CHAP. VII.] WORKS IN PEWTER BY BRIOT. 263 Lucrèce."* Une enseigne garnie d'or où il y a une Cerès appliquée sur une agathe, le corps d'argent et l'habillement d'or.t" The taste for these little figures of gold repoussé and chased, did not last long; the glyptich art being then much in fashion, the figures which enriched the "enseignes" were cut out of precious stones, and the drapery and accessories were chased in gold and enamelled; sometimes, also, one part of the figure was executed in hard materials, another part in chased gold. Thus, we read in the same inventory, "Une enseigne d'ung David sur ung Goliat, la teste, les bras et les gambes d'agathe."‡ We find also in this inventory little figures of animals which served as pendants: "Une lièvre d'or émaillée de blanc. Ung cheval d'or ayant une selle. Une salemandre d'or émaillée de vert." § Fig. 96 is in this style. Very few names of French goldsmiths belonging to the XVIth century have been transmitted to us. Mention is made of Benedict Ramel, who executed a portrait in gold of Francis I.; François Desjardins, goldsmith and lapidary to Charles IX.; || Delahaie, Fig. 96. Pendant Jewel of the Renaissance, in gold, chased, enamelled, and enriched with precious stones. who was goldsmith to Henry IV. Nor should we omit François Briot, the most skilful artist of his time, although the only examples known of his work are vessels in pewter. A few words must be said upon this description of plate. The high price of the material, as well as certain sumptuary laws, did not always admit Pewters of of rich citizens possessing vessels of gold and silver. The goldsmiths therefore set themselves to work to make plate of pewter, and citizens in moderate circumstances were thus enabled to adorn the dressers of their dining-rooms +Ibid. art, 455. François Briot. § Art. 312. * Art. 331, 329. Ibid. art, 351. MS. Bibl. roy., fonds Saint-Germain, no. 1803. Inventaire des bagues et pierreries de la couronne, des 5 Novembre, 1570. with vessels which, in form at least, were an imitation of those displayed on the tables of princes.* At the end of the XVth, and in the XVIth centuries, these pewter vessels were so well executed, as to merit a place in the collections of the nobility, and even of princes themselves. The inventory of the personal effects of Charles, Count of Angoulême, father of Francis I., dated 20th April, 1497, makes mention of a considerable service of pewter.+ There is no doubt that a great number of these exquisite vessels of pewter were casts which had been made from highly finished pieces of goldwork. Cellini, in his Treatise upon the goldsmith's art, recommends the goldsmiths to take proofs in lead of the pieces of silver executed by casting, such as the handles and spouts of ewers, to repair these pieces, and to preserve them as models for other works. We shall see by and by, that the German artists often followed this plan, and we doubtless owe to its adoption the preservation of so many fine works; the richness of the material has caused the originals of silver to be melted down; the proofs in lead have survived, and attest to this day the skilfulness of the artists who executed the original pieces. The pewters of François Briot are certainly the most perfect pieces of French metal-work of the XVIth century. The elegant form of his vases, the chaste designs of his decorative figures, the richness of his capricious bas-reliefs, in short, everything he executed, is perfect and worthy of admiration. We know nothing of the life of this artist, but his effigy, as well as his name, is found stamped at the bottom of his finest works. He flourished under Henry II. Goldsmith's work of the XVIth century, either French or Italian, is very rare (Fig. 97), but the Museum of the Louvre possesses some fine specimens. Jewels, notwithstanding their perfection, have been unable to withstand the fatal influence of fashion, and have been destroyed in the XVIIth century, and more especially in the XVIIIth, during the reign of Louis XV. The public collections in Italy either possess none, or do not Scarcity of specimens of the XVIth century. * Monteil, Hist. des Français, t. ii. p. 96. + MS. Bibl. roy., fonds des Blanc, Manteaux, no. 49, p. 293. CHAP. VII.] METAL-WORK OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 265 exhibit them. In France, with the exception of some mountings of cameos in the Imperial Library, the museums Fig. 7. Presentoir, or Stand for handing a cup. Silver gilt, richly decorated with masks and arabesques. XVIth century. Coll. Soltykoff. are quite destitute of jewellery. There are some fine specimens in the Cabinet of Antiquities at Vienna; but the jewels contained in the other collections of Germany, belong to German art of the XVIIth and XVIIIth centuries, rather than to the period of the Renaissance. Nuremberg and Augsburg became, in the XVIth century, the principal centres of the goldsmith's art in smith's work of Germany. At a later period, Dresden, Frankfortthe XVIth on-the-Maine, and Cologne, alike produced skilful German gold * century. goldsmiths. The goldsmiths of Nuremberg preserved in their productions, longer than those of Augsburg, a certain feeling of German art; but, in the second half of the XVIth century, the productions of the German goldsmiths are so confounded with those of the artists of Italy, in everything relating to the execution of figures, bas-reliefs, and ornaments, that it would be very difficult to distinguish the one from the other, were it not for the form of the vases, which almost always preserved a stamp of originality. Moreover, nothing can be more graceful than the arabesques which enrich the German metal-work of that period, nothing more exquisite than the little twisted figures that form the handles. The decided taste at the end of the XVIth century, and especially at the beginning of the XVIIth, for these kinds of large nécessaires, to which has been given the name of cabinets, and which were made principally at Augsburg, afforded the goldsmith-artists increased opportunities for exercising their talents in the execution of the silver statuettes and bas-reliefs with which the finest of these cabinets are very frequently enriched. The goldsmiths of Nuremberg and Augsburg produced also pieces of sculpture often remarkable for their judicious composition, their purity of drawing, and finish of execution. In Germany, who has ever been more careful than France of the reputation of her children, a great number of these works have been preserved. The "Chambre du trésor" of the King of Bavaria, and the Imperial Treasury of Vienna, contain many pretty vases of different forms, enriched with fine designs and enamelled figures. Nor are the Green Ledebur, Leitfaden für die Kunstkammer zu Berlin, 1844. S. 55. CHAP. VII.] ENGRAVINGS OF THEODOR DE BRY. 267 Vaults less rich. Among the most remarkable pieces of which the parentage is known, this museum contains, by Wenzel Jamnitzer of Nuremberg (1508 + 1585), a casket of silver; by D. Kellerthaler, who flourished at the end of the XVIth century, the baptismal basin, with its ewer, of the Electoral family of Saxony, considered as the masterpiece of that artist; another basin, in hammer-work, representing fabulous subjects, and a great number of bas-reliefs. The Chamber of Arts of Berlin contains also several pieces of goldsmith's work, among which should be specified the following examples; by Jonas Silber, of Nuremberg, a cup bearing the date of 1583, ornamented with most perfect chasings; by Christoph Jamnitzer, of Nuremberg (1563 + 1618), nephew and pupil of Wenzel Jamnitzer, an epergne (surtout de table), in the form of an elephant, led by a Moor, and carrying on its back a castle, containing five warriors; by Hans Pegolt, of Nuremberg († 1633), a medallion portrait of Albert Dürer; by Matthäus Walbaum, who flourished at Augsburg in 1615, the statuettes of silver which enrich the magnificent cabinet made for the Duke of Pomerania. There are still existing a number of pieces in gold and silver which enable us to appreciate the merit of the goldsmithartists of the period of which we are speaking. Besides which, in order to supply the places of the silver originals which have been melted, a collection has been made in the Chamber of Arts, of various fine bas-reliefs in lead, and vases of pewter, enriched with arabesques and figures, which are considered as proofs or casts from pieces of metal-work of the XVIth and XVIIth centuries. Among the artists who have most contributed to the good style of the German goldsmith's work of the XVIth century, should be also named, Theodor de Bry, who was born at Liège, in 1528, and died at Frankfort-on-the-Maine in 1598. He engraved a number of pretty designs for the goldsmiths, His handles and sheaths of knives are exquisite both in style and finish. Although Theodor de Bry is more known as an engraver than as a goldsmith, there is no doubt that he himself chased, in silver and gold, a few of the pieces for which he furnished designs. The Green Vaults possess a silver table, containing five medallions of gold, surrounded |