding tinted colours and white decoration
+interspersed with gold. Glass lustres have acquired an antiquarian
+value, and chandeliers and mantelpiece lustre candlesticks are sought
+after by the collector, who sometimes finds interspersed with cut glass
+lustre pretty coloured china droppers.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 63.--BATTERSEA ENAMELS.]
+
+
+Pictorial Art in Glass.
+
+Stained-glass windows are associated with ecclesiastical edifices. Old
+English houses, however, not infrequently contain armorial panels, coats
+of arms in leaden frames, and curious little pictures in colours which
+can be hung against modern windows where the light will throw up the
+rich colouring of the old-time painters. Little patches of colour, too,
+were often introduced in otherwise plain diamond-shaped lattice panes.
+
+There are glass pictures, so-called, oftentimes consisting of coloured
+prints pasted on one side of the glass, a softened effect being produced
+by the glass through which they were seen; but they must be
+distinguished from the more costly paintings _on_ glass sometimes met
+with.
+
+In many an old house the glass shade with its contents so inartistic,
+although removed from its place of honour on the parlour table, found a
+niche where it is preserved. Under such shades were preserved wool-work
+baskets filled with artificial flowers, among which were often small
+porcelain figures, butterflies and birds. Sometimes a Parian vase has
+been filled with wax flowers, the making of which was a favourite
+pastime half a century ago. The dried plant called "honesty" was
+frequently covered with a glass shade. Glass ships were exceedingly
+popular in seaport towns, and little miniature replicas of household
+furniture in glass are met with; indeed, there seems to have been no
+limit to the fancies and freaks of the glass blower, who has at
+different periods provided the present-day collector with curious, if
+very breakable, curios.
+
+
+Enamels on Metal.
+
+The art of enamelling on metal has been practised from very early times.
+In its earlier forms it was chiefly an art applied to jewellery and the
+ornamentation of ecclesiastical metal work. In time, however, it was
+applied as a convenient method of decorating utilitarian household
+articles such as fire-dogs and candlesticks. Those who frequent the more
+important museums often associate enamels with the costly and rare
+enamels of Limoges, and the choice bits of Italian enamels seen in the
+cases of metals where the most valuable curios are gathered together.
+Such vessels as those marvellous effects produced by the enamellers of
+Limoges are indeed rarely found among household curios; it is well,
+however, to note that the processes by which those effects were produced
+changed as time went on. The earlier translucent enamel of the Italian
+artists was laid over an incised metal ground, the design previously
+prepared showing through. In the later Limoges enamels the surface with
+which the copper base was overlaid was painted, very much in the same
+way as the miniature painters on enamels operated in after-years.
+
+The process of covering metal with enamels made of a species of glass is
+very ancient, but the basis of all enamels is the application of fusible
+colourless silicate or glass in pattern or design, mixed with metallic
+oxides, the prepared surface being afterwards fired until the enamel
+adheres firmly to the copper or other metal. The processes varied, but
+the firing or fusing was the same throughout. The name "enamel" is
+traceable to the French word _enail_ and the Italian _smalto_, both
+having the same root as the Anglo-Saxon word "smelt." The enamels of
+China and Japan so extensively imported into this country of late years
+are chiefly made by filling cloisons or cells formed of fine metal wires
+or plates with coloured enamels and then firing them. As the collector
+advances in his appreciation of the old craftsmen, he soon recognizes
+the difference between the antiques sent over by Oriental merchants and
+the modern works made on present-day commercial lines, and not the work
+of men whose time was deemed of small account if they acquired notoriety
+for the beauty of their work.
+
+The household enamels of English make consist chiefly of those beautiful
+little boxes, trinkets, and domestic objects made at Battersea and
+Bilston in the eighteenth century. The enamels used for the ground were
+tinted rose, blue, and other shades, and ornamented with painted
+pictures and mottoes. A very fine group of Battersea patch boxes is
+shown in Fig. 63.
+
+
+
+
+VIII
+
+LEATHER AND HORN
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+LEATHER AND HORN
+
+     Spanish leather--"Cuir boulli" work--Tapestry and
+     upholstery--Leather bottles and drinking vessels--Leather
+     curios--Shoes--Horn work.
+
+
+That "there is nothing like leather" has been believed by people of all
+ages, and in many countries the general belief has been put into
+practice, for many indeed are the uses to which leather has been put. As
+a lasting material it has been proved to possess excellent qualities.
+The artist, too, has found that leather is capable of being treated so
+as to give the effect of delicate carvings, and to serve well many
+purposes of decoration.
+
+In the East leather was used in patriarchal times, the skins of animals
+making excellent water bottles. In mediaeval England leather black jacks,
+cups, and flagons withstood the rough usage of those roisterous times.
+The collector seeks both useful and ornamental, and finds much to
+delight among the old leathern objects hid away as being now quite
+useless or antiquated.
+
+
+Spanish Leather.
+
+As early as the fifteenth century Cordova, in Spain, was celebrated for
+its workers in leather, and for the fine ornamental leather vessels
+produced there. Some of the designs favoured by Spanish craftsmen were
+gruesome in the extreme. Indeed, many were fashioned for the purpose of
+creating fear in the use of the vessels so ornamented.
+
+A few years ago a remarkably fine collection of old Spanish leather work
+was exhibited in London. There were some hideous and grotesque figures,
+which it was said had been designed for the mental torture of the
+victims of the Inquisition. Some of the larger specimens were remarkably
+well executed, especially so some of the wine bottles which imitated
+very realistically the pose of men and women. Some of the female figures
+were represented wearing flowing gowns and costumes of the height of
+fashion--tall and noble women. By way of contrast there were little
+manikin wine jugs of the most grotesque forms.
+
+The Spaniards made leather upholsteries of remarkable designs; they also
+ornamented boxes, trunks, and cases for knives and costly trinkets.
+
+
+"Cuir boulli" Work.
+
+Most of the decorated leather work of that period, examples of which are
+not very difficult to secure, was made by the _cuir boulli_ process. The
+leather, after being boiled down to a pulp and salt and alum added, was
+then moulded to any desired form, the decoration being imparted in the
+process.
+
+The Victoria and Albert Museum is very rich in fine examples, and a
+description of some of the typical pieces there may serve as a guide to
+collectors hopeful of including some objects moulded by this process
+among their household relics.
+
+The work was carried on at Cordova and other places for a long period,
+some of the museum examples dating back to the fifteenth century. There
+are cases for holding what were then rare books and manuscripts, and a
+remarkable scribe's case with a red cover has loops on either side to
+which a cord was attached. The scribe was an important personage in
+commercial and private correspondence in the days when even rudimentary
+education was by no means general.
+
+In the same collection is a leather box for holding a knife and fork; on
+the outer case is a medallion, in the centre of which is a
+representation of the two spies returning from Canaan with a large bunch
+of grapes. There are also cases which have once held wine bottles, some
+ornamented in colours; indeed, the stamped, cut, and embossed designs of
+the _cuir boulli_ work were frequently enriched by the addition of red,
+yellow, and gold.
+
+There are some specially interesting examples of Italian work,
+representing a period covering nearly the whole of the Renaissance. In
+this connection there are pilgrim bottles of yellow glass encased in
+wonderful leather covers, cut and embossed. There are leather snuff
+boxes with trellis-work ornament and scroll borders, one very
+interesting piece being varnished to imitate tortoiseshell. There are
+also some attractive toilet objects, evidently antique presentation
+pieces. One is a most elaborately cut and incised comb case, on the
+exterior of which is the motto or legend: "DE BOEN AMORE." In the same
+collection there is a fine leather case for a cup or tankard. Such cup
+cases are not uncommon, many being the receptacles for treasured
+heirlooms. Perhaps one of the most noted examples of the use of embossed
+and decorative leather work is the ancient case of stamped leather
+intricately foliated, a highly decorative work of art in which is
+enclosed that remarkable goblet of legendary fame known as "The Luck of
+Eden Hall."
+
+
+Tapestry and Upholstery.
+
+Stamped and embossed leather work is very conspicuous in domestic
+upholstery. In very early times the leather work, hung upon the wall in
+panels, took the place of more modern wall-coverings, and it was truly
+lasting. Much of the Cordovan leather is still very fresh in appearance,
+although several centuries old. Some of the panels hanging on the walls
+at South Kensington look remarkably fresh, and, richly decorated in
+colours, many of them are very effective. A special branch of this work
+was that devoted to the decoration of chair backs; stamped leather work
+for upholstery has been used in this country to a large extent, and some
+of the large oak chairs are still upholstered in the original ornamental
+leather produced by boiling the hides by a special process, so that the
+material could be readily moulded. In more modern times, however, the
+decoration is effected by embossing and stamping, supplementing such
+ornament by the use of an immense quantity of small brass nails, which
+are arranged in geometrical patterns or straight lines, oftentimes names
+and dates being included in the design.
+
+In this connection also are screens of painted and gilt leather, chiefly
+of eighteenth-century manufacture. There is a good deal of this leather
+work to be found in old houses still, and much of it is capable of
+improvement by properly cleaning and touching up here and there so as to
+revive the old colours. Here and there hung up as wall decorations may
+be seen leather-covered boxes which were specially made to hold deeds;
+in the older examples there is a large circular piece below the narrow
+box, arranged so that the seal could hang in its proper position from
+the end of the deed; they were, of course, in common use before the days
+of safes and other methods of preserving parchments and property deeds.
+One in the Victoria and Albert Museum is stamped on the exterior with
+the description of the deed it originally contained, the inscription
+commencing thus: "THE GRAUNT OF HEN: THE 5 TO THE ABBOT OF RADING."
+
+
+Chests and Coffers.
+
+Before modern travelling requisites were known and in the days when
+journeys were few, the leather-covered coffer contained the whole
+travelling outfit of perhaps some noble lord and his household. There
+were also large coffers covered with leather used as permanent
+receptacles of clothing, covered with ornamental embossed leather work,
+some very decorative. There were smaller coffers, too; possibly they
+were jewel caskets in their day. There are others which may have been
+presentation cases, for their decoration is especially elaborate. In
+making these continental craftsmen seem to have excelled. In the
+Victoria and Albert Museum there is a curious German casket of wood
+covered with leather, strongly bound with iron, having three immense
+hasps from which locks once hung, altogether too massive for the little
+casket. One would think such precautions were of not much avail against
+theft, for the box itself could be removed readily! There is another
+charming little casket, with a circular or dome-shaped top, decorated
+and banded, a veritable prototype of the tin trunks generally in use a
+quarter of a century ago. There is also a remarkable piece, a wood box
+covered over with leather embossed by the _cuir boulli_ process. The
+chief design takes the form of two armed horsemen, surrounded by
+grotesque ornament on the top, on the sides being hunting scenes,
+episodes of the chase. This curious example of the work of
+seventeenth-century artists in leather measures 16 1/2 in. in length by
+12 1/2 in. in width. Another typical piece, of a highly decorative
+allegorical character, is a rectangular coffret with arched lid, the
+ornament being in colours and gilt. On the front is a knight and a lady,
+on the lid two paladins mounted on griffins, two savages with clubs and
+shields, and two images of the sun, these typifying the story of the
+delivery of a captured lady by a knight.
+
+
+Leather Bottles and Drinking Vessels.
+
+Several interesting specialistic collections of leather bottles and
+drinking vessels have been got together, showing the varied forms of the
+almost imperishable vessels, so suitable as liquor carriers and drinking
+cups in olden time. In the Guildhall Museum are several different types
+of bottles, black jacks, and silver-rimmed cups. Until comparatively
+recent times many old inns were famous for their leather drinking cups,
+but as the coaching days came to an end such vessels were gradually
+dispersed. Now that motor-cars have popularized the road once more, and
+old inns are again frequented, the collector seeks in vain for what were
+once quite common. In another noted collection there is a drinking cup
+or bottle moulded like a negro's head, and there are what are called
+pilgrim bottles, some of which are of ornamental type. The so-called
+pots have sometimes lids and loosely fitting covers; the black jacks,
+however, are chiefly open, ill-shaped vessels. Some of the black jacks
+were very large, one in the Taunton Museum measuring 19 in. in height.
+It was originally used in the servants' hall at Montacute House, which
+is one of the finest old buildings in Somerset. This famous jack was in
+olden time filled with beer every morning and placed on the servants'
+breakfast table. Those smaller cups with silver mounts and shields, on
+which are often engraved crests or initials of their former owners, are
+of the rarer type, but they are not infrequently found among the relics
+of an old family. There is a fine collection in the Hull Museum, and in
+other places where they are found in excellent condition, proving the
+truth of the rhyme published in _Westminster Drollery_ in the
+seventeenth century in praise of the black jack, which runs as
+follows:--
+
+    "No tankard, flagon, bottle, or jug
+    Are half so good, or so well can hold tug;
+    For when they are broken or full of cracks,
+    Then must they fly to the brave black jacks."
+
+
+Leather Curios.
+
+Some very fine pieces of leather work have been modelled as curios and
+ornaments. Some of the most notable are models of old warships and fully
+rigged galleons made of leather. Leather pictures were made some years
+ago; a little later leather modelling of baskets of flowers, and the
+making of picture frames of leather was a popular amusement, some of the
+ornamental brackets made of leather being specially effective. The
+surrounds of picture frames made of leather cut to shape, carved and
+modelled, had a very similar effect to the beautiful carved wood work of
+an earlier period. Some of the powder flasks of leather which were used
+a century or two ago are valued curios, as well as the leather cases
+stamped and embossed so decorative and appropriate to the pistols and
+knives they were made to contain. Of the finer objects there are small
+curios like leather snuff boxes and trinket cases.
+
+Of the more utilitarian leather work there is the wearing apparel of
+former days, the leather clothing of Cromwellian times and the leather
+boots. In the Victoria and Albert Museum there is a remarkably
+interesting case of leather shoes showing the evolution in style and
+appearance. There are some very pointed shoes worn in the fourteenth
+century, a slightly different shape in the fifteenth, both contrasting
+with the change in fashion which had come about in the sixteenth
+century, when the boots were square and some of the shoes very rounded.
+The Wellington boots of a later period are not yet much valued; there
+may come a time, however, when they will be regarded as museum curios.
+Leather gloves date back many centuries, and some of the old specimens
+with gauntlets and decorative cuffs are interesting antiques, as well as
+leather wallets, purses, and girdles.
+
+
+Shoes.
+
+Among sundry Eastern curios quaintly shaped and sometimes beautifully
+embroidered shoes are met with, such as those which have been brought
+over to this country from China and Eastern lands. Most of the shoes
+worn in the East are slipped off easily, and, like Persian and Turkish
+slippers, are made of red leather beautifully embroidered, silk, satin,
+and velvet being overlaid and embroidered with silver and sequins. The
+old practice of compressing the feet of young girls in China is dying
+out, but some of the curious little shoes which gave such pain to their
+wearers are seen as museum curios on account of their curious
+decoration. Indian shoes are met with at times, especially those
+embroidered with silver thread, and with green and other coloured silks.
+A curious ceremony is associated with the marriage of a Turkish bride,
+who wears a pair of clogs carved all over, sometimes with symbolical
+significance, on her way to her prescribed ceremonial visit to the
+bath. At one time it was customary for a Jewish bridegroom to present
+his bride with a shoe at the conclusion of the wedding ceremony, this
+custom being not far removed from that of throwing an old shoe after a
+newly married couple for luck.
+
+
+Horn Work.
+
+Art in horn work was practised more a century ago than it is to-day, the
+material being then a favourite one for drinking cups and a variety of
+ornamental work. Old snuff boxes were frequently made of horn impressed
+or stamped with beautiful designs, such as hunting scenes and
+mythological figures. Horn can either be cut, moulded, or turned, its
+natural elasticity making it very durable and difficult to break. Its
+source of supply is chiefly from the horned cattle, the buffalo and the
+bison, the horns of these beasts in their natural state frequently being
+mounted on shields just as in later years the horns of smaller animals,
+such as the South African varieties of the ibex, springbok, and similar
+horned sheep and cattle, are brought over to this country and mounted as
+ornaments. It is said that the old art of impressing or stamping horn
+and tortoiseshell has long been discarded, and is only retained for
+stamping buttons. Fancy hair ornaments were frequently so moulded, the
+horn or tortoiseshell being afterwards decorated with inlaid silver and
+gold.
+
+Some of the pressed work is extremely beautiful and has every appearance
+of being done by hand, but much cheaper, of course, as the patterns
+could be multiplied to any extent after the dies had been cut. Thin
+plates of horn were formerly used in lanterns, and a similar piece of
+horn was used as a protector over the ancient alphabet and child's
+spelling tablet that gave it the name of the horn book. Among household
+curios are drinking horns elaborately etched, and frequently turned in a
+lathe. They were popular in the seventeenth and early eighteenth
+centuries, and the turned patterns then so common were copied by the
+silversmiths, who made silver tankards and drinking cups on the same
+models. The cornucopia or horn of abundance figures frequently in
+sculpture, paintings, and works of art. The horn is one of the early
+instruments of music (see Chapter XV), and has long been associated with
+sports. It has sounded the "Tally Ho" of the fox hunt, and played an
+important part in coaching days. In some old houses veritable horns are
+found hung in conspicuous places as relics of the past, but the coaching
+horns just referred to are for the most part of metal.
+
+The Worshipful Company of Horners is still in evidence at City feasts.
+The work of the craft in olden time, as recorded by the chaplain of the
+Company in a little book he has prepared, giving the history of the
+Horners, was practised in the days of King Alfred. At least two hundred
+and fifty years before the Norman Conquest many of the patens and
+chalices used in churches were made by horners, and at one time cups,
+plates, and other vessels made of that useful material were in daily use
+in English homes.
+
+
+
+
+IX
+
+THE TOILET TABLE
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 64.--ANTIQUE DRESSING OR TOILET GLASS.
+
+(_In the Victoria and Albert Museum._)]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+THE TOILET TABLE
+
+     The table and its secrets--Combs--Patch boxes--Enamelled
+     objects--Perfume boxes and holders--Dressing
+     cases--Scratchbacks--Toilet chatelaines--Locks of hair--Jewel
+     cabinets.
+
+
+The mysteries of the toilet table are sometimes revealed in the curious
+furnishings of the dressing-room. The numerous accessories which are
+purchased from the beauty specialist, and as the result of speciously
+worded and attractively illustrated advertisements, in the present day,
+indicate that it is not at all unlikely that the fashions of all ages
+have demanded a plentiful supply of toilet requisites in order that the
+Society beauty might vie with her nearest rival. The curio collector is
+not so much concerned with the cosmetics, salves, pomades, and hair
+washes and dyes, the use of which has called forth receptacles for them,
+as with the choice boxes, cases, and implements of the tonsorial art
+which their use involved.
+
+To search for such things and to secure some hitherto unknown instrument
+or receptacle is ever the ambition of the energetic curio hunter. The
+field is large enough, for such curios are found in the tombs of the
+prehistoric dead, and among the household gods of the primitive savage
+in the few remaining unexplored inhabited countries to-day. Such objects
+may with a fair prospect of success be looked for among the relics of
+Assyrian and Egyptian races, and among the bronze curios of Ancient
+Greece and Rome; and excavations reveal relics of Saxon and mediaeval
+England among the ruins which have been covered up for centuries.
+
+Coming down the ages, the mysteries of the toilet table, as pictured in
+the not always refined engravings of the copper-plate artists of a
+century or so ago, tell of habits and conditions prevailing among the
+ladies of Society then which would hardly be deemed polite and refined
+now.
+
+Ladies who used patches and cosmetics and dressed their hair in such a
+mode that it was rarely let down and brushed, needed many accessories
+now obsolete. Moreover, the gradual change which passed over Society,
+and the privacy of the modern toilet as compared with the days when much
+that is now deemed curious and antique was in common use, has brought
+about a new order of things, and made other trinkets than patch, powder,
+and salve boxes acceptable gifts between lovers; hence we scarcely
+realize the sentiment that induced the donors of toilet requisites to
+bestow them on the ladies of their choice, or the recipients to welcome
+some of the curios obviously given from sentimental motives.
+
+The illustrations in books published many years ago incidentally
+recorded the use of some of the curios then in the making. The artists
+certainly were not over-modest, and far from bashful in the lucid way in
+which they pictured or caricatured the toilet table, and the maiden who
+in those days was acquainted with the uses of the little relics of her
+day which are now among the household curios appropriately grouped under
+the heading of this chapter.
+
+
+The Table and its Secrets.
+
+It is before the looking glass, the central object on, or forming a part
+of, the toilet table, that the chief mysteries of the toilet are
+performed. It is obvious, therefore, that the table, to be in accord
+with the use its name suggests, should be the grand receptacle for all
+the minor preparations and their boxes or covers, as well as for the
+brushes and combs and mirrors and sundries a Society beauty may require.
+
+It is scarcely necessary to tax the mental faculties in imagining what
+may have been the equivalent to brushes and combs with which the
+prehistoric woman of thousands of years ago brushed and combed her
+tangled tresses. She was ingenious enough to break off and trim sharp
+prickly thorns, and to use them as pins to fasten her scanty home-made
+garments, no doubt; and she would probably find in Nature's supply what
+served her when making her toilet, and viewing herself in clear pool or
+stream. Artists have pictured such toilets, and poets have told of the
+toilet and the bath of Greek and Roman maidens of olden time.
+
+It is said that the toilet of a Roman lady occupied much of her time.
+After she had risen and taken her bath she placed herself in the hands
+of the _cosmotes_, slaves who possessed the secrets of preserving and
+beautifying the complexion of the skin. She frequently wore a medicated
+mask and went through what would to-day be considered very painful
+operations. Her skin was rubbed with pumice stone, and superfluous hairs
+were removed with a pair of tweezers. Grecian slaves were adepts at
+colouring eyelashes and eyebrows and treating the lips with red pomade.
+The mirror was in frequent use. Many of the polished metal mirrors of
+those days were adorned with precious stones and had handles of
+mother-o'-pearl; and silver and gold were common in the fashioning of
+the framework. Hair appointments, including combs, were very decorative,
+frequently being made of ivory, and many beautiful carved specimens are
+to be seen in our museums.
+
+The dressing table as we understand it to-day was of later days, for
+many centuries elapsed between the toilet of the ladies just mentioned
+and that of English dames whose odds and ends are to be found in most
+houses to-day--for few are without family relics of the toilet.
+
+The toilet or dressing table was originally quite small, and made solely
+for the purpose named. It opened very much like a small desk or bureau,
+and was seldom more than 18 in. or 20 in. in width. The desk-like flap
+served the purpose of a table; behind it was a number of tiny drawers in
+which the secret mysteries of the toilet were hidden. There, too, were
+the lady's trinkets and jewellery, safely housed in the depths of those
+curious recesses. Such a table was surmounted by a looking glass of the
+type now spoken of in a generic sense as Sheraton. In line with the more
+elaborately fitted tables were independent glasses fitted with a small
+drawer--a poor substitute, however, for the toilet table and glass,
+combined or used in conjunction, in front of which the ladies of the
+eighteenth century performed their toilets.
+
+In Fig. 64 is illustrated a very beautiful glass of the Oriental style
+of japanned decoration. The slide supports of the desk-like flap are on
+the principle adopted in the construction of contemporary bureaux. There
+is also a drawer, full of compartments, which draws out and discloses
+their covers and some of the instruments and articles of the toilet they
+contain.
+
+
+Combs.
+
+The combs of olden time were much more elaborate affairs than they are
+to-day. It would appear that the comb which must so frequently have been
+viewed by the fair user was considered the most appropriate toilet
+requisite on which to expend care and to lavish costly labour in order
+to make it truly a thing of beauty, to be retained and even jealously
+guarded.
+
+The precious metals and ivory were used as well as hard woods. Alas!
+like the fate of modern combs, the teeth--coarse and fine--snapped one
+by one, and oftentimes a rare and beautiful back, between the two rows
+of teeth that once were, is nearly all that is left of the once perfect
+comb. Many combs of ivory, however, carved all over with exquisite
+miniatures, have been preserved, and the scenes upon them have been
+incidents of the chase, classic love scenes, and sometimes reproductions
+in picture form of well-known biblical scenes, not always of the most
+delicately chosen subjects.
+
+Not long ago a very remarkable gold comb of first-century workmanship
+was found near the village of Znamenka, in Southern Russia, where
+excavations in a burial mound had brought to light the tomb of a
+Scythian king, whose head was adorned with this beautiful comb. The
+upper portion represented a combat between three warriors, one mounted
+on a charger. That comb, however, should be classed among "dress" combs
+rather than dressing combs.
+
+The ivory combs for combing the hair vary in size and in the strength of
+their teeth. Sometimes a comb made of boxwood was inlaid with ivory, and
+delicately pierced panels were inserted in the centre of the comb. In
+some instances a small mirror is found instead of a carved panel;
+especially is that the case with the smaller combs carried in a reticule
+or bag.
+
+Inscriptions were common, such, for instance, as those which breathed
+the sentiment on a boxwood comb in the British Museum, which is
+inscribed in French: "Accept with goodwill this little gift"; it is a
+pretty piece of early work, dating probably from the middle of the
+sixteenth century.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 65.--THREE OLD SCRATCHBACKS.]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 66.--SILVER CHATELAINE TOILET INSTRUMENTS.]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 67.--ANOTHER CHATELAINE SET.]
+
+
+Patch Boxes.
+
+The accessories of the toilet table--useful and ornamental--are many. It
+has ever been so, and in the change going on many odds and ends are left
+behind and become relics of former practices. Perhaps among the most
+interesting of these curios are the little boxes of porcelain, enamelled
+wares, and wood, which were once used as "patch" boxes, and as
+receptacles for the pigments employed when gumming patches upon the
+cheeks and forehead was the height of fashion, and when painting the
+face was the rule rather than the exception.
+
+It may be contended by some that these mysteries of the toilet are not
+unknown in the present day, but as yet the modern accessories of the
+toilet table do not come within the ken of the curio hunter. It was at
+the Court of Louis XV of France that the practice of gumming small
+pieces of black taffeta on the cheeks originated, the patches soon
+afterwards becoming common in this country. From simple circular discs
+were evolved stars, crescents, and other curious forms; then, as in so
+many other instances, extremes of fashion brought the practice into
+disrepute, for so extravagant became the style that the "coach and
+horses" patch and others as absurd came into favour. The famous Sam
+Pepys recorded in his Diary the first time he saw his wife wearing a
+black patch; apparently it caught his fancy, for he wrote: "My wife
+seemed very pretty to-day, it being the first time I had given her lief
+to wear a black patch." Incidentally it may be noted that the famous
+Pepys controlled even his wife's toilet, and that she was obedient to
+him even in the mysteries of the dressing table!
+
+
+Enamelled Objects.
+
+The receptacles for all these compounds varied; some were of wood,
+beautifully carved, often embellished with brass mountings, the insides
+being lined with silk, and small mirrors were inserted in the lids. The
+pretty trinket trays, curiously coloured and decorated, boxes, and
+little candlesticks for "my lady's table," made of Battersea and other
+enamels, were much in favour a century or more ago.
+
+Some remarkably charming boxes are met with stamped with the name of
+Lille, in France, where many such objects were made--the English enamels
+of that period are rarely if ever marked.
+
+It would appear that very many of these little articles were the gifts
+of friends or purchased as souvenirs of the comparatively rare visits to
+fashionable places of resort. Many of those given by friends were chosen
+because of the mottoes and emblems with which they were decorated; for,
+like the combs, they were made use of to convey messages of love and
+friendship. We can well understand the fear that might arise lest
+patches became loose and rendered the fair wearer ludicrous; hence the
+little mirrors so often found within the boxes, which it may be
+mentioned were carried about in the pocket ready for use when
+opportunity served.
+
+Many of the older specimens are found with mirrors of steel which, owing
+to exposure to damp, have become very rusty, and, in some instances,
+have perished altogether. Others with silvered glass mirrors show spots,
+and are much blurred from the same cause. The colourings of enamels
+vary; in some the groundwork is white, in others pink or rose-colour or
+blue. Little picture scenes are varied with the quaint mottoes or
+sentimental lines so much in vogue then.
+
+The illustrations given in Fig. 63 are typical of the choicer
+decorations, showing the floral style as well as the pictorial miniature
+scenes for which the artists of that time were famous. Some of the
+toilet sundries took the form of scent bottles, others etui cases and
+boxes for toilet requisites, including manicure sets.
+
+
+Perfume Boxes and Holders.
+
+Perfume has always been associated with the requisites of the lady's
+toilet. Sweet-smelling spices are referred to in biblical records, and
+even to-day the offering of perfume is a symbol of honour to the guest
+in the East; and some very beautiful Oriental scent sprinklers and spice
+boxes are now and then met with among Eastern curios. The long-necked
+rose-water sprinkler is the most common form, supplemented by betel-nut
+boxes and receptacles made by Persian artists for the famous attar of
+roses. Scents and "sweet odours" became fashionable in Europe in the
+fifteenth and sixteenth centuries; articles of clothing were scented,
+and there was a profusion of scent for the hair and in making the
+toilet.
+
+The pomander box, the favourite perfume holder of the sixteenth and
+seventeenth centuries of England, was in the form of an apple, the
+perfumes and spices being made up like a ball. It is said that the
+perfume was prepared from a sixteenth-century recipe, the basis of which
+was sweet apples or apple pulp, and scented gums and essences. From the
+pomander box smaller receptacles were evolved, and more elaborately
+prepared scents were kept in them. Some of the preparations consisted of
+camphor, mint, rosemary, and lavender in vinegar, a piece of sponge
+being saturated with the liquid. Then came the use of aromatic vinegar,
+and gradually beautiful little silver vinaigrettes were introduced. Many
+of them were very ornamental in shape, highly decorated with miniatures
+and floreated embellishment, the monogram or name of the owner often
+being added. In the outer case was usually a cover of perforated gold
+which closed over a piece of sponge, upon which aromatic vinegar or some
+similar preparation was poured. The best vinaigrettes are those bearing
+the hall-marks varying from 1800 to about 1840, when the making of
+vinaigrettes declined and other scents took their place.
+
+The burning of perfumes in bedrooms and the fumigation of wardrobes and
+chests by means of a fumador was a custom much resorted to by Portuguese
+ladies in the eighteenth century. Sweet lavender is still used in the
+linen cupboard, although its use was much more general in the days when
+London street cries were heard.
+
+
+Dressing Cases.
+
+When people travel and visit their friends their luggage includes among
+other things a dressing case, for there are many toilet requisites which
+are of a personal character, and cannot well be substituted by others.
+It is true that the need of portable dressing cases has increased of
+late years owing to greater travelling abroad. Dressing cases, however,
+are by no means modern, for some very beautiful examples with
+silver-topped bottles, hall-marked in the days of Queen Anne, are among
+the collectable curios. There is a still older example in the Victoria
+and Albert Museum--a case of tortoiseshell, filled with a complete
+toilet set, consisting of four combs and thirteen toilet instruments,
+partly of steel and partly of silver. It is an historic case, having
+been presented by Charles II to a Mr. T. Campland, who is said to have
+at one time sheltered him. Many old families have interesting and
+valuable examples, and not infrequently isolated cut-glass bottles with
+Georgian hall-marked silver tops which have formed part of the equipment
+of dressing cases are met with.
+
+
+Scratchbacks.
+
+Old English scratchbacks are among the rarities of the curios associated
+with the toilet table. It is unnecessary to comment upon the habits and
+customs of those periods when scratchbacks were found necessary, or to
+refer to the hygienic conditions of the toilet then conspicuous by their
+absence. It is sufficient to allude to these curious little
+instruments, mostly shaped like a hand, often of ivory, and always
+fitted with a handle in length from 12 to 15 in. The hand in some cases
+is large in proportion, measuring as much as 2 1/2 in. in length, sometimes
+as an open hand, at others with the fingers closed, often very
+beautifully modelled. Horn and whalebone were favourite materials for
+the handle, although some were of ebony and other woods. Scratchbacks
+appear to have been made both in lefts and rights in this country; but
+the scratchbacks of the Far East were invariably rights. The
+accompanying illustrations, Fig. 65, show the usual types of these now
+obsolete toilet requisites, which it may be noted were sometimes
+duplicated by miniature scratchbacks carried about on the person, hung
+from the girdle.
+
+
+Toilet Chatelaines.
+
+The chatelaines worn by the ladies of olden time were bulky, and the
+various objects deemed necessary to carry about the person rendered them
+cumbersome in the extreme. A bunch of keys was always in evidence, and a
+glance at a few old keys indicates how large the keys of even quite
+small boxes were in olden time. There were the keys of the store
+cupboard, of the linen chest, and of the larder and the wine cellar.
+Drawers and cupboards and boxes, as well as the bureau or desk, were
+always locked, and to deliver up the keys was indeed to surrender one of
+the privileges of the matron and housewife which were jealously guarded.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 68.--FINE ORIENTAL LACQUERED BOX.]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 69.--SMALL LACQUER CABINET.]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 70.--A PAGODA-SHAPED CASKET.]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 71.--DECORATED JEWEL CASE.]
+
+There were articles of toilet use, too, worn at the girdle. It is
+recorded that Queen Elizabeth carried her earpick of gold ornamented
+with pearls and diamonds. The little set, which was worn at a lady's
+chatelaine in the eighteenth century, shown in Fig. 66, consists of
+toothpick, earpick, and tongue scraper of silver, whereas the set
+illustrated in Fig. 67 includes tweezers, a nail knife, and other
+instruments. There are some charming manicure sets extant, as well as
+isolated nail files of ivory and steel, and curious little instruments
+for simple surgical operations, such as strong-nerved ladies were not
+averse to perform in the good old days.
+
+
+Locks of Hair.
+
+Although long since separated from toilet operations, mention of locks
+of hair so carefully preserved may not inappropriately be made here.
+Many of these are associated with happy memories of childhood, others of
+more saddened recollections. It has been a common practice to preserve
+locks of hair of departed friends and relatives. In former days these
+locks of hair were often enclosed in lockets, some of which were very
+large. The simple lock did not always satisfy, for there are many
+artistic plaits and beautifully formed sprays, imitating feathers and
+even flowers, which were in years gone by cunningly interwoven and
+artistically arranged on cardboard preserved by glass, often in golden
+lockets and frames. Some persons have made quite important collections,
+one of the most noted being that of Menelik II, the Abyssinian king, who
+possessed upwards of two thousand locks, varying from light to dark, and
+from fine to coarse, each lock being labelled with the date and
+particulars of its acquisition. It would be well perhaps not to enter
+too closely into the source of some of these specimens, which had
+peculiar interest to the dusky king. It is said that some of them were
+chiefly admired for their settings, which included mounting with rare
+emeralds. The collection of emeralds, of which he had some of marvellous
+beauty and lustre, was another of that monarch's hobbies.
+
+
+Jewel Cabinets.
+
+In association with the toilet table are the numerous boxes which have
+been made as receptacles for jewels. From the days when the dower chest
+contained a small compartment for valuable trinkets the furniture of the
+lady's boudoir has been incomplete without a jewel box or some article
+of furniture where the knick-knacks of the home could be kept, and more
+especially the wearable jewellery. The Chinese and Japanese have ever
+been clever in the fashioning of small cabinets, and many delightful
+little boxes, cabinets, and jewellery receptacles have been brought over
+to this country.
+
+Some of the old lacquer ware is exceptionally interesting, the
+decorations upon such pieces being doubly so when the legends they
+depict are fully realized and understood. The accompanying illustrations
+represent four Japanese jewel cases which are exceptionally fine curios.
+Fig. 70 is decorated on the outside of the doors with a view of
+Itsukushima; and there are two peacocks on the top, and the two elders
+of Takasago are depicted on the back. The bamboo and the plum are
+designs symbolical of longevity. This truly exceptional piece was sold
+in the auction rooms of Glendining & Co., who also disposed of the
+remarkable jewel box shaped as a pagoda, illustrated in Fig. 71, a very
+beautiful piece elaborately decorated with birds and landscapes, and the
+box illustrated in Fig. 68 and small cabinet, Fig. 69.
+
+
+
+
+X
+
+THE OLD WORKBOX
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+THE OLD WORKBOX
+
+     Spinning wheels--Materials and work--Little
+     accessories--Cutlery--Quaint woodwork--The needlewoman--Old
+     samplers.
+
+
+Under the generic term of "workbox" the curios of the household
+associated with the industrial handiwork of former days may well be
+reviewed. There is no record of when receptacles for ladies' work were
+first introduced, although, no doubt, in very early days small oak
+boxes, carved, and bearing the owner's initials, and other indications
+of ownership, would be the chosen receptacles for the numerous oddments
+which are required in the practice and pursuit of every home handicraft,
+and especially those connected with plying the needle. There was a time,
+however, when the fabrics used in the making up of clothing were
+home-made, when the seamstress and the needleworker stitched and
+embroidered upon cloths spun if not actually woven by the housewife and
+her handmaidens. In the barrows containing remains of people of the
+Stone Age, and the peoples of the early Bronze Age, among the few
+ornaments and personal adornments buried with them were spinning
+whorls--the curiosities which remain to us of the earliest known form of
+textile craftsmanship.
+
+
+Spinning Wheels.
+
+In old pictures and woodblock engravings some curious illustrations are
+met with showing Englishwomen using the distaff. St. Distaff's Day was
+formerly the 7th of January, for it was then that the women resumed work
+after the Christmas festivities were over. The distaff and the spindle
+belonged to an age little understood now, and the occupations of the
+women of that date are almost forgotten. The spinning wheel was the
+outcome of the simpler distaff and spindle, and although the spinning
+wheels we find among the most interesting of household relics look
+primitive indeed compared with the complex machinery seen in the
+spinning mills to-day, those dating from the seventeenth and eighteenth
+centuries must have been considered ingenious contrivances when compared
+with the older models, just as the latest types of sewing machines show
+a wonderful advance from the early machines invented in the beginning of
+the nineteenth century.
+
+Very clever indeed were many women in manipulating the spinning wheel,
+and there seems to have been some competitive contests for notoriety
+among country women, who found a pleasing though perhaps at times
+tedious occupation in spinning the wool for the local weaver who wove
+the home-made cloth. It is recorded that in 1745 a woman at East Dereham
+spun a single pound of wool into a thread of 84,000 yards. She was
+far outdistanced, however, a few years later, when a young lady at
+Norwich out of a pound of combed wool produced a thread computed to
+measure 168,000 yards.
+
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 72.--OLD SPINNING WHEEL.
+
+(_In the collection of Mr. Phillips, of the Manor House, Hitchin._)]
+
+To secure a fine spinning wheel is the ambition of collectors, and many
+ladies point with pride to the old relic placed in a position of honour
+on an oak chest of drawers, or, perhaps, standing on a coffer in the
+hall. An exceptionally fine wheel is shown in Fig. 72; it is one of many
+secured by Mr. Phillips, of the Manor House, Hitchin. Another
+illustration is taken from a sketch of a spinning wheel in the Hull
+Museum (see Fig. 73). It appears that early in the nineteenth century
+Hull encouraged the training of domestic spinners, and at that time
+supported a spinning school. _Apropos_ of that institution reference may
+appropriately be made to Hadley's "History of Hull," in which the
+historian, in reference to Sunday Schools, which had then quite recently
+been founded, says: "From the Sunday School reports for this year [1788]
+it seems they did not take. To whatever cause this may be attributed, it
+by no means warrants the aspersions thrown upon the town on that
+account, which has with equal ardour and wisdom espoused that useful
+establishment of Spinning Schools, in preference to a preposterous
+institution replete with folly, intolerance, fanaticism, and mischief."
+In explanation it has been remarked that, "Evidently wheels were
+plentiful in Hull and Sunday Schools a novelty." To-day we can reverse
+the statement, for schools are plentiful but spinning wheels are rare!
+
+Collectors eagerly secure anything in the way of a genuine antique
+wheel, although the fastidious have the choice of two distinct
+types--those worked by hand and those operated by a treadle. Sometimes a
+spinning wheel made for the foot could be worked independently by the
+hand, just in the same way as modern sewing machines are made for hand
+or treadle, and sometimes a combination of both methods. The very
+general use of the spinning wheel is accounted for by the fact that this
+useful machine was met with in every cottage in the days when homespun
+yarns and wools were prepared by hand, and they were also found in the
+mansion and the palace, where they served to amuse the ladies of the
+household.
+
+There are many varieties of spinning wheels, among them the old oak
+spinning wheels used in England in the sixteenth and seventeenth
+centuries, and the more decorative used until quite late in the
+eighteenth century, from their ornament and lightness, apparently used
+more for preparing the material for fancy work rather than for really
+utilitarian purposes. Some highly decorative spinning wheels inlaid with
+mother-o'-pearl and ivory have been brought over to this country from
+Holland and other continental countries, perhaps the most decorative
+being those made by French workmen in the Chinese style, the wood being
+lacquered blue and ornamented with gilt.
+
+Mr. John Suddaby, who presented the spinning wheel we have illustrated
+to the Hull Wilberforce Museum, named after William Wilberforce, paid a
+high tribute to the famous philanthropist, who he declared to be
+associated with the spinning schools of the town. The old wheels of
+early date were gradually improved until they were rendered obsolete by
+the greater inventions of machines which could be worked by steam
+engines, thus originating the factory system of textile production.
+
+Among the sundry curios associated with the spinning wheel are
+handsomely carved wood distaffs of boxwood, curiously turned spindles;
+and now and then a pewter vessel of circular form, puzzling in its
+identity, turns out to be the rim cup from the distaff of an old
+spinning wheel.
+
+
+Materials and Work.
+
+Old workboxes appear to be very numerous. The older ones were mostly of
+wood, but the external decoration seems to have been a matter of taste,
+some preferring inlays. In early days moulded plaster ornament, richly
+gilded and coloured, was much favoured, and in still earlier times deep
+relief carvings in the oak of which the boxes were made. In the Stuart
+and later periods ladies worked the exterior ornament in silks and
+satins and embroidery. Among the workboxes in the Victoria and Albert
+Museum there is a painted box in distemper and gilding, the subject
+chosen for the ornamentation of the lid being the story of David and
+Bathsheba, round the sides being floral devices. This decorative workbox
+has drawers and compartments, a sliding front facilitating their use.
+
+In the same collection there are workboxes overlaid with straw work in
+geometrical patterns relieved by colour. Straw-work decoration was much
+favoured at the commencement of the nineteenth century, its origin being
+traceable to the French military prisoners in this country during the
+Napoleonic wars between the years 1797 and 1814, when many officers and
+men were detained at Porchester Castle, near Portsmouth, and at Norman
+Cross, near Peterborough. The grasses, of which the boxes were covered,
+were collected and dried by the prisoners, who obtained the different
+shades and tints which render this class of work so effective by
+steeping them in infusions of tea, according to a note by Dr. Strong,
+who visited the barracks at Norman Cross.
+
+The workboxes, so rich in gilding and relief, came from Italy, when, as
+early as the year 1400, caskets were covered with a species of lime
+which was moulded, the gesso, as it was called, on a gilt ground of
+white compo, giving it a very rich effect. Leather was used with good
+effect, too, for the ornamentation of workboxes, red morocco being much
+favoured in England early in the nineteenth century. Fig. 76 illustrates
+three very beautiful little fitted boxes with inlaid ornament and straw
+work.
+
+
+Little Accessories.
+
+The contents of an old workbox are many and varied. Among the odds and
+ends it is no uncommon thing to find relics of lace-making, by which so
+many cottagers have been able to maintain themselves for generations.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 73.--SPINNING WHEEL.
+
+(_In the Hull Museum._)]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 74.--OLD LACE BOBBINS.
+
+(_a_, _b_, _c_, _d_, _e_, and _f_, reading from left to right.)]
+
+There is something very remarkable about the manufacture of pillow lace,
+in that it is carried on in the villages of Buckinghamshire just as it
+was two or more centuries ago, and the pillow and the bobbins are almost
+identical in form and design--indeed, the patterns of the lace have
+changed little, for the workers cling tenaciously to the old designs,
+Flemish in their characteristics, just as they do to the old bobbins.
+
+Some of these little spools or bobbins have been handed down from mother
+to daughter as heirlooms, and many of them carry a romantic story, if it
+were but known. Just as the Welsh lovespoons and the Sunderland glass
+rolling-pins were given as love tokens, many of these bobbins are the
+result of patient labour, their decoration having often been the work of
+days; ivory, bone, wood, and metal being cut and shaped, gilded and
+stained, in order to provide the favoured one with a bobbin unlike any
+other and quite distinctive in design. In the making of pillow lace,
+pins, cleverly placed so as to form the pattern, were inserted into the
+cushion, and the threads on a dozen or more bobbins deftly twisted in
+and out and tied round the pins. The glass beads, many of the older ones
+of odd shapes and colours, hand-made, made the first distinction, and
+their weight helped to keep the light turned wood bobbins in place. It
+was the bobbins which were ornamental, and some of the older ones--those
+made in the eighteenth century--are very decorative, and now much sought
+after by collectors. Those illustrated in Fig. 74 have been selected
+from a large collection for their representative types: (A) is the
+oldest; the ornament is of pewter let into the wood, it has a very small
+spool; (B) is ivory, the incised parts stained green; (C) is bone, the
+incised pattern filled in with gold beaten into a thin plate; (D) is
+also of bone with a band of brass and coloured inlays; (E) walnut wood,
+turned in the deep grooves are six loose silver rings, some of the heads
+are of brass gilt; (F) the most modern type, such as may be seen in use
+in Buckinghamshire to-day, the present revival of the hand-made lace
+industry being due to the efforts of the North Bucks Lace Association.
+Of such handwork Cowper wrote:--
+
+    "Yon cottager who weaves at her own door,
+    Pillow and bobbins all her little store:
+    Content, though mean, and cheerful, if not gay,
+    Shuffering her threads about the livelong day."
+
+The lace-maker, and the housewife who occupied her leisure moments in
+lace-making, left behind many collectable curios. The worker of samplers
+and those advanced in the higher arts of needlecraft had also their
+little work necessaries. Very clever indeed were the workers of
+silk-embroidered pictures, and the instruments they used were fine and
+delicate, different indeed from the coarser needles of the knitter and
+the meshes of the netter. In later years the workbox became more
+substantial, and less attention was given to the exterior, for the
+interior fittings of the workbox became beautiful, and a wealth of art
+was shown in the carving of the ivory accessories, and the pearl tops of
+the thread and silk reels and winders and the curious little wax
+holders. There were cleverly contrived measuring tapes, and beautiful
+little baskets of ivory and wood, some filled with emery, others serving
+the purpose of receptacles for pins and needles. From these evolved the
+needlebooks and the more modern companions.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 75.--OLD PIN POPPETS AND ANCIENT PINS.]
+
+In Fig. 77 are shown several beautiful oddments taken out of an old
+workbox; they are all made of ivory, carved and fretted in such delicate
+tracery that it is a wonder that they have survived for a century or
+more without injury. Ivory work holders, in which ladies rolled their
+needlework when they went out to tea, were often beautifully carved;
+they, too, are charming additions to ivory workbox fittings.
+
+
+Cutlery.
+
+The cutler has contributed to the curios of the workbox. The knives and
+scissors, bodkins, and stilettos from an old workbox look strangely out
+of date when compared with those bought in the shops to-day. The chief
+thing that is so noticeable to the critical observer is the cutting of
+the steel and the hand ornamentation of those days. Some of the
+embroidery scissors were engraved all over with fancy patterns, and
+there are some remarkably quaint button-hole scissors, on which the
+owner's name or initials were often engraved.
+
+Some time ago an old lady made a small collection of thimbles. It was
+not a very expensive hobby, but the variety she secured was truly
+remarkable. There were thimbles of bone, ivory, steel, brass, enamel,
+silver, and even gold. Some were chased and engraved, some stamped and
+punched. There were thimbles of huge size and others with open ends, the
+same that sailors use.
+
+It is said that the thimble dates back to 1684, when one Nicholas
+Benschoten, of Amsterdam, sent one as a present to a lady friend with
+the dedicatory inscription: "To My frouw van Rensclear this little
+object which I have invented and executed as a protective covering for
+her industrious fingers." It is said the name in this country was
+originally "thumb-bell," so called because of the shape being of
+bell-like form. Of the thimbles of the wealthy it is recorded there are
+thimbles of onyx, mother-o'-pearl, and of gold, encrusted with rubies
+and diamonds--the seamstress has, however, to be content with useful if
+less costly "baubles."
+
+
+Quaint Woodwork.
+
+By way of contrast the outfit of the worker often includes wooden
+needles and occasionally utensils made of wood, but covered with
+evidences of love and tender regard for those who were destined to use
+them. The knitter seems to have been peculiarly fortunate, for knitting
+sticks and sheaths afforded the amateur carver ample opportunities of
+showing his skill; and, like the carved lovespoons, of which there is
+such a famous collection in the Cardiff Museum, the knitting sheaths and
+sticks seem to indicate that in a similar way the amorous swain gave
+vent to his feelings in the curious designs, mottoes, and names which he
+carved upon knitting sticks and kindred objects used by the lady of his
+choice. In the Victoria and Albert Museum there are some beautiful
+boxwood needle sticks; one example is cleverly carved with emblems of
+Faith, Hope, and Charity. Another beautiful needle stick in the same
+collection is mounted with silver. On some of the woodwork used for
+similar purposes there are cleverly designed pictures, and these were
+not always associated with private use, for the clothworkers in many
+districts used quite fanciful tools, especially in the villages, where
+time was of small moment, and the long winter evenings could be occupied
+with cutting and carving the handles and framework of the tools which in
+everyday practice served such a useful and often wage-earning purpose.
+In the Victoria and Albert Museum there is a remarkable cloth-measure
+made of walnut, bearing date 1745, three-sided, one being covered over
+with letters of the alphabet cut in deep relief, thus serving a useful
+purpose in the home or as an educational standard. On the second side
+there are cleverly designed pastoral and hunting scenes, and on the
+third the arms of the Swiss cantons. Other portions of the measure
+illustrate the implements and tools used by clothworkers at that period.
+
+Switzerland has long been famous for its wood carving, and many of the
+curios found in this country have come from the Swiss mountain villages.
+No doubt some of our readers have come across the old pin poppets which
+boys and girls carried with them to the village school half a century or
+more ago. The girls filled them with pins and needles, bodkin and
+stiletto, and the boys with pencils and pens. In Fig. 75 two curious old
+pin boxes are illustrated. The _pins_ shown on the same page are,
+however, of much older date; they are, in fact, merely thorns; these
+interesting and authentic relics of the "common objects of the home," or
+perhaps more correctly described, of dress, are to be seen in the
+National Collection of Wales at Cardiff, the measuring stick shown in
+the photograph giving their size. The pin poppet, as its name denotes,
+was, however, intended originally for the requirements of the early
+needleworker who at the dames' school won renown in those great
+achievements--the samplers of old. These, however, do not exhaust the
+wood-carving curios of the workbox, but they may serve to remind
+collectors of what they may hope to discover in their hunt for household
+curios.
+
+
+The Needlewoman.
+
+The curiosities much prized to-day, the work of the needlewoman, or
+those who plied the needle chiefly for purposes of amusement or to give
+pleasure to those on whom they bestowed the products of their skill, are
+met with in many distinct forms. This is not a work on needlework, or we
+might tell of the various stitches which are indicative of certain
+periods. It is, however, admissible to mention some of the household
+curios, the product of such patient labour applied to the skilful
+manipulation of silks and threads and cottons and wools, of all colours
+and substances, embroidered or worked on canvas or other fabric.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 76.--THREE OLD WORKBOXES.
+
+(_In the collection of Mr. Phillips, of Hitchin._)]
+
+The mistresses of the old English homes were very industrious. They
+worked crewel bed hangings and cross-stitch and tent-stitch upholstery
+in the seventeenth century, and in still earlier times richly ornamented
+linens and other fabrics with flowers and scriptural subjects. Writing
+in reference to Queen Mary, the wife of William III, Sir Charles Sedley
+said:--
+
+    "When she rode in coach abroad
+    She was always knotting thread."
+
+And her example was followed by many in humbler circumstances. In later
+years women have wrought needlework and beadwork pictures, and have even
+threaded their needles with human hair when no silk could be found fine
+enough.
+
+Of the permanent ornaments of the home--now valued curios--there are
+cases formerly used on a lady's toilet table, embroidered with floss
+silk and frequently dated. Some were made to hold devotional books,
+others were portable boxes, the covers of which were worked on white
+satin with coloured silks and beads, oftentimes scriptural scenes being
+depicted in silk; one very favourite scene in the seventeenth century
+was the visit of the Queen of Sheba to Solomon.
+
+Many beautifully embroidered trinket boxes record the patience with
+which they were worked, and were undoubtedly a labour of love. Among the
+smaller objects, gifts from friend to friend, were pincushions, some of
+which bear dates in the seventeenth century. These were worked in
+coloured silks on canvas, the ornament often taking the form of a fruit
+or flower basket, birds and insects. The favourite material and colour
+for the back of such pincushions was yellow satin. A rather pleasing
+variety consisted of bag and pincushion worked to match, the two being
+united by a cord of plaited silk. Of purses there were many varieties,
+chiefly made of coarse canvas worked in cross and tent stitches with
+coloured silks and silver threads, couched or laid over silver thread,
+and then stitched to the canvas concealing it. There are also miniature
+pincushions worked in silk like the old samplers and brocade pocket
+books, some of which were woven in France in the seventeenth century.
+There are also holdalls and needle cases in embroidery and cross stitch.
+The favourite colours worked by English ladies in the eighteenth century
+were pink, orange, and light green. On these were often worked mottoes
+and rhyme. One will serve as a sample:--
+
+    "When Judah's daughters captive led
+    Behold their mighty kings subdued."
+
+Loyal mottoes were frequently worked, especially during the days when
+the Pretenders were carrying on their hopeless campaign. There is a
+subtle reminder of the desire to make known loyal feelings, intermixed
+with prudence in concealing them, in the quaint embroidered garter in
+the British Museum which is inscribed "GOD BLESS P.C."
+
+To smokers were given embroidered tobacco pouches in green, pink, and
+silver; one charming old beadwork tobacco pouch in Taunton Castle is
+embroidered "LOVE ME FOR I AM THINE, 1631." There were necklaces and
+bracelets of needlework, and some of coloured glass beads, as well as
+the long watchguards worn round the neck, chiefly of the nineteenth
+century.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 77.--OLD WORKBOX FITTINGS.
+
+(_In the Author's collection._)]
+
+
+Old Samplers.
+
+Old samplers may well be regarded as educational, belonging to the
+schoolroom as well as to the workbox. They were intended to teach
+needlework, and served as reminders of alphabets, sums, and mapping.
+Many worked in silk on yellow linen in the eighteenth century were quite
+elaborate pieces of needlework. Those of the seventeenth century,
+chiefly of linen, were much cruder and simpler in design. During the
+latter half of the eighteenth century samplers were mostly worked on
+canvas or sampler cloth, a material which was used almost as long as
+samplers were in fashion. Different stitches were employed; there was
+the early drawn and cut work, and then the silk embroidery showing the
+girl's acquirement of the darning stitch.
+
+Some early tapestry maps are numbered among the educational curios in
+which samplers are so prominent. The Yorkshire Philosophical Society own
+two unique specimens of sixteenth-century tapestry, formerly in the
+possession of Horace Walpole. They measure about 16 ft. by 12 ft., the
+sections including Herefordshire, Shropshire, Gloucestershire,
+Oxfordshire, and a part of Berkshire. These remarkable maps are vividly
+coloured and show excellent pictorial scenes indicating villages, parks,
+and country seats. Such maps are rare, but now and then really
+interesting examples of needlework mapping are met with.
+
+Collectors keep an eye on preservation, but they are keen on dated
+specimens, and those with ornate and quaintly picturesque borders. The
+condition adds to the beauty, but not always to the value, for many of
+the older and less well-preserved samplers are now becoming scarce. They
+have been retained by those who have no interest in antiques because
+they bore the name of some fair ancestress who lived and worked on her
+sampler more than a century ago, leaving it behind as a memorial of her
+skill in the use of a needle for future generations to admire. How many
+ladies of the twentieth century are preparing permanent records of their
+skill in needlework for those who are to come to hand on to generations
+unborn? is a question some may like to ponder.
+
+
+
+
+XI
+
+THE LIBRARY
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+THE LIBRARY
+
+     From cover to cover--Old scrap books--Almanacs--The writing
+     table.
+
+
+The library is usually where the master of the house conducts his
+business correspondence and, if a student, spends much of his time among
+his favourite books, or, perchance, engages in literary work. In days
+gone by, when there were fewer opportunities of visiting public
+libraries, and when circulating libraries were few and far between, the
+man of letters accumulated around him standard works and ancient tomes,
+possibly seldom read. When such a library, perhaps scarcely examined for
+a century or more, comes to be dispersed, it often happens that
+curiosities are brought to light.
+
+The furniture of the library is full of interest, for a quaint writing
+table, bureau, or desk full of oddments is an exceedingly prolific field
+of research. In the following paragraphs a few of these curiosities are
+referred to; there are others, however, that the collector will
+discover, possibly one of the scarcer curios of the library, some of
+which realize unexpectedly high prices when they are brought under the
+hammer.
+
+
+From Cover to Cover.
+
+The books which constitute the library are often curious, and there is
+much that receives its monetary value on account of its antiquity and
+rarity. An old library will frequently include black-letter printing and
+old volumes illustrated with wood blocks, and, perchance, illuminated
+initial letters. Some of the volumes may be printed on vellum, and there
+may be some in manuscript. The bindings of presentation books may be of
+rich calf and tooled in gold; some may even have edge paintings and
+choice hand-painted illuminations. The subject-matter of the volumes
+often gives rise to specialistic collections. Some will find amusement
+in tracing the progress of a great industry through published
+information, like those curious old time tables in the early days of
+railways, and the pamphlets which are classed by the collector as
+"Railroadia," and from them learn the story of the "iron horse." There
+are others who collect books and prints relating to ballooning, the
+microscope, and many of the earlier sciences. There are topographical
+curiosities and historical marvels. Some books will be valued because of
+their illustrations, for the work of a master hand may be recognized by
+the expert searcher after valuables. The rare mezzotints, stipples, and
+delicate line engravings, to say nothing of the more valuable colour
+prints, often realize far more than the books themselves. Ancient art is
+more valued than the literary efforts of past masters of wielding the
+pen!
+
+It is thus that the books are often thrown away after the pictures or
+even superadded illustrations or mere name-plates have been removed. The
+collector of bookplates searches for his treasures. Some talk of the
+vandalism of the collector of ex-libris, but they must remember that it
+is quite easy to remove a bookplate without injuring the volume, and
+there are many worthless books. The name labels or bookplates found in
+English libraries range from the early dated plates of the close of the
+seventeenth century to the present day. The different styles of ornament
+in vogue in the respective periods of their engraving were with few
+exceptions adhered to by the printers of such plates. Thus the collector
+classifies his albums and rejoices in the variations and details of the
+engraver's fancy, while he separates them into such well-defined groups
+as early armorial, Jacobean, Chippendale, ribbon and wreath, urn,
+pictorial, armorial, and simple shield. To other than the enthusiastic
+collector, bookplates may possess merit in that they have belonged to
+famous men, and are souvenirs taken from the volumes which were once
+handled by distinguished statesmen, divines, and men of letters.
+
+
+Old Scrap Books.
+
+The making of scrap books or the filling of portfolios was not always an
+amusement for children, neither did older folk make those quaint scrap
+books with such assortments of literary and pictorial odds and ends
+solely for the amusement of their visitors. Many enthusiastic collectors
+stored their treasures in such books, the binding of which was often
+very costly and quite gorgeously ornamented. Some pointed with pride to
+collections of prints, others to albums of frontispieces, printers'
+marks, and tailpieces, some of which were beautiful little pictures.
+
+In modern times collectors rescue from the flames old tickets, pictorial
+benefit tickets, theatre passes, and quaint pictures which tell us of
+great events which happened in days gone by at Ranelagh, Vauxhall, and
+other places.
+
+Ranelagh, where the entertainments of which relics in the shape of
+beautifully engraved tickets are to be found, was at Chelsea, and the
+gardens visited by Walpole, Johnson, and Goldsmith were famous for their
+promenades and for the music and singing which might be enjoyed, among
+the evening pleasures being displays of fireworks and masked dances. In
+the summer tea and coffee were sipped under the trees, and there were
+water carnivals on the river. There were also masquerade balls and
+dances, for which tickets engraved by Bartolozzi and other famous
+artists were issued. It is these tickets which are preserved and
+collected now.
+
+The autograph hunter extends his hobby by adding old parchments and
+deeds with seals, for among the odd bundles of parchments in old
+libraries are many documents attested with thumb-marks and seals--"His
+mark," of days when many of the landed proprietors could not write their
+own names.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 78.--ANCIENT CLOG ALMANAC.]
+
+The joys of St. Valentine's Day, remembered by older people still, are
+unknown to the present generation, but collectors perpetuate February
+14th as it was kept in the past by filling albums with such old
+valentines as they may be able to secure.
+
+
+Watch Papers.
+
+Another comparatively small collection can be made up of pictorial watch
+papers, those rare little pictorial views which once reposed in the
+interior of the cases of old watches. Watches are by no means common
+curios of the household, but now and then an old silver verge or a
+decorated watch case thought little of is found to contain one of those
+pretty pictures which were chiefly engraved and printed in the
+eighteenth century. Many of the designs were printed on satin; some were
+devices in needlework; again others were cut out in the most lace-like
+designs. Theatrical celebrities were often pictured; thus the theatrical
+amateur would buy his watch paper representing the celebrated Miss
+Gunning, or possibly Mr. Garrick. The pictures were really gems, too,
+for great artists such as Angelica Kaufmann, Cipriani, and Bartolozzi
+did not disdain to engrave watch papers.
+
+
+Old Almanacs.
+
+Some of the best finds when libraries have been overhauled have been the
+curious old almanacs published when superstition was rife. The oldest,
+perhaps, were the clog almanacs, although some were common in
+Staffordshire until about 1820. The accompanying illustration (see Fig.
+78) was engraved in an old book referring to that county published more
+than a century ago. In Camden's _Britannia_ some information is given in
+reference to these early clog almanacs, in which it is said holidays
+were distinguished by hieroglyphics; in some the Massacre of the
+Innocents was denoted by a drawn sword; SS. Simon and Jude's Day by a
+ship, because they were fishers; and St. George's Day by a horse. In the
+Norway clog almanacs St. Martin's Day is marked with a goose, the custom
+of eating a goose now being transferred to Michaelmas. In the
+illustration given in Fig. 78 the first section embraces January,
+February, and March; the second, April, May, and June; the third, July,
+August, and September; and the fourth, October, November, and December.
+Conspicuously inscribed on the clog will be noticed the ring for New
+Year's Day; the star denoting the Epiphany; the axe for St. Paul;
+February 14th is indicated by a lover's knot; a spear denotes St.
+George's Day in April; and May Day by a tree branch. The keys of St.
+Peter are noticed as indicating the 29th of June; the scales of St.
+Michael are seen at the end of September. St. Catherine's wheel figures
+in the middle of November, immediately under it being the somewhat large
+cross of St. Andrew. Other symbols will doubtless be recognized on this
+interesting relic.
+
+The study of the almanac is not now one of the chief diversions of the
+fair sex. At one time, however, when ladies had fewer amusements than
+they have now, they spent much time poring over almanacs, and placed
+implicit trust in what they found recorded there, especially in the
+forecasts and prognostications for the future of those born on certain
+days and under so-called lucky or unlucky stars. One of the most popular
+calendars of olden time was "The Ladies' Diary or the Woman's Almanac,"
+containing many delightful and entertaining particulars for the fair
+sex. Let us take, for example, a copy of that popular almanac for the
+year of grace 1749. On the cover there is a picture of the Queen.
+Alluding to the peace then prevailing are the lines:--
+
+    "Perch'd o'er this Realm, the ancient seat of Kings,
+    Now dove-like peace the sprig of laurel brings;
+    And British fair ones happy days shall see,
+    While George shall reign, and Britons still are free."
+
+Another George is on the throne, and his consort Queen Mary is an ideal
+woman, and what to many is of the highest importance, Peace reigns in
+this country and Britons are still free!
+
+Among the contents of that curious almanac are Latin and French enigmas,
+mathematical questions and paradoxes. The concluding paragraph for the
+dedication of that day is entitled "Truth's Moral Euclid"; the
+proposition given being:--
+
+    "Virtue promotes happiness, private and public.
+    Vice is destructive of happiness, private and public.
+    Honour is the reward of virtue."
+
+One of the finest collections of old almanacs is in the Bodleian Library
+at Oxford--chiefly seventeenth-century productions. A still older
+almanac was the "Poor Robin" of 1664; another seventeenth-century
+almanac being the "Vox Stellarum" of Francis Moore, a quack doctor. In
+1733 Benjamin Franklin published in Philadelphia his "Poor Richard's
+Almanac," noted for its verses, jests, and sayings. The monopoly once
+possessed by the Stationers' Company has long been broken down, and of
+later almanacs and calendars there is no end. Among the miniature books,
+the collection of which is much favoured now, are some very tiny
+almanacs, like the beautiful specimens of such a calendar given in Fig.
+80, produced actual size, shown open and closed. This miniature almanac
+is printed on satin and is full of pleasing little pictures. It is the
+work of a French artist early in the nineteenth century, the pictures
+and their descriptions and the monthly calendars occupying alternate
+pages. The binding is of mother-o'-pearl, bound in ormolu and richly
+gilt and engraved. Some similar calendars in tiny leather bindings,
+beautifully tooled and ornamented in gold, are also collectable.
+
+
+The Writing Table.
+
+The writing table usually occupies an honoured place in the library. It
+may be a massive table of oak or a simple writing desk venerated on
+account of the great literary works which have been written upon it. It
+is no uncommon thing to read of large sums paid for a writing desk on
+which the manuscript of a famous book has been penned, and some of the
+writing tables upon which deeds of historical fame have been signed have
+gained a reputation and a money value out of all proportion to their
+curio or antiquarian merits. Not long ago the late King Edward presented
+to the Commonwealth of Australia the table on which the great Charter
+was signed, together with the inkstand and pen used on that occasion.
+Those will be relics for future generations to value.
+
+The table appointments are among the collectable curios of the library,
+and prominent among these is the inkstand. Inkstands find their
+prototypes in the inkhorns of the scribe; and throughout the generations
+which have provided curios for twentieth-century collectors there have
+been fresh supplies in silver, pewter, Sheffield plate, copper, bronze,
+iron, wood, china, and brass. Very beautiful indeed are some of the old
+inkstands in their separate vase-like attachments. The ink-well was
+formerly accompanied by a sand box or a pounce caster, in modern days
+superseded by a second ink-well. The sand casters for sprinkling pounce
+or sand upon newly written pages were a necessity before the days of
+blotting paper. Perhaps some day blotters, blotting pads, and the like,
+may become collectable curios!
+
+Collectors of old china are familiar with the rare boxes, egg-cup-like
+in form, made by Richard Chaffers, of Liverpool, the blue and white
+decoration, the name of the potter in the narrowed portion of the box
+being characteristic of what was for a long time known as "Dick's
+Pepperbox." It was, however, intended for a pounce box, the pounce or
+pumice being a fine powder of the cuttle-fish bone, afterwards giving
+the name to the pounce paper or transparent tracing material. Of the
+inkstands to be seen in our museums there are many dating from almost
+prehistoric times; their variety may be instanced by mention of one in
+the Berlin Museum, an Egyptian curio said to be 3,400 years old, below
+the ink compartments being a case for holding reed pens.
+
+In early days before even well-to-do people could read and write the
+scribe found a ready occupation. The materials he used were carried
+about in a writing case of metal, and among such curios are writing
+cases which were used in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. They
+were often the work of the craftsmen of Mesopotamia, who were clever
+artists in metal, and the work they performed came to Europe through
+Syria. The example shown in Fig. 81 is the work of Mahmud, the son of
+Sonkor, of Baghdad, and is dated 1281. This beautiful specimen may be
+seen in the British Museum.
+
+The implements the scribe used changed as time went on, for parchment
+was used quite early in the East. Writing was introduced into Spain by
+the Moors in the tenth century, although writing paper was not made in
+England until the fifteenth century.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 79.--OLD COIN TESTER.]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 80.--MINIATURE SOUVENIR ALMANAC.]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 81.--ANCIENT WRITING SET.]
+
+The evolution of the pen has been slow, for the use of quills continues
+still in some Government offices, and quills are still supplied to
+readers in the British Museum Reading Room. The old-fashioned quill pens
+were in days gone by shaped with a small knife made specially for that
+purpose. Indeed, it is to the quill pen that we are indebted for our
+"pen" knives, which have long been put to other uses. It was not
+every one who was expert in cutting a pen neatly and making it write
+well. Consequently an instrument was made for that purpose, known as the
+quill-pen cutter. These cutters are now and then met with in old desks,
+where they have lain unused for many years.
+
+Quill-pen making was an important industry until the invention of the
+steel pen, and the quality of the quill was a matter of importance to
+the scribe. In a trader's circular dated 1820 there is notice of the
+Royal Appointment of a Liverpool maker, who was authorized to exercise
+and enjoy all the rights, profits, privileges, and advantages of his
+appointment of Pen Cutter and Quill Dresser to His Majesty King George
+IV. In the same circular it is stated that the quill pens supplied were
+of varying qualities, secured from the swan, raven, goose, turkey, crow,
+and duck.
+
+Sealing correspondence was a necessity before gummed envelopes were
+invented. Then sealing-wax was in daily use on the writing table, and
+the signet ring or seal was requisitioned. The outfit of a library table
+would scarcely be complete without wax, wafer irons, and seals. One of
+the curios found now and then in old desks is a little cutting
+instrument useful in removing seals or opening letters which had been
+sealed. In the days before penny postage letters were sent carriage
+forward, and the postage which had to be paid on the receipt of letters
+from a distance was a heavy tax on those who had many friends and much
+correspondence.
+
+The penalty of being the recipient of much correspondence may, perhaps,
+have been lightened by the wording of the seal; for many old letter
+seals conveyed sentimental messages which to the receiver from that
+particular sender might have meant much. The following is a selection of
+the characteristic sentiments of the day: "Break the seal, read the
+letter, and keep the secret"; "You have a loyal friend"; and "Life is
+naught without a friend." We cannot tell what was the result of sending
+a letter bearing such a seal legend as:--
+
+    "Mine is a heart that loveth thee;
+    So, ladylove, do thou love me."
+
+Collectors' hobbies now and then are increased by the introduction of
+something entirely new, something never known before, and the world
+rejoices over a genuine novelty. The cynic declares that there is
+nothing new under the sun, but the introduction of the penny postage in
+1840, at the instigation of Rowland Hill, laid the foundation to stamp
+collecting, which has become the most popular of all collectors'
+hobbies. The philatelist is found in every civilized country, and the
+collection of postage stamps, used and unused, grows apace. A bundle of
+old letters in entire envelopes, posted forty or fifty years ago from
+one of the British Colonies, discovered when ransacking an old library,
+will probably prove the most valuable relic of the past found in it.
+
+
+
+
+XII
+
+THE SMOKER'S CABINET
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+THE SMOKER'S CABINET
+
+     Old pipes--Pipe racks--Tobacco boxes--Smokers' tongs and
+     stoppers--Snuff boxes and rasps.
+
+
+The slave of the pipe and the moderate smoker of years gone by have left
+behind them relics in nearly every home. Such curios are found when
+pulling down old houses, and clearing out rubbish heaps; and even when
+making excavations in the vicinity of once occupied ground remains left
+behind by smokers of olden times are discovered.
+
+Many are marked as curios on account of their curious forms; others have
+been regarded as such because their uses have become obsolete, and some
+because of their great beauty and the costliness of the materials of
+which they are made.
+
+The collectable curios of the smoker's cabinet consist of clay pipes,
+varying from the earliest form known to the later types not far removed
+from the modern clays still smoked by workmen; of pipes of curious forms
+and quaintly carved bowls; and the Eastern pipes, which look more like
+show pieces in their size and forms than any pipe made for actual use.
+The curios include tobacco jars, spill cups, and ash trays; and there
+are also brass and copper spittoons and pipe racks. An old smoker's desk
+often contains odd curios, such as the one-time common pipe-stoppers, so
+many of which were made by Birmingham "toy-makers" in the eighteenth
+century.
+
+
+Old Pipes.
+
+When tobacco was first introduced into this country, and smoking was
+taught to those whose descendants in countless numbers were destined to
+worship at the shrine of my Lady Nicotine on British soil, the pipe was
+brought over too; for tobacco and the tobacco pipe are inseparable,
+although the pipe shares its popularity with cigars and cigarettes.
+
+There are few records of early experiments in the modelling and baking
+of local clays by pipe makers; it was, however, soon discovered that
+Broseley clay was most suitable for the tobacco pipe, and there are
+pipes known to have been made at Broseley in the seventeenth century.
+The flat heels of the early pipes were useful in that pipes could then
+be laid down on the table. Then in the reign of James II an advance was
+made by the spur-like projection of the bowl, which was found to be
+convenient for the purpose of branding with the initials of the maker or
+his trade mark, and there are many examples of old marks, some of which
+are very curious, a not uncommon form being a punning rebus on the
+maker's name; thus we have a gauntlet, used by a man named Gauntlet.
+
+The earlier forms of clay pipes gradually gave way to the long-stemmed
+"churchwardens," which in course of time were again superseded by pipes
+with short stems. The meerschaum in its day had many followers, and some
+of the curiosities of the smoker's cabinet (the term "cabinet" is used
+here in a figurative rather than a realistic sense) are those
+elaborately carved specimens of meerschaum, that remarkably light
+material that lends itself so well to the carver's art.
+
+
+Pipe Racks.
+
+There appear to have been two distinct forms of racks--those used for
+cleaning or rebaking clay pipes, and the racks on which they were
+stored. The pipe rack was originally a wrought-iron frame upon which
+dirty clay pipes were stoved in a brick oven and restored to their
+original freshness. The stoving of pipes was a common practice not only
+in taverns and public clubs but in private houses in the days when long
+clay pipes were served to the guests, and a bowl of punch was placed
+before them--it was thus that convivial spirits enjoyed themselves in
+time gone by.
+
+Now and then these old pipe racks are met with in some outhouse or
+attic, but they are getting very scarce, for most of them appear to have
+found their way into the scrap heap of the old-metal dealer. Some of the
+racks intended for the storage of pipes and not for baking them were
+exceedingly decorative, the ornamental sides terminating with acorn
+knobs made of cast lead.
+
+
+Tobacco Boxes.
+
+It seems natural to suppose that the need of a suitable receptacle for
+tobacco would early be felt. Many of the old tobacco boxes--those for
+storage purposes--were made of lead or pewter. Lead was found to be cool
+and was also used as an appropriate lining for boxes made of other
+materials. Jars soon came into vogue, and there are quite ancient
+specimens, especially the old japanned boxes, ornamented with figures in
+gilt.
+
+There is, of course, a vast difference between the storage jar and the
+smaller box carried about by the smoker much in the same way as the
+pouch is now used. Many still prefer metal to other materials, and it is
+no uncommon thing to see brass and steel boxes in use in industrial
+districts. Few, however, excepting modern replicas of the antique, are
+decorated in the way the old Dutch tobacco boxes of brass were in the
+seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. It is not very clear why so many
+of them were engraved with scriptural subjects, for there does not
+appear to be much connection between biblical history and the pipe!
+Engravings of scenes depicting Noah and the Flood are common, the
+incongruity of the clothing shown being often commented upon; one writer
+upon the subject referred to the engravings on one of these tobacco
+boxes as being ornamented with Jewish characters wearing knee breeches
+of English type, talking to Dutch frauen. Historical portraits are not
+uncommonly met with on these quaint boxes, and quite a number of battle
+scenes have been engraved. Such metal work has been gathered together
+in several museums, and in the British Museum there is a fine collection
+of various shapes, some oval, others long and narrow, and some almost
+square. The brass tobacco box illustrated in Fig. 83 has a medallion
+portrait of Frederick the Great in the centre, such embossed subjects
+being very popular in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, both in
+England and in Holland, although Dutch artists gave preference to
+scriptural subjects, many fine examples of which are to be seen in our
+museums. Fortunately there are many really curious specimens obtainable
+at a moderate cost.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 82.--THREE CURIOUS PIPE-STOPPERS.]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 83.--BRASS TOBACCO BOX.
+
+(_In the British Museum._)]
+
+
+Smokers' Tongs and Stoppers.
+
+Curious little ember tongs were formerly used by smokers for taking up
+hot embers or ashes with which to light their pipes. Of these there are
+several varieties, most of them of polished steel, cut and chased. In
+the eighteenth century similar tongs were used for holding cigars; some
+were fitted with small knives, and a few of the earlier examples
+included tinder boxes. Not infrequently one end of the handle terminated
+in a tobacco stopper.
+
+Stoppers, were, however, destined soon to become an independent and
+important smokers' accessory. They were made of different materials,
+including brass, steel, bone, and ivory, to some being added a pick for
+clearing out the bowl of a pipe. Many curious handles were modelled,
+among the varieties being some representing soldiers in armour of the
+time of James I. There is one favourite type representing Charles I,
+crowned, and wearing the collar of the Garter, and another a bust of
+Oliver Cromwell. In one example a farm labourer works a flail, in
+another a milkmaid goes a-milking with her pail. There are many
+varieties of a hand holding a pipe, of jockeys and prize-fighters, and
+of St. George and the Dragon.
+
+The three stoppers illustrated in Fig. 82 are quite exceptional
+specimens, illustrating, however, the kind of stopper which collectors
+should keep a keen look out for. These examples are in the British
+Museum along with a few others of seventeenth and eighteenth-century
+manufacture, having striking characteristics. One is described as having
+a human figure at the butt, and at the other end a crowned head. The
+third example is an historic souvenir, having been made, as the
+inscription on the stopper indicates, from the royal oak which sheltered
+Charles II, by Mr. George Plaxton, at one time "parson of the parish."
+
+In the Taunton Castle Museum there is an exceptionally beautiful stopper
+made of ivory inscribed:--
+
+"NOW . MAN . WITH . MAN . IS . SO . VNJVST .
+THAT . ONE . CAN . SCARCE . TELL . WHO . TO . TRVST."
+
+There are similar stoppers in private collections. The inscription on
+one at South Petherton reads:--
+
+"THE . FAYREST . MAYD . THAT . DID . BAYR . LIFE .
+FOR . LOVE . TO . MAN . BECAME . A . WIFE."
+
+
+Snuff Boxes and Rasps.
+
+Snuff-taking has been a habit associated with smoking tobacco from quite
+early days. The preparation of snuff was formerly achieved at home, and
+consequently there sprang up the need of rasps, which were frequently
+carried about in the pocket, many of the cases being very ornamental.
+They varied in size, but the rasp cases usually held a plug or twist of
+tobacco from which the snuff was made.
+
+There are several fine old snuff rasps in the Victoria and Albert
+Museum, one large rasp measuring 15 in. in length; its case, which is of
+walnut and extremely decorative, is attributed to a Dutch carver who
+executed it in the second half of the seventeenth century. There is also
+a small iron rasp in a case of teak wood, which is inlaid with rosewood,
+ivory, and tortoiseshell, the rasp measuring about 8 in. in length. An
+eighteenth-century French rasp of boxwood is carved in low relief; on
+one side a pair of doves is represented, under the picture being the
+legend, "_Unis jusqu'a la mort_." On the other side there is a man
+blowing a horn with the legend, "_La fidelite est perdue_," around which
+is a rope-like frame supporting two cornucopiae. Another curious variety
+of snuff rasp is made to run on wheels. When snuff-making became an
+established trade, and the need for snuff rasps to be carried was not so
+great, the decoration of snuff boxes became more ornate.
+
+It was in the days of Queen Anne that the height of the glory of the
+snuffer was reached; it was, however, during the reigns of the Georges
+that so many beautiful boxes were made. There were boxes carved out of
+a piece of wood, others of bone, papier-mache, and metal; indeed, all
+the metals seem to have been used, for among the curiosities of old
+snuff boxes are those made of iron, copper, brass, silver, and gold.
+Some of the more costly were enriched with diamonds and precious stones,
+and with tiny miniature paintings and beautiful Wedgwood cameos.
+
+In the days when snuff-taking was a commoner practice than it is now,
+the ornamental snuff box was the chosen gift to men of fame. Kings,
+princes, and the nobility received gold and jewelled snuff boxes on
+occasions when in more modern days they would have been given a scroll
+of vellum in a golden casket.
+
+Many provincial museums contain excellent collections of smokers'
+requisites. In the handbook of Welsh antiquities published in connection
+with the National Museum of Wales, in Cardiff, there are allusions to
+several interesting specimens, the writer of the guide quoting some
+lines penned by a sixteenth-century poet, who extolled tobacco thus:--
+
+    "Tobacco engages
+    Both sexes, all ages--
+        The poor as well as the wealthy;
+    From the Court to the cottage,
+    From childhood to dotage,
+        Both those that are sick and the healthy."
+
+
+
+
+XIII
+
+LOVE TOKENS AND LUCKY EMBLEMS
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+LOVE TOKENS AND LUCKY EMBLEMS
+
+     Amulets--Horse trappings--Emblems of luck--Lovespoons--Glass
+     curios.
+
+
+The collector rarely troubles about attempting to solve matters of
+dispute, and cares little to enter into argumentative discussions in
+reference to the supposed purposes of the curios he collects, or the
+different uses with which they have been associated. He does not inquire
+too deeply into the faiths and beliefs which may have been held and
+revered by his ancestors when he puts in his cabinet some curiosity
+which may have been regarded almost with reverential feelings and
+handled with superstitious regard by its original possessor. The more
+thoughtful man does, however, pay some tribute to their early
+associations. Our museums are filled with such relics, with delightfully
+carved reliquaries, triptychs, and marvellously carved beads which in
+their religious use as rosaries have been looked upon as something more
+than mere specimens of the carver's art. There are mysteries in beliefs
+which have been held dear in the past which are not understood by
+succeeding generations.
+
+It is difficult to understand in the present day the deep-seated faith
+in amulets and charms, which were thought to have brought about what
+would now be regarded as curious coincidences, or to place reliance upon
+the babbling utterances of some old crone who posed as a witch or a
+fortune-teller. Yet among such old-world stories there are germs of
+truth although misapplied. The emblems, amulets, and charms so
+implicitly believed in a few centuries ago are objects numbered among
+collectable curios, valued even in this prosaic age not only for their
+intrinsic worth and antiquarian interest, but for the so-called magic
+influences they were supposed to possess.
+
+There is something more understandable about love tokens, for we can
+tell their purpose, and indeed to-day, stripped of the charm which was
+often supposed to go with them, love tokens are given, received, and
+valued just as much as they were in the past.
+
+
+Amulets.
+
+The amulet, which in its realistic form is regarded as an antiquity to
+be preserved with care, was usually regarded either as a charm against
+disease, accident, or misfortune, or as something the possession of
+which would bring good luck. The efficacy of amulets was believed in by
+the most cultured and scientific peoples in the past, for it was an
+article of belief in Egypt and Chaldea. The Jews had regard for their
+phylacteries, and the Greeks and Romans had their amulets. The image of
+Thor was an amulet peculiar to the old Norsemen; and in Britain we have
+had many examples.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 84.--COLLECTION OF HARNESS AMULETS AND TEAM BELLS.
+
+(_In the possession of Mr. Charles Wayte, of Edenbridge._)]
+
+Although not necessarily objects to be worn, no doubt charms usually
+took the form of something which could be suspended, for the origin of
+the word coming to us through the Latin has been traced to an Arabic
+word, signifying a pendant. In the early Christian Church the fish was
+worn as a symbol or charm, and in many parts of rural England to-day
+amulets are kept, and even charms, as preventives against disease. Men
+and women buy so-called amulets from the jewellers' shops at the present
+time, and wear them on their watch chains or bangles, and round their
+necks; but the faith reposed in such charms by the educated classes in
+this country may be dismissed as a myth, for few really understand their
+true significance, or place any real reliance upon such fanciful relics
+of a former age--an age of superstition, when people blindly clutched at
+any mysterious protective power or emblem.
+
+
+Horse Trappings.
+
+Among the commoner emblems of good luck handed down from the far-off
+past, are the brass amulets worn on horse trappings even to-day. A set
+of brasses consists of a face brass, taking chief place of prominence on
+the horse's forehead; two ear brasses, which are seen behind the ears;
+ten martingale brasses, worn on the breast; and three brasses suspended
+from straps on each of the shoulders. These amulets were primarily worn
+to keep off the "evil eye," and thus protect the horse and its rider or
+its owner from calamity and harm. The brasses were varied in design,
+some of the more important being developments of the crescent moon.
+Some were made to imitate the sun with its pointed rays, others the
+Catherine wheel; the Kentish horse, too, a relic of Saxon days, has been
+frequently used, and there is the lotus flower of Egyptian origin. There
+are Moorish and Buddhist symbols, and many curious developments which
+have gone far astray from their original types. The agriculturist is
+still superstitious, and does not like to lessen the number of these
+somewhat weighty brasses suspended from his horse trappings. For
+purposes of utility they are useless; they remain, however, a connecting
+link with the superstitions of the past, and a collection of such
+curious objects is of extreme interest. In Fig. 84 is shown an
+exceptionally fine collection got together by Mr. Wayte, of Edenbridge,
+who collects many such things.
+
+
+Emblems of Luck.
+
+There seems to be a distinctive difference between the amulets which
+were protectors against harm and those which are emblems of good
+fortune. Perhaps hovering between the two may be classed such curios as
+those which tradition has held to be a preservative of luck, like "the
+Luck of Eden Hall," that wonderful goblet preserved with such great care
+in its charming case of _cour boulli_. In this category are the numerous
+gifts from friend to friend having no special emblematic value, but
+which were frequently handed over with such sayings as: "I give you this
+for luck," and "May good luck go with you." The wish and implied virtue
+in the charm has about as much value in it as the wish playfully and
+unbelievingly uttered by the twentieth-century maiden at the wishing
+well to-day.
+
+There is still, however, an undeniable lingering belief in the
+mysterious value in the possession of an emblem of luck, one of the best
+known and commonly used to-day being the horseshoe, preferably,
+according to old tradition, a cast shoe found and nailed up over the
+doorway or in some prominent place. It is generally believed that the
+horseshoe carries with it good luck on account of its form, which
+resembles the crescent moon, a notorious symbol in the days of the
+Crusaders, already referred to as being an important feature in the
+amulets or charms on horse trappings--such is the curious mixture of
+scepticism and superstitious faith met with to-day!
+
+
+Lovespoons.
+
+The collection of Welsh lovespoons in the National Museum of Wales,
+several of which are illustrated in Fig. 85, is quite unique. Dr. Hoyle,
+the Director of the Museum, in his admirable description of the case in
+which these pretty little objects are shown, explains that they are
+arranged to show the evolution of the lovespoon from the normal spoon.
+Such lovespoons might, a few years ago, have been seen in many Welsh
+homes, where they hung as things of ornament and sentiment, for it is
+said they were given in "spooning" days to the girl of his choice by the
+lover. The handle is of course the appropriate field of decoration, the
+double bowl being symbolic of "We two are one." The dated spoons were
+mostly made in the middle of the eighteenth century.
+
+
+Glass Curios.
+
+Some of the most pleasing love tokens are those made at Nailsea in
+Somerset, and in Sunderland. The commoner kinds, chiefly made at the
+latter place, were known as sailors' love tokens. They took the form of
+rolling-pins, which were evidently intended for ornament and not for
+use. A bow of ribbon was tied round the end of the pin by which the
+roller could be hung up. These glass rolling-pins were covered over with
+sentimental mottoes, generally accompanied by a ship, a typical feature
+of the decorations commonly used. Some of these little mementoes given
+away by sailors were of white semi-opaque glass, others were brilliantly
+coloured.
+
+Nailsea glass works were noted for the Italian influence shown in the
+colour effects produced in them. Among other objects made at those
+famous glass works were flasks and bottles for wines and spirits in
+greens, browns, and blues, to which were added in smaller quantities red
+and yellow. Other trinkets of an ornamental character were glass tobacco
+pipes, bells, and coach horns. There were also Nailsea walking sticks
+made of twisted glass, and many curious cups. Most of these were given
+for luck, especially as love tokens when sailors were about to set out
+on a voyage, the superstition attached to the gift being that if the
+glass pin were broken it was a sign that the vessel in which the
+giver had sailed had been wrecked. Hence it was that a ribbon was
+securely attached, and the gift hung up out of harm's reach.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 85.--OLD WELSH LOVE SPOONS.
+
+(_In the National Museum of Wales._)]
+
+In association with glass rolling-pins and other love tokens there are
+many sundry curios which from the mottoes upon them were evidently given
+with a similar purpose. Even objects of metal and brass were frequently
+inscribed with loving reminders of the donor. The pleasing little
+trinket and patch boxes of enamels and glass, referred to in another
+chapter, were given from sentimental motives as evidenced by their
+inscriptions. Covers of pocket books and tobacco pouches were covered
+over with similar legends, like a delightful beadwork tobacco pouch in
+the Taunton Castle Museum, on which is the motto or sentiment, "LOVE ME
+FOR I AM THINE, 1631," wrought by a seventeenth-century needleworker.
+
+Similar mottoes are found on the little pincushions formerly carried in
+the capacious pockets of women of olden time, sometimes wrought in
+needlework and at others in beads.
+
+
+
+
+XIV
+
+THE MARKING OF TIME
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+THE MARKING OF TIME
+
+     Clocks--Watches--Watch keys--Watch stands.
+
+
+The early marking of time was simple enough, for we are told that the
+Arabs, by driving a spear or a staff into the sand of the desert, told
+the time of day. The shadow of the sun roughly gave those who were
+familiar with astronomy the lay of the land and the time, approximately.
+When the dial and the gnomon were understood, dialling became a popular
+science, and ere long the sundial on the church tower, in a public
+place, or in a private garden, told the time. Then came the marking of
+time by pocket dials--an advance which foreshadowed the watch which was
+to come.
+
+The pocket dial was soon followed by mechanical clocks, the clock watch,
+and the more delicate work of the watchmaker. The watch has become more
+accurate in its marking of time by the introduction of machinery in its
+manufacture; and it is cheapened by competition, so that now every one
+for a mere trifle can carry in his pocket a watch by means of which he
+can tell accurately the hour of day, as Shakespeare has it in "As You
+Like It":--
+
+    "And then he drew a dial from his poke;
+    And looking on it with lack-lustre eye,
+    Says, very wisely, 'It is ten o'clock;
+    Thus we may see,' quoth he, 'how the world wags.'"
+
+Some further references to the sundial will be found in Chapter XVII,
+the sundial being one of the accompaniments of the old-world garden.
+
+
+Clocks.
+
+In "Chats on Old Copper and Brass" some mention is made of old clocks,
+and of the watch which grew in beauty and fineness of workmanship as it
+evolved from the watch-clock and the still earlier lantern and other old
+clocks, which were gradually introduced to supersede or supplement the
+earlier sundials. Very remarkable indeed are some of these household
+curios. The very movement of the clock, with its pendulum swinging to
+and fro and the loud tick which can be heard all over the room, gives a
+sort of venerated respect for the "grandfather," with its massive and
+often richly carved or inlaid oaken or mahogany case, making it an
+important piece of furniture in the room.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 86.--FINE GOTHIC FRENCH CLOCK.
+
+(_In the collection of W. Egan & Sons, Ltd., Cork._)]
+
+The Cromwellian lantern clock was beautiful in its way, and it may be
+regarded as the earliest type of commonly used domestic clocks, most of
+which were made at a later period than is denoted by the name of
+Cromwellian. They are, however, of a good respectable age, and are now
+really valuable household antiquities. The lantern clock may be
+regarded as the ancestor of the "grandfather," the works of which were
+protected by a wooden case. The evolution from the earlier type is quite
+easy to follow, for the wooden hood to protect the clock on the bracket
+shelf was added; then came the framed head, which was glazed, and
+eventually the lower case covering the weights.
+
+Much has been written about "grandfathers" and the smaller variety
+commonly designated "grandmothers." The dials of the earlier specimens
+are of brass and have only the hour hand, an onward step being marked
+when the minute finger was added. The mechanical arrangement by which
+the days of the week and the month were indicated was a happy addition,
+although some would, doubtless, regard them as somewhat unnecessary. The
+collector of antiques is likely to be imposed upon unless he is
+acquainted with the technical construction of both works and frame or
+case, for it is not an uncommon thing to fit in a modern antique case a
+set of old works.
+
+The timepiece is an innovation of comparatively recent days. From the
+first it became the central ornament on the mantelpiece, and many
+artists were employed in providing suitable designs and combining
+various materials to produce clocks in keeping with prevailing styles of
+furniture and decoration. The French clockmakers became experts as
+designers of the smaller and more varied cases of mantelpiece clocks,
+many fine examples of the Empire period ranking as art treasures as well
+as curios.
+
+Fig. 86 represents an exceptionally fine example of a Gothic French
+clock, beautifully modelled, and in excellent condition. Some of the
+gilt clocks and side vases to match were bought as mantelpiece
+ornaments, rather than for their merit as timekeepers, although the best
+makers always put in reliable works--there were no such works as those
+made by machinery and sold so cheaply to-day!
+
+The timepieces of early Victorian days are scarcely antiques, and few of
+them are treasured as such, although undoubtedly curious.
+
+
+Watches.
+
+The first step towards watches as we understand them was the manufacture
+of pocket clocks (many of which show Dutch influence in design), some of
+the cases of which were very beautiful. The watches which followed in
+due course were at first without glasses, and for the better protection
+of the works and of the delicate engravings and ornamentation of the
+backs and dials loose cases of metal or shagreen were made. Some of them
+were highly ornamental, little studs of gold or silver being arranged in
+geometrical and floral patterns on the exteriors. Two very pretty
+examples of such cases are shown in Fig. 88.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 87--SPECIMENS OF OLD WATCH KEYS.]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 88.--TWO ANTIQUE WATCH CASES.]
+
+Many of the watch backs were chased and perforated and beautifully
+enamelled; the dials were covered with painted miniatures, and gold
+watches were enriched with jewels. From Switzerland and Nuremberg come
+many choice examples; but there were clever watchmakers in England too,
+among them John Stevens, of Colchester, a sixteenth-century
+watchmaker noted for his pierced and engraved brass-gilt cases.
+
+Classical figures and designs showing Dutch influence became popular
+late in the seventeenth century; then fashions changed, and the Court of
+the Emperors of France exercised an influence over art in this and other
+countries, and watch cases and other lesser objects were made more or
+less in harmony. At one time curiously shaped cases were the fashion; at
+another octagonal watches, such as were made in the seventeenth century
+by Edmund Bull, of Fleet Street, who is said to have made an elliptic
+silver watch engraved all over with minute scriptural subjects.
+
+The collection of watches is a hobby indulged in by but few; there are,
+however, many single examples included in household curios, and not
+infrequently several handsomely engraved old watch cases are seen
+exhibited in the modern glass-topped curio tables so fashionable in
+twentieth-century drawing-rooms--now and then the interest in them being
+increased by the musical bells of the repeaters, many of which were made
+a century or more ago.
+
+
+Watch Keys.
+
+Keyless watches have been invented within the memory of most of us; it
+is obvious, therefore, that old watches were supplied with old keys,
+many of which were curious in form. The collector in search of a small
+group of collectable curios finds the watch key an excellent variety on
+which to specialize. When larger clocks were supplemented by the pocket
+watch, the loose key with which to wind it up naturally took the form of
+the larger clock keys. Such keys soon became more ornamental, for they
+were either carried in the pocket or attached to a chatelaine or bunch
+of keys; many of the bows were modelled on the pattern of other keys on
+the bunch.
+
+In the accompanying illustration, Fig. 87, some little idea may be
+formed of the early developments. The three keys in the upper row are of
+the clock-winder type, showing the gradual improvement in their
+formation. Then came a development of the metal keys, mostly of brass,
+the engraving and modelling of the key itself being improved, the
+ornamentation being supplemented by enamelling. The watch key ultimately
+became very ornate, for the more precious metals were gradually
+introduced, and rich enamels, rare gems and stones, and Wedgwood cameos
+were added.
+
+Pinchbeck metal was very much used for watch keys, the fob seals
+remaining in fashion until knee breeches went out. Some of the French
+keys are extremely decorative, and many cut and polished steel keys are
+worth collecting. It is said that Switzerland is one of the happy
+hunting-grounds of the watch-key collector, but there are many curio
+shops, both on the Continent and in this country, where fancy keys can
+be bought still at reasonable prices. In some localities special designs
+and metal have been made. Thus it is said that in Holland the silver
+keys of large size were long favoured, and many of these are still on
+sale. Another special feature about these curios is that makers at one
+time specialized on trade emblems, and it is quite possible to get
+together an interesting collection representing the attributes of
+musicians, butchers, bakers, and horticulturists, one signifying the
+latter industry being shown in Fig. 87, that on the left-hand corner of
+the lower row being fashioned in the form of a spade and a rake.
+
+
+Watch Stands.
+
+There are some very quaint old wood watch stands used chiefly as the
+temporary home of the watch at night, although some seem to have been
+permanently used by those who possessed a second watch. Some of the wood
+carvings were covered with old gilt; others were relieved in colours.
+Some were classic in design; others were like the little French clocks
+of the Empire period. Some were shaped like musical instruments, and
+others of more elaborate forms of decoration represent Mercury and
+Hercules supporting the watch stand. Some of the most beautiful are made
+of French lacquer and ornamented in the Vernis Martin style. To these
+may be added watch stands of marble, and curious inlays, of papier-mache
+and japanned wares, and some of brass and bronze.
+
+
+
+
+XV
+
+MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS
+
+     Early examples--Whistles and pipes--Violins and harps.
+
+
+There are few homes without some old musical instruments, indicating
+that at one time or other one or more members of the family have been
+musical. There is a sadness about the discovery of a long-neglected
+instrument, telling of the breaking up of the old home or of an absent
+one whose instrument has been cherished in memory of happy moments when
+harmonious sounds and beautiful music were drawn from the now
+long-neglected piano, harp, or violin. To its owner a simple flute or
+bugle is probably of as much value as an old piano, although the more
+important instrument may be more valuable as a curio and antique. There
+are some old instruments which increase in value, such, for instance, as
+violins made years ago by masters of constructional art, for they have
+become mellow with age, and, like the bells of some old parish church,
+now give out rich and yet soft notes when handled by a master hand. The
+story of the development of the piano from the very early prototypes is
+an enchanting theme to the lover of music, for there is a far remove
+from the modern pianoforte, and still newer player piano to the
+virginal, harpsichord, and spinet which may occasionally be found among
+the curios of the household.
+
+
+Early Examples.
+
+In the eleventh century, when musical notation came into being, a
+monochord was used to teach singing. The clavichord followed in due
+course, and by a rapid process of development regals, organs, and
+virginals evolved. The virginal, although distinct, was associated with
+the spinet, which with the later harpsichord may be found in houses
+which have been but little disturbed since the middle of the eighteenth
+century. It was in that century that the piano came, but not until it
+was well advanced, for in an old playbill of Covent Garden Theatre,
+published in 1767, it was announced that "Miss Brickler will sing a
+favourite song from _Judith_, accompanied by Mr. Dibdin on a new
+instrument called the piano forte." Of such instruments and of earlier
+types there are many fine examples in the Victoria and Albert Museum at
+South Kensington, in the Royal Scottish Museum, and in the Crosby-Brown
+Collection in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. In Fig.
+89 is seen a beautiful spinet in excellent condition.
+
+
+Whistles and Pipes.
+
+It is said by the exponents of artistic furnishing and decoration that
+no home can be complete without music, for it gives an atmosphere of
+art which nothing else can impart; and certainly a collection of
+household curios cannot be complete without some musical instrument,
+although but a humble example. It may be a moot point among collectors
+whether the insignificant whistle or primitive call can be regarded as
+sufficiently musical to rank in this category. It is certain, however,
+that it is one of the commonest of sound producers; if there is a boy in
+the home there is almost sure to be a whistle in the house. Few trouble
+about the scientific explanation of the sound produced by this common
+instrument, but experts tell us that the sound comes because
+condensations occur by the collision of air against the cutting edge
+placed in its path. Of antique whistles there are many types, those
+shown in Fig. 90 being the most frequently met with. The one marked "D"
+is said to be an attempt to increase the volume of sound by the
+extension of a cutting edge. A double sound is produced by that marked
+"F," whereas "A" is of the more familiar type, the example illustrated
+being an ivory whistle used upwards of a hundred years ago.
+
+From the whistle came the tin pipe capable of producing tunes in the
+hands of a skilful player. The whistle and pipe were in olden times
+associated with coaching days and inns. At one time it was customary for
+a whistle to be attached to the handles of spoons used on inn tables.
+Thirsty travellers blew the whistle when refreshment was required, and
+from that custom we get the common expression, "You may whistle for it."
+The horn, too, was a favourite instrument, and very necessary in days
+gone by, when it served many useful purposes.
+
+The horn is probably the most ancient of all wind instruments. It was
+used at the Jewish feast of the Atonement, and the Romans used it for
+signalling purposes, their infantry carrying circular bronze horns.
+There is an interesting popular fable that horns were first introduced
+into Western Europe by the Crusaders; but that is incorrect, in that
+bronze horns have been found in prehistoric barrows. The horn was
+commonly used for summoning the folk mote in Saxon times, and in quite
+early days horns sounded in English homes on the arrival of guests. The
+hunting horn was found in every house of importance in mediaeval times,
+and in the sixteenth century it had become semicircular. Great composers
+testify to the value of the horn in instrumental music, Handel and
+Mozart writing pieces specially adapted for its use.
+
+Some very quaint old flutes are found among household instruments, the
+origin of the primitive pipe or flute being lost in the mists of
+antiquity. Among household curios old flutes beautifully inlaid stowed
+away in antique leather cases are interesting relics of former days.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 89. OLD SPINET.
+
+(_In the collection of Mr. Phillips, of Hitchin._)]
+
+
+Violins and Harps.
+
+To many the chief charm of old instruments is found in the delicious
+tones and notes produced by an old violin, which, if the work of a
+well-known maker, commands a fancy price; among the most valuable being
+an authentic Stradivarius. Many old English violins were made in Soho
+in the eighteenth century, for that was the centre of the trade,
+although in still earlier days violin makers worked in Piccadilly. In
+Soho, too, horns, trumpets, drums, and guitars were made. The guitar,
+but in slightly altered form, was the popular home instrument played
+upon by Greek and Roman maidens. Many of the earlier European lutes were
+in reality guitars. Some beautifully inlaid specimens are occasionally
+met with. Of these there are many varieties in the Victoria and Albert
+Museum; among them there is a guitar lyre, on which is a mask of Apollo,
+an exact imitation of the lyre of the Ancients, which was formerly used
+by a member of the Prince Regent's Band at the Royal Aquarium, Brighton.
+
+There is one other instrument which ranks high among the musical
+instruments of olden time found in British homes. It is the harp, heard
+to perfection in the drawing-room and the concert hall--an instrument
+upon which such beautiful melodies can be produced. There are many
+pretty legends about the harp heard with such delight and yet
+superstitious awe by the Vikings, who, on their return from Britain,
+told of the mysterious shores where mermaids of great beauty were said
+to rise from the seas, and, sitting upon the foam-lashed rocks, played
+upon their harps music of sweetest sound. American collectors to-day pay
+large sums for genuine Irish harps, which differ somewhat in size and
+form from those upon which Welsh maidens played. There are still a few
+such ancient instruments to be met with in Ireland and Wales.
+
+Of minor instruments there is not much to say--all are intensely
+interesting when they carry with them memories of former owners, for
+they are veritable mementoes of home amusements, pleasures, and
+delights.
+
+
+
+
+XVI
+
+PLAY AND SPORT
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+PLAY AND SPORT
+
+     Dolls--Toys--Old games--Outdoor amusements--Relics of sport.
+
+
+It would appear that there have been amusements at all periods of the
+world's history, and that everywhere work and play have gone hand in
+hand together. The occupations of the nursery have been an intermixture
+of lessons and play; amusements, although not always of an elevating or
+educative character, have for the most part tended to develop and form
+the mind, as well as strengthen the body. Recreation has played an
+important part in the upbringing of child and man, and when absent the
+advance has been retarded. The youth of all ages has found time for
+games and sports, which have enlivened the duties of manhood and
+womanhood by physical and mental pleasures. Even as age creeps on, men
+and women lessen the monotony of daily toil by indulging in indoor games
+and outside sports, suitable to their age and inclinations. As few games
+can be played or sport engaged in without accessories, it is not
+surprising that many relics of the play and sport of past generations
+are to be met with.
+
+Some of the appliances and apparatus which were acquired in the pursuit
+of these pleasures have become of antiquarian value, for many of them
+are curious and represent amusements almost forgotten. Others tell of
+the steady survival of the oldest games and amusements, but show the
+developments and alterations which have gone on in the methods of
+playing or in the appliances which have been invented to enhance the
+interest in those delights. These changes are seen more especially in
+sports and games of skill. As an instance, we may take one of the great
+manly sports, that of hunting game, a custom surviving from days when
+this England of ours was a wild and uncultivated forest and swamp, full
+of strange birds and many wild animals roamed therein. The flint-pointed
+arrow of primitive man was but the beginning in the evolution of arms.
+In the relics of these former plays and sports there is much to admire,
+and many objects to collect.
+
+There is something very pathetic about the household relics of the
+playroom and the nursery. Many little articles of clothing and valueless
+toys and trinkets are retained by a fond mother years after her
+offspring has grown up. They remind her of her early married life, and
+very often of children who have played in the nursery but who never
+lived to grow up. These pathetic relics have been carefully preserved
+for at least one generation. Then their associations have been
+forgotten, and those into whose hands they fall probably know nothing of
+their origin; to them they are merely curios. A sympathetic feeling may
+have induced a new owner to retain them for a little while longer,
+although of no great intrinsic value; but oftener than not they have
+been kept as connecting links between the old and the new, and thus they
+have been handed on until their age alone would make them collectable
+curios in this day of reverence for all things old!
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 90.--CURIOUS TYPES OF WHISTLES.]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 91.--QUAINT OLD TOY.
+
+(_In the possession of Mr. Phillips, of Hitchin._)]
+
+There has been a remarkable sequence in the toys of children of all
+generations, and of races far apart. The same games have been played,
+and the same toys used. Now and then a child more careful than usual
+preserves his or her toys when grown to man's or woman's estate; but
+such collections are rare. There are some noted collections, however,
+which have passed into the range of museum curios, grouped together as
+representative of the period when they were played with--authentic
+records of the playthings of that day. In Fig. 91 there is a remarkable
+old toy now in the diversified collection of household curios and
+antique furniture of Mr. Phillips, of the Manor House, Hitchin.
+
+
+Dolls.
+
+Probably the commonest toy is the doll, which children have ever
+regarded as the ideal plaything. The maternal instinct is strong in the
+youngest girl, and dolls are often looked upon as something more than
+mere toys. They are talked to, played with, and treated as if they were
+human beings. Their realism, at first imagined, seems to have grown up
+with their long use until a personality surrounds each one of the dolls
+in the nursery. Now and then a quaint doll is treasured as having been
+the plaything of more than one generation, especially so the old wooden
+Dutch dolls, strong and lasting, which have in some instances been
+handed on as playthings, almost as family heirlooms.
+
+The most famous collection of dolls played with by one child, and yet
+dressed to cover almost every period of English history--a veritable
+history of costume--is that famous collection in the London Museum,
+consisting of dolls dressed by and for the late Queen Victoria, who,
+doubtless, had unique opportunities of copying correctly the costumes of
+the Court, and of others less high in social status, during the reigns
+of the English sovereigns who had preceded her.
+
+Few, if any, can hope to possess such a representative collection; there
+are many who can find, however, curiously dressed dolls which are very
+helpful in learning something of local costumes and useful instructors
+in research after the habits and occupations of people who may have
+lived in places and districts little known to the present generation.
+
+Some children's toys are much older than they appear at first sight to
+be, for many very similar playthings were found in the playrooms of boys
+and girls who lived two thousand years ago. There are the dolls and
+quaint little figures played with by Greek and Roman children. Among the
+more familiar objects were little wooden tortoises, ducks, and pigs.
+Some were cleverly carved out of wood, and the arms and legs of dolls
+moved, much the same as the Dutch dolls of later days. Those children
+had chariots and horses of metal much the same as children have leaden
+soldiers now. They trundled hoops of bronze, in some of them bells being
+placed in the centre, ringing as they ran along. Some of the toys of
+these little Roman and Greek maidens and youths were very elaborate, and
+must have belonged to the children of the wealthy, who, like modern
+parents, gave presents to them on "name" days.
+
+Toys have always served the double purpose of amusement and education.
+Years before kindergarten methods were adopted--although unknown,
+probably, to parents--scientific and philosophic toys were doing good
+work, and driving home elementary truths. There were curious cylindrical
+mirrors, the inevitable kaleidoscope, and the water imps, an amusing
+toy, for the imps, inserted in a bowl or bottle of water, bobbed about
+in a curious way when the india-rubber cap which covered the neck was
+pressed and manipulated by the fingers. The modern picture theatre, with
+all its attractions to grown-up folks, was foreshadowed in the very
+primitive magic lantern, which threw a cloudy disc and an almost
+undiscernible picture, by the aid of an evil-smelling oil lamp, on an
+old sheet hung up in the nursery.
+
+
+Old Games.
+
+There are many curios reminding us of indoor games and winter amusements
+now obsolete, and of the change which has gone on in games still played.
+When we recall the number of new games which have been introduced during
+the last quarter of a century, it is surprising how few have survived.
+New games come and go, and their accessories are discarded as but toys
+of the moment. Most of the popular games are those which have been
+handed down throughout the ages, many of them of great antiquity,
+especially scientific games and games of skill. Among these games, or
+rather the apparatus for playing them, are often curios, for they are
+quite different to and often more decorative than those used in playing
+similar games to-day. We are accustomed to plain leather or wood chess
+and draught boards and the regulation patterns of the men nowadays, but
+formerly much time was expended in decorating and enriching chess boards
+and men. The boards often served other purposes too, many being
+beautifully inlaid and reversible; thus the older game boards were
+fitted with slides for backgammon, provision being made for chess,
+merelles, and fox and geese, the oak of which they were often made being
+relieved with rich marqueterie (_tarsia_) of ebony, ivory, and silver.
+
+It is not often that a collection of old chessmen is found among
+household curios, although it was not uncommon to discover among sundry
+ivory carvings a few odd pieces which had been secured on account of
+their beautiful carving. In India and China some very remarkable
+chessmen have been produced. The origin of the game is lost in
+antiquity, although it was played in the East at a very early period. It
+is said to have been introduced into Spain from Arabia, and to have been
+played by the Hindus more than a thousand years ago. It was certainly
+known in this country before the Norman Conquest. Some few years ago a
+very remarkable collection of chessmen, such as may be seen in isolated
+sets or still more frequently represented by single pieces in cabinets
+of old ivories, was dispersed under the hammer in a London saleroom.
+There were Chinese sets in red and white, wonderful figures standing
+upon concentric balls; antique Persian sets in cream-coloured ivory
+decorated in colours and gold, kings and queens on elephants, knights on
+horses, and bishops on camels; Burmese sets with royal personages seated
+on chairs of state; and some very remarkable English porcelain, Wedgwood
+ware, and Minton pottery sets.
+
+Several finds of Scandinavian chessmen, made, probably, in the twelfth
+century, have been made in the island of Lewis. From these and other
+sets met with in other places much has been learned about the evolution
+in the game.
+
+The queen does not appear to have been introduced into the game until
+the eleventh century. The castle has undergone many changes; its older
+name of "rook" was derived from the Persian word _rokh_, a hero. No
+doubt all the pieces were then carved personalities, well understood
+from king to pawn. In the modern forms of Staunton and London Club
+patterns the knight alone retains its semblance in the horse's head--a
+poor substitute for the beautifully carved warrior on horseback seen in
+some of the older sets.
+
+Draughts, or dames, is also a game of antiquity; and in the British
+Museum there is a set said to date back to the Saxon period. Some of the
+old boards are interesting relics, and the sets of carved draughtsmen,
+now scarce, are beautiful works of art.
+
+Backgammon is one of the older kindred games, frequently played on the
+interior of the chess board which was for that purpose marked with
+twelve points or fleches in alternate colours. In this game dice were
+used, and some of the old dice cups are very prettily decorated.
+
+Cribbage played with cards and a board is said to be essentially an
+English game. Some very remarkable cribbage boards were made many years
+ago, many of metal, others of wood and ivory; one exceptionally
+interesting piece, a brass cribbage board, in the Victoria and Albert
+Museum, is engraved: "MR. CHRISTR ELLIOTT AT WINBORROW GREEN, SUSSEX
+1768."
+
+Cards, of which there are so many curious types among the old examples
+found in many homes, were introduced into the West of Europe from the
+East about the fourteenth century. At first they were hand drawn and
+coloured, then printed from wood blocks, being subsequently printed from
+blocks and plates engraved on the types which were gradually
+standardized. Some very interesting collections of old cards have been
+made, one of the most complete being that of Lady Charlotte Schreiber,
+now in the Department of Prints and Drawings in the British Museum.
+
+In the days when card playing was at its height many fine brass counter
+trays and curious card trays were fashioned in brass and copper. Some of
+these may very well be collected, and are suitable receptacles for old
+metal counters, of which there are many varieties. Some of these
+counters were made by the diesinkers who helped tradesmen to provide
+themselves with token change, and they bear a striking resemblance to
+the contemporary metallic currency. Others were chiefly hand engraved,
+and often sold in small metal and silver boxes, those dating from the
+time of Queen Anne being the most interesting. The most popular card
+counters in the early days of the nineteenth century were brass copies
+of the spade-ace gold guinea, which they closely resembled, and it is
+feared, when gilt, were not infrequently palmed off as genuine gold.
+
+
+Outdoor Amusements.
+
+The outdoor games practised when household curios were being fashioned
+necessitated fewer accessories than such games do to-day, and many of
+them were crude and obviously the work of amateurs. Yet the same games
+were being played and possibly enjoyed as much, although the sport was
+rougher!
+
+When we think of winter amusements in the past somehow we conjure up
+pictures of hard frosts and crisp snow, although rain, damp, and fog
+were probably frequent visitors in Old England. Some of the games can be
+traced back to very early days--such, for instance, as skating, many
+ancient skates having been found. There is a remarkable contrast between
+the beautifully made skates now used on the comparatively rare occasions
+when the ice bears and the roller skates used all the year round, to
+those curious bone skates, so very primitive in their construction,
+examples of which are to be found in several local museums. In the Hull
+Museum, among the Market Weighton antiquities, there is a choice
+collection from East Yorkshire; one, made from the cannon bone of a
+horse, is smooth and well polished, having seen some active use,
+evidently belonging to some skater in the fifteenth or sixteenth
+century.
+
+The bone skates were fastened on to the feet much the same as metal
+skates, but they had no cutting edges, and consequently the skater
+carried a stick shod with an iron point, and by its aid propelled
+himself forward. Fitzstephen, writing in the time of Edward II,
+describes the ponds at Moorfields where the citizens of London skated.
+The ponds have long been dried up and built over; it is there, however,
+where, during excavations, some very fine examples of the old bone
+skates have been found.
+
+
+Relics of Old Sport.
+
+Among the relics of old sport met with are the curious and often
+beautifully embroidered hoods of white leather used in the days of
+hawking. These pretty little hoods, which were placed over the head of
+the hawk when carried on the wrist to the hunting field, were often
+embroidered in panels and furnished with braces for tying round the
+hawk's head. In the British Museum there is a curious silver lock-ring
+for a hawk engraved with arms and owner's name, apparently of
+seventeenth-century workmanship. No doubt the real purport of such
+curios is often overlooked, for not infrequently hawks' hoods have been
+found amongst old dolls' clothing, having been given to children in
+later years as playthings.
+
+
+Guns, Pistols, and Flasks.
+
+Eastern weapons have been brought over to this country in large numbers,
+some of them very ancient. It is said that among some of the Arab tribes
+it is no uncommon thing to meet with swords and daggers of antique form,
+richly damascened, and sometimes with jewelled hilts, made a thousand
+years or more ago, and a few years ago Crusaders' relics could be met
+with in the East. Many of these knives have silica blades, some of the
+handles being of jade. Those of grey jade are often pique with gold,
+others, of ivory, being inlaid with jewels.
+
+There is not very much to interest in old guns of English make, for few
+found in houses date back beyond the commencement of the nineteenth
+century. Among them, however, are flint-locks and here and there an old
+wheel-lock. The pistols met with among household curios are often
+handsome and have been preserved in leather cases, carefully stowed
+away. Some of them record the days of duelling, others the dangers of
+the road, when highway robbers lurked in every wood, and many a family
+coach was waylaid and its occupants robbed of their jewels and their
+purses of gold. To those interested in sporting, and familiar with the
+breech-loading guns of the present day, much interest attaches to the
+old powder flasks which were once necessary accompaniments of sportsmen.
+There are many beautifully engraved, embossed, and decorated flasks in
+museums, some of the early seventeenth-century specimens being made of
+boxwood, others of ivory, frequently ornamented with hunting scenes. In
+Fig. 92 is shown a curious flint-lock powder tester, then also regarded
+as one of the essential accessories of the sportsman's outfit. The
+copper powder flask illustrated in Fig. 93 is now in the Hull Museum. It
+is specially interesting in that the plain copper work is engraved in
+the centre with its original owner's monogram--"W R" in script. This
+flask, made about the year 1750, was evidently a keepsake, for engraved
+round the circular disc is the legend "Keep this for Joseph's sake."
+
+In the Victoria and Albert Museum at South Kensington there are some
+more elaborate specimens, two of which are illustrated in Fig. 94. They
+are magnificent examples of metal repousse work--a favourite decoration
+in the eighteenth century, copied in more inexpensive forms in the
+nineteenth century by makers of sporting accessories, who stamped them
+from dies and reproduced some of the old hunting scenes.
+
+A review of the outdoor sports and relics of former days would scarcely
+be complete without some mention of swords and rapiers, which were once
+commonly worn, along with pistols, alas! too frequently in use when a
+hasty word called forth a challenge to a duel. Many of these old swords
+are rusty, but they frequently show marks of former use. They are needed
+no longer by civilians in this country, and take their places in
+trophies of arms, forming important features in the decorative curios of
+the household.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 92.--A POWDER TESTER.
+
+FIG. 93.--A PRIMING FLASK.
+
+(_In the Municipal Museum, Hull._)]
+
+
+
+
+XVII
+
+MISCELLANEOUS
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+MISCELLANEOUS
+
+     Dower chests--Medicine chests--Old lacquer--The tool
+     chest--Egyptian curios--Ancient spectacles--Curious
+     chinaware--Garden curios--The mounting of curios--Obsolete
+     household names.
+
+
+There are many household curios which cannot be classified under the
+headings of the foregoing chapters. They represent well-known features
+in every home, and yet each little group has an individuality of its
+own. Some may say that the main features of house-furnishing have been
+left out of consideration, and that they are the most interesting
+household curios when age and disuse have come upon them. Household
+furniture, however, has been fully dealt with in the "Chats" series in
+the two volumes entitled "Chats on Old English Furniture," and "Chats on
+Cottage and Farmhouse Furniture," to which books those interested in the
+curiosities of cabinet-making and village carpentry are referred. Yet
+notwithstanding the completeness of those works there are a few objects
+which have so entirely passed into the range of household curios, and
+their uses were so entirely apart from present-day furniture, that some
+of them are specially noted in the following paragraphs, together with a
+few other isolated antiques.
+
+
+Dower Chests.
+
+If there is one piece of furniture above another that is surrounded with
+a halo of romance, surely it is the dower chest! We can picture the
+incoming of the coffer in all the newness of hand polish, fresh from the
+hands of the village carpenter or the retainer who had wrought the
+gnarled old oak grown on the estate for a favourite daughter of his
+lord--that chest which was to be packed full of fragrant linen, between
+which was laid sweet lavender, and richly embroidered garments for the
+bride, who, with her personal belongings stowed away therein, was to
+pass from the parental home to her newly wedded and unknown life. There
+are ancient chests full of historic memories, such as those in which the
+wealth of monarchs has been stored, like that in Knaresborough Castle,
+which, according to legend and some reference in old deeds, came over
+with William the Conqueror. In the Castle Museum there is another chest
+made for Queen Philippa in 1333--a veritable dower chest.
+
+Some of the older chests have had loops for poles by which they could be
+carried about; but such were more correctly treasure chests. The dower
+chests usually remained in the home of the bride, and in time became her
+receptacle for bedding and other household stores, the little tray or
+corner box for jewels and trinkets being disused and eventually done
+away with altogether. The evolution of the chest until it became a
+cabinet or a chest of drawers is a story for the lover of old furniture
+to tell, but the dower chest in its earlier forms is a curio rich in
+legend and folklore. It may interest American readers to record that
+many of the oldest specimens in the States were first used as packing
+cases of unusual strength, gifts from the old folks at home, when
+colonists in Jacobean days crossed the Atlantic. Curiously enough,
+American craftsmen copied them and maintained the purity of the old
+English style long after the makers of English dower chests had been
+influenced by Dutch and French design and inlay.
+
+
+Medicine Chests.
+
+Some of the early English medicine chests, the foundation of which is of
+wood, are covered with tapestry, others with green satin, sometimes
+ornamented with floral devices made of puffed satin, overlaid and
+outlined with gold thread. Medicine chests varied in size, but few
+households were "furnished" without a fitting receptacle for home-made
+recipes for simple ailments, such as were much resorted to in the past.
+The chests were usually well fitted with bottles and phials, and with
+glass stoppers or silver or pewter tops. Many of the medicines had been
+prescribed by local practitioners, and were regarded as sovereign
+remedies to be used on all occasions; others were family recipes held in
+high repute. In such chests there was often a drawer or compartment
+containing bleeding cups and lancet--a remedy often resorted to when an
+illness could not be diagnosed.
+
+
+Old Lacquer.
+
+The beautiful red lacquer work is getting scarce, although it has had a
+long run, for it is more than twelve hundred years since the Japanese
+learned the secret of making it from the Coreans, who in their turn had
+it from the Chinese. The secret of producing in China and Japan lacquer
+which cannot be imitated in other countries lies in the _rhus
+vernificifera_ which flourishes in those localities. It is the gum of
+that tree commonly called the lacquer-tree, which when taken fresh and
+applied to the object it is intended to lacquer turns jet-black on
+exposure to the sun, drying with great hardness. It will thus be seen
+that although French and English lacquers have been very popular, the
+imitation lacquer applied can have neither the effect nor the durability
+of the natural gum which sets so hard, and in the larger and more
+important objects can be applied again and again until quite a depth of
+lacquer is obtained, sometimes encrusted over with jewels and other
+materials embedded in it.
+
+The best English lacquer was made in this country between the years 1670
+and 1710, and was a very successful imitation of the Oriental. At that
+time and during the following century very many tea caddies, trays,
+screens, trinket boxes, and even furniture, were imported; and it was
+those which English workmen copied, gradually increasing the variety of
+household goods for which that material was so suitable.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 94.--OLD POWDER FLASKS.
+
+(_In the Victoria and Albert Museum._)]
+
+Old English lacquer differed from the more modern papier-mache in that
+instead of the pulp being composed entirely of paper, glued together and
+pressed, it was composed of a basis of wood, covered over with a black
+lacquer, on which the design was painted in colours. It was made under
+considerable difficulties, in that it had to compete with the imported
+Oriental wares which were made in China and Japan under more favourable
+natural conditions.
+
+The art of japanning was revived in England late in the eighteenth
+century, and some remarkable pieces appear to have been the work of
+amateurs who painted and gilded so-called lacquer work, tea caddies, and
+jewelled caskets. It must be remembered that the art of japanning was
+looked upon at one time as an accomplishment, for about the year 1700
+many gentlewomen were taught the art.
+
+French artists took up the Oriental style, and produced some very
+successful lacquer work, striking out in an entirely distinct style,
+which, as Vernis Martin decoration, became famous. The varnish or
+lacquer forming the foundation for those delightful little pictures was
+not unlike in effect the Oriental lacquer which to some extent it was
+intended to imitate.
+
+In the early nineteenth century lacquering as an art fell into
+disrepute, and such decorations were largely associated with the
+commoner metal wares, stoved and lacquered by the so-called japanning
+process carried out in Birmingham and other places, although there is
+now some admiration shown by collectors for small trays, bread baskets,
+candle boxes, and snuffer trays of metal, japanned and decorated by hand
+in colours and much fine gold pencilling.
+
+
+The Tool Chest.
+
+There have been amateur mechanics in all ages, and among the household
+curios are many old tools suggestive of having been made when the
+carpenter had plenty of time on his hands to decorate his tools with
+carvings, and frequently to make up his own kit. Thus old planes and
+braces were evidently the work of men who possessed some humour and
+skill, too, for some of the carved decoration is quite grotesque. There
+is a fine collection of old tools made and used in the seventeenth and
+early eighteenth centuries on view in one of our museums. There is a
+carpenter's plough, dated 1750, moulding planes and skew-mouthed
+fillisters of beechwood, and a router plane of carved hornbeam. The
+modern hand brace becomes more realistic, and its origin understood at a
+glance when we examine the old hand brace of turned and carved boxwood,
+dated 1642, in that collection. The part where the bit is fitted is
+literally a hand, carved out of solid wood, and the curious crank
+indicates an imaginary twist in the arm, perhaps suggested by some
+carpenter who was able to manipulate his tools in a way not commonly
+understood, thus giving to future carpenters a most useful tool.
+
+
+Egyptian Curios.
+
+Among the collectable curios of old households are many antiquities from
+foreign lands. Perhaps the most interesting, in that they afford us
+examples of the prototypes of household antiques as they were known to a
+nation possessing an early civilization, polish, and refinement, are
+those which have been discovered recently in Egyptian tombs. Some
+representative examples may be seen in the British Museum. There are
+toilet requisites including mirrors, combs, and even wigs and wig boxes,
+as well as a glass tube for stibium or eye paint. There are ivory
+pillows or head rests, models of the ghostly boats of the underworld,
+and a vast variety of children's toys, including wooden dolls with
+strings of mud beads to represent hair, porcelain elephants, and wooden
+cats; and there are children's balls made of blue glazed porcelain, and
+of leather stuffed with chopped straw. There are many games and
+amusements, such as stone draught boards, and draughtsmen in porcelain
+and wood. There are bells of bronze and some remarkable musical
+instruments like a harp, the body of which is in the form of a woman;
+and there are reed flutes and whistles and cymbals such as were carried
+by priestesses. There are curious ivory amulets, quaintly carved spoons,
+ivory boxes, and even theatre tickets. Necklaces and pendants and other
+articles of adornment are plentiful, for the Egyptian maidens possessed
+much jewellery--bracelets, rings, and necklaces. One very exceptionally
+fine relic of this far-off age is a toilet box complete with vases of
+unguents, eye paint, comb, and bronze shell on which to mix unguents,
+and other trinkets. Many such antiquities find their way into museums
+and private collections of household curios, and are useful and
+interesting for purposes of comparison, telling of customs which change
+not, and of the many connecting links which exist between the past and
+the present.
+
+
+Ancient Spectacles.
+
+It is truly astonishing how many ancient spectacles, which to collectors
+of such things would be veritable treasures, lie neglected and allowed
+to "knock about" until broken or otherwise damaged. Those mostly
+discovered are the heavy brass and silver-rimmed spectacles of about one
+hundred years ago, some very interesting specimens of which are to be
+seen in several of the larger local museums.
+
+Spectacles are of very respectable age, although they cannot be traced
+back to the ancient peoples, for the Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans,
+notwithstanding that they polished glass and rock crystal and possessed
+much scientific lore, were ignorant of their use as aids to sight.
+
+It is said that the credit of the discovery of how to make use of
+artificial aids to defective sight must be accorded to Roger Bacon, who
+in his book _Opus Majus_, published in the thirteenth century, mentioned
+magnifying glasses as being useful to old people to make them see
+better. True spectacles are said to have been fashioned in 1317 by
+Salvino degli Armati, a Florentine nobleman. At first they were convex;
+indeed, no mention of concave glasses for shortsighted persons was made
+until towards the middle of the sixteenth century. From that time onward
+there were developments, and among the household curios are to be found
+silver, brass, and tortoiseshell rims, and glasses of more or less
+utility.
+
+
+Curious China Ware.
+
+Old china and pottery have been fully dealt with by many specialist
+writers, but there are some household curios made of porcelain, china,
+and earthenware which cannot be omitted from this survey of household
+curios. Foremost among these are the now scarce Toby jugs, made at so
+many of the famous potteries. In a large collection the variations are
+at once recognized; yet the same idea seems to have run through the
+minds of the artists in fashioning these jugs, so essentially typical of
+the age in which they were made and used. Among the Sunderland jugs are
+many variations both in size and colouring; they were rich in colours,
+too, and look exceedingly well on an old cabinet.
+
+The posset cups of silver were supplemented by tygs and posset cups and
+many-handled drinking cups of early Staffordshire make. The brown and
+yellow slip decoration of this ware is a striking characteristic. All
+the early seventeenth-century ale drinking cups like the tygs had
+handles, and in those days of conviviality the double or multiplied
+handle served a useful purpose, for the vessels were in use when it was
+the custom of the ale-house for several friends to drink out of one
+vessel, just as in more polite society and on public occasions the
+loving cup was passed round.
+
+Some of the so-called portrait busts and statuettes of the eighteenth
+century are especially interesting to collectors. There are figures to
+suit all; musicians may delight in that of Handel; others in the busts
+of Wesley and Whitfield; explorers in the statue of Benjamin Franklin
+made about 1770, and some in that of John Wilks seated near an old
+column of a still earlier date. There is also a cleverly modelled figure
+of Geoffrey Chaucer. One of the best known groups is that of the "Vicar
+and Moses," made by Wood, of Burslem.
+
+
+Garden Curios.
+
+It is said that garden craft, like most other forms of art, came from
+the East; that the cultivation of gardens commenced in Egypt, Persia,
+and Assyria, travelling westward through Greece and Rome; and in some of
+the early English gardens which horticulturists are so fond of copying
+to-day there are traces of Eastern influence still remaining.
+
+Although the garden is the place where we expect to find flowers,
+foliage, and perhaps fruit and vegetables, it has always been associated
+with home life, and some of the charms of domestic comradeship owe their
+greatness to the garden and pleasance.
+
+It has always been the aim of the professional and the amateur gardener
+to furnish the lawn and flower-beds with appropriate settings, some of
+which have become very quaint in the eyes of twentieth-century
+horticulturists.
+
+The Egyptians had their trellised bowers, and their tiny pools of clear
+water. The Greeks, however, were fortunate in having undulated and even
+hilly ground to cultivate, and their gardens were much more picturesque
+than the level ground of Egypt, although the Orientals built terraces,
+and by artificial means enhanced the beauty of their gardens. The
+adornment of gardens with statuary comes to us from Greece, and many
+modern reproductions of ancient Greek statues are regarded as the curios
+of the modern garden. Delightful, indeed, are some of the statuettes in
+stone and lead representing Aphrodite and the Graces. The Roman gardens
+were magnificent in their miniature temples, replicas of which are found
+in the old Georgian summer-houses, such as may be seen at Kew, and in
+many private grounds, dating from that period. The Romans were lovers of
+roses, and had many charming rose bowers, curiously and cunningly
+formed.
+
+The dawn of gardening on some approved plan, and then ornamenting the
+portions not covered with greenery, began in monastic days. The oldest
+of the occupations of civilized man, it was long held in high repute,
+and many worthy men have posed as amateurs. Indeed, there have been
+Royal gardeners, among the most familiar being Edward I and Queen
+Elizabeth. From Tudor times onward the once waste land in the immediate
+vicinity of castles and palaces was cultivated, and the gardens of the
+nobility along the Strand in London were full of beautiful stonework and
+statuettes. A writer in the sixteenth century, describing an English
+garden of his day, wrote: "Every garden of account hath its fish pond,
+its maze, and its sundials."
+
+Many fine old fountains or miniature fishponds remain, and sundials are
+among the curios associated with the outdoor life of the home. The
+garden houses of the eighteenth century included a bowling green or
+court, viewed from the terrace; and towards the end of that period many
+leaden figures were cast, the favourite being replicas of Roman statuary
+dedicated to such deities as Bacchus, Venus, Neptune, and Minerva. These
+lead statues have been collected by dealers during the last few years.
+Some of them are really very beautifully formed, although in many
+instances the wear and tear of a couple of centuries has covered them
+over with scratches and indentations. A few years ago lead statues
+received little consideration from their owners, and the children made
+them targets for stone-throwing. They are thought more of now, and at
+several recent sales lead statuettes and vases have sold for
+considerable sums.
+
+Sometimes ancient lead cisterns are seen outside old houses; many of
+these and even rain-water spout heads, beautifully moulded and cast, are
+among the household curios for which there is some call among
+collectors.
+
+
+The Mounting of Curios.
+
+A miscellaneous assortment of curios displayed without any regard to
+their proper setting has just the same effect as a badly framed
+picture, or a painting with an inappropriate frame. Sundry curios may be
+made to look charming when properly shown in a glass-topped table or a
+suitable case, their value as home ornaments being materially increased.
+Indeed, there are many beautiful objects which look nothing unless
+properly framed. The Wedgwood cameo gems so varied and so very minutely
+tooled require proper display; according to their colours so should they
+be arranged on a velvet or cloth background with an ample margin to
+separate them. A group of miniatures looks nothing unless in suitable
+setting or mount. Much of the beauty of old china is lost because it is
+simply laid out without a colour scheme. A cup and saucer look very much
+better when shown on a stand, so that the saucer can be seen and every
+detail of the cup examined, the richness of the colouring inside or out,
+as the case may be, being thrown up by the ebonized stand on which it is
+placed. Carved ivories should certainly be shown with a dark setting. In
+a similar way Oriental plaques and even smaller plates with light
+backgrounds are set off to the best advantage when shown in dark ebony
+frames. The Orientals know the value of framework perhaps more than any
+other people, and among the curios they have sent over to this country
+are appropriately carved frames and stands. The almost priceless ginger
+jars when placed upon carved-wood stands, for which the Chinese are so
+famous, are beautiful indeed, the contrast of the black and blue against
+the black base being very striking. Indeed, much of the carved furniture
+of the Orientals has been specially designed as a framework for
+mother-o'-pearl and gem ornaments. The rare jade carvings in black ebony
+screens, and the marvellous carving of the larger screens are but
+appropriate settings to the painted and needlework pictures so rich in
+colours and gold. In Fig. 57 we illustrate a very remarkable piece in
+which the artist has expended his wonderful skill in providing a
+suitable stand or frame for a very beautiful early porcelain plate.
+Every detail of the carving is worthy of close inspection. This
+beautiful piece was included in a collection of jade, cloisonne enamels,
+and carved furniture gathered together in Java some years ago by a
+well-known collector of Chinese and Oriental curios. Now and then such
+pieces are to be seen in the shops of West End dealers. But it would be
+difficult indeed to find one so characteristic of the Chinese carver's
+art as the one shown.
+
+
+Obsolete Household Names.
+
+Most household goods and both useful and ornamental home appointments
+used at the present time are the outcome of progress and development,
+and their names have changed but little. The change has been in style,
+material, and manufacture rather than in newness of purpose. It is true
+that in modern household economy some of the present-day household
+utensils are the outcome of modern invention, having no similarity in
+form to the simpler primitive contrivances which they have superseded.
+Thus, for instance, the vacuum cleaner has little in its appearance to
+associate it with the old-fashioned carpet brush, neither has the
+modern knife cleaner much in common with the old knife board. There are
+some articles, however, which have become quite obsolete, and their
+names are fast disappearing from inventories of household goods, and,
+like the older antiquarian relics, are likely soon to be forgotten. In
+the foregoing chapters mention has been made of the collectable objects
+of household use, dating from the period of bronze to modern times, and
+no doubt there are many other articles which have entirely disappeared
+on account of their perishable nature, or from their very character,
+there being nothing to suggest their retention. It may be useful for
+purposes of reference to note the following articles of furniture,
+kitchen utensils, and mechanical contrivances, which were mentioned in a
+book published about one hundred years ago--house furnishings, about the
+ancient uses of which we hear nothing at the present time.
+
+     AMPLE--An ointment box, formerly carried by a medical man.
+
+     APPLE-GRATE--A sixteenth-century cradle of iron in which to
+     roast apples.
+
+     BOMBARD--A large leathern bottle for carrying beer; a term also
+     applied to ancient ale-barrels.
+
+     CANISTER--The ancient canister was a pannier or basket, the
+     name being appropriated to its modern use when tea came into
+     the market.
+
+     CHAFING-DISH--The name appropriated to modern cooking vessels
+     was originally applied to a dish upon which perfumes were
+     burnt, and in Roman times was an ensign of honour.
+
+     COMFIT BOXES--Boxes divided into compartments in which were
+     rare spices, handed round with dessert.
+
+     FINGER-GUARD--Horn finger-guards were formerly used by writing
+     masters to protect their nails when nibbing pens.
+
+     FIRE-SCREEN--Fire-screens are noted as early as the fourteenth
+     century, long before they were filled with needlework; they
+     were made of wicker, described by a sixteenth-century writer as
+     "a little wicker skrene sett in a frame of walnut tree."
+
+     SCRIP--Scrips were hung from girdles, and differed, among the
+     chief varieties being the shepherd's scrip, the pilgrim's
+     scrip, and the traveller's scrip, a kind of purse or wallet.
+
+     STANDISH--The old name for an ink horn or vessel, afterwards
+     applied to the stand or dish, or, as we call it now, inkstand,
+     which contained the box or vessel for ink, and another for
+     blotting powder.
+
+     TRENCHER--A wooden platter, a term more particularly applied to
+     the beautiful hand-painted circular boards for sweetmeats or
+     cakes.
+
+In conclusion, in the foregoing pages most of the best-known household
+curios--regarded as such by the collector--have been passed in review.
+The list is, however, by no means exhausted, for as search is made among
+the relics of former days many little-known objects come to light, and
+as isolated examples find their way into public and private
+collections.
+
+
+
+
+INDEX
+
+
+Ale tubes, 178
+
+Almanacs, 259-262
+
+American museums, 49
+
+Ample, 355
+
+Andirons, 42, 44, 47
+
+Apple-grate, 355
+
+Apple-scoops, 138, 141
+
+Arms of Cutlers' Company, 80
+
+
+Banner screens, 165
+
+Basting spoons, 133
+
+Battersea enamels, 91, 183, 212
+
+Beakers, 104
+
+Bellows, 57
+
+Bellows blower, 129
+
+Bells, 311
+
+Bilston enamel, 183
+
+Bodkins, 239
+
+Bohemian glass, 154
+
+Boilers, 133
+
+Bombards, 355
+
+Boule, Charles, 29
+
+Bow cupids, 112, 113
+
+Bristol glass, 176
+
+British glass, 96
+
+British Museum exhibits, 92, 138, 141, 165, 208, 246, 278, 331, 347
+
+Bronze pots, 133
+
+Buhl work, 29
+
+
+Caddies, 112
+
+Candle boxes, 65, 66
+
+Candle moulds, 65
+
+Candles, 65-67
+
+Candlesticks, 67
+
+Canisters, 355
+
+Carving-knives, 85
+
+Caskets, 192
+
+Caudle cups, 99
+
+Chafing dishes, 355
+
+Chantilly porcelain, 91
+
+Chatelaines, 216
+
+Chelsea cupids, 112, 113
+
+Chessmen, 328
+
+Chestnut roasters, 142
+
+Chests, 191
+
+Chimney ornaments, 150
+
+China, 349
+
+Chinese influence, 100
+
+Chinese lacquer, 29
+
+Chippendale influence, 101, 162
+
+Clocks, 298, 299
+
+Clog almanacs, 259
+
+Cloisonne enamel, 183
+
+Coaching horns, 197
+
+Cocoanut cups, 103
+
+Cocoanut flagons, 103
+
+Coffers, 191
+
+Combs, 206-208
+
+Comfit boxes, 355
+
+Continental gridirons, 137
+
+Cooking vessels, 138, 141
+
+Copper urns, 117
+
+Cordova leather, 187, 188
+
+Couvre de feu, 39
+
+Cream jugs, 108, 111
+
+Cribbage boards, 330
+
+Cruet stands, 96, 97
+
+Cuir boulli work, 84, 90, 188, 190, 192
+
+Cupids, Chelsea and Bow, 112, 113
+
+Cups, 99, 100
+
+Curio hunting, 24
+
+Cutlers' Company, 80
+
+Cutlery, 80-95, 239, 240
+
+
+Damascened steel, 90
+
+Derbyshire spar, 154, 157, 158
+
+Dolls, 325, 326
+
+Domesday Book, 23
+
+Dower chests, 340, 341
+
+Draughts, 329, 357
+
+Dressing cases, 215
+
+Dutch influence on art, 30
+
+Dutch ovens, 130
+
+
+Egyptian curios, 347
+
+Egyptian influence, 153
+
+Enamelled wares, 212
+
+Enamels, 182-184
+
+
+Fenders, 53, 54
+
+Finger guards, 355
+
+Fire-dogs, 47
+
+Fire drills, 39
+
+Fireirons, 53
+
+Fire-making appliances, 36-39
+
+Fireplace, the, 41-44
+
+Fireploughs, 39
+
+Fire screens, 356
+
+Flesh hooks, 138
+
+Floor candlesticks, 67
+
+Fluor spar, 157
+
+Flutes, 314
+
+Food-boxes, 141
+
+Forks, 85
+
+French art, 26
+
+French influence, 153
+
+
+Gallybawk, 134
+
+Games, 327-330
+
+Garden curios, 350, 351
+
+German wall warming stove, 50
+
+Glass and enamels, 175-184
+
+Glass beads, 235
+
+Glass curios, 290-293
+
+Glass ornaments, 178, 181
+
+Glass pictures, 181
+
+Glass rolling pins, 235
+
+Gourd cups, 104
+
+Grandfather clocks, 301
+
+Gridirons, 137, 138
+
+Grills, 137, 138
+
+Guildhall Museum exhibits, 85, 99, 193
+
+Guns, 333
+
+
+Hair ornaments, 196
+
+Hampton Court fireplaces, 48
+
+Hawk hoods, 332
+
+Home ornaments, 149-170
+
+Horn books, 197
+
+Horners, Worshipful Company, 197
+
+Horns, 313, 314
+
+Horn work, 196, 197
+
+Hull Museum exhibits, 193, 229, 332, 334
+
+
+Inkstands, 263
+
+Irish curios, 67
+
+Ivories, 166, 169
+
+
+Jack knives, 83
+
+Jade, 158, 161
+
+Japanned trays, 101
+
+Jewel caskets, 220, 221
+
+
+Kentish ironmasters, 50
+
+Kettles and stands, 108, 133
+
+Kettles, miniature, 169
+
+Kitchen grates, 129-133
+
+Kitchen, the, 125-145
+
+Knife-boxes, 117
+
+
+Lace bobbins, 232, 236
+
+Lantern clocks, 298
+
+Lanterns, 72-75
+
+Leather and horn, 187-197
+
+Leather bottles, 192-194
+
+Leather flasks, 194
+
+Leather pictures, 194
+
+Leather ships, 194
+
+Lights of former days, 61-75
+
+Lille enamels, 212
+
+Limoges enamels, 182-183
+
+Links extinguishers, 68
+
+Locks of hair, 219
+
+London Cutlers' Company, 84
+
+Love spoons, 235, 240, 289
+
+Love tokens, 283-293
+
+Lucky cups, 190
+
+Lucky emblems, 283-293
+
+
+Mantelpieces, 41, 42
+
+Marking of time, 297-307
+
+Marqueterie designs, 30
+
+Matches, early types, 41
+
+Medicine chests, 341
+
+Meissen porcelain, 91
+
+Met-soex or eating knives, 83
+
+Miniature curios, 169
+
+Monochord, 312
+
+Mosaics, 157
+
+Mother-o'-pearl, 107
+
+Mounting curios, 353
+
+Musical instruments, 311-317
+
+
+Nailsea glass, 177
+
+National Museum of Wales, 129, 141, 280
+
+National Museum of Naples, 45
+
+Needles of wood, 240
+
+Needlework, 246
+
+Nutcrackers, 113-117
+
+
+Oak settles, 162
+
+Obsolete names, 355, 356
+
+Oil lamps, 71, 72
+
+Old gilt, 165, 166
+
+Old lacquer, 342
+
+Ormolu, 150
+
+
+Pastrycooks' knives, 138
+
+Pastry wheels, 138
+
+Patch boxes, 204, 211, 213
+
+Peg tankards, 100, 103
+
+Pens, 264, 267
+
+Perfume boxes, 213
+
+Pianofortes, 312
+
+Piggins, 141
+
+Pipe racks, 273
+
+Pipes, 271, 272
+
+Pistol tinder boxes, 40
+
+Pistols, 333
+
+Play and sport, 321-334
+
+Playing cards, 330
+
+Pomander boxes, 214
+
+Pontypool wares, 106
+
+Porridge bowls, 141
+
+Porringers, 99, 100
+
+Pounce boxes, 263
+
+Priming flasks, 334
+
+Punch bowls, 98
+
+Punch ladles, 97
+
+Puzzle cups, 100
+
+
+Queen Anne style, 100
+
+
+Roasting cages, 130
+
+Roasting jacks, 125
+
+Rolling pins, 177
+
+Roman influence, 153
+
+Rushlights, 62-65
+
+Russian customs, 92
+
+
+Salt cellars, 95, 96
+
+Sand boxes, 263
+
+Saucepans, 125, 126
+
+Scrap books, 255, 256
+
+Scratchbacks, 215
+
+Sheraton influence, 112, 162
+
+Ships of glass, 182
+
+Shoes, 195
+
+Shovels, 53
+
+Skates, 332
+
+Skimmers, 133
+
+Smokers' cabinet, 271-280
+
+Smokers' tongs, 277
+
+Snuff boxes, 196, 279, 280
+
+Snuffer extinguishers, 68
+
+Snuffers, 67-71
+
+Snuff rasps, 279
+
+Spectacles, 348
+
+Spice boxes, 213
+
+Spinning wheels, 226-231
+
+Spits, 125, 129
+
+Spleen stone, 158
+
+Spoons, 86, 89, 117
+
+Staffordshire figures, 150
+
+Staffordshire wares, 97
+
+Stained glass, 181
+
+Standishes, 356
+
+Straw-work, 232
+
+Style, influence of, 26
+
+Sugar nippers, 111
+
+Sugar tongs, 111, 112
+
+Sussex backs, 42, 47, 50
+
+Sussex foundries, 50
+
+
+Table appointments, 79-118
+
+Tapestry, 190, 191
+
+Tapestry factories, 26
+
+Taunton Castle Museum exhibits, 177, 193, 246, 278, 293
+
+Teapots, 107
+
+Teatable, the, 107, 108
+
+Thimbles, 239
+
+Tickets, benefit, ball, etc., 256
+
+Tinder boxes, 39-41
+
+Tobacco boxes, 274, 277
+
+Tobacco pipes, 271, 272
+
+Tobacco pipes (glass), 177
+
+Tobacco stoppers, 277, 278
+
+Toddy ladles, 97
+
+Toilet table, the, 203-221
+
+Tools, ancient, 346
+
+Tower of London exhibits, 95
+
+Trays, 105-107
+
+Trenchers, 141, 356
+
+Trencher salts, 96
+
+Trivets, 54-57
+
+Turnspits, 130
+
+
+Vases, 153, 154
+
+Venetian glass, 91, 178
+
+Vernis Martin varnishes, 29
+
+Victoria and Albert Museum exhibits, 48, 57, 86, 89, 90, 142, 188, 191,
+    192, 215, 231, 241, 279, 312, 317, 330, 334
+
+Vinaigrettes, 214
+
+Violins, 314
+
+Virginals, 312
+
+
+Walking sticks (glass), 177
+
+Wallace collection, 29
+
+Wallets, 195
+
+Warming pans, 142, 145
+
+Watches, 302, 305
+
+Watch keys, 305, 306
+
+Watch papers, 259
+
+Watch stands, 307
+
+Waterford glass, 176
+
+Wedgwood cameos, 170, 280
+
+Whistles, 312, 313
+
+Wood carvings, 161-165
+
+Wooden cups, 104
+
+Woodware, 117
+
+Work boxes, 225-250
+
+Writing cases, 262
+
+Writing tables, 262
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+UNWIN BROTHERS, LIMITED, THE GRESHAM PRESS, WOKING AND LONDON
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Chats on Household Curios, by Fred W. Burgess
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHATS ON HOUSEHOLD CURIOS ***
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